Friend in the Closet Chapter Four

Click here to read chapter one of Nolan's story.

Friend in the Closet

Chapter Four

   The morning came too early for Terry, when he woke up, it felt like he hadn’t slept a wink. Josh ended up being really happy that Terry went out for once, said it gave him character. Neither Terry nor Akane was sure what that meant.
   Terry rode the bus to school and had to sit through Ken’s assaults without Carl’s support. Apparently, he was sick and couldn’t come to school that day. Ken took this as a way to get to Terry even more. His attacks were relentless.
   At lunch, Ken decided to trip Terry. Terry’s food went all over his clothes. He was so pissed he thought about decking Ken right then and there, but the principle was standing nearby, so he restrained himself. Unfortunately, the principal didn’t see what Ken did and thought that Terry had just tripped. So Terry had to suffer Ken getting away with humiliating him in front of the entire school.
   When school got out, Akane greeted him and asked him how the day went.
   “Freakin perfect. Ken was relentless today,” Terry said as he sat down against a tree.
   “Did you deck him?” Akane asked.
   Terry shook his head. He looked to the right and saw Ken and Khan grinning at him. They were headed right for him. Khan was holding a pocket knife.
   “Run,” Terry said as he sprinted for his house.
   Akane was puzzled until he saw the duo sprinting for them. He picked up his pace and passed Terry. They took a right into an alley hoping to lose the two jackals, but they ended up trapping themselves. The alley was a dark and damp one. There was a trash bin wedged against the wall at the dead-end and a chain link fence with a gate at the entrance. Akane slammed the gate shut and motioned for Terry to get next to the bin.
   “Don’t jump in, just get next to it, you tard!”
   Akane ran to his side just as the two bullies reached the fence. They peered into the alley, not seeming to see them. Akane looked at Terry and smiled. Terry cocked his head and then his eyes widened with fear. He sneezed.
   The sound rang out like a shot from a gun, giving their position away like a signal flare. Ken and Khan grinned and kicked the gate open. They walked in, knowing full well that they had plenty of time.
   “What you gonna do now, Starboy?” Ken asked with a wicked grin on his face.
   “You already tried running, maybe your mommy will help you?” Khan waved the knife at Terry.
   Akane turned to Terry. “I’m going to knock the knife from her hand, I want you to go ham while they try to get the knife.”
   Terry nodded ever so slightly and Akane walked over. Khan looked right through Akane. Terry’s heart was thumping hard in his chest, he swallowed bile and frowned at Ken.
   “That’s all you do!” Terry screamed. “You just bully and bully and bully! You are so pathetic!”
   Aken mouthed, “Get ‘em.”
   Terry had every intention of that. “You’ve bullied me for far too long! I’ve been pushed around enough! I’m going to make you sorry you can breathe!”
   Akane took that as his cue. He smacked Khan’s wrist, causing the blade to fall. She looked around for the source of the smack, distracting Ken.
   This gave Terry the perfect opportunity. He rushed at Ken and jumped into the air, connecting his fist with Ken’s jaw. Ken’s face let out a sickening pop and his jaw sagged. He clawed at his face, screaming bloody murder.
   Terry turned to Khan and laughed. Akane was kicking around the knife, making it impossible for her to grab it. She was crawling on all-fours grabbing madly at it. Akane concluded his fun by kicking the knife down a drain.
   Khan watched it wash away and slammed the ground with a fist. “Ugh! How did that happen?” She turned to Terry with a look of terror. “Y-you’re a w-witch!” She stumbled backward and ran out of the alley, screaming for help.
   Akane walked over to Ken and observed his jaw. “You dislocated the sucker, all right. Nicely done.”
   Akane grabbed the jaw and popped it back into place, provoking another scream from Ken.
   “Why’d you do that?” Terry demanded.
   “Leaving him like that’s just cruel. We don’t want to stoop down to their level, now do we? Plus, I don’t think they’ll be bothering you ever again. Not with my being here, that is,” Akane grinned at Terry. “I’m so proud of you. You did it, now go get your backpack, you tard. You left it at the tree near the school.”
   “Where are you going?” He asked.
   “I’m going home, I’ll try and find the math homework you forgot today. Yea, I know about that,” Akane laughed as he ran out of the alley.

   Terry was so happy he didn’t know what to do. On the way to get his backpack, he skipped and bought himself some ice cream for the first time in forever. The taste was amazing and on the way back, he got some for Jennifer, he knew she’d like it. After picking some up, his dad rolled up in the truck. Terry smiled and waved at him.
   Josh laughed. “Figured I might find you here, my you look happy. What’d you do?”
   “I took care of that bullying problem I’ve had forever,” Terry said with a smile.
   Josh’s look darkened. “Did you hurt them seriously?”
   Terry shook his head as he got in the truck. “Nah, they’re fine, but they won’t be bothering me for a long time.”
   Terry noticed Jennifer in the back row of the truck and handed her her ice cream. Her eyes bugged out of her head and she thanked him repeatedly. He laughed and tousled her hair. She wanted to share some of it with him, but he told her he’d already had some and that this was a special treat.
   Jennifer smiled at him. “I love you, Terry.”
   “Aw, I love you too, sis,” he held her hand and smiled at her.
   That’s when he felt something was wrong. He looked at Josh and found Josh sweating and wide-eyed. Josh looked at Terry and shoved his head down, covering Terry’s body with his. A window shattered and Jennifer screamed. Then the impact hit. Glass flew everywhere and Jennifer stopped screaming. Terry doesn’t remember what happened, but I do.
I’ve been narrating this from a third person so far, but I think it’s necessary to switch now. I, Akane, was on top of the truck cap at the time. I was thoroughly enjoying the sunlight, when I saw the sports car careening down the road. I didn’t know what to do at first, and then remembered the people below me. I moved as quick as I could. I shattered the back window and pulled Jennifer out of the truck cab. The poor girl started screaming, but I didn’t show her myself. That would have only made things worse, but she still looked into my eyes. I don’t know what it was, but when she did that, she stopped screaming. I couldn’t explain it at the time, but I didn’t care. I wrapped my tail around her and went in for Josh. Then the car hit.
   Somehow, time stopped and I began to move faster, or at least that's what it felt like. I ripped Josh from the cab and flung him into the bushes next to the road. I threw Jennifer after him and then ducked in for Terry. I’ll never forget the sound of the metal colliding. It was like two metal chalkboard being scraped on at the same time by a knife. It was horrible. What was worse was seeing my human being crushed by metal. I almost didn’t save him. I wrapped my arms around Terry and launched myself through the air. I curled myself into a ball and let my body absorb the impact from the road. The pain was like nothing I’d ever felt before, and like nothing I’ve ever felt since.
   I don’t know how long we were laying there, but eventually Josh found us. He pried me off Terry and took both of us to the emergency room. I’m not sure how, but Josh could see me.
   By the time we got to the ER he realized that others couldn’t. So he only told them about Terry. I was bleeding profusely, so Josh took me into the bathroom and bandaged me as best he could in there.

   The next few days were a blur of pain and sleep. I remember waking up and seeing Terry lying in bed next to me, bandaged all over. The next time I woke, he wasn’t there. I managed to sit up after minutes of trying. I looked around to find myself in Terry’s room. I moaned and clutched my side to find it bandaged with bloody wrappings.
   “You’re awake, Mr. Monster,” came a voice from my right.
   I turned to see Jennifer sitting on Josh’s lap. She was smiling so warmly at me, and surprisingly enough, so was Josh. He was sitting in a new chair next to the bed.
   “How’re you feeling, Akane?” Josh asked.
   “I-I ache H-how do you know my name?”
   Josh chuckled softly. “Terry told me everything. I want to thank you for taking care of my son, I know he’s had to grow up so quickly, with his mom dying and my not being around all the time. It’s nice to see him acting like a normal teen now.”
   “He’s back to normal?” I asked, the ends of my mouth curling down.
   “Well, no, he’s never been normal, so this is a first. But, yes,” Josh answered.
   “Why do you have three eyes?” Jennifer asked.
   I smiled. “I have one eye for a different kind of sight. I can see in the dark with one, see heat with another, and see normally with another.”
   “That’s cool,” she said with amazement. She hopped onto the bed and gave me a hug. “Thank you for saving us, Mr. Monster.”
   I was overcome with feelings. I hugged her back, I've never been hugged before. I withdrew and smiled at her. Josh was smiling.
   “I would like to welcome you into our home, formally. If you want to stay, you can,” Josh offered.
   “St-stay? Like, as a part of your family?” I asked incredulously.
   Josh nodded. “It’s the least I can do for what you’ve done for us. If you don’t want to stay, that’s fine too.”
   “N-no, I’ll stay. I just can't believe it. In all my years, I’ve never been offered a home.”
   “You can be my new brother,” Jennifer said, smiling.
   “Is he awake yet?” Terry asked, entering the room.
   He saw me and stopped moving. His eyes watered and he ran over to me. I leaped off the bed and embraced him in a tight hug.
   “I thought you were dead,” he said, his voice cracking.
   “I thought you were all dead until I did something about it. I can’t believe I managed to do that.”
   “Neither can I,” he released me and looked at Josh. “Did you say he could stay?”
   Josh nodded.
   Terry sighed and frowned at me. “Now you’re stuck with me.”
   “Or you’re stuck with me,” I said with a genuine smile.

   The years following were the best of our lives. I helped them with their math and they helped me build a room for myself in the basement. Josh considered me a son and I was okay with that. I really didn’t know how to be a son, but he said I was good at it. Guess I was, because Terry kept telling me that I wasn’t going to take his place. We’ll just have to see about that.
   Now Terry’s twenty-six and he’s moved into his own house. That’s fine with me, I can move between the houses freely due to the closets. Terry’s thinking about walling off the closets in his house, but I know he’s messing with me. He better be.
   Josh is doing amazing. He’s the head of his own automotive shop now, “Josh’s Monstrous Cars”. You can thank a certain monster for that name. He’s put me as the heir of the shop, which is fine with me. I can’t wait to own a shop. I’ve perfected my human form, so that’s not a problem.
   As for Jennifer, she’s sixteen and needs my help now more than ever. Josh is wholeheartedly with me on this one. The problem is much different with her, she got boy problems. As in, she can’t decide which one to choose. Josh has made it pretty clear that if I ever let her choose one, I lose the company. So my job is pretty cut out for me.
   Akane the Monster is now Akane the Almost-Human. I’m fine with that change. I think the title’s great. Not that I can share it with anyone. My life has certainly turned out perfectly. I can die happy knowing that I helped raise a perfectly good young man and am helping a decent young lady. Anyway, Terry texted me just now and said that he wants to play some video games. Guess I gotta go whoop him again. This is Akane, and I am the Friend in the Closet.