“Hey.”
Someone was shaking him.
“Hey, are you alright?”
Xander groaned as pain bolted into his shoulder, and then his ass. “Ow.”
“Good, you’re awake.”
He blinked a few times, allowing his vision to come into focus. He was lying on the sidewalk, and someone was standing over him. He quickly tried to sit up.
“Hey, hey, take it easy, man. Did you hit your head?”
Xander could see that the person was a heavily muscled guy about his own age, with bronzed skin and a shaved head. “No, my head’s okay,” he replied. Resuming his efforts to sit, he looked around and saw that his bag of food was miraculously still intact, save for one pizza, which had escaped the bag and its box and was sitting on the ground, already collecting a coating of ice. Satisfied that, though he would miss that pizza, he wouldn’t have to return to the food court, he turned his attention back to the guy standing next to him. He was wearing all black clothing with a somewhat military feeling to it, and something slightly familiar about him made Xander a bit uneasy. He gingerly climbed to his feet, trying not to grab his throbbing behind.
The guy was staring at him with a furrowed brow, looking him up and down. Xander blushed under his scrutiny, hoping he hadn’t seen him fall on his ass like an idiot. But how had he fallen? He remembered the stench of sulfur, and then…
“You’d better come with me,” the guy told him.
“What? Why?”
“Do you remember what happened?”
“I…I just slipped and fell…on the ice,” he fibbed. He did remember that bizarre little thing trying to climb up his leg and scratch him, but he wasn’t going to tell this random guy that he was hallucinating creatures trying to attack him.
“We both know that’s not what happened. And you’d definitely better come with me. You’ve been bitten. I can see it.”
“What?” Xander repeated, bewildered.
“Come on, I’ll explain on the way back.” The guy strode towards the street, making it look as easy as if the sidewalks were bone dry. Xander gathered up his food and hobbled after him, trying to ignore the bruise he was sure was spreading across his butt.
“You’re Xander, I take it.” The guy had opened the passenger door of a huge black Jeep and was gesturing for him to get in.
But Xander stopped dead. Now he knew why the guy seemed familiar. He was wearing the same type of clothing that that redheaded girl who had made fun of him a while ago had been, and he shared a hint of her fire-like scent. “I’m fine, man. Thanks for checking on me, but I’m fine,” he said decisively, turning away.
“Shit,” the guy breathed. “Hey!” He jogged over to Xander. “Look, dude, you’ve got to get this checked out. The poison won’t kill you, but you might wish that it had, in your condition.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Xander insisted. “Nothing bit me.”
“Pull up your left pants leg and look at the inside of your ankle.”
Xander just gaped at him.
“Fine.” He reached down and yanked at Xander’s jeans, and Xander saw an ugly yellow-ringed bump on his skin. He felt strangely dizzy.
“What the…”
The guy grabbed Xander’s arm and began leading him back to the Jeep. “My name is Darshan, and I apologize that we are being introduced under these less than favorable circumstances. I will take you back to our house and see if Ling can help you. Callisto should not be there, she is also out on patrol. I hope.”
Xander hefted himself into the Jeep, growing increasingly panicky as his head swam and his stomach growled.
“You’d better eat that,” Darshan told him as he buckled himself into the driver’s seat. “You’ll want to have something in your stomach when Ling gives you the remedy.”
He blushed, realizing that he was still clutching his bag of food with a protective ferocity that probably wasn’t necessary under the circumstances. “That’s okay…”
“No, truly, Xander,” Darshan maintained, “you will thank me later for insisting. Please, eat.”
The vehicle came to life with a roar, and they peeled out, somehow not sliding on the ice. Darshan continued explaining things to him as he drove while Xander pretended to eat. He knew that the act of tasting, chewing, and swallowing would have calm him a bit, as it always did, but he couldn’t let Darshan see just how much food he considered “dinner.” He had never been very comfortable eating in front of others, and found his distress increased by the simple fact that this person was an acquaintance of the red-haired girl, who had so discomfited him.
“Ling is our resident healer: I promise you, she will have you good as new in no time,” Darshan was saying. “Callisto, as I said, will be out on patrol, and Kenryk will be there, as well. He is our, ah, information specialist, I suppose. Have you ever seen that sort of thing before?” he suddenly changed the subject.
Xander tore his gaze away from the grease that was leaking through the papers his cheeseburgers were wrapped in. Sheriece had given him six of them. “What sort of thing?”
“The thing that attacked you.”
“Well…I think…maybe…there might have been something kind of like that in my room this afternoon…”
Darshan looked at him closely, causing Xander to blush yet again. “And what did you notice about it?”
“Um…well…it was small, about as big as a basketball…moved really fast…and it was kind of fuzzy, or blurry. Hard to focus on, I guess. And it reeked like sulfur.”
His expression lit up, somewhat shocked. “So you did smell it, then? And you saw it, too? Do you smell everything, truly?”
“I…don’t know what you’re talking about,” Xander replied, shaking his head and shifting his bulk uncomfortably. “Of course I smell things.”
“Not everyone catches scents the way you do, Xander. You perceive the very essence of things through your nose!” He gave an astonished laugh, and continued, “And I’m quite impressed that you see it, as well, with no aid whatsoever. You’re quite talented, you know.”
But Xander had lost his ability to concentrate on anything but the way his waistband was digging into his soft flesh. What if I’m too big for the Jeep, he wondered irrationally. What if I’m too heavy, and I pop the tire? What if he’s taking me somewhere to put me on display so everyone can laugh at the big fat whale? What if…
His worries were interrupted as Darshan turned into a driveway in front of an ancient-looking Victorian house and killed the engine. He hopped out and came around to the passenger side and opened Xander’s door. Xander just stared at him in horror. He could see Darshan laughing at him. He knew that any second, he was going to start hollering for everyone to come look at the fat kid, to poke and prod him and giggle at the huge sack of food he was holding, to burst into hysterical guffaws over the ill-fitting state of his clothing. “No…please, don’t…” he whispered, trying to shrink himself back into the seat.
“Damnit,” Darshan muttered, “it’s begun. Ling! Kenryk! I need help!” he called.
Xander’s vision had lost focus, and all he could see were swirls of light and color as two others emerged from the house and helped Darshan drag Xander into the house. By the time they had him seated on a couch, he was whimpering in terror, certain that at any second they were going to strip him naked and film him for the whole college to see. He clutched his food tighter, for surely they would take it away from him and never let him eat again, because he didn’t deserve to eat at all, did he?
“Drink this,” a soothing voice interrupted his panicked thoughts. A porcelain mug was pressed into his hands, the liquid inside emitting an acrid stench. He looked up at the small, pretty face in front of him. “Drink this,” she repeated. “It’s alright. It will make you feel better.”
He downed the liquid in one gulp and immediately began coughing.
“Ling, he’s probably going to throw it up. Why can’t you make your remedies taste better?”
“Adding things to improve the taste usually decreases the effectiveness, Ken. We’ve been over this. And I don’t see you complaining when I give you a hangover cure.”
Xander’s vision slowly came back into focus, and he saw that he was sitting in a vast, dimly-lit living room, surrounded by Darshan and two other people. A short, thin guy with close-cropped brown hair was standing next to Darshan, his arms crossed and a curious expression on his face. The girl who had given him the mug was kneeling in front of him, watching his face closely. She had a slim, willowy form, and silky dark hair tied back from her face. She smiled at him.
“Good, it’s starting to work already. You’ll still feel upset for a little while, but it will go away. Just try to relax while I take a look at this bite.” She reached for his ankle, but Xander flinched away.
Please, don’t touch me, he thought, please. I can’t…not a doctor…she’ll make me get on the…
“It’s alright, Xander. I’m not a doctor. I promise I won’t make you get on a scale,” she soothed. Darshan and Kenryk exchanged a look at that. “I just want to take a look at your ankle, okay? Just your ankle,” Ling continued.
After a few moments, he gingerly held out his leg so that Ling could look at it. His mind was clearing, but he still felt incredibly paranoid. Ling’s fingers on his skin were causing him to shiver, even though his rational mind knew that she was only trying to help. He tried to concentrate on his breathing to calm himself, and listening to the girl’s gentle voice.
“You’re lucky, Xander,” she told him. “It looks like it only scratched you with its teeth. If it would have sunken its teeth in, we would have a much harder time getting the venom out. But I think that the tea I gave you should take care of it. I’ll put a poultice on this bite just in case, to draw out any additional venom that might still be there. You should be fine in about an hour.” She smiled at him as she rose, and then left the room.
The shivering had stopped, and he could feel his panic ebbing. He glanced around the room, taking in the elaborate décor. Thick velvet curtains swathed the windows from floor to ceiling, blocking out the lights from the street, and sumptuous fabrics and throws covered the furniture, which was incredibly comfortably. He made a conscious effort to relax his strained muscles and closed his eyes, still trying to slow his labored breathing with the scents of amber and sandalwood wafting through the air of the house.
“Is he asleep?” he heard Kenryk whisper a few moments later.
“I’m not sure…I think so,” Darshan replied quietly.
“What the hell was that all about?”
“The venom, Ken. You know how it works.”
“One of his worst fears is getting on a scale?”
Darshan sighed as Xander tensed a bit. “Well, it appears so. Being as…large…as he is, he’s probably had a very difficult time with doctors scolding him for his weight. And it seems that he thought Ling was a doctor.”
“Well, I guess that makes sense. But I mean…he’s…hasn’t he ever…you know, tried anything?”
Xander had had enough of this line of conversation. He opened his eyes and moved to rise from the couch. “Thank you for everything, but I really have to get going now,” he said.
Kenryk jumped a bit as he and Darshan turned to Xander. “Oh, please, do stay,” Darshan pleaded. “I would very much like to discuss your, ah, talent. I think that we could be quite a bit of help to one another.”
“Look, I really don’t know what you’re talking abou-“
Ling interrupted him as she entered with a steaming porcelain bowl in her hands. “Here we go, Xander,” she said with a smile. “This should draw out any remaining venom and help the wound to heal. Please, sit down.”
He reluctantly lowered his mass back onto the couch, sighing as he inhaled the herbal-scented vapors rising from the bowl. “I usually hate fennel, but that smells pretty good,” he remarked as Ling placed the warm poultice on his ankle. “It smells almost…happy,” he said as an afterthought.
The girl looked up at him, a peculiar expression on her face. “I charged it with healing energy,” she told him. “So it’s true, you can smell energies. Amazing.”
Xander frowned.
“That’s precisely what I’m talking about, Xan-“
“Shit,” Kenryk muttered. “Cee’s in the driveway.”
“What?” Darshan exclaimed in dismay. “How did you miss her?”
The guy turned a disgusted expression to the ceiling. “She shielded. She knew that he was here, and she didn’t want us to know she was coming so she could see him.”
“I’d really like to leave now,” Xander insisted as he removed the poultice, rose, and headed for the door.
“Unfortunately, I think that may be a good idea,” Darshan admitted. “I’ll take you to the front door; Cee always comes in the back way.”
“Too late…” Ken said as they heard a door slam.
Xander froze as he heard footsteps behind him.
“Aww, leaving so soon, Pudge? I just got here.”
With a slight cringe, he turned to face her. Cee, or Callisto, or whatever her name was, was standing in the kitchen doorway. She looked gorgeous. Clad in her usual black leather, her bright hair fell around her face like a flame, and her skin was glowing from the night air. Her fiery scent reached his nostrils, and Xander gulped.
“He actually was just leaving, Callisto,” Darshan explained. “He’s all patched up now.”
“Sad that it took a bite from a Fuom to get him here,” she said with a pout. “He wouldn’t come when I invited him. Why don’t you stay a while, Pudge? I see that you brought food for everyone. Oh, sorry, my bad – that’s just your dinner, isn’t it?”
Xander slipped the sack of food he was holding behind his back as he felt blood rush to his face. Why is she doing this to me? he wondered angrily.
“Cee – “ Ling began, “why don’t you help Ken redo the perimeter? It’s Wednesday, it’s probably weakening.”
“But I’d really like to sit down with Pudge here and have a little chat,” she said, grinning wickedly.
“He’s leaving.” Darshan folded his arms and glared at the girl. “Please go help Ken before you cause any more trouble.”
“What? What did I do?” she said innocently. Ken grabbed her by the arm and dragged her back into the kitchen. “Bye, Pudge! See you soon!” she called behind her.
It was still sleeting as Darshan led Xander out of the house and back to the Jeep. They rode in silence for a short while before Darshan began to apologize. “I am truly sorry for Callisto. She just doesn’t understand –“
“What the fuck is her problem?” Xander blurted out, clutching his food to his round belly as he stared out the window.
“I…I’m very sorry, Xander. She just…she doesn’t really have a brain-to-mouth filter. She doesn’t think before she says things. I truly apologize if she made you uncomfortable.”
Xander sighed, but said nothing.
They pulled up to Xander’s dorm, and he didn’t ask Darshan how he knew which one he lived in. “If you would be agreeable to it, I’d love to talk with you about your abilities. The four of us also have similar skills, and I think that we could learn quite a lot from each other. We can meet on neutral ground, just you and I. No Callisto. What do you say?”
After a few moments, Xander agreed, thanked Darshan for his help, and got out of the Jeep into the freezing rain.
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