The Beginning (The New Change Part 1)
#1 of The New Change
"See you after school, James!" A man in his late thirties shouted from his home. A 15 year old brown haired boy was running to a school bus, waving back at the man as he got on. A woman stood next to the man, smiling at the boy. Everything seemed normal for this family, a normal day on Earth that seemed like nothing could go wrong.
"James has grown up so fast. Only next week, he'll be 16." The woman sighed happily, looking at the man. "It seems like only yesterday that I gave birth to him."
"Katie, you do remember what I told you about his 16th birthday, right? I know it was a long time ago, but it still holds true." The man walked into the house, now that the bus had left, his wife following him inside.
"I know, Jonathan. On his 16th, we'll find out how much he is like you." She murmured, closing the door and walking into their bedroom, her husband following. As he walked, the man's form seemed to melt away, inhuman features asserting themselves as what remained was a large, 6'11" scaled biped dragon.
"I'll have to teach him how to blend in, you know. He'll have to miss a few days of school." The large blue dragon mentioned, sitting on the couple's bed, his wife sitting next to him.
"Have you ever heard of an alien-human hybrid?" Katie questioned, looking up at Jonathan.
"No, it's not supposed to be able to happen. My DNA is closest to reptilian, which shouldn't be able to fertilize a human egg." He sighed softly and closed his eyes, but they shot open, his ears twitching a bit. His draconic form melted away, leaving a human form. His wife looked at him curiously.
"What's wrong?" She asked. He put his finger to her lips to quiet her. He'd heard footsteps, and knew something was wrong. That was confirmed when he saw someone in their doorway, holding what looked to be like a pistol with a silencer attachment.
"I've been watching the both of you. I know what you are, demon." The intruder spoke quietly, as if to avoid making a scene. "I know that the woman is normal but that you are not. But for bedding with you, she deserves to die." The person brought up the pistol, aiming at Jonathan's head.
"P-please don't. We have a son!" Katie spoke with fear in her voice, but she knew that her husband could get them out of this.
"He is a spawn of your corrupt union. He'll be lucky if death is all I give him." That's when the human-disguised dragon lost it. He let out a huge roar and rushed at the man invading his house, his human form ripped away, his huge draconic form shown now. The intruder didn't even blink as he unloaded a few founds, the first few bouncing off his scales, but one getting him in the eye. Jonathan recoiled, gripped where his eyes had been, a hole all that was left. The woman rushed to her husband, holding him.
"You bastard! You shot him!" She yelled, but watched in fear as the man put away the pistol, only to take out a shotgun. He aimed at the biped dragon again and fired. This time, the bullets didn't bounce. They ripped through his scales into his innards, fragmenting inside of him. Jonathan was dead before he hit the ground, only then reverting to the human form he'd hid in for years. Katie screamed as she saw her husband die, only to feel a burning pain as another round was shot from the gun, but at her. She dropped to the ground, out cold, barely alive.
The man walked out of the house, but people were outside, having heard the roar and gunshots. The man dropped the shotgun and ran into the nearby forest, with a few people starting to run to the house, to see what happened.
James was writing down notes in his Physics class when he heard the phone ring. His teacher got up, walked over and answered the phone. As she spoke, the entire class knew something was up. As the teacher put the phone down, she looked at James.
"You're wanted down at the office." She said, and the entire class went "Ooooo!" The teacher shook her head softly, and looked at the class. "Everyone, be quiet." She said, looking back at James. "Something happened. Something bad. They didn't tell me what, but you're going to be taken to the hospital." She said. James felt a cold rush grip him, and he stood up, walking out of the classroom. It only took him a minute to get down to the principal's office, and waiting for him there was his Aunt Ann, his mother's sister.
"James...you're father is dead and your mother is in a coma, they were attacked a while after you left for school." She spoke quietly, and James felt the tears welling up. A few rolled down his cheeks but he didn't make a sound. He didn't need to. "James? Let's go." She said, and she took his hand. They walked out to her car, and James got in the back, which was unusual because he liked driving shotgun, sitting in the front passenger seat.
They got to the hospital about half an hour later. James, before the car even shut off, was out of the car and already inside the hospital. He ran up to the front desk
"Where is Katie Dowell? Where the hell is my mother?!" He shouted, and the attendant was shaking before he even finished.
"S-she's in the emergency room, critical condition. They're operating, you can't go in there!" Before she even finished, James was walked to the door that led to the emergency room. He tried to open it, but it was locked. He started to punch it, leaving a few dents before his aunt came in and stopped him.
"James, stop! This isn't helping. The more you distract the doctors, the less chance your mother will live!" James simply stared at the ground as he heard that.
"...They didn't deserve this..."
               Today was James's 16th birthday. He'd just gotten home from his father's funeral, and was staying with his aunt until he was old enough to live on his own. She'd given him the guest bedroom, and since she didn't live that far away from where he'd lived, he could still go to the same high school. He hadn't gone since his father was murdered, and his mother was still in a coma, it was like she didn't want to wake up.
               "Why did this happen to me...?" He murmured.
               "Because you're a monster."
               James froze when he heard that. He didn't move, but he knew who it was just from what they'd said. "You killed my father, didn't you? And put my mother in this coma?" He asked.
               "I'd been aiming at killing them both, but your mother got lucky. That bitch always got lucky." If it could have been a worse time for him to know a voice, he didn't know when.
               "You're a horrible bitch, you know that Ann? What kind of person tries to murder her sister and brother-in-law?" James asked, feeling the pistol against the back of his head now. He had already dialed 911 and kept it on silent so they could hear what was going on in the room, but James and Ann couldn't hear them.
               "The kind of person who doesn't take well to demons. Did you know your father was one? Well, not necessarily a demon, but an alien monster." Ann said.
               "You're a crazy bitch, you know that?" He asked. He felt a burning sensation on his arm and looked down. That's when he saw his arm bleeding, a bullet in it. He hadn't even heard it.
               "That may be, but I know what I saw." She had an odd tone in her voice. James knew what it was, a hint of fear. He didn't know why, but knew something was going on. His arm was burning again, but this time, it was the bullet being pushed out of his arm and the wound healing. He doubled over in pain, and glared at his aunt, his muscles tensing up. He cried out as his felt something rip out of his back and from his spine in multiple places. Even moreso, his face, hands and feet were all burning up, like they were dipped in lava. He heard the pistol drop to the ground, and Ann screamed, " DEMON!"
               She had good reasoning to. Large draconic wings had sprouted from his back, along with a tail, both of them covered in red and black scales. His hands and feet were covered in scales, claws on all his fingers and toes. His hair had grown longer, and had gone from brown to pure black with a streak of red down the middle, and his eyes were golden and slitted like a reptile's. He got to his feet and jumped at his mother's sister, blacking out.
               In the blackness, there was movement. James felt a grip on his shoulder and movement. Someone shaking him? He couldn't tell. He blacked out again, starting to hear voices.
               James felt his eyes opening on him, and he shook his head, groaning. He looked around; he was in a pristine hospital room. His arm that was shot still felt sore, and he didn't know what was going on. The last thing he remembered was the gunshot, and pain... then nothing. He heard people talking, and looking at the door. He saw it was open, and that people were outside. He assumed they were doctors from how they looked. One of them noticed him looking around, and rushed in.
               "James? You're awake? Thank goodness, you've been out for quite a while. About two days." The doctor, a female that had the nametag "Dr. Stevens", was instantly recognized by James.
               "Dr. Stevens? Didn't you-?" James didn't finish before she interrupted.
"Yes, I delivered you. I was the main doctor for your birth. Can you tell me what you remember?" She asked. He nodded.
"I remember my aunt...the gun at the back of my head...the bullet in my arm...pain...then nothing." He shivered a bit.
"When we found you, you were on the ground. You arm looked sore, like you were recovering from something. But she shot you?" She asked.
"Yeah... she was the one who killed my dad and put my mom in a coma..." He mentioned. Dr. Stevens nodded and took out a tape recorder.
"The police recorded everything. It was smart of you to call them. But...something odd is on the tape." She pressed play, and the recording started. He recognized all of it up to a certain point. He heard a roar, and screams, and violence and gore.
"She's dead, isn't she?" James asked suddenly, the memories of what had happened rushing back to him.
"You were covered in blood when we found you. We didn't know who it was until you said it was your aunt. We couldn't identify her; she was in pieces and ripped up. Literally. It looked like there had been an animal attack, but if there had been, you would have died too. You were mostly fine though, so we don't know what happened." The doctor said.Â
Suddenly, James stood up. He walked over to a mirror, with the doctor trying to get him back in bed. He looked at himself, but saw nothing odd. He remembered how he had changed, but didn't know what he'd looked like when he changed.
"Weird...there's nothing different..." He murmured, and the doctor gave him a perplexed look.
"James, what are you talking about?" She asked.
"Oh, nothing." He replied.