Chapter 1 - Part 1

“It is your twenty first birthday, and we are totally celebrating it!” Jake was adamant about the matter of celebrating my birthday. He was desperate to have a party and get wasted. All he needed was a good excuse.

Jake bounced around my small apartment kitchen with an uncontrollable excitement. Cal, Jake's twin, sat at my small table. He sipped coffee and made streamers to hang from the ceiling. I didn’t know who they planned on inviting but not many people would fit in a tiny apartment like this.

“It’ll be fun, I promise. We told the others it was going to be a surprise, so just act like you knew nothing.” Jake insisted. I shook my head. There hadn’t been a single good memory of a birthday in years. Something always goes terribly wrong. One year cockroaches got into the cake, and in another, Jake crashed his car and was rushed to the hospital. The bad luck stories go on and on. There wasn’t going to be anything different about this year.

“Who did you invite?” I knew I wasn’t getting out of having a party no matter how superstitious I was about parties.

“Lots of people. I even invited this cute pixie I met the other day.” Jake said. I shook my head.

“They’re called Avians. If you insult her, she won’t go out with you.” Cal corrected without missing a beat. Avians weren’t so bad, and they were probably the most involved with human culture. They weren’t like dragons or wolves, who were all but recluses.

“She said it was cute when I called her a pixie,” Jake argued back. He launched himself up onto the counter and made a flapping gesture with his hands. “Her wings flapped wildly when I invited her to the coolest party of the year!” Jakes antics would keep going until I just gave in and let him throw the party.

“Alright, have the party. But when something goes terribly wrong, I’ll be right there to say ‘I told you so’.”

***

At first, the pain was just annoying enough to wake me from a half-drunken stupor. Before I knew it though, I found myself writhing in pain.

I rolled off the bed and straight onto the tile floor of my bedroom. I was begging for the tile to cool my fever. I tried to allow every inch of my skin access to the relief the cold tile gave me.

Was it a hangover? It had to be. Maybe I was overthinking how bad it hurt. This gut-wrenching feeling would pass eventually. I just have to hold on until then. The pain spread into my chest. I needed it to stop. I gripped my mid-section and screamed in pain.

The sensation was strange. It felt like something was in me, just waiting to burst out. An itch I couldn’t scratch. The feeling pooled in my chest and strained to escape.

The burning was the worse on my left arm and up onto my shoulder. It felt like my skin was being seared off. I couldn't move my hand other than the small spasms that happened without my control. It spread from my wrist, and slowly guided itself up my forearm. I didn’t want to look down. I was afraid of what I would see there.

When the scorching pain reached my back, I let out another gut-wrenching wail. Jake and Cal burst through the door of my bedroom and I let out a small whimper of pain. I lifted my head off the tile floor to try and say anything that sounded like words. Nothing but another weak whimper came out; it felt as if the words were choking me.

“He’s probably going to throw up from the hangover. Go get a bucket.” Jake ran to my side immediately, guiding my head into his lap. It felt far more comfortable than the floor. Cal was more hesitant, and stepped around my paralyzed arm to point at it. Was it a rash or something?

“Jake... his arm..." Cal’s voice faltered. I strained to listen to what my brothers said next. My entire head felt clogged up. My nose was stuffed which forced me to breath raggedly through my mouth. My hearing fades in and out and when I could hear, it was a loud ringing noise that pierced my ear drums. A twinge of pain struck my head and I cried out again.

"We have to get him out of here before he changes." Jake responded as he rubbed circles into my forehand. I didn’t like where this was going. Get me out of here? I was at home, wasn’t I? I tried to sit up unsuccessfully. My arms flailed around numbly until I gave up on moving.

My body writhed from the movement. I was starting to feel frustrated. I felt anger rattle through me. Why was this happening? Why couldn’t it just stop? I'd scream out, but my throat was closed up with what I’d imagine felt like a hand squeezing it shut. I was grasping for whatever I could to stay conscious; it was a losing battle.

"Should we call dad? Or the Wei family maybe? What should we do? Sam, hey, stay with us!" Cal was starting to freak out, his own voice going hysterical. Cal started slapping me in the face to keep me from going under. In the haze and confusion of my own mind, I was pretty sure I growled for him to stop doing that.

My heart pounded against my small chest, and I struggled to take air in. I wouldn't open my eyes anymore; my eyelashes felt glued down from the force of my exhaustion.

"The Wei family," Jake started, "they might be able to help."

Cal's footsteps got quieter as he ran toward the kitchen to grab his cellphone. I felt the invisible hand loosen around my throat for a few moments, and the rest of my body followed suit. I took in a deep breath, and for a moment, I thought I was going to be alright. All of my muscles relaxed, and the burning in my arm slowed to a feeling of pins and needles.

And then, the pain tripled.

The pain shot through my body like a slingshot from Hell. I was close to begging for death. I screamed until my throat closed down around my voice. My eyes blurred over as dark spots danced sardonically in my view. I couldn’t breathe, I couldn’t see, and I couldn’t concentrate on anything anymore. I started screaming just to hear something, anything to take my mind off of the pain.

I felt Jake slapping my face to wake my up, but I felt like I was underwater. I could hear his voice, and I could feel him shaking me, but it was distant. Far away. I sunk deeper and deeper into the depths of the cold water.