Monday 9:30 p.m. October 3rd

Vergil surveyed the room he'd grown up in, and tried his best to stay afloat in a sea of memories. His mom hadn't moved a thing. The unopened X-Men action figures, Vergil had thought would be worth a fortune someday, remained untouched. An old stop sign he and Quinn had stolen from an intersection under construction, where people kept getting in wrecks still loomed above his bed. The picture on his nightstand of his "birth father" that they both thought was hilarious sat there collecting dust. One Christmas, Vergil had opened a present, and it was one of those stock photos that frame people used as filler before you put in the actual picture, and she said, "For all we know, that could be your father, and of all the potential fathers there, this one was my favorite." He was thirteen years old, and that's how she broke the news he was a sperm donor baby. A smile touched the corner of his lips, but it was tinged with melancholy. Why does every smile carry so much sadness these days?

"Didn't you say you had somewhere to be at 10? We best get going if we plan to arrive on time." Albert said in his signature tone of condescension.

"We? Your obligation to me is fulfilled you can go back to your Master now," Vergil replied.

Albert gave Vergil a long, stern look, but he had a hard time taking it seriously. Vergil couldn't help but imagine the dog's old, wizened face sporting a pair of librarian's spectacles and shushing Vergil with a paw to his whiskers.

"The Master is no longer with us, and the Little Master can manage on her own. Additionally, I believe my presence causes her a great deal of sadness. I'm afraid I've become a painful reminder of the Master. At this juncture, I am far more concerned about your ability to take care of yourself. I've decided I shall accompany you for the time being. Now, let's be off. I'm intrigued by this Saul fellow. Any human that willingly chooses to associate themselves with you must be a character indeed," the dog stated in a manner that was not left open for discussion.

Vergil rolled off the bed. He felt strange, being sober this late in the day was an altogether foreign experience. That, mixed with the exhaustion from their run in with that creature, left him feeling less than optimal. Vergil imagined it was something akin to what someone felt after running a marathon. After the dog treats had kicked in, he and Albert hadn't had a moment's respite.

The owners of the duplex had pulled into the driveway just as Vergil had regained control of his limbs. The pair escaped through the back door and booked it off into the field that separated them from the drive-in. A minefield of dead and distorted animals littered the field, but neither of them felt the urge to stick around and investigate. Their encounter with that thing had left their nerves on edge. They scrounged up anything that could be perceived as useful, which in Vergil's case, meant a couple extra pairs of clothes. It all got stuffed into his backpack, and they left with no destination in mind. The heavy door closed behind them, and a part of him knew that part of his life had closed behind him. He chose not to dwell on how that made him feel.

It wasn't long before his strength started to fail him, and even the act of wandering around town was becoming too much to handle. Vergil suggested they dig through some trash cans or beg for money, but Albert informed him that his dignity would not allow him to "debase himself thus." Albert's pride limited their options by a substantial amount, but Vergil refused to leave the canine. He may have been a pompous jerk, but Vergil liked the company. Asking Saul for anymore help was out of the question, so that left one more alternative. His house.

Before glioblastoma took her out for good, his mother had written up a will that left everything to Vergil. He'd begged her to give it to charity, but she said "Vergil dear, you are charity." That was that. Everything she owned became Vergil's. A combination of self-loathing and sadness had prevented him from stepping foot in his own home or using the money she had left him.

Karen Wilson couldn't wrap her head around the fact that maybe he didn't want to be reminded of her every single day while he wasted his life away in Lancet Falls. Ever since he was little, she'd regarded him as the last hope of the Wilson line, and Vergil had been crushed underneath the weight of her expectations. He never was the boy she'd seen him as, and he wouldn't ever get over that.

It was a toss up, but Vergil decided food won out over sadness for the night. He only had to stay there for one night, and then he could find a more permanent solution. Albert was speechless for the first time since Vergil had known him, when the dog saw the mansion that Vergil had grown up in. The two had stood there speechless, each for different reasons. Albert broke the silence. "Why in God's name were you living in that hovel when you had a domicile like this at your disposal?'

"I'll tell you some other time," he replied. Albert must have sensed something in his tone, because all questions ended there.

As it turned out, most of the food still there had gone bad, but some non-perishables still proved edible. He gorged himself on stale potato chips and beef jerky. The dog accepted the jerky reluctantly, but at least he ate it. Vergil searched the grounds for alcohol, but there was not a drop to be had. His mother had always made sure of that. At that point, there was nothing left to do but twiddle their thumbs and wait for 10 p.m. to come around. He laid down on his bed and got lost in his memories. The next thing he knew Albert was telling him it was time to go meet Saul.

One advantage of living in a small town, was that most places were in walking distance of each other. Even with the loss of his bike, he could make it to just about anywhere on foot in thirty minutes. Toting Albert in his backpack, Vergil headed to O'Connell's not quite sure how he was going to explain his acquisition of schnauzer, but he didn't care. He felt excited. It must be the effects of the violet energy kicking in. Currently, he felt the reservoir of power filled to just below his knees.

"Tell me again how you know this Saul fellow Vergil," Albert demanded.

Vergil's response was curt, "He's an old friend of my mom's."

The dog huffed in exasperation, "Well, that certainly explains how your mother knows him."

"Knew him."

"Oh dear, I'm sorry. I didn't know."

"Now you do."

The next few minutes passed by in silence until Albert piped up again, "Why would a friend of your mother's buy alcohol for an alcoholic. That seems terribly irresponsible. It's no wonder you're so spectacularly screwed up with these types of role models."

"I don't care what you say about me, but I'm not going to hear you badmouth Saul around me. Are we clear?"

"Somebody is a bit testy, but I shall respect your wishes."

After a pause, Vergil continued, "He's buying me drinks because he's trying to convince me to take a job."

"Forgive me if I'm not understanding something. Why would somebody in your... unique position turn down any job offered him?" Albert asked in an abnormal attempt to be diplomatic.

"I don't need anyone's pity," he paused before continuing, "But I think I'm going to take him up on it this time. Everything feels different now."

"That's quite the understatement," the dog muttered.

O'Connell's was another five minutes away or so, and the two hadn't felt the need to add anything to the conversation. Vergil was okay with that. Main Street loomed in front of them with nary a soul to be had. Lancet Falls had always been a sleepy, family-oriented town, and after dark, most families had turned in for the night. The only signs of life emanated from O'Connell's pub. Neon lights and the occasional bout of raucous laughter the only indicator that it wasn't as vacant as the surrounding storefronts, but tonight was different. An ineffable pall coated this particular night.

Vergil prepared himself to enter the pub, mouth watering at the thought of a long awaited drink. The sound of something large hitting the ground followed by a strangled yell coming from the alleyway stopped him in his tracks. He peered into the alley's entrance, but saw nothing but black. The contrast of the darkness in the alleyway and the light from the bar made it impossible for him to discern anything in particular. Vergil started to move into the alleyway.

"Vergil, I feel it is prudent to caution you about following this course of action. Something that sounds a good deal like that abomination we encountered earlier is in there, and unless I miss my guess, that one would be a light snack compared to our friend in the alley here," Albert cautioned.

"Then you should wait here," Vergil said placing the dog on the ground.

"You can't seriously be considering going in there. It's suicide."

"Maybe, but if I don't do something, who else will?" Vergil said taking another step into the alleyway.

Vergil struggled to make sense of the scene before him. As his eyes adjusted, the outlines of two human shaped masses became visible, both supine. One wasn't moving at all, and the other had a shadowy shape on top of it. This one was much bigger, about the size of a lion that he'd seen on the Nature Channel. Even in the shadows, what is was doing was unmistakable.

It was feeding.

He didn't know if he was too late, at this point, it didn't matter. Vergil needed to act and it needed to be fast. For better or worse, Lancet Falls was his home, and he couldn't stand and watch while someone was in harm's way. Better me than them.

The fatigue of the day was pushed to a dark crevice in his mind as he forced himself into a dead sprint, on a collision course with the creature. Focusing on the energy, he tried to gather all but a fraction of it into his shoulder. He wouldn't be useful to anyone if he used to it all at once. Steps away, he lowered his right shoulder and slammed his entire body into what he guessed was its center of mass. A cracking sound split the air, the crack of a thick, dead branch breaking. Bones. Vergil couldn't tell whether or not they were his.

The form had been driven back about fifteen feet, but it still remained upright. It was hard to tell in the dim lighting, but it seemed to be favoring its left side now, clutching its right paw to its midsection. The light of the moon glinted off of its eyes, and Vergil recognized those eyes. Pink eyes. Eyes that used to look up at Vergil expectantly, waiting for their morning meal. Jerry. How has he grown so much since this afternoon? Why did he only eat the insides and leave everything else?

If Jerry recognized Vergil, the "mouse" offered no sign of it. This time, he looked at Vergil like he was the meal, his tail moving back and forth in excited, whiplike motions. Muscles bunched in the beast's back haunches like the coiling of a spring. In the time it took to blink, Jerry was flying through the air faster than the eye could track, the effect enhanced by darkness.

Vergil made an attempt to dive to the side, but his reaction was a hair too late. The mouse clipped a meaty portion of his shoulder, spinning Vergil like a top. He managed to keep his footing, a feat nothing short of a miracle. Aside from deadening his entire right shoulder, the impact had done something else. The force behind that hit had given Vergil a substantial injection of whatever energy lay within him. An old memory bubbled to the surface. Kinetic energy, the energy of a body in motion. Falling off the roof, that impact, I got a huge boost from them. Some sort of energy transference must be taking place. Who would've thought high school physics would come in handy?

A pitiful moan escaped the lips of whoever Jerry had been feeding on. They sounded weak. Whatever Vergil was going to do, it had to be quick. Without fully regaining his balance, Vergil threw himself to the ground, counting on the fact the beast had already recovered and launched itself at Vergil's exposed back. A whoosh of air passed over his head, and Vergil scrambled to his feet trying to locate where the predator had landed. The second Vergil had spotted him, Jerry was already in the air. Vergil managed to avoid the lunge, but a stray thrash of the mouse's tail had clipped him. The force from even a glancing blow to the opposite shoulder was still enough to send Vergil sprawling.

The hit sent Vergil careening towards the person that had been injured.Vergil's ankle caught on the body, and dumped him onto his back. He pushed himself onto his hands and knees with the intention to assess the damage, and immediately wished he hadn't. Lying there, hands held to a gaping hole in his stomach, was Saul Gutierrez, chest heaving in jagged breathes.

"Vergil... I couldn't... just run," Saul gasped.

Before Vergil could reply, The full weight of the mutated mouse slammed into his chest and pinned him under its immense bulk. The last vestige of his past life bleeding out on the ground ignited something in Vergil. He was done playing defense. Diverting a portion of energy to his legs, Vergil pulled his knees to his chest and kicked upwards. Jerry lifted off of his chest and was flung across the alleyway into the brick wall of the bar. While his opponent was picking itself back up, Vergil scanned the area for anything he could use as an advantage. His eyes rested on the three story roof of of the establishment neighboring O'Connell's.

A light bulb clicked.

Praying that he had enough energy left, Vergil prepared to jump. He knew failure here probably meant death, not just for himself, but for a lot of people. He took a leap of faith. It felt a lot like being double bounced on a trampoline, that feeling when someone launches you way higher than you wanted and you have no control of your body. Vergil flailed his legs back and forth as his body sailed beyond the edge of the building. He missed. While planning the jump, he had been so worried about not having enough energy he hadn't taken aim into consideration. Instead of undershooting it, he had given himself too much energy, and shot himself straight upward. The only thing underneath his feet was the ground below.

He looked below to see Jerry lying in wait for Vergil's inevitable collision with the ground. Unable to alter his trajectory, Vergil attempted something risky. Before he hit the ground, he tilted his weight forward, so that when he land, Vergo; could roll forward transferring the force of the landing throughout his body. In the loosest definition possible, the plan succeeded. When his feet the ground, tremors rocked through the bones of his ankles and shins, and Vergil fell forward tucking into a clumsy roll that barely dodged the pounce of the mouse. Even with his body absorbing the energy of the impacts, he still felt the pain. His body couldn't take much more.

Vergil took aim, knowing this would probably be his last shot at getting it right. The launch felt smoother this time, his body already growing accustomed to a function that it had never been designed for. He still overshot the roof by a good five feet, but this time, it was in the right direction. The presence of the energy swirling inside of him was beginning to feel familiar and comforting. Vergil smiled. I've still got plenty left.

As he suspected, Jerry had taken things personally, and was attempting to scale the wall of the building Vergil now stood atop of. Vergil jumped. He assembled every ounce of the energy left in his body into his right foot. The foot aimed at the snout of the ascending mouse.

Recognition flashed across the creature's eyes, but by then, it was far too late. The energy stored in Vergil's body in combination with what he gained from the collision with Jerry's face, caved in its entire skull; the bones collapsing inward with a myriad of sickening crunches.

The pair continued downwards, propelled by the force of gravity and Vergil's rage. Concrete split from the sheer power of what amounted to a curb stomp from three stories high. When Vergil lifted his foot from the pulpy crater that had been Jerry's face, Vergil's shoe, unable to withstand the impact, sloughed off leaving behind a macabre amalgam of fabric, bone, and brain matter.

Foot slapping against the pavement, Vergil rushed to Saul's side, but not before calling to Albert to check up on the other figure in the alley. The big, heaving breaths from before had been replaced with weak, metered gasps of air. He knew the damage was bad, but Vergil hadn't been prepared for the extent of Saul's injuries. Rolls of intestine had been scooped carelessly from Saul's abdomen as if the viscera were secondary compared to the contents they protected. Vergil tried collecting them and putting them back in, but what was left was too shredded to be usable. In movies, intestines looked like they would be wet and slippery., but these had already started to dry in the cold night air, sticky with coagulated blood. It feels like barbecue sauce on my fingers.

Saul's eyes fluttered open, and despite everything, he tried to smile at Vergil. "I'm sorry kid."

"No, no, no don't be sorry, just save your energy. I'll get help. Everything will be fine," Vergil said hating the fact he didn't own a cell phone.

"I really planned on sticking around," he said, closing his eyes again, "Guess I screwed up, huh?"

"SOMEBODY HELP US!" Vergil shrieked. No, I screwed up. This is my fault.

Saul's hand clamped onto Vergil's wrist with a final surge of strength, "I love you Vergil, and I won't be the last one. You gotta listen to me now that I'm dying. Go help that other guy. It doesn't take a brain surgeon to tell I'm done for." He squeezed Vergil's wrist and let go.

Vergil opened his mouth to respond, to tell him how he felt, but he realized it was no use.

Saul Gutierrez' chest had stopped moving.

Memories hit Vergil like a tidal wave. Saul's bellows of fear mingled with Vergil's laughter right before the drop of The Desperado, the tallest rollercoaster in Nevada. The bitter taste of immune-boosting green smoothies in the morning. The three of them spending Christmas together exchanging presents, and watching Christmas movies together. We were almost a family that night.

Vergil felt tears start to run down his chin. He watched them splatter on Saul's still unmoving face, and for some reason, that just made the tears fall even harder. The more he tried to stop, the faster they came, until he felt big, racking sobs escape his lips. All he wanted to do was hug Saul.

Why didn't I ever hug him? He thought burying his face in his old friend's motionless chest.

"Vergil, I know this is rather poortiming, but we really must be going," Albert said nudging him with his nose.

"I can't just leave him here!" Vergil sobbed.

"Well, you certainly cannot stay here either. You've got the blood of another man up to your elbows, not to mention the inexplicable creature you managed to pulverize into oblivion. None of which you can explain away," Albert said his staring directly into Vergil's, "Now, let's make ourselves scarce."

"What about the other guy?"

"He appears to have suffered a nasty beating. and nearly eaten himself to death, neither of which were caused by that affront to nature. It's not anything the swiftly approaching authorities cannot handle. Your friend probably saved the man's life."

"Alright," Vergil said forcing himself into a standing position.

In that instant, the alleyway was awash in a blue and red glow. "Freeze! Whoever you are, put your hands above your head, and don't move another step!" a voice shouted from the direction of the street.

Vergil surged into motion, scooping up Albert and sprinting deeper into the alleyway. A deafening crack reverberated through tight corridors. Stinging pain flared in Vergil's back, right along with a massive influx of power. A metal tinkling, not unlike that of a coin dropping, sounded somewhere behind Vergil.

I've been shot.

Vergil massed as much energy as he could handle and leapt into the night sky, without any thought of what would happen next, as long as it took him far away.

SaintCole here,

I put you all through the long haul on this one. I don't know how you all felt, but I cried writing this. I may just be a bit emotional, but this hit me really hard. I've been planning to write this since the beginning and have been dreading it. I was happy with how the emotion turned out. 

Guys, will you please do me a solid and vote? Vote density really helps the book get noticed and it only costs you one click :)

  What did you guys think? I want to know opinions of all of it. Feel free to talk to me. I like an open discussion format. Glad you got this far! Thank you all so so so so so much.