Thirteen days before his fourteenth birthday, Marx Kohler began to feel like something was very wrong. Horrible nightmares disturbed his sleep; every night he had dreams of evil things and darkness. He was starved for something he couldn't find. During the days preceding his birthday, the feelings and dreams got stronger, more vivid, and harder to ignore. He couldn't sleep, he couldn't relax. He decided to consult Tamara, his best friend, seven days later.

"Tamara?" Marx called, poking his head around the door of their secret hideout: and old, abandoned shed in the forest. "Yeah?" She said, opening the door wider and pushing her long, dark hair with pink highlights out of her face. She nudged something behind a box with her foot before Marx could see it. "I need to talk to you. It's important. Really, really important." He said, keeping his voice low for reasons he couldn't explain.

Tamara nodded and moved aside to let him in. They both pulled an old orange crate to the middle of the shed and sat down facing each other. "What is it?" Tamara asked. Marx took a deep breath. "Did you feel really weird before your fourteenth birthday? Like, ridiculously weird?"

Tamara tilted her head to the side and thought for a moment. "No, honestly I did not. I felt the same before and after. Why? Is something wrong?"

"Yes, you could say that." Marx said, looking down and scuffing his shoe on the floor, leaving streaks in the dust. "First off, I feel like everything is full of static electricity. Whenever I touch anything, my fingers tingle and sometimes I even get zapped. It happens with metal, wood, plastic, even people. Do you know what's going on?"

"...No, I've never heard of anyone feeling like that before. Did you try looking it up...?" She said slowly, her hazel eyes wide and full of worry and concern. Tamara was one of the most caring people Marx knew.

"Yes, and I didn't find anything that matched. I'm worried." He swallowed, then continued. "That's just the first bit, though. It gets worse."

"I've been having these horrible nightmares of this huge, shadowy creature with thirteen eyes. It's always deep underground, and it speaks to me and tells me all these horrible things, and then it takes me and bursts through the surface of the Earth and starts killing all these people, and I know their faces and their names. It's horrible, honestly. Much worse than my descriptions." Marx pointed to the shadows under his eyes. "Look, see, I haven't been sleeping well for days."

Tamara furrowed her brow and thought for a moment. "Have you told your mom?" She asked quietly. Marx shook his head. "No, I'm worried she'll take me to the doctor's and they'll say I'm crazy. I'm not crazy, right?" He grabbed handfuls of his jet black hair and mimed pulling it out, crossing his eyes and making a face. Tamara laughed.

"Of course you're not crazy, Marx! If you were, I would know. Really." Marx smiled, somewhat reassured. "Well, is there anything else, then, or is that all?" Tamara asked. Marx's smile faded. "Nope! On top of being constantly electrocuted and never sleeping, I'm always starving." The way he said starving sent a chill up Tamara's spine.

"That's a normal teenager thing, doofus." Tamara smirked. "I know you had to miss a month of Health Class, but this should be common sense. Maybe it's just your entire body turning against you."

Marx groaned loudly. "Don't you dare bring puberty into this. Just no." He stood up and began pacing back and forth, raising clouds of dust. "Really, though, I need you to be serious; this is beyond weird. I honestly can eat a huge meal and feel full and starving at the same time. What's wrong with me?" He stopped pacing to stare at Tamara with worry in his eyes.

"Okay, first things first: stop pacing and sit down." Marx did as he was told. "Now, I'm going to be your doctor for a few minutes. Okay, tell me exactly when this started."

"Exactly one week ago, right when I woke up."

"Alright. Has it gotten worse or better or stayed the same?"

"Worse..."

"And has this ever happened to you before?"

"No."

"Then you're telling your mother. If you're sick, I want you to get better as fast as possible because you still have to complete your end of our deal and clean my room."

"Is that the only reason?" Marx frowned.

"Nah, I'm just kidding. You're my best friend, idiot, of course I want you better." Tamara said, punching him lightly on the arm. Marx's arm flinched back like he'd been zapped.

"There, see? There was a spark. You haven't been touching anything that had static electricity, I know that." Marx said, standing up. Tamara stood up as well and thought for a moment. "Very strange. You'd better go," She said. Marx nodded.

"Can you come with me? It's just... My mom has been acting really weird towards me lately and I don't know how she'll react." Marx said, looking down. "Alright, sure..." Tamara said and gave Marx an odd look.

"What?" He asked.

"Nothing." Tamara said. "It's a weird day for us both, eh?" She smiled and grabbed Marx's wrist, dragging him out the door and towards his house. "Don't worry, I'm sure you're fine."