NGRI

  "Stupid prick!" Evan roared as he punched Cody again. "Who do you think you're messing with?!" he
yelled again as he delivered another punch. "I didn't ask for you to give me the money, I demanded it!".
Cody felt another hit to his nose. He was battered and dripping with blood. The rest of Evan's friends
were laughing like a bunch of maniacs. They were all 13, except for Cody who was 12, yet had the
behavior of utter psychopaths. Another strike and Cody was let go. Evan gritted his teeth and started
kicking the boy. "Fucking peasant!". Evan searched Cody's pockets and got all of his lunch money out.
"15 bucks? You really aren't worth it." he said as pocketed the cash. Evan snapped his fingers and the
rest of his gang came by his side. They walked away from the unconscious boy and left him there to bleed out.

  As to be expected, the principal and the teacher, both absolute assholes, gave him detention for
'skipping' classes and didn't bother with helping him out despite his ravaged face. Cody's school life was
the same as it always has been. Beatings, mockings and boredom. He didn't understand why. He did
suffer from something though. When he was younger, his archenemy, Evan, gave him a massive
concussion. His skull was cracked open and nearly died from the blood lost and trauma. The one time
anyone cared about him, as the doctors managed to save him. His brain suffered irreparable damage. He
began to hallucinate, to hear things, to have anger issues and to suffer from 'episodes' when he would
snap and start to do things he wouldn't usually do. He tried his best to be optimistic, to be a good kid,
but even he had a limit.

  Despite his awful school life, his home life was pretty good. His dad wasn't around much, always
busy with work, though his mom and brother were always ready to listen to his complaints. His mother
would comfort him, while his brother would suggest some activities to distract him like football. Cody
still dreaded the days he would have to return to school.

  One night, he was reading his favorite comic book. It was one about a pizzeria with killer robots.
The main characters were a mass of wires with a hook hand and an endoskeleton wearing a mask.
Together, they fought criminals and other creatures. The closet door creaking made Cody petrified with
fear. All of the lights went out, with only the moon providing any illumination. After a few seconds, the
door was swung open by a freakishly long arm that ended with long clawed fingers. Cody screamed at
the top of his lungs and put his blanket over his face. Heavy footsteps rang out as a tall feminine figure
came out. She towered over everything in Cody's room. She was hunched over so much that her spine
looked like it could snap at any moment. She sighed at the frightened Cody and sat on her knees, causing
a mini earthquake when she did. The entire house shook and some pictures of Cody and his family fell
off. Cody's body shivered as the figure opened her mouth wide. It was obscured by darkness, but he
could see insect-like legs flailing around. The thing's jaw was covered in rows upon rows of sharp teeth,
some even coming out of her gums.

  "Is that the scary monster you're afraid of?" she asked with her mouth still open. Cody was taken
aback by her cheerful tone. The monster made a gesture with her fingers and the lights came back on.
Cody saw a robotic woman kneeling before his bed. Her arms and fingers were elongated and her face
was off-putting. It wasn't because she wasn't expressive, it wasn't because she was too expressive.
Her lips were bright red and her eyes were a deep shade of purple. Her hair was tied up in blue
pigtails. She had rosy cheeks, an orange tutu with bells. Her eyes were mostly white with 2 large black
dots in the middle.

  Cody felt bile build up in his stomach. His heart beat out of his chest and tears fell down his face.
"Oh, dear." the woman said. "Don't cry, little one. I'm here to help you!" she said while spreading her
arms wide. Cody had a puzzled look on his face. "Who are you?" he asked meekly. The woman
smiled as widely as she could, revealing dozens of perfectly white teeth."Oh, I'm your fairy godmother!
Well, less of a fairy, but you get the idea, Cody." Cody's interest was boosted when he heard her say
his name. "Wow! And what is it that you do, fairy godmother?" The woman closed her eyes and
giggled. "Oh, please call me Cherie. And my quest is to help you with anything your heart desires!".
Cody thought for a second. "Um...I can't think of anything right now, sorry." Cherie rolled her eyes
with a smile. "Cody. You didn't do your homework!"

  Cody blushed and scratched the back of his head. "Yeah, I forgot." Cherie put her hands on her
hips and raised her eyebrows. "I'm not gonna let you get a bad grade. Time for some homework." Cherie
made a few random gestures with her fingers and Cody felt a shock through his bones. It wasn't
painful, just startling. He stood up and walked over to his desk. It felt like strings being attached to his
body. None of his movements were his and he was unable to stop himself. He opened his math book
and got a pen out of his backpack.

  Cherie crawled over to Cody and looked over the equations. "Hmmmm, math. I see. I might be a
bit rusty at it, sorry for that, dear." Cherie raised her arms and Cody began to rapidly write down the
answers. He wasn't sure if they were correct, but he wasn't going to doubt the mystical giant fairy from
the closet. After a mere 10 seconds, the homework was done. Cody sat there in awe." Wow! Thank you,
Mrs. Cherie!" The fairy's rosy cheeks began to glow and she put her hands around her face. "Oh! You're
welcome!" she said as she patted Cody on the head. Her hand was massive so it covered most of his
face. Her hands were bizarre as well. They looked metallic but they were warm like a human being's.
Whatever Cherie was, she was indeed organic.

  Cody looked over his notebook's answers sheet. As to be expected, it was all correct. "So what do we
do now?" asked Cody. Cherie thought for a second before snapping her fingers. "Well dear, we might as
well do everything so we can have more time to play!" she announced, quickly following it with a
giggle. While Cody was writing the answers at a breakneck pace, his mind started to wonder. Cherie
was being very loud, yet his parents and brother didn't seem to notice her. Usually any noise he made
was picked up immediately by their keen ears. Yet, here sat this massive fairy, laughing away like they
were the only ones on earth, and they were none the wiser.

  "What's the matter, darling?" Cherie said softly while leaning in with her uncannily detailed face.
Cody's attention was drawn to her, while his pen still went on town with the math problems. "Are you
wondering why mommy and daddy didn't barge in to find good old me in here?" she smirked towards
the end of the phrase. Cody felt uncomfortable, but nodded in response. Cherie backed off and played
around with her fingers. "Well... I am a magic fairy. They can't hear, see, feel or even acknowledge me if
I don't want them to. And that works for you too. Any conversation with me isn't picked up by people
outside of us two. That way no one can bother us. You're practically invisible right now!" she said
joyfully. Cody, being just a kid, didn't understand the ramifications of the situation. He was excited to
play with Cherie. It's not that he didn't have friends, but he didn't have any friends that were giant fairies.

  "Oh? You want to be best friends? With me?" the fairy asked. Cody's smile faded and he stared at
her. "Can you read minds?" he asked innocently. Cherie let out a hefty laugh. "Of course I can, silly!
I'm magic!" she beamed. Cody looked puzzled for a second, but decided it was good enough for him. He
noticed that the math problems were done, so he put the notebook in his backpack. Cody yawned and
went back to bed. "So, where are you going to sleep?" he asked. Cherie laid on the floor, revealing
how tall she really was. Her head was right besides Cody's bed, while her legs were touching the
opposite wall. Cherie looked at Cody and yawned, which gave Cody a good scare. Beyond her blocky
white teeth, she had rows of sharp as needle teeth, as well as what he now knew were tentacles and insect
legs. When she closed her mouth, she noticed Cody cowering in the corner of his bed. "Oh! Sorry if you
saw that, sweetie. Please don't worry about that!" Cody was still frightened, so Cherie used her hand
to put him to sleep. Cody fell over unconscious, to be awakened in the morning almost instantly.
  He felt well-rested. In fact, he hadn't felt so good in years! He didn't take too long to notice
Cherie was still in the room with him, sleeping soundly. Her eyes opened, which flashed blood red
for a second. "Huh? Oh, you're awake! Good morning, sweetie!" she said as she got up and sat on
her knees. Cody remembered the night before and the fact that she could read his mind. "Oh, goodness!
I apologize for that! It's meant to be a hidden defense mechanism against evil beasts!" Cody
looked at her puzzled. "Defense mechanism? You're like 15 feet tall." he inquired. Cherie's face gained a
solemn expression. "Yeah, you're right. But there's no reason not to take precautions. Especially in my
field of work. I need to protect you no matter what. I promise it won't happen again. From now on, you'll
only get to see the nice Cherie!" As she said this, she spread her arms wide and gave Cody a big hug.
Cody felt a sharp pain in his spine, yet it quickly disappeared when he felt the warm and soft flesh of
Cherie. Cody still found it bizarre that she was a robot fairy, yet was organic in nature.

  None of it made any sense. He came to wonder if his mental issues finally reached the breaking
point and created this entity. It felt real. But that happened before. He half expected to close his eyes
and wake up in a hospital bed. "Hey." The voice made Cody shiver. It was Cherie whispering in his
ear. Her voice wasn't the loud and energetic one she had before. Her eyes' colors are also slightly faded.
She grabbed Cody and got him to eye level. "You are not crazy. You are not abnormal. You just
understand how reality works." Cody didn't have time to question anything as the alarm rang.

  "School time!" Cherie screamed. Cody was put down and suddenly felt his body tingle. He dashed
out the room and down the stairs. His mom and brother were there, eating breakfast. He waved
rapidly at them as he grabbed his bowl of cereal and ate all of it within moments. "Woah, dude, calm
down, the bus won't arrive for another 30 minutes!" "I don't need the bus." Cody's mouth moved, yet the
words that came out weren't his. Was Cherie able to control what he said as well? Almost immediately,
he ran back upstairs and got the backpack on. His body then froze in place. He felt his breath halt. His
organs stopped. A loud beeping noise blared in his ears. Everything went dark except for Cherie. For all
intent and purposes, he died right then and there. Cherie gave him a kiss on the forehead, which
covered most of his upper head. Cody felt his body work again. He fell on his knees, coughing and
gasping for air. He got right back up and sprinted through the house, out the front door and down the
sidewalk. His mother and brother saw a blur bust the front door open, yet neither had enough time to
react.

  Cody took huge steps, looking akin to an Olympic runner. The people he walked past, felt a
brush of air hit them. Some were even knocked over. The cars driving besides him were nowhere
near as fast as him. Cody's legs weren't used to this kind of exercise, so they quickly heated up and
began to hurt. Cody looked behind him. He saw Cherie crawl on all fours behind him. Her face was
the usual pretty one, yet it seemed as if something was wrong. Despite the unbelievable nature of
Cherie, Cody failed to fully comprehend what was actually going on. He had imaginary friends before,
he wasn't a stranger to bizarre abominations coming after him. Yet, Cherie felt so different, so real. It
was breaking his basic understanding of reality even further. It made him feel...