Zendure

There was zero taste to the liquid in the dreadfully decorated unicorn glitter mug in my hands, but I pretended it was the greatest cocoa I’ve ever had. Silently observing the girls sprawled in the room. Some on the floor comparing nail colors, two new groupies bouncing excitedly comparing their magazines, and others among the beanbags and pillows listening to music and making beaded bracelets. A well placed laugh, or forced smile when they looked at me or asked for an opinion and I was still treated as part of the group. Even though my heart raced, threatening to burst out of my ribs. They were all acting like it was all normal, just another weekend after the long classes at school. Standing with a stretch and a dramatic yawn, knowing I was at my social limit. Minor protests were silenced as I raised my cup and motioned to the kitchen as if I was to get more of the tasteless sludge. I backed into the door a moment before it went flying open, Adin bursting into the room screaming, soon everyone was yelling. May grabbed me and covered my ears as she tried to check on me as I had landed flat on my face at her feet.

“They’re Real!” Everyone screeched again, my hand squeezed over the pair already on my ears. The world was violently shaking, and stars entered my vision. A moment and a few more girls beside me helping me to the window seat. After the commotion settled, everyone gathered between me and Adin. She paced in the doorway watching us as she waited for the spotlight again. “Did you hear me? They’re real!” May waved her hands at her before grabbing my face and adjusting my bangs behind my ear, waiting for me to give her a nod that I was fine. Sure, I felt silly sitting in my overly baggy pajamas now soaking in the leftover cocoa.

There was a moment of peace and calm when everyone turned to stare at the girl in the doorway, shifting from my embarrassment. May had held onto my hand with a light squeeze, the rest of the girls sitting by my feet with napkins, a blanket, and someone was offering a sweater as Adin cleared her throat. “Oh fine, we’ll play. What’s real? The Zodures? Ha, Ha.” The air felt tense at the mention of them, the monsters that now plagued the world. My heart instantly thrashed, my mind fritzed out and made focusing very difficult. I could hear my heart bashing inside my chest, breathing heavy enough for May to turn her gaze with a worrisome look painted on her porcelain face.

“Yes! I know where one is too!” All the girls snapped back to Adin with a buzz of excitement and fear, small murmurs and exchanged looks. “I saw it with my own eyes, and I’m not the only one!” As if in a practiced unison the room gasped and fell silent. Just as Adin wanted, hanging onto her every word like starving babes and she held the only nurishment. As I just started to regain my composure, breathing steady and my heart quietly pacing, she snapped a bony finger at me, that evil grin spreading across her face, threatening to expose her snake-like teeth inside her venom spewing mouth. “Nyx knows exactly what I mean.” All eyes turned to me, but none of excitement, every face was in twisted horror, each pair of eyes bright with terror and fear.

Did she know? How? I was so careful. Wasn’t I?

I could feel my pulse soar as May pulled her hand away from mine. Of course they believed Adin. She was among the smartest in the school, she held the most influence in the gossip of our age.

But how did she know? This has to be a bluff? No, not with something this dangerous or big.

She knows about the creatures. There was a huge uproar when they first showed up, hunting anything like it was sport. It began when something snapped 8 summers ago, the animals fought back. News bulletins flashed through my head as the group just stared at me.

“Buck butchers hunters in their cabin.”

“K-9 unit decimates prisoner yard.”

“Zoo escapees tear apart cities.”

“Safaris turned to rescue missions.”

“The rise of the Animal Kingdom.”

“Treaties fail as animals eliminate 80% of the human population.”

There was a settlement where humans found sanctuary, and the animals agreed to it. Then the rumors and conspiracies started, a new animal was emerging. The people called them Zodures, a hybrid of human and animal. The thing that made them so terrifying, is that they were supposedly shapeshifters with a drive to kill. Everyone swore at first they were just rumors, but more and more young people were disappearing. Both the human youth and the animal cubs. Some were found, but nobody who went missing returned alive. The Zodures were the ones everyone began to blame. Everyone was afraid to be outside, to be alone, to be the one to find out if they really existed.

I was still frozen in place as May shakily reached her hand toward me, her voice full of fear but trying to be soft and comforting. My best friend was afraid of me, she had known me my whole life. “Is it true?” My heart was painfully beating against my ribs, any moment I’d black out and that may be enough for confirmation… Was this really how everyone was going to find out that-

“You’ve all seen him too!” Almost another perfectly unison scream as Adin brought out her phone and on the screen was a pair of bronze glistening abs cut off just at the waist and shoulders. “How else do you explain how much of a BEAST that brother of hers is!” With that the room was in a frenzy of young girls screaming over how my brother was the hottest boy in school. I was still frozen in place, not even sure if I was breathing anymore. May giggled with the girls for a moment before she noticed me again. Concern covered her face as her hands took mine again. The room was hazy and all the colors melded with the sounds of the girls. Screeches shifting to soaring vultures in my mind and wolves roaring at my feet.

“Adin, that’s not something to joke about!” May gently pulled me to my feet, taking our sweaters from the dresser. Even the sour face she made as she pushed Adin to the side so she could lead me out the door brought me no comfort. “You can all be disgusting as much as you want, I’m going home, and so is poor Nyx. You should be ashamed, if anyone is an animal it’s you Adin.” My heart was drowning out all the sounds.

The light dimmed as the front door closed; May walked with me through the street. I could see her breath in the air as her lips moved; I saw her hand making motions. I assume she was trying to calm me down, but it was too late. My focus was already slipping away, watching my best friend lead me on, through the path we always took to get home. The moon caressed her face as we made it to the woods that lead almost directly around the lake and to our neighborhood.

We had a spot, as most friends do, we always stopped at the same overturned car; half sunken into the edge of the mud. Tonight was no different as we were creatures of habit. I sat in the tirewell, my cushion still here after so many years, but never taking my eyes off of May. She mouthed ‘Sorry’ then I assume she laughed. Like watching a show on mute at midnight in your room after your parents had told you time and time again to go to sleep, I heard nothing. There was no crunch of leaves or twigs nearby, nothing to warn us of the danger that hung in the foggy air. She made a fist and a circular motion over her chest; ‘Sorry.’ I finally saw her again, like a snapshot burning into my brain. Her pale skin almost glistened in the moonlight poking through the leaves of the willow branches around us. Her tall, slightly large muscular frame outlined on the reflecting water as she picked up a stone from our skipping stash. As always she kissed the smooth rock with soft rosy lips, leaving a lipstick stain behind. She whispered, making a wish on the rock, before she twirled as if time itself slowed down. The freckles outlined her cheeks as just below her green emerald eyes. Another turn, now holding her arm ready to throw her wishing stone, her flowing long brown hair like dying vines in the wind. One last swirl, the rush of energy as her smile flashed, stilling my heart as her eyes met mine. The rock soared across the still surface of the water, and the shadows descended upon us before the first ripples broke. The image of her eyes burned into my memory as the shock froze onto the soft features on her face. My heart was as calm as the dispersing trickle of waves at her feet.

She laid in my arms, dullness encasing her once vivid eyes, even her skin was losing its usual warm touch. I touched her cheek once more as her lifeless head rested on my palm. I could only watch as the blood trickled down her face from her eyes. Time passed, unaware until the sun threatened to engulf the sky as it approached the horizon. The water was still once more, even with the blood mixing along the pebbles that made up its border. I set her gently onto the soft grass, her cold stillness replacing the lively memories we shared. A quick glance around, there were no tacks except for May’s, someone would find her. Always thought she’d truly be my friend forever, but with one last glimpse, turning away as the lake creatures dragged her corpse into the depths. Even as I made my way home, my stride was soft enough to leave no marks. The only evidence was the blood I wiped from my chin, dusting the scales from my hands as I shifted back to human form, but even those evaporated as they shed. I kept on the path home, my heart rate finally a steady pace, the fuzz in my brain cleared for the first time this month. The only thought that fit in my head anymore, was the same one that brought me peace.

At least nobody really knows the truth. There aren’t actually that many Zandures. Just me.