FSE

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Marcus Lewis nearly jumped out of his shoes from the sudden voice, his hands fumbling to keep his phone from dropping into the water. He spun around, looking to see who was speaking. Off to his right, another form stood, leaned on the railing just like him. It was hard for Marcus to see exactly who he was looking at, a dark hoodie kept his head mostly obscured. Tall, that was about all he could gather. A reptilian snout poked out from the front of it, that was a start. Marcus's eyes went down to the hands, seeing similar scales there, but not much else.

"Uh... no?" he replied, his voice unsure. When another few moments passed without a word, Marcus tried again. "Did you need something?"

The vague reptile chuckled. His voice was raspy, dry. Like the air coming out of his mouth had corners and spikes on it. "Pretty sure you're the one who needsss help," he said, that forked tongue poking out as he spoke.

Marcus swallowed. He was really hoping this wasn't who he thought it was.

"Yeah, well, I gotta go," the jackalope said, putting all of his willpower into making sure his voice didn't pop or crack and betray his anxiety. He took a few steps away, not wanting to turn his back to the reptile until he was at least farther than arm's reach. "Have a good night, buddy."

"Go where, Marcusss?"

Hearing his name with that voice glued Marcus's feet to the ground. He'd been terrified that someone would recognize him, after all his name was showing up on TV and probably getting passed around on social media (he shuddered to think what the Greenwood group was saying). The way it was said here, though... it sounded too familiar. Like he was supposed to know who he was talking to. Unfortunately, Marcus was fairly sure he did.

The teen took a breath through his nose. "Uhm... you know my name, huh? Guess I shoulda expected that. Are uh, are you gonna call the cops?"

"Oh please..." the voice rasped again, his face only faintly turned Marcus's way. "Why would I do that?"

Marcus was not enjoying this at all. Every instinct in him was screaming to turn and bolt as fast as he could. Go back to Temptations. Talk to Melody. Patch things up. Unfortunately, his body wouldn't let him. His legs were made of lead and his heart was starting to race once again.

"I dunno... probably a reward or something? That's how come you know my name, right?" he said, his eyes locked onto the reptile, telling himself to just start running if he made any sudden moves.

Another slithery laugh escaped from the hooded figure. "Guilty as charged. But no, Marcusss, I'm not interested in getting blood money from the police," he said, his attention turning back out towards the water. "That'sss what they do. They turn on each other. They're not like usss."

With that, the reptile turned, the illumination from a high overhead street light letting Marcus get a better look at his sudden friend. The cold look in his slitted eyes. The colorful, golden scales with fades of darker purples that made him look like he was on fire. The glimpse of feathers atop his head.

"...you're Aaron," Marcus said, forcing the words out as they attempted to claw their way back down into his belly.

The viper grinned, shaking his head. "Damn. Was kinda hopin' to make that one a little more dramatic," he said. Marcus couldn't help but notice that he almost sounded disappointed. "I got a feeling you didn't hear about me on TV, though."

Marcus, paused, unsure if he should say quite why he knew Aaron's name. He was just about to come up with a lie that he hoped would pass muster, but luckily he didn't need to.

"Nah, I know what's up. You been hangin' out with Melody an' her little group of sad sacks, goin' to the bar so they can sit around talkin' about how hard life is. I ain't surprised I came up, that girl was... whew, obsessed ain't even the half of it. Keep yer distance, buddy. You ain't fucked 'er, have ya?"

"No!" Marcus blurted out in a near squeak. He quickly tried to get his composure back. "I mean, we only met the other day, but I've been staying at the strip club. In her dressing room, even!"

The young hybrid kept his eyes on Aaron, watching him intently and still with every expectation to make a dash for it. The snake made no aggressive moves, wasn't holding himself in a particularly aggressive posture. For that matter, Aaron hadn't even turned to fully face him, still keeping his elbows on the railing and his body aimed out towards the harbor. Somehow, that kept Marcus more on edge. Like the serpent was going out of his way to look unintimidating, just to get him to let his guard down.

"Oh yeah? Not bad. Take it from me, buddy. Keep yer distance. It's the ol' saying. Don't stick your dick in crazy," he chuckled, spitting into the water, watching the blob drop a moment before continuing. "But lemme guess, she's told you a thousand stories about what an asshole I am, and her two faggot friends just sat there noddin' all like yeah you go girl."

"She said you killed a guy."

Marcus couldn't explain why he said it. Why that was his answer. Why that had to be the topic he brought up to someone who, according to Melody, had actually done exactly that. Here he was, alone, next to that same body of water he pictured Aaron dumping a corpse into, outright accusming him of it. He braced for impact.

That impact never came. Instead, more laughter from the snake. "Fuck me, she still tellin' everyone about that? Okay, Marcus, lemme let you in on a little secret. That ol' badger drank like a motherfucker. Used to get shitfaced and go spend half his paycheck on unicorn pussy and get thrown out on his ass after he got too drunk to stop himself from jerkin' off right there in the club. Dumb sumbitch just fell in the harbor one night. I ain't have shit to do with it. Don't get me wrong, I ain't cryin' about it. Guy was creepy as fuck when I met him, talkin' about Melody like that. Pissed me off. Can't take credit for it though. Sorry to disappoint."

As much as he hated to admit it, Marcus was a bit disappointed to hear that. The conversation back in the bar built Aaron up like some mythical figure, a monster lurking in the shadows that would strike at any moment. What he saw now wasn't quite as glamorous. Not a behemoth looming overhead, not a demon from the abyss, just... a guy in an old hoodie and some beat up jeans. Scuffed boots and a hunched posture.

Marcus ventured a little closer. "So, uh, if you aren't gonna turn me into the cops, why'd you come up to me?" he asked, feeling like he was safe to stick around. For now.

The serpent shrugged, turning to face Marcus more directly now. He still kept up his casual, almost overly unconcerned expression going. "To be honest, figured you could use a little help."

"Help," the teenage jackalope repeated, his curiosity piqued. "What do you mean, help?"

The grin on Aaron's face spread again. Charming, wide, but with a touch of sympathy to it. An older brother, disappointed that his sibling wasn't getting it. "Not sure if ya heard, but your face is on the news now. Like you said, there's probably a reward if you're found. To be honest, it's pretty fuckin' stupid of you to just be walkin' around out on the docks like this."

Marcus's face screwed up, turning to look at the open space surrounding him. It was late, and even with the street lights he wasn't going to be too clearly visible, but he still had to concede the point. Day or night, Marcus Lewis wasn't going to have an easy time going unnoticed.

"Well, I mean... fuck, what am I supposed to do now?" he said, his shoulders hanging extra low. "Like, all right, you wanna help me, what's the plan? Are you gonna hide me in a cupboard?"

That got a laugh out of Aaron. A genuine one, no less. Marcus felt proud of himself for managing to crack his way under those scales. He realized he'd been having a much easier go of it when talking to other hybrids. Whether it was because he was more at ease around them or that they "got him" more than others, he couldn't say, but it was nice regardless.

The snake looked him over a moment, that forked tongue occasionally flicking out from between his teeth. That, Marcus wasn't quite so fond of.

Finally, he spoke. "C'mon. Walk with me," he said flatly, starting on his way without waiting to see if Marcus would do as he was told.

He did.

The jackalope was confused, finding himself awkwardly taking a few hops to catch up with Aaron before he even realized he was doing it. The snake had a strange gait to him, gliding as he walked in contrast to Marcus's much bouncier steps. He also moved with a confidence that Marcus couldn't help but find strangely captivating. Straight lines, no attempts to dodge around anyone else when they crossed paths. Like he expected everyone to make room for him, and they seemed to do so.

"Um... you wanna tell me where we're goin'?" Marcus asked after a few minutes. He looked around, the buildings beginning to change into the same type that had surrounded him when he'd gotten mugged less than a week ago. Instinctively, he stepped up closer to Aaron.

The serpent let out a dry chuckle. "The fuck away from all these assssholes," he said, which didn't exactly illuminate the situation. As much as he was hoping for elaboration, Marcus quieted down and continued to follow along.

It turned out that Aaron was not kidding with his statement. The walk took so long that Marcus was briefly feeling concerned that he was being led off away from the prying eyes of street lights and passersby and he would end up in a shallow grave. He also paused to worry about how he was going to get back, only to be struck by the question, "back where?"

Eventually they got to an area that barely looked connected to Boston proper. Everything began to open up, in a sense. There were more spaces between the buildings, grass showed up instead of so much concrete everywhere. It felt much older. Less developed. Only, instead of aging like Weston had, turning into estates and families with dynasties, this place was beginning to crumble from disrepair. There weren't boarded up windows or stretches of abandoned homes, but every surface seemed to have a layer of decomposition.

Before Marcus was able to react, his chaperone had stopped walking, causing the small half-lapine to collide with him and earn a grunt from the serpent. Marcus stumbled, looking to see where they were. In the dark, even with the street lights offering a bit of illumination, it took him a moment to identify the building in front of them.

"Where are we?"

Aaron cracked his neck, his attention on the edifice. "A good place to think. I don't believe the bullssshit they talk about in there, but I like the vibe."

Marcus looked again. A church. Once he saw the symbols on the front door, the architecture was more identifiable. It was a longshot from the ornate cathedrals he was used to seeing, but still unmistakably cut from the same cloth. Made nearly entirely of brick with a small excuse for a steeple at one end, the windows looked like stained glass and Marcus could just about see a bell up inside the highest point. The brass and wood front door looked like it would take two people to open. At that hour of night, it was a vaguely intimidating look.

"Um... why did you take me to a church?" Marcus asked.

"You know what your problem is?" Aaron replied, ignoring the question.

"...what?"

Aaron pulled a small flask out of his pocket, taking a sip. "You jussst want everyone to like you," he said, an odd minor key melody coming out.

Marcus frowned. It was a strange accusation to make. Marcus Lewis, the outcast of Greenwood Academy, trying to be popular? Of course not. He didn't try to get along with any of his classmates, wasn't begging to get invited to parties. If anything, Marcus went out of his way not to be liked, right? He didn't give a shit about them, just like they didn't give a shit about him.

While the gears inside the jackalope's head ground against each other and sent smoke out of his hears, Aaron let out a snicker. "Why'd you quit ssstreaming?"

Marcus nearly choked on his own spit.

"You... how did you..." he asked, trying valiantly to keep his voice from making his surprise too obvious.

The feathered serpent's face was mostly obscured still by that hood, all that Marcus could see was a snout reaching from beneath. The unnerving grin upon it was as obvious as ever.

"I like to do my resssearch," he said coyly. Then, after a moment passed for Marcus to sit and stew in confusion, Aaron continued. "As ssson as your name was all over the news, I decided to look you up. Sssee what you're about. You know what I saw?"

Marcus didn't think he wanted to know, but aron wasn't waiting for him to ask. "I saw a stupid kid still thinking that the whole goal is to prove himself to all these fucking purebredsss. You put on a mean face in all those sselfies, buy clothes you think make you look like some badass, then you turn on a webcam and try to get them to like you. It's fucking pathetic."

More than at any point since he'd left Greenwood, Marcus Lewis felt like his heart had been ripped from his chest. For someone he'd only heard of a few hours ago and barely spoken to, Aaron had a talent for cutting through Marcus's defenses as though they'd known each other for years. Not even BJ or Corey had managed to cut him down that easily.

The young hybrid shifted awkwardly where he stood, looking up at the church once again. After a moment, he blew a breath out through his nose, looking at his feet.

"Yeah well... the fuck do you know?" he said, adding a splash of acid to it in the hopes of tamping back any whine. "What am I gonna do, go live in a cave? I have to get by, don't I? I can't just go through my whole life with everyone hating me. Don't you think it'd be a lot easier if everyone wasn't always looking at you like they wished you didn't exist? I mean... fuck, I don't care about being Mister Popular, I just thought, I don't know, it'd be nice if..."

"If they'd jussst treat you like one of them."

The jackalope let out a sigh. His shoulder slumped. "Yeah... I guess, fuck. I thought if I did the whole streaming thing, there would be someone who wouldn't be an asshole. Someone out there who'd be cool about me."

Aaron sipped from his flask again. "And what happened?" he asked.

Marcus's memory went back. At first, it seemed like it was going okay. A shooting game on stream, hoping to have a couple viewers to chat with. H knew he wasn't going to be a celebrity right off the bat, but he figured he could have some interaction. One or two even did pop by, said hello, and just talked about the game for a few minutes. Things had looked good.

Then came the raid.

A swarm of comments poured into the chat. Mocking the antlers, saying he was bad at the game because his mixed genetics meant he was a mutant. A freak. A retard. They came too quickly for him to even attempt to moderate the chat, so he just shut the stream down and never had the courage to try again.

"...It didn't go well," Marcus answered.

"That'sss what I thought."

Marcus kicked a rock, listening to it clatter its way towards the church after going invisible. He didn't feel that this conversation was particularly helpful, even if he was getting away from where he was likely to be caught.

"Do you know why they hate you, Marcusss?"

The teen shrugged, unenthusiastically. "Because we're different."

Aaron chuckled, shaking his head. "They're ssscared of you."

The comment made Marcus laugh, something the serpent had clearly not been expecting. "What's ssso funny?"

"Nothing. Just, uh, you started sounding like this crazy owl I met earlier. Are you gonna start telling me about mind control in the water or something?"

Aaron's tongue flicked out of his mouth. "I sssee you've met Jacob."

"You know him?"

"I've met him. He's not always wrong, and thisss is a good example. The world is scared of us. We don't make sssense to them. Their whole society, everything they've built, it's all sitting on a foundation that sssays there are certain rules. What every species on Earth is, how we work together, live together, and what keepsss us apart. Hybrids like us? We break all that down. Living and breathing tessstaments to their ignorance of the world. They see us and think, that'sss unnatural. That shouldn't exist. That's just not supposed to happen. But it did happen. We happened. And if they're wrong about that, what elssse are they wrong about?"

Marcus's brow furrowed. The serpent's eyes were on the church now, staring at the large symbol emblazoned upon its front door. A preacher of sorts, but speaking at the house of worship rather than to it.

"A thousand yearsss ago if a mother had a hybrid child it had itsss head crushed against some rocks. Today there are doctors who will oh ssso helpfully eliminate us before we're given a chance to take our first breaths. Back then, they sssaid it was because we were omens of an angry god. Today, they sssay it's to save us lives of misery. Like Jacob, they weren't always wrong."

"I don't... I don't understand..." Marcus said, struggling to wade through the viper's words.

"We do lead livesss of misery, because they make sure of it. And we are omens of an angry god, reminders that they aren't as big and in control as they think they are." He looked over at the teen to his side. "That'sss why I wanted to get you before sssomeone else did. To help you understand that you're not here to follow down sssome path that your parents, or your teachers, or any of them think you should. You're here to bring them back down to earth."

Aaron turned towards Marcus then, and extended his hand, holding the flask in it. The jackalope glanced at the small container, polished aluminum with a leather wrapping. He wouldn't have been at all surprised if it was genuine.

"Um, you know I'm too young to drink, right?" he said, uneasily.

Aaron grunted a laugh. "You're on the run from the fucking police after beating someone up at your ssschool and you've been hiding out in a ssstrip club. Come on, it's just usss, have a drink."

Marcus paused a moment. He couldn't help but get a sheepish grin on his face that quirked up the corners of his mouth unevenly. Put like that, he sounded like this crazy loose cannon. He liked it. Marcus Lewis, wanted criminal, stay inside or you'll get hurt. More than that, he liked that Aaron didn't seem to be talking down to him.

He took the flask and sniffed the opening, eyes going wide at the potent odor. He'd had beer in the past, but never straight liquor. Unsure how much to sip, he tipped it back and let a near mouthful into his muzzle, coming dangerously close to coughing it back out before forcing himself to swallow. Fuck, it burned, the weak kiss of caramel completely vanishing amidst the alcohol.

Aaron laughed, throwing his head back. "Easy, champ! That's too ssstrong to gulp if you're a lightweight. Come on. It'sss late."

Marcus wheezed, every breath sending the spirit up through his sinus and out of his nose. The way it sat in his belly left him wondering just how drunk it was going to get him once it kicked in. He didn't have an especially high tolerance.

Aaron led the charge as before, taking his flask back and guiding Marcus to their next destination. The teen's eyes bounced all around, rather fascinated with the area. Back home, he knew BJ's neighborhood well enough, and even though that was a less high-income section of town than his own, there was still a sense of quaint security there. Not so here. The outskirts of Boston were hardened by comparison, or at least seemed so in the dead of night. Especially as that drink began to take hold of his senses. Marcus did his best to stay close to Aaron, even if his uneven steps occasionally made them collide.

Marcus couldn't have said what he expected Aaron's home to look like, and the reality was simultaneously underwhelming and apropos. A two story house with chipped paint on its outside of a vague brown tone that made it nearly blend in with the city's autumn pallet, cracked blocks of sidewalk that led to its front door. It has the appearance of a home that might have been considered perfect to raise a family before the property values dropped as the more well-off families moved out. Marcus snickered, his inebriated imagination showing him an image of Aaron with a family inside, little feathered hatchlings scampering over to hug their daddy before getting introduced to his new friend.

Of course, that wasn't the case at all. The door opened, showing an interior with no lights on, no activity, no life within it. When the front room was illuminated, Marcus saw a living room that he would have expected to see from someone who'd only just moved there. It reminded him of his dormitory. Only what was needed. No decorations, nothing to say this was a home as opposed to simply a place to exist.

Marcus looked at his surroundings one last time before stepping in, his attention caught by what was across the street. He'd seen the fence opposite the sidewalk but not paid it much mind at first. Now, though, he spied what was across the way. The stone slabs jutting out from the auburn grass.

The jackalope pulled a face, feeling an unease in his belly that he hoped was just because of the rum.

"You live by a cemetery?" he asked.

Aaron's gaze went over that way briefly, before holding the door open and nodding his head inside, indicating where Marcus should be walking.

"If I mussst have purebreds for neighbors," he said. "I'd rather they be the dead ones."

Marcus took a breath, and entered the serpent's home.