The moment the van was opened, Faye was met with a dash of liquid that went straight into her eyes. The sudden cold spray blasted against her face, her breath catching violently in her throat as her heart thudded a frantic, shocked beat against her ribs.
"What the fuck.." Faye screamed as she moved backward, wiping her face.
Haley happened to be the one spraying Faye with disinfectant. She stood firm in the opening of the van, her grip tight on the plastic trigger while her chest rose in a sharp, protective wave.
"Sorry, Faye. Just making sure you won’t infect us with your Alpha germs..." Haley said. Her voice was flat, her eyes locking onto Faye while her lungs pulled in a cool, cautious draft of air.
"Alpha germs?" Faye said. Her jaw clenched tight into a hard line, her pulse boiling in her veins as her lungs expanded with a deadly, furious breath.
That girl was about to receive a punch when Sasha came in between them.
"Haley, I told you that she is not affected..." Sasha said, looking at her girlfriend, who was ready to empty the spray bottle. She let out a long, quiet exhale through her nose, trying to ease the sudden heat rising between them.
"But Faye, are you okay? You spent three whole days with a sick Alpha, kissing and doing all such of stuff....." Sasha said, just making sure. Her eyes searched Faye’s face, her chest rising and falling in a fast, concerned rhythm.
"Yes, I’m fine..... I can’t believe my private life can’t be mine... You better keep her out of my sight if you don’t want her to go to a hospital. She can share a bed with her sister there..." Faye said, her eyes on the girl behind Sasha.
And with that, Haley was excluded from the plan. She took a fast step backward, her posture locking up rigid while her breath came out in short, nervous puffs. She wasn’t convinced that Faye hadn’t caught a cold, and she was kind of a germaphobe. So she stayed behind along with Sasha because they were short of staff and needed her to watch the gym. Sasha nodded in quiet agreement, her own breathing settling down as she took Haley’s hand to guide her back inside the building.
So it was Malo, Faye, and Gary.
Malo was the one driving. Gary happened to be in the middle of them. He was handcuffed, scared that his powers would be activated and then he would vanish at the speed of light.
When Faye was home taking care of her girlfriend, her friends had been trying to get the fish out of the boy’s system. They had spent hours bent over him, their own breathing heavy and frustrated as they tried one ridiculous method after another. They overfed him, thinking maybe he was going to vomit the Speed Fish. They shoved plate after plate of heavy food into his face, Gary’s stomach bulging while his breath came out in tiny, suffocating whippers.
They gave him a laxative, thinking maybe he was going to poop the fish out.
But nothing came out. Gary had spent hours curled in a tight ball, his lungs letting out weak, exhausted groans while his body refused to release the glowing creature.
Then they took him to Pali for help. Pali knew nothing about the Beast Morphs, but he did his best. He prepared different kinds of concoctions, but nothing worked. The pink light kept faint pulses beneath his skin, completely untouched by Pali’s wild remedies.
So they thought maybe the Lycan Prince’s lawyer was going to do something about it, since they were the ones desperate for the Beast.
While they were heading to meet Mr. Bernardino Gerald at the location he had sent...
The quiet van was disturbed by a backstory..
"I used to be bullied every day in school..." Gary started his story, and the two did not look like they wanted to hear him but had no choice.
Faye wasn’t wearing her earbuds anymore, so she was all ears, and Malo pretended to be focused on nothing but the road.
"Focus on the road. There is nothing but the road..." Malo muttered to himself. He took a long, deep breath through his nose, his knuckles turning pale on the wheel while his pulse thundered a dull beat in his ears.
"Every morning when I woke up, I hated preparing for school. I told my parents I didn’t want to go to school, but they still dragged me anyway. School is the most important thing, a bright future awaits, but school... it’s full of monsters. I ate in the school toilet just so I could avoid my bullies, and whenever school was over, I would run as fast as I could so I wouldn’t bump into them. But this guy... he was fast, and he caught me and beat the shit out of me. That was when I decided to buy something to make me as fast as possible. This neighbor of mine took me to this underground tunnel, and that was how I got the fish. I’m not a bad guy. I just wanted to be fast so I wouldn’t come home with bruises." Gary explained, his chest heaving with emotional, ragged gasps as the memories flooded back, his shoulders trembling under the handcuffs.
"You should have chosen the Mantis Shrimp and beaten the shit out of those bullies..." Faye said. It turned out she had been pulled into the conversation. Her eyes flared with a sudden, protective heat, her chest expanding with a sharp, angry breath as she leaned in closer.
"Yes, she is right. One freaking punch would have sent them flying..." Malo added. He nodded his head firmly, his focus breaking for a second as his heart beat a fast, enthusiastic cadence.
"I would have, but it cost 70 million dollars, and I only had 20..." Gary whimpered softly, his posture sinking deeper into the middle seat as he let out a small, embarrassed huff.
"So your parents gave you that much money, and they couldn’t do something about you being bullied?" Faye said. Her brow furrowed tight into a line of pure confusion, her pulse skipping a beat as she stared at him.
"I did not tell them. I was scared that if I did and they reported it to the school, it would make my situation worse. And the money was just an investment in crypto. Two years ago I bought Rollo Coin for 20 dollars, and then late last year it spread like wildfire..." Gary revealed, his voice steadying just a bit as his breathing turned a little lighter.
"Rollo Coin... why do I have a feeling that I have heard that name somewhere?" Faye said, trying to remember where she had heard the name Rollo.
"Wow, that’s cool. Faye, should we invest in the coin too? Maybe we will be richer than..." Malo glanced at Faye and stopped talking. His breath locked straight up in his throat, his heart skipping a violent beat as he caught the deadly, unblinking glare in her eyes.
He faked a cough and continued focusing on the road, chanting...
"When we finish what we are doing and the fish is out of your system, I will help you punch the shit out of those bastards." Faye declared flatly, her chest swelling with a strong, decisive breath that left zero doubt in the air.
"Really?" Gary said with excitement.
"Yeah... you look like a chill guy. Malo 2.0." Faye teased softly, a tiny smirk touching her lips as her posture relaxed against the seat.
"Excuse me..." Malo voiced out. He snapped his head sideways for a split second, his chest heaving with offended, indignant breaths as his jaw dropped wide open.
"No one can be my version. I am my own version... number 1..."
"Oh, shut up and focus on the road..." Faye said. She flicked her hand dismissively, her lungs letting out a short, amused huff through her nose.
Then she reached out for her notebook. Her fingers unzipped her bag with quick, fluid motions, her pulse beating a steady, focused rhythm as she flipped the paper open.
"So tell me their names. I’m adding them to my punching list..." Faye commanded, holding her pen ready while her chest rose and fell in a calm, lethal wave.