! by ! ~e.theis ! approx 20,000...

MOUNTAIN OF DOOM: A Love Story by ~e.theis

Approx 20,000 words

Eric Theis 3902 Paus St. Madison, WI 53714 Phone (608) 212-‐2080 [email protected] Eric Theis ©2016

Mountain of Doom: A Love Story by ~e.theis

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To my Love, Dedicated to our many adventures battling monsters and middle schoolers. ~e “Romance takes place in the middle distance. Romance is looking in at yourself through a window clouded with dew. Romance means leaving things out: where life grunts and shuffles, romance only sighs.” ― Margaret Atwood


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Chapter One: Survival

Derek rises from his knees. Barely. His feet are swollen and spent. He hobbles around the

peak of this ghastly mountain scanning between sugar maples and boulders for his girlfriend

Jody. Then he finds her. Still. Unbreathing.

He narrows his eyes, curls his lips, and rhythmically puffs his chest like a stalling Cessna

preparing for take off. The SabreDon towering over him, revealing knife-sized teeth between

wool and tusks, appears to smile, as if breaking character. How unprofessional.

Gems of red juices trickle down the incisors of this Sabre-Toothed Tiger/Mastodon

hybrid; and as it savors its snack (a chunk of Jody’s left leg, which was her favorite leg by the

way), Derek tightens his grasp on the splintered spear he fashioned when they escaped The Lab

some days ago. With no time for fear, he jabs the spear into the fore-belly of the preoccupied

mammoth.

At first nothing happens. Then, perhaps beckoned by the yowl of the SabreDon, a strange

bird flies into view, its colossal silhouette blocks the rising sun. The soaring monstrosity seems

to be an amalgam between an owl and pterodactyl. It lands its russet-feathered tail and scaly

claws on the canopy of a nearby maple. The giant bird distracts the SabreDon long enough for

Derek to retract the makeshift sword from its belly. After another glimpse at his darling’s limp

body, Derek rams the spear deeper into the monster’s unguarded torso.

Without warning, the Pterodact-Owl swoops off its alpine perch and pecks its skateboard-

sized-beak at Derek’s face-sized face. Blood-curdling screams race from his mouth, arousing

Jody.


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She’s alive!

Jody’s head jerks toward her beloved. She is immobilized but desperately reaches for a

nearby rock and hurls it at the Pterodact-Owl’s massive crown. She never played a game of

baseball in her life. Even during gym class she barely participated in attendance. But that was

back when they went to school. Back when anyone went to school. Back when monsters were

still safe in their prisons.

Therefore, because of Jody’s lack of athleticism, the chunk of hurled quartzite misses

both the flying beast and the two-ton-monster. However, inspired by her knack for knitting, a

skill her loving fifth grade teacher taught her, she grabs two twigs, rips out her shoelace and

crafts a poor man’s slingshot.

***

Forty-five minutes later Jody squeals with delight, “I GOT IT!”

To which Derek, who just returned from a harrowing pursuit redirecting these prehistoric

beasts back down the mountain says, “Um…great job, my love!”

And for what seems like an eternity, the young lovers, only 14 years old but so close to

death, hold one another tight, as if they just single-handedly saved the entire human race. Or

released two prehistoric hybrid monsters on an unsuspecting world.

Either way, they have each other…


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Chapter Two: The Doctor

The two lovebirds haven’t spent much time basking in their newfound R&R when they

hear a baby neigh, or purr, or whatever it is infants do.

“Do you hear that?” asks Jody sleepily.

“Oh, you’re just imagining that. There’s no way a baby could be all the way up on this

mountain,” assures Derek.

The young lovers look at each other with grave concern. Jody stands first, then nudges

Derek’s hip with her left boot, signaling him to get moving as well.

“Your leg!” Derek exclaims, expecting her to wince in pain, but she neither winces nor

flinches. The gash where the SabreDon nibbled is healed. Miraculously.

“How did it…” Derek begins.

“I don’t know,” Jody finishes, “but it doesn’t hurt, either.”

Neither notice a Pterodact-Owl’s feather resting close to where they just slept.

Derek gathers the hunk of rubbery cheddar and stale bread from last night’s dinner.

“You aren’t planning on eating that, are you?”

“No! That’s disgusting!” Derek turns to spit out the bite he already snuck.

Jody notices and shakes her head. “Let’s go find that baby,” she declares.

They survey the morning woods and spy a white coat hunched over a crying infant.

“THE DOCTOR!” they exclaim in unison.


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Chapter Three: The Laboratory

Derek is about to scream to The Doctor when Jody cups her hand over his mouth. She

gestures to a nearby set of oak trees where they hide while The Doctor finishes his evil-doing:

stealing babies and such.

“What are we going to do!?” Derek hollers a bit too loudly.

“Would you be quiet!” Jody reminds him. “Look, there has to be a simple explanation to

this. Maybe somebody abandoned the baby and The Doctor is going to take it to the police or

something.”

“He didn’t look like he was taking the baby anywhere except…”

Derek doesn’t finish his thought, but Jody knows.

“We have to follow him.”

They peer around the oak grove expecting to see The Doctor’s unkempt, Dungeon &

Dragons inspired ponytail, but he is gone. Scarlet specked lab coat and all.

***

Jody and Derek know where The Doctor took that poor baby. They don’t want to discuss

what sort of experiments he might be doing to it on his operating tables, so it is a quiet hike until

they reach The Doctor’s Laboratory - the laboratory they know too well.

The building stands as a natural piece of the landscape, if you consider a reinforced

cement bunker that plunges three stories into the earth “natural”. There are no windows, no

ornate walkways, and no architectural masterpieces. The Laboratory was designed with one goal


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in mind: science. And secrecy. Okay, that’s two goals. But Jody and Derek know more than most

about this clandestine fortress - indeed, they know more than they wish.

“Doctor, release that baby!” demands Jody, bursting through the Lab doors.

“We saw you steal him from the woods!” joins Derek.

The Doctor cackles. “Oh ho ho. Don’t be ridiculous, my dear assistants. The baby is safe

here in the Chamber Room. You are welcome to see. I am in the middle of checking its vitals to

ensure it is in good health.”

“You mean experimenting on it! I’m sorry, Doctor. We’re calling the police.”

Jody pulls out her phone when suddenly Derek slaps it to the ground, breaking it.

“What the heck are you doing, Derek?” Jody screams.

A vacant look rolls over Derek’s river-blue eyes.

“What’s this?” The Doctor cuts in. “The ‘tween sweethearts having a spat?”

“What’s going on? What’s wrong with Derek? And we’re not ‘tweens! We’re teenagers

and we know what you’re up to. Wh-what have you done to my boyfriend?!”

Jody kneels at Derek’s feet and whimpers quietly.

“Young love. Ugh! You two make me sick to my stomach! No. Wait. That’s probably the

gyro I had for dinner last night.” The Doctor rubs his belly in pain. “Still, your sappy romance

makes my head spin!” The Doctor places his palms against his temples as a sort of vice to stop

the room from twirling. “No, no. That’s probably the paint fumes. I just touched up the

Laboratory Lavatory. Wanna see?!” The Doctor eagerly hops a beat or two, awaiting her

response. “I was SO sick of looking at that DREADFUL pea green every time I used the

restroom.”


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The Doctor seats himself at one of his plush red velvet sofas, a bit exhausted from his

rant. He used to be able to rant much better, back in the old days, but a good rant is hard to

muster nowadays.

“I love Derek. And he loves me! What have you done to him!” Jody lunges for The

Doctor’s lapels but then starts feeling a bit woozy herself.

“Paint fumes?” she asks The Doctor.

“Afraid not, child.”

And the two teens topple on each other like chicks nesting for nightfall.


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Chapter Four: Universal Health Care

Jody untangles her shoulder-length flaxen hair and finds she in a blinding white room,

padded with cushiony walls. Alone. The floor is checkered in black and white, not unlike a

chessboard, where every tile is clearly lit.

Above her, the ceiling is glass. She can see Derek up there assisting The Doctor with

some sort of procedure. He must be in a trance. This can be the only explanation. A slab of flesh

tumbles off the operating table and plops onto Jody’s glass ceiling.

A lion’s tail.

It wiggles a few seconds and then lies as still as a length of discarded rope.

Jody strains her neck to see the operating table. The Doctor is carefully carving into the

torso of a horse, a sawz-all in one hand, and a pomegranate in the other.

“Him and his stupid pomegranates…” Jody mumbles, part in spite, part in terror.

The Doctor never used to perform these sorts of experiments. But since the rise of Altnu

Global, few people had choices…

Altnu Global used to be just Altnu, a leading health insurance company in the U.S. Now

it is the only one. This Super Insurance has decidedly stomped out all competition in this market,

so much for Market Capitalism.

They are a shrewd and cutthroat company (or maybe you figured that out already). At

first they bought all the smaller, regional insurance providers. Then, over the course of a few

short years, they quietly strong-armed the remaining insurers in the field. The result:


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monopolized prices and mandated premiums. This is a fancy way of saying people are now

forced to pay too much for health insurance that really sucks.

There was a nationwide rift in President Barack Obama’s first term over Universal Health

Care. It started with the idea of providing high quality insurance for all people at no cost,

something that works well in Canada and Europe. However, this was apparently too Socialist for

the uber-wealthy health insurance CEO’s and the politicians they control.

So, as soon as Altnu became the only game in town, they decided it was best to require

all Americans to be insured, “for the safety and health of our country” all for the low cost of 90%

of their income. That’s reasonable, isn’t it?

At first politicians tried to defend the foresight of this mandate, saying it was a

“worthwhile expense to staying healthy”, but it wasn’t long before health care became the only

bill Americans could pay; before shopping at the mall, before college or school supplies, before

rent or mortgage or utilities, and finally before their groceries.

What happened next was only logical. Altnu began to offer room and board for those

people unable to afford rent and food. In exchange, each individual and family was required to

participate in “simple medical studies”, kind of like the ones for new prescription drugs awaiting

FDA approval. Except, these studies went further. This is how Jody and Derek met The Doctor.

Derek’s mom and stepdad pulled him out of school with the ‘Great Exodus’, as

newspapers began to call it. Parents yanked kids out with various excuses, “Oh, we’re moving.”

Or “We want to try private school instead.” But the sad truth was Altnu had stretched their

gremlin’s claw into the realm of education and soon crept into every budded branch of life.

Jody’s mom, who held a PhD in Poetry, taught middle school English, and was a staunch

supporter of public schools, was more reluctant to withdraw her three kids. She held out as long


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as she could, relying on savings and help from friends and family to keep their kids in school just

a little bit longer. It was only a matter of time before Jody and Derek would join Altnu: either as

“patients” or employees.

“ROOAWR!” howls the horrendous beast above her. Jody clenches her fist.

She has no clue who or what is making that noise – all she can think of is that baby…


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Chapter Five: Breaking Out

Jody paces in her sterile prison, tracing her index finger between the cracks in the

cushioned walls. She is hoping for some way to escape, there has to be a door here somewhere,

right? How else could The Doctor have brought her in?

Every once in awhile, Derek saunters overhead, a windowy reflection in his eyes. The

first few times he passes over, Jody frantically waves her arms hoping to somehow snap him out

of whatever chemical daze he is in. It’s useless. She tries throwing her shoes at the glass,

screaming and hollering his name, and, at one point in mad desperation, she sings Lady Gaga

songs while dancing the Swedish Polka. Surprisingly, that doesn’t work.

If she is going to escape and save that innocent baby, not to mention Derek, if he can still

be saved, it’s going to take a bit more strategizing. Perhaps she will have to work through Derek,

use him somehow. It’s not as if Jody isn’t used to outsmarting him. They’ve been going out for

almost a year and the desire to outsmart one another comes with every long-term relationship.

That’s normal, right?

Then it happens. Right in the middle of a good scheme to break free, she collapses.

***


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Chapter Six: Operation

When she wakes, she finds herself strapped to a flat, hard table, as snug as a hand in a

glove. Well, the first part of her plan worked: she is out of that barren prison below.

Now, about this operating table…

Derek slowly crosses toward his girlfriend, his confidant his soul mate (hey, they could

be. Give them a break. How are they supposed to know? They’re only 14 for crying out loud!).

He is carrying a shiny, silver instrument, not like a flute or trumpet or something. It’s a medical

instrument, the slender cousin to the steak knife.

Many boyfriends bring their girlfriends unexpected gifts: flowers, chocolates, homemade

cards with ribbons and macaroni glued to it. But there is something about the scalpel Derek is

holding so firmly in his hand as he inches closer to Jody that freaks her out a bit. Just a bit.

But, before Jody tries snapping Derek out of his trance, she is free. Derek has sliced the

leather straps at the same moment she thought he was going to julienne her into fine Jody-bits.

She sits up, speechless.

“What…?”

Derek winks at her and slips the sharp instrument into his back jean pocket.

“YOW!!” he shrieks.

“Shhhh. Derek, what’s the matter?”

“Wrong...place…to…put…a razor sharp knife….” he spits out slowly.


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Jody just rolls her eyes; as if this is something he has done before. She throws the straps

off her and jumps off the table.

Most people have trouble walking after experiencing shock or being tied to a table. Like

in the movies when an EMT gives the victim one of those dirty old blankets to keep them from

shivering to death. Well, Jody flat out flops to the floor after jumping off the operating table. She

is going to need a bit more than a dirty blanket to help her recover from this shock. She tries

again. Derek holds her up this time, whispering to her so that none of the hybrids on the other

tables hear them milling about.

“You can do this,” insists Derek, affection dripping from his lips, just below his patchy,

pubescent moustache.

“No. I can’t. I can’t walk.” Then Jody realizes why. She looks down to see her feet

are…different. They are feet, but they aren’t her feet. They aren’t even feet from her species.

They have another name. Technically her feet are now called… hooves.


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Chapter Seven: Jody-brid

It was done. The operation was done. Apparently it was painless or The Doctor

generously pumped her full of anesthesia. Jody glances a moment at her feet-hooves then quickly

looks away. She steels herself long enough to stare once more and decipher what sort of animal

these were taken from. Jody lifts her right leg and oddly the hoof responds. She does so with her

left: same response.

Then, with super-heroine nerves, she lifts part of her white surgery gown to see what is

hiding beneath. Inch by inch as the fabric climbs, it reveals what she and most American women

have fought for decades, an enemy so forsaken from society she nearly weeps at the sight: Hairy

legs.

Correction: Furry legs.

Correction Again: Furry, horse legs.

Jody is strong-willed, she has surmounted immeasurable obstacles in her short 14 years

on Earth: her dad abandoning them, her bully brother, her emotionally absent mother, but this

…turning into half a horse overnight…this will take some getting used to.

Jody sits back on the table and swings her front quarters, or hind quarters, or whatever

they are called, back and forth, trying to get accustomed to their weight and shape. They glide

effortlessly through the air and in a split-moment her legs remember.

They leap to the floor - this time with more confidence. One kicks back, presumably to

stretch itself, and before the other does the same, Derek steps out of the way, narrowly avoiding

a kick to the groin. One hoof taps against the other then grinds along the top of the bone, digging


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into the U-shaped shoe of the hoof. Caked mud and bits of grass slide out and Jody produces a

neigh of relief.

Derek watches in awe as Jody easily gallops onto the adjacent sink basin. She stands

there, as if under a spell to the horse legs, and asks Derek, “What happened to you?”

“The drugs wore off, I guess. Or he shot me up with some other medication to make me

myself again. Perhaps … only temporarily.”

They are both quiet at the suggestion; there are no limits to The Doctor’s cruelty.

“But um…hey…maybe I should be asking what happened to you. Did you forget to tell

me your dad was Seabiscuit?” Derek never misses an opportunity to relieve an awkward moment

with humor.

“Black Beauty, actually,” Jody retorts, determined to stay upbeat about this whole horse-

legs-instead-of-human-legs thing.

“So, you don’t remember anything from when you were under the trance…or medication

or whatever?” She clomps to her once-lost boyfriend.

“No. If I had known The Doctor was going to do this I would have…” He falls silent. His

guilt is palpable, like a semi driving down a desolate highway, both see it coming, full speed,

unyielding. The truck crashes and Derek falls to his knees – grief and burden weighing him

closer and closer to the glass floor.

And then the lion roars.


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Chapter Eight: Here kitty kitty…

It wasn’t one of those baby lion roars. Like a mew. It was pretty much the equivalent of

an entire pride of alpha lions. Like they all got together at some nightclub and roared with

laughter at the lion-comedian’s jokes.

RWA—I’M A BIG, OLD, FAT LION—OAR! HA! HA!

It was big. Enough to make Jody and Derek almost poop their pants. Not their pants as if

they share one collective pair of pants, but each pair. Yeah. You get the picture.

Jody looks at Derek’s face, which is distraught for not being there for his girlfriend’s

transformation into half a horse and everything. But now his face is cement-gray. Like a

sidewalk. Like that clumsy truck of guilt metaphor just ran right over his pimpled complexion.

Jody can feel Derek’s hands grow tighter and colder as they wrap around her. He’s scared. If she

wasn’t frightened for her life herself she might think it was cute he was all scared and cuddly

with her.

“Um…” Derek enunciates.

“I couldn’t agree with you more,” Jody replies as they sprint for the door. The lion, or

what they think is simply a lion, soars toward the door and arrives before they do.

“Um…” Derek repeats.


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“Good point,” Jody consents, as the two head back to the operating tables. Normally, say,

if this were a day when The Laboratory was empty, this would have been a genius idea. But,

since that darn

“RWA—I’M A BIG, OLD, FAT LION—OAR! HA! HA!”

woke up all the other hybrids in The Lab, this may not be so genius.

“Um…” Derek three-peats.

“Okay, this is what we’re going to do…” Jody takes about three and half seconds

to brainstorm a plan. “Take this bed sheet and do whatever you have to do to get it over that

Lion-Thing’s head. I’m going to…distract it.”

“Um…” Derek reluctantly begins again. “What exactly do you mean ‘distract it’”?

“You’ll see.” She winks heroically.

And with that, Jody uses her newfound animal prowess to distract the lion-hybrid. With

as much courage as an entire frontline of French soldiers crossing onto German territory in

WWI, Jody vaults atop the operating table, then another, then another until she has sufficiently

caught the lion-beast’s attention.

Jody takes a deep breath as she looks at the enemy she just made. It’s a lion, all right. But

it’s more than that. More bang for your buck…or cat. This king of the jungle has been

augmented to make it a king of the skies as well. It has some sort of wings, which must explain

how it can pounce so far so fast. But the wings aren’t attached to its back; they are a part of its

front legs. Not like a bird, this lion-thingy still has all four limbs and no feathers. But it has this

extra skin flapping below its armpits, like Derek’s Aunt Edna’s jiggly underarms.

The lion lowers its rear end like it’s about to sit, then slowly wags its butt like it’s about

to jump, then slightly extends its front arms like it’s about to fly. It’s quite the confusing animal,


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if you must know. Jody, or rather, the hybrid once known as Jody, prepares herself for the

Mighty Cat. In about the same amount of time it takes to say, “Hang in there little kitty,” the

great lion takes to the air and is sailing toward Jody, a half-ton flying squirrel about to land on

her slight 14-year-old frame.

Jody, however, has become quite comfortable in her new body, predicting its limits and

gauging its strength. With those predictions, she waits until the last possible moment to spring

her horse legs high into the air, rocketing her to the ceiling some ten feet above.

Utilizing those dexterous knitting fingers of hers, she clutches for the rafters. And just in

time. The great cat lands where she was half a second ago, and just as fast, quite surprisingly, the

lion-beast is covered by a large white sheet.

Derek did his part.

“Nice job honey bunches!” Jody bellows from the belfry as she swings her hind legs

toward the door. “Now, let’s really get out of here!”

“Sounds good my sweet stallion!”

The two young lovers make it to The Laboratory door and heave it open. They squeeze

through and close it as a stampede of hybrids trample over a very tangled and upset kitty cat.


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Chapter Nine: A Little Help

“Well, at least those hybrid thingies haven’t been learned to open doors.” Jody exhales in

a breath of relief against the closed cold steel.

“No kidding, did you see the—”

Derek doesn’t finish his sentence. One of the rude hybrids, a Polar Flamingo, interrupts

him by crashing down The Lab’s front wall. Not the door, per se, but the wall that framed the

door. So, the hybrids are smart enough to figure out how to escape, but…

The brilliantly pink bear-bird with skinny legs falls flat on its face.

Not exactly smart enough to control their bodies. Jody and Derek rush to the outside

corner of the building and stare as a handful of half-assed (literally) creatures totter and tumble

out the front entrance rubble.

There’s a Giraff-oon, a furry grey baboon about 3 or 4 feet tall without measuring its

neck, which adds another 6 or 7 feet. It beats its spotted, burly dark chest proudly then gets its

brown and yellow patterned head caught on the deteriorating front wall frame. It’s knobby

antler-do-jobs are pinched between two I-beams. It is completely blocking the exit for the rest of

the hybrids.

Then, when Jody and Derek think they will see a rampage of other beasts attempting to

plow down the trapped Giraffoon, they witness something truly unusual. Something

compassionate, almost miraculous. One of the other hybrids, a sort of Prairie-Bat, a fusion

between a prairie dog and fruit bat, flies up toward the Giraffoon. The Giraffoon is cringing with

pain. At closer inspection Jody can see tears form around its lemon meringue skin.


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The Prairie-Bat, helplessly small itself, begins to nudge its cutesy little fur-ball of a head

against the Giraffoon’s antler-do-jobs. It appears to be of no use. The weight of the entire roof

rests between the squished I-beams holding the Giraffoon in place. There’s no way this tiny

hybrid creature could save the gargantuan Giraffoon. But it doesn’t give up. In fact, it flaps its

wings harder and harder until the roof, believe it or not, begins to tremble. The Prairie-Bat keeps

flapping, tirelessly, and the roof, somehow, keeps trembling.

“Do you see that?” Jody gasps.

“What?”

Derek is distracted by the beasts squeezing beneath the ensnared Giraffoon:

-A Pea-naconda, a cascade of vibrant feathers festooned atop a slithering, 20-foot-long

snake.

- A Pen-goat, an ice-water bird with a wooly grey face and beard chewing on the metal

rubble left behind from the wake of the front wall’s collapse.

“That!” Jody points at the small winged prairie rodent with herculean strength. “That

bat-rat is freeing that giraffe-monkey. It’s lifting the roof with its tiny wings!”

Derek turns his attention on this super-rodent’s struggle. He is shocked. If he didn’t know

better, he would think she is going nutty.

“Nah. You’re seeing things, honey pie.”

Before Jody can glare at Derek with spiteful girlfriend eyes, the roof flies away.


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Chapter 10: The Dash

Now, it’s not as if the roof sprouted wings and took off in flight like some migratory bird

heading to Florida. It just flew straight up. Like the clouds became some great vacuum with the

switch turned on hyper-drive and sucked that sucker clean off the mountain.

“Um…” Derek begins, poetically.

“Derek, we have bigger problems than me telling you ‘I told you so’ right now.”

And they did indeed.

“But I can multitask,” Jody insists. “I told you so. Now let’s get outta here!”

And they dash.

They dash into the thick mountain woods, hoping the oak groves will slow the pace of

what they are running from. They don’t have time to decipher what sorts of beast-combos are

tailing them. But you can bet these beasts dash a bit dash-ier than Jody and Derek.

Well, Jody at least is dashing along quite well. Her Black Beauty like legs are charioting

her at racing speed into the thick woods. Derek, however, is lost.

So it should probably be explained right now that running isn’t young Derek’s favorite

pastime. Things he enjoys:

-Eating

-Snacking

-Brunching

-Linnering

-Not running.


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He can run the mile in 16 minutes fat. Or rather, flat. You see Derek is kind of… well…

he’s sort of…the opposite of not fat. But that’s okay. Jody loves every wonderful pound of him.

Now if only Derek could love himself this much.

This is all to say, Derek isn’t doing well being chased by some crazy creatures.

Jody, whom Derek believes is the love of his life, sees her struggling companion. She

could quite easily gallop off into the sunset, never to be heard from again. Maybe gallop her way

to Los Angeles and become some sort of horsey-girl reality TV star.

But she loves Derek. She loves him very much. Though he has the self-esteem of a snail

in its shell, he is a sweet young man. Basically, he’s a mamma’s boy. This, though, can be an

asset in a young man. Jody has met Derek’s mom, she’s kind and generous, makes chocolate

chip cookies practically every single day (and how come Derek is overweight again?). She’s the

real deal; the warm and present mom Jody never had, that’s certain.

Sure, Jody’s mom has more fancy college degrees than the average mom, but none of

them taught her how to listen to her children. They never taught her how to give every extra

minute she could to her family. That’s what Derek’s mom does. Or, rather, that’s what she did

before Altnu went global.

Since Altnu Global hit, Derek’s mom barely has any time for herself - not to mention her

kids. But, believe it or not, when she isn’t cooking meals for Altnu’s doctors, she sneaks a few

dough balls into the oven, which she brings home to her family. The people she loves most in the

whole world. She would sacrifice anything for them.

That’s how Derek feels about Jody. As if he would sacrifice life itself to save her. It’s

why he felt so awful when he realized he couldn’t stop Jody’s hybrid operation.


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This is how Jody is beginning to feel about Derek as well. Derek’s mom taught him how

to love. Then Derek taught Jody.

Jody turns herself around when she notices Derek is a couple hundred chubby yards

behind her. She is taller than him, by a few hoof inches, and so she has to swoop down those

inches as she leans next to him and says, “Wanna horsey-back ride, little boy?”

Derek smiles then mounts his galloping girlfriend.


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Chapter 11: The Summit

“I guess you’re a centaur now, huh?” Derek asks as Jody’s robust lower-half trots them to

safer, high ground. Her gait quickens every time the snarls of the beasts grow louder. Dodging

trees and hurtling over iced-over creeks, the mountainous terrain begins to grow rockier and

harsh on Jody’s hooves.

“You have to walk from here.”

Jody says, not meanly, just matter of fact, the way she does sometimes.

They can almost see the summit of the treacherous mountain they have called home the

past week. Since escaping The Doctor and his Laboratory. Since they discovered what sort of

experiments he was doing.

“I knew you’d come back for me, my centaur-lover,” Derek coos as he curls up next to

Jody as she lies, exhausted, against a sun-warmed boulder.

“First of all, I don’t think I’m a centaur. I would need to have some fancy Greek name

like Jodipedes or something.”

Jody wraps an arm around her man-boy.

“Secondly. Of course I came back for you, silly human. You are my love. My sweet. The

masseuse who’s going to massage my feet.”

“Nice rhyme.” Derek smiles and softly starts to rub Jody’s swollen lateral digital extensor

(i.e. her shin).

“Oh, yeah…that’s the spot.” Jody brays joyfully.


25

“Where are we?” Derek asks as he peers over the jagged rocks, careful to continue

massaging lest he be reprimanded.

“At the top,” Jody mutters, half-awake as the massage continues.

“The top? The very top? Have we ever been this far up? Where’s home? Where’s

civilization?” Derek pauses the massage to look over the edge.

Jody looks up and is about to snap her fingers signaling her massage therapist to finish

his job when she realizes that may not be the nicest approach.

“Oh, sweetie tweetie, would you like to finish my massage?”

“Yeah, sweetie tweetie, why don’t you finish massaging your darling honey bunny

nunny…?” says another voice.

Both Jody and Derek look up, way up, and see The Doctor. He is sitting atop the great,

hovering Pterodact-Owl.

He found them.


26

Chapter 12: A Superior Race

“Um…what do you want, Doctor?” Derek begins sheepishly. Not like a sheep. More like

a boy trying not to show how scared he is, which only makes him more scared.

“What a brave lad you are. Perhaps I shall give you the heart of a grizzly bear to help

toughen you up.”

“Why are you doing this? Why are you using humans for your experiments now? Have

you no morals?”

Jody stands and readies herself. Fearless.

“No morals? My dear, I believe I am the only one who remains with morals. What Altnu

Global is trying to do…misusing super-humans…I believe theirs are the motivations you should

be questioning.”

“What do you mean, super-humans?” Derek asks in a half-whisper.

“Oh, young, simple Derek. Never able to figure things out like your clever girlfriend. Or

should I say your trusty steed….”

The Doctor continues one of his much-loved rants.

“Didn’t you wonder why she was, ahem, altered and you weren’t? Boy, I am trying to

save both your lives; you just don’t have the foresight to see that. Altnu would have snatched

Jody any day now. They have a way of finding the more capable ones. Luckily, I found you two

first. I don’t know why you two escaped The Laboratory. You could have been there for my

first…creation.”


27

“That’s exactly why we escaped.” Jody stands atop a rock proudly, intending to

intimidate this doctor riding a prehistoric bird thingy.

“We knew you weren’t really trying to help any of us. We knew it was only a matter of

time before you started doing your…creations, as you call them. And we couldn’t be a part of

that. I don’t care what you do. I don’t care if you call Altnu on us. I am not sacrificing my morals

for a sleaze bag like yourself.”

“Doctor Sleaze Bag, if you don’t mind. I do have this white coat.”

“Why? Why, Doctor? You used to be so kind. So full of principles. You gave me hope.

Hope that we could beat those jerks at Altnu Global and that everything could go back to

normal.” Jody tries to retrieve some sort of humane response from The Doctor.

“Things will never go back to normal, horse-girl. Can’t you of all … creations…

understand that? We have entered a new era. There is no turning back, and why would we want

to? Look at you. Look at your powers. Look at what you are capable of. I saw you swing Derek

onto your back. I saw you carry him 10 miles up this peak. Yes, you just ran TEN miles

with…biggie smalls over there…on your back. And you probably thought nothing of it. Sure,

you are sore, I imagine. But you will heal. You are part of a superior race now. “

“A superior race? You mean…like she’s not only half a horse, she’s …better than

human?” Derek poses.

“Derek, you’re a boy-genius, aren’t you?” The Doctor prods sarcastically.

“Babe, I don’t know what it is, but he’s right. I feel…stronger...much stronger. I can’t

believe that was 10 miles I just ran with you on my back and that…little bat thingy, remember

what it did to the roof? Something strange has happened to us…hybrids.” Jody pauses as she

admits her situation- her new station in life. She is no longer human and, as far as she knows, she


28

never will be again. The Doctor says she is part of something better now. But that is no

consolation. She wants to be herself - not some half-beast.

“Baby, it’s okay.” Derek nestles closer to her. “It’s going to be okay. Everything is going

to be all right.”

Derek may not be the biggest word in the dictionary, but he knows things will work out.

Somehow.

“You!” Derek tilts his head up to The Doctor on his beastly bird of prey. “You will pay

for what she has become!”

And as Derek is prone to do, he acts before thinking. This time he acts way, way, way

before thinking. He is prone to doing that too. He leaps from the top of the rock they were

standing on and lunges for The Doctor. For a moment he holds onto The Doctor in his white

coat. Then, he is only holding the coat as The Doctor wrenches himself around the beast-bird and

tosses Derek aside, down to the perilous gorges below.


29

Chapter 13: Separation Anxiety

Jody had a dog growing up. Pippi was her name. She was named after Jody’s favorite

literary figure: Pippi Longstockings. Pippi, the dog, had some emotional problems. She grew

super close to Jody and would freak out whenever they were separated. Jody, maybe because she

is half-beast herself, is starting to freak out as Derek is separated from her.

Then again, watching your boyfriend plummet down the side of a sky-high mountain

would freak you out too, right?

“DEREK!” she belts and rushes to the edge of the steep cliff.

“He’s gone,” The Doctor assures her. “It is better this way. He was of no use to either of

us. You know what you are capable of with your mind and new body. He can’t keep up with

your new life.”

Jody is quiet. She could start raving at this mad man hovering above her. She could

attempt to do what Derek just did, lunge at The Doctor and try to dismount him. She would have

a much better chance given her new abilities. But she is the one who thinks before she acts. For

better or worse - she strategizes every move.

On one of Derek and Jody’s first getaways, last winter, back when there was still a school

to attend, they had gone on a field trip together to Tyrol Basin, a nearby ski resort for families

and school groups. Jody had proven herself a natural at two new hobbies that day. She learned to

ski and even attempted the Wisconsin-style Black Diamond all in the same day. During their

warming time in the chalet, she learned how to play chess from Derek. Naturally she kicked his


30

butt after the second game. She had a wonderful trip. Derek on the other hand probably wouldn’t

have chosen the word wonderful to describe his afternoon there.

Jody has always been a strategist and quick learner. It was something that came with that

clever mind of hers. So, as she is strategizing what to do with this jerk on a bird, this rook posing

as a king, an idea surfaces. If she really wants things to return to the way they were, if she really

wants to put an end to The Doctor’s creations, there’s only one person who can help her with

that: The Doctor himself.

“Okay, Doctor. What do you want me to do?” Jody demands.

“My dear. I am so glad you are coming to your senses.” The Doctor directs his prehistoric

bird down to the ground.

“Hop on. I shall show you.”


31

Chapter 14: Collaboration

And so The Doctor and Jody fly off. He tries to impress Jody with some fancy

maneuvering, showing off the great flight of this mighty beast, this prehistoric now present-day

monster. The bird, however, doesn’t comply.

“How did you create this…beautiful bird?”

Jody pretends to be interested in The Doctor’s detestable designs. The Doctor, more self-

important than most, falls easily for her words.

“I am happy you asked. As you know, Altnu had been doing experiments on animals for

years. They recruited me early in the stages of Animal Collaboration, that’s the term they give to

the hybrids we’ve created.”

“Mmmm-hmmm,” Jody mutters forcefully.

“This here is one of our first successful collaborations. I thought of the idea of reforming

the skeleton of the pterodactyl. I will admit it wasn’t me who thought to use the owl as its

partner. I kept trying for something more bold, the Eagle, the Condor, the Vulture, something

grand, you know?”

“Oh, certainly,” Jody pretends to agree.

“Well, it turns out the owl comes equipped with certain desirable traits for hybrid

determination.”

“And that is…” Jody asks, now genuinely interested.

“Well, the owl is a bird of prey, similar to the pterodactyl, and its stocky build has been

one of its saving graces in the continuum of evolution. As many birds of prey have become


32

larger to conform to their needs for growth and sustenance, the owl has almost been figuring out

a way to build itself stronger from the inside out. It’s like a tank compared to a hang glider. Sure,

the hang glider has greater wing span, but the tank is virtually indestructible.”

“Okay…” Jody urges him to continue.

“So, science prevailed over nature and paved the way for a multitude of other

collaborations. See Jody, it isn’t simply a matter of what two animals have in common that

makes them good collaborators. It is also how they differ. It is how they complement and

contradict each other’s genomes that create such beautiful beasts as Estelle here.”

“Estelle?” Jody almost laughs, except she remembers she is trying to win The Doctor

over.

“Yes. She is named after my mother,” The Doctor asserts. “The most repugnant beast that

ever lived.”


33

Chapter 15: Kid Prodigy

Jody and The Doctor arrive at the remains of The Laboratory. She dismounts first,

jumping an impressive 15 feet from the ground before the bird lands. She touches down as

gracefully as an Olympic gymnast, minus the leotard and multi-million dollar cereal sponsorship.

The Doctor takes his time in unseating himself. His less-than-sporty, fifty-something-

year-old self descends like a T.V. from a window, only without as much bounce. The Doctor

isn’t an old man, but he’s no young buck either. He got into the medical field at 17, a kid prodigy

of sorts; a teenager with an uncanny memory and thirst for knowledge. He made his rounds in

several specialty areas: cardiovascular, neurology, and anatomical deformities. But evolutionary

genetics, particularly eugenics, interested him most.

He spent many years researching the formations and reformations of human genomes,

eventually coming to the conclusion that, “Meh, I could make one of these.” (Referring of course

to human beings.) And he tried. He tried for years to master the perfect reformation of

humankind, ultimately to be unsuccessful. Until Altnu’s biogenetics team came across some of

his work.

This became a vital chapter in the still rather young Doctor’s career. He was in his early

thirties and devoted all his energy, waking and sleeping, toward mastering his ultimate vision.

He poured over university library books during the daylight hours and did his “experimenting”

during late nights, some on willing friends, most on himself.

His “experiments” would entail a lot of electromagnetic attachments connecting the

subject to whirring machines and gadgets that resembled something out of a Robert Zemeckis


34

movie. He had perhaps thousands (if not millions, he would know, why don’t you ask him) of

attempts at reforming man. But all efforts were fruitless and abandoned.

Altnu came to the rescue when they decided some of his work on humans could be done

on animals, which could then be used to ‘study human behavior’. The Doctor, having no prior

membership with PETA or other animal rights groups, had no qualms in continuing his work on

animals instead of humans. The results were near instant. Soon he found reformations could be

made between the strangest breeds.

The work was all scientific. Nature had nothing to do with The Laboratory - until nature

came to destroy it.


35

Chapter 16: The Remnants of The Lab

The Laboratory is in complete ruins when Jody and The Doctor return. They walk

through what was the entrance, stepping over the collapsed roof that has become a small shelter

for some of the smaller hybrid animals. The Prairie-Bat and Pengoat scurry away as they hear

Jody approach. The Doctor calls after them,

“Dracula Ingalls Wilder! Billy Freeman! Come to me!”

Jody was in shock. Half because she never thought The Doctor had it in him to name

these hybrids of his, and half because they actually listened. Mamma’s home.

“Time for dinner, my loves,” The Doctor whispers as he crouches down to pet two of his

favorite beasts.

Dracula Ingalls Wilder, the Prairie-Bat, flies up to lick The Doctor’s nose, giving him wet

kisses. So, Jody wasn’t wrong when she noticed how sweet this bat-rat was. She almost feels bad

for prejudging it as some sort of savage beast. Wait, it is a savage beast, she reminds herself. No,

it is a sweet and domesticated beast, she convinces herself, one that rescued another hybrid in

danger. Jody finishes arguing with herself. Unluckily for her, she was carrying on this argument

aloud, rather than in her head like any other rational person would do. But she is no longer a

person. Not completely. She will forever live as half woman, half beast and suffer the

shortcomings of both. At present, it is a lack of self-control.

“Well, we are here now.” Jody snaps out of her preoccupations with her own dilemma

and focuses on how to stop further “creations” and hybrids from being made.


36

“How do we make more…creations?” Jody eeks out the words agonizingly. She doesn’t

want to seem too eager, but she doesn’t want to seem bored either. The Doctor doesn’t seem to

notice either way. He is merely excited to have a partner again in these ventures.

“Well, my clever Pony-Girl, you can help me greatly by simply being yourself. Think

about your friends, how can we get them to join you? How can we create an entire race of

intelligent, teenaged hybrids? YOU are the future.”

Jody thinks for a couple minutes, pacing and kicking at the debris of the roof. Luckily for

The Doctor only part of the ceiling in the waiting room came crashing down. Which means that

most of the equipment and basement holding cells are left untouched. Jody is a bit distracted

from The Doctor’s “Pony-Girl” comment but doesn’t want to show her ill-will. She considers

The Doctor’s other words, about convincing her friends. Well, first off, Jody doesn’t have a

whole lot of friends. That’s the result of dedicating her school nights to, of all things, school

work. She has never been more sorry to be such a faithful student. If only she had some sort of

social life she might be able to get friends to help her take The Doctor down.

Well, there was Nadya…


37

Chapter 17: Nadya

Nadya is a fireball. She and Jody have been close friends since Jody moved to this small

mountain town from the suburbs of Chicago. Jody has always been quiet and not exactly the best

at making friends, but Nadya was the exact opposite. They were each other’s perfect

counterparts. One was shy, the other outgoing. Where one was smart the other…a bit dim. But

they enjoyed each other’s company and spent almost every weekend they could at each other’s

house (Jody, of course, was stuck studying during the week and so did little hanging out after

school).

Nadya is the ideal friend to help Jody take The Doctor down. She has Jody’s back, no

matter what. Last year, before all this mess happened with Altnu, Nadya and Jody had quite the

exciting seventh grade. Jody had been going through what she later realized was a sort of

depression. Most middle schoolers get depressed, especially in seventh grade, statistically and all

that. It’s just a confusing time: learning about who you are on the inside, trying to make friends

on the outside, trying to fit in, trying to be yourself, it’s almost surprising most middle schoolers

make it through alive. Jody barely did.

So, Jody was depressed, didn’t have a boyfriend, didn’t like the way her body looked (she

thought she was too skinny, even though one of her other best friends was ‘Little Debbie’ ) and

didn’t feel like she fit in with other people at school. Without a doubt she was and is hilarious,

and the few friends she does have enjoy being around her because of her lewd sense of humor

and deadpan wit. Still, school was hard. She often knew all the answers the teachers asked but

couldn’t get her arm to lift itself and join in the class discussions. She would avoid eye contact


38

when walking down the hall. Most students (and some of the dense faculty) thought she was mad

at the world. No, she wasn’t mad. She was shy, paralyzed by her shyness.

So, in that crazy seventh grade year, last year, she and Nadya made a pact. Jody would

try to be more outgoing, and Nadya would try to be a better listener and student. Nadya was up

to the challenge. She knew having too many friends, hopping from one social scene to the next

was fun, but not as meaningful as her time with Jody. She wanted to have more lasting

relationships. Jody did, too. So, at one of their many Friday night sleepovers, after a particularly

frolicking Molly Ringwald Marathon (you know, ‘Sixteen Candles’, ‘The Breakfast Club’,

‘Pretty in Pink’, etc) Jody and Nadya donned their raspberry red wigs (in Ringwald fashion) and

made their pact.

“I, Jody, swear to make five more friends by the end of the school year. And to raise my

hand more in class.” To which Nadya replied,

“I, Nadya, swear to lose five of my fake friends and be a better listener and student by the

end of the year. ” It was done. Their pact was made. Now they had to live up to it.

Nadya pretty much flopped. She still spent way too much time with her other buddies and

pals, leaving Jody with her studies again. But Jody was determined to get out of her funk. She

even decided to try hanging out with friends during, of all nights, school nights! This was a big

change for her and nothing to snub, because it made her quite vulnerable. Jody reached out to

other seventh grade girls. Not to overly popular ones and not the ones she didn’t feel she had

anything in common with. The middle of the road. The ones whom she saw studying alone or

doodling in class or wearing clothes she wanted to wear but didn’t have a mom cool enough to

buy for her.


39

She began answering more questions in class. Not caring about what others thought when

she spoke, albeit meekly. The trick to doing this, she found out, was to pretend it was just her

and the teacher in the room. Only the two of them. It worked. Slowly she was transforming

herself. Jody was anything if not a self-transformer. Not like she turns into a building or robot

that shoots torpedoes at intergalactic space aliens, more like, she transforms into a better person

whenever she puts in the effort. Which is more potent in the long run. So, Jody lived up to her

end of the bargain and waited for Nadya to do the same. And waited. And waited. Until she

thought Nadya was slipping further from her than ever.

See, one thing Jody didn’t know is friends slip away every day, especially during the

middle school years. People change. Just like Jody wanted so badly to change for the better,

Nadya wasn’t as strong. She wasn’t able to push outside her comfort zone. Nadya was happy

with who she was, and perhaps only pretended not to be to make Jody feel better about herself.

Nadya may have been becoming more distant, but that didn’t mean she didn’t care about

Jody at all. Nadya loved Jody as the sister she never had. She just didn’t know how to recognize

a sister in need until it was too late.

One day, after a particularly trying Tuesday in seventh grade, after Jody participated in

almost all of her class discussions, after she sat with an almost entirely different group of friends,

Jody came home to take a shower. It was your typical, “I’m sweaty and gross I gotta take a

shower” shower. Except, something happened that more or less changed her life. She fainted.

Collapsed. Ka-blooey. Ker-plop. And no one was at home to check on her. Her mom was

working her bank job (even though she was a teacher during the day she still worked several

afternoons as a drive-through bank teller to keep her family away from the encroaching Altnu),

her dad was somewhere else in the world (he deserted them years ago), her older brother was


40

probably off doing drugs or drinking with his friends (he deserted his family emotionally when

their father deserted them geographically) and her sister was off with one of her best friends (she

had dozens of friends, not like Nadya, but not like Jody either, she was ‘normal’ like that).

So, no one was home to hear the crash of a skinny seventh grader falling through the

shower curtains, tearing them down as she lost consciousness and smacked her face against the

bathroom tiles, rosettes with purple stems. Jody had a dream during that half-living state. She

dreamt about the many friends she had. She dreamt about being valedictorian of her middle

school. She dreamt about being ‘normal’. Like her sister. Like Nadya. Like anybody but herself.

She dreamt about leaving her damaged body behind and looking for another. One that was

perfect. One that had friends. Maybe even a boyfriend. She dreamt about ending it all. All she

had to do was keep sleeping. Never wake again.

Fortunately for Jody, her mom forgot some student papers she was going to grade that

night at work. (She was always forgetting something.) So, when Jody’s mom heard the shower

running, she called out to whomever it was in there. But there was no response. Instantly, her

mom became worried. (She was always worrying about something.) Though Jody’s mom spent

very little time at home or with her family, that didn’t mean she didn’t love them. Just the

opposite. And so Jody’s mom became Super-Mom, as is necessary for any parent. She knocked,

banged, and busted down the bathroom door.

Jody was barely breathing.


41

Chapter 18: A Friend in Need

So, that was how Jody almost died. It wasn’t exactly her fault, but Nadya felt partial

blame. Nadya thought if she would have been a better friend, if she had lived up to her part of the

pact, Jody might not have been so frail.

Jody knows Nadya felt this way. And she doesn’t want to guilt trip her (former) best

friend or anything, but this certainly is a convenient time to call in a favor, with the world almost

ending because of The Doctor’s hybrid monsters on the loose and everything.

All Jody has to do is find her.

Where would present-day Nadya be? Where would the Nadya who was a social butterfly

flutter to in these days of butterflies bred with boars? Jody can’t imagine Nadya would soar so

low as to be employed with Altnu Global, but she can see Nadya being tangled up in Altnu’s

netting of need. Nadya was never the best planner, never the best at remembering to do

homework for Mrs. Bealand’s humanities class.

When they were supposed to be memorizing lines to Shakespeare’s “A Midsummer

Night’s Dream”, Nadya watched the movie and got distracted trying to figure out if the actor

playing Oberon was gay or not. Needless to say, Nadya didn’t get a chance to memorize Puck’s

lines that quarter, which would have been their last quarter as middle schoolers, their last quarter

as any schoolers.

So, with her non-planning, non-preparedness, it wouldn’t surprise Jody in the least if

Nadya ended up needing Atnu more than her and her family would have liked. They were

immigrants, her family. Straight from Kosovo. They moved to America during the big war.


42

Nadya lost her aunt and uncle and grandfather due to a bombing in Kosovo. She lived amidst

fear and deprivation. If she wasn’t academically ready, she was probably amongst the most

emotionally prepared for this Atnu conquest. Now, instead of soldiers and tanks patrolling her

neighborhood it is becoming scientists and beasts. She wasn’t sure which alarmed her more.

Jody tries calling Nadya at her home phone. Nadya’s parents refused to buy her a cell

phone because of the radiation scares in neighboring Russia when they were growing up. No one

answers, which doesn’t mean much. No one ever answered. They are a family of perpetual

screeners. They screened phone calls, screened doorbells and managed to find a way to screen

personal conversations (they are a very distant family).

Knowing she doesn’t have much in the way of time, Jody decides to call mutual friends

that might know Nadya’s whereabouts. Sure, Jody could have recruited these mutual friends and

acquaintances in this scheme to overturn The Doctor. But, that would require a more… talkative

14-year-old.

Eventually, thanks to Sydney from their old Geometry class, the girl who spent more

time sleeping than studying theorems, Jody tracks down Nadya. Well, it turns out Jody assumed

right: she wasn’t working for Atnu. But that left only one alternative - Altnu was working on her.


43

Chapter 19: Nadya-bird

Nadya is barely conscious when Jody finds her. She is concealed by silvery-white

plumage and has a strange, large bandage over her mouth and nose. She is hardly recognizable.

The once striking girl, who slipped amongst social circles as effortlessly as a princess

entertaining her regal guests, is now more rooster than royalty. Jody weeps for her best friend.

She weeps because it is obvious her family pressured her into this. She is no longer human; she

is now one of Atnu’s pets. But then again, so is Jody.

Jody strokes Nadya’s feathers, softly gliding her fingers through the fine blanket of

down. She wonders if Nadya can fly. It isn’t impossible. Jody has the ability to jump great

heights and sprint long distances. For a split moment Jody imagines how these “reformations and

collaborations” will advance the human species.

Perhaps there is no turning back.

Perhaps the people-animal hybrids will breed an offspring gifted by both species.

Perhaps humans as we know them are becoming extinct. Derek, if he were still here, may

not have lived through this shift in life forms.

Perhaps he would have been eaten alive, unable to defend himself against the beasts that

appear to be creeping in all nooks of this mountain town and beyond.

Perhaps Jody is too late and there is no way to stop what The Doctor started.

Then Nadya awakes.

To be honest, Jody is expecting some sort of COCKADOODLEY DOO! or something to

spring from Nadya’s mouth. And maybe there would have been if Nadya’s mouth and nose


44

weren’t bandaged up. Jody shudders thinking about what may be under that bandage, but she

doesn’t have a lot of time to shudder. Nadya’s clawed hand binds itself around Jody’s wrist and

squeezes.

Tighter.

And tighter.

Jody begins to struggle. She pries her best friend’s pincers off her arm one by one. But it

is impossible. They re-attach to Jody’s arm instantly. As if they are magnetized. Jody wants to

scream for help but thinks twice. She snuck into this lab late at night when it was still dark and

The Doctor had fallen asleep back at his own Laboratory.

It wasn’t the world’s most perfect breaking-and-entering. She found the building their

mutual friend had described and sucked in her breath when she got there. Altnu Global’s main

laboratory, apart from The Doctor’s experiments, is a building Jody and Derek both knew quite

well. All 7th and 8th graders knew it well. It was Charles Chesnutt Middle School. Their middle

school. They used to joke about it being more of a prison than a school. Now, for Nadya and a

bunch of other “creations” sleeping in what used to be the boys and girls locker rooms, it truly is

a prison.

Jody thought she had been tormented enough in these locker rooms. Other girls used to

snicker when they saw she didn’t wear a bra yet. They had plenty of awful nicknames for her.

Too mean to mention here. But now, being in the clutches of her best friend, who has turned into

some sort of half bird-monster, the torment is different.

Nadya’s claws pierce Jody’s wrist until the skin pops like a balloon animal. All the while

a couple dozen snoozing, blood-hungry creatures surround them. This might be worse than some

preppy girls calling Jody flat chested.


45

Chapter 20: The Henchmen

Sure Jody knows her life is (literally) in the hands of this “beast-friend” of hers. But she

stays calm a moment longer. It seems like she’s been in a room full of sleeping hybrid-beast-

monster-creations before, and overreacting…didn’t help much.

“Nadya,” Jody murmurs.

If Nadya is inside this bird-monster she isn’t coming out too soon. Maybe some stale

bread crumbs or a handful of sunflower seeds might convince her, but Jody came unprepared.

While keeping her own eyes fixed on the deranged pair that used to be Nadya’s, Jody carefully

slides one of Nadya’s restraints out of its buckles. Instantly Nadya loosens her death grip on

Jody’s wrist.

Kindness.

Nadya hasn’t felt this in sometime. She has been a prisoner and “patient” to Altnu for

many months. It isn’t worth trying to figure out how long. Long enough that she is further along

in the process of Altnu and The Doctor’s “reformation” than Jody. She may be more bird than

human now. Jody decides it isn’t right to leave Nadya here whether she is beast or girl. There is

bound to be more tests on her, more operations, more experiments.

Remember how this wasn’t the world’s most perfect breaking-and-entering? That’s

because Jody had no clue this middle school turned high-tech laboratory is now triggered with

infrared heat sensors and sound-sensitive alarm systems. So, when Jody broke the glass window

leading into the locker rooms - that was one alarm. When Jody stumbled out of the window and


46

fell onto her butt, (although not terribly ungracefully) - that was another alarm. And now that the

restraints have been removed from one of the tables - that will be another alarm.

Not exactly the world’s most perfect exit either as four henchmen in bright yellow suits

enter the girls locker room. It’s hard to tell because of their antimicrobial masks, but let’s assume

they aren’t wearing their happy faces.

***

Jody wastes no time in devising yet another escape plan in her mind. (Is this all she is

going to do this week: escape, break free, runaway, repeat?) She crouches down to lift up her

best friend who has fallen back into some sort of deep sleep (at least Jody hopes it is sleep).

Then, with her strapping new horse legs, she leaps into the air. In one coordinated action, as if

she were the lead ballerina in some equestrian “Nutcracker”, Jody does a pirouette that topples

the bed Nadya was just occupying.

That’s about it. It doesn’t create a ripple effect where a bunch of other things come

tumbling down like dominos onto the henchmen. Nope. It just gives Jody a bad pain in the shin.

“NUGGETS!” Jody screams for some reason.

But, despite the anguish, she starts running, not deeper into the locker rooms where who

knows not what sort of monsters lurk, but straight for the henchmen. This brazen move catches

the henchmen off-guard for a moment. But just a moment. And as Jody stampedes through, the

henchmen take aim. Several shoot but only one of their projectiles find its target. Right into

Jody’s horsey hiney.


47

The projectile is a 3.5 inch long tranquilizer dart meant to stop any of these beasts from

escaping. But either the dart didn’t inject fully or Jody’s rear-end is stronger than most because

she keeps galloping down the hallway. She looks to see where the dart hit her. But it’s gone. It

must have fallen out, that’s why it isn’t affecting her. Right?

“Looking for this, horse girl?”

And there in the winged claws of the passenger riding Jody’s back is the dart - half full.

Jody smiles at Nadya while galloping through the old gymnasium. She rushes into the

school library. Well, it used to be the school library. Now it appears to be some sort of complex

supercomputer station for Altnu Global.

Correction: a diabolical, complex supercomputer station.


48

Chapter 21: Altnu’s Lair

Jody and Nadya are all alone when they enter the school library turned supercomputer

station. No librarians. No scientists. No hybrid flesh-eating monsters. But there are a whole lot of

computers. Rows and rows. Perhaps hundreds.

If only these computers were available when this was a school. Students could have

actually gotten some work done and some papers written. Instead, the six hundred middle

schoolers had to share about twenty out-dated laptops. Sure, they all took turns and the

administration told the students that worked just fine. Students don’t need to be on computers all

day anyways. This is true. Time outside is nice. Reading is good. Breaks from computers are

necessary. But let’s be honest. This is the 2000’s. The technological dawn. Any student who is

computer illiterate will fit in as well as a person wearing day-glo and a pair of Bugle Boy zubaz.

…

Exactly.

Jody and Nadya try to figure out what this all means. Why would this computer

headquarters be unguarded? Why isn’t anyone stopping them?

Then they find out.

“Hello…Jody Ann Monroe and Nadya Svetlana Yormechev.”

“Who…is that?” Nadya’s voice cracks from underuse. Jody is relieved to hear her talking

more. To be honest, Jody wasn’t sure how far the transformation had gone on Nadya. One day

she’s a girl, the next she is half-bird. She and Jody are quite the duo: bird-lady and horse-girl.

“I think you mean…what…is that,” Jody corrected.


49

“We are glad you have joined us,” announces a couple hundred voices in unison.

“Who’s there?” Jody says above a whisper. In her head she screamed the command, but

in actuality she is hushed by the unknown presence.

“We are.”

“We are.”

“We are.”

“We are.”

“We are.”

The voices bounce all over the room. They appear to be coming from the walls. The

ceiling. The floor. Everywhere.


50

Chapter 22: The Voices

“Who is that? Where are you? How do you know our names?”

Jody fires her questions as her only defense. Hoping one of the bullets will impale her

invisible attackers.

“WE ARE,” the voices ring in unison once more.

“Well, who is that? Who are you?” Nadya is more direct, assuming these voices are in the

mood to play games with their minds.

“We are The Voices of Altnu,” a voice from a far away computer announces.

“We know your name because you have joined us. You are family now.”

A nearby computer calls out this eerie welcome.

“What do you mean…joined you? What do you mean…family?”

Nadya asks this but Jody is quick to respond, “I think they mean because we’re….”

Jody cannot finish her thought but The Voices can.

“Creations. Hybrids. Collaborations. You go by many names now. Though we will still

honor your given human names.”

“How…are you able to talk to us?”

Nadya asks, walking up to one of the computers, sizing it up. She really wants to dangle

it by its motherboard, but she restrains herself (mostly because her claw-hands aren’t able to do a

lot of grabbing these days).


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“We are The Voices of Altnu. We have been designed to keep watch on The Laboratories

and all Altnu facilities. We are responsible for the safety and wellbeing of you and your siblings.

No one will harm you as long as we are here to protect you.”

“Aw. That’s sweet,” Nadya replies with sarcasm.

Jody pulls at Nadya. She gives Nadya a knowing glance, as in, “this is our chance.”

However, Jody cannot communicate this without the computers hearing. Here they are, with the

perfect opportunity to destroy all of Altnu and what is stopping them?

“So, what is stopping us from destroying you right now?” Jody asks, perhaps a bit too

bluntly.

“Your body chemistry,” one of The Voices responds from a computer monitor several

feet away. “You have been redesigned with a non self-destruct mechanism. There is nothing you

can do to harm yourself, your siblings or your creator.”

“Not The Doctor or any of the henchmen?” Jody asks, again, perhaps a bit too open about

her plans.

“I am afraid the humans and The Doctor are out of our realm. We have no control over

them or what may happen to them.”

The computer almost sounds sad as it explains.

Jody stands still – wondering how in the world she can still destroy this place. But they

are right. She wants so badly to push all these computers down, but she can’t. Every time she

lifts a hand to one of the monitors there is some sort of mental fence that goes up. Her vision

becomes blurred and her mind goes foggy. Needless to say, it is not a pleasant feeling. Like

bumping your head against the cement wall of a skyscraper.


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Jody wonders what would happen if she decided to go for it. If she decided to run full

force towards these computers and leap onto them or somehow rig something to fall on top of

them. It wouldn’t necessarily be her doing then. It would be an accident.

“There are no accidents at Altnu, Jody.”

Jody looks at Nadya in shock.

“Holy crap. They can read our thoughts.”

Nadya turns to Jody and cries.


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Chapter 23: Loss of Humanity

“Let’s get outta here,” Nadya musters, through the trembling of her beak.

“Where? How? Where are we going to go? It’s over.”

Jody is defeated. Nadya may falling apart on the outside, but Jody is self-destructing in a

way The Voices couldn’t imagine. She is losing something any human must never lose if they

want to stay fully human. And because Jody is already half beast, if she loses this last humane

part of her, she may never return.

It’s hope. That’s what Jody is losing. Not her house keys like she often did in the

mornings, or her cell phone like she did when she stayed overnight somewhere. Not her hair tie

or the remote control.

She is losing hope. The beast inside of her begins to stir. It neighs and brays. It kicks and

scratches. It is ready to flee, to leave the human inside her here with The Voices. The beast

inside her wants only to survive. It cares not to plot or scheme or obliterate this high-tech middle

school turned diabolical super-research facility.

Nadya turns to Jody, whose eyes are glossing over, distantly.

“Are you okay?” Nadya asks.

No response.

“Jody? Let’s get outta here!”

It takes quite a nudge from the bird-girl but Nadya uses all her weight to oust Jody from

the computer room. Instantly Jody takes a deep breath.

“Uhhhnn,” Jody drops to the floor and moans, her horse legs giving way.


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“JODY!” Nadya screams. “Jody! Wake up! Jody! Wake up!”

But it is no use.

She is not dead. Luckily. But she is not moving either. So, as if Nadya owed this to Jody

from before, she swoops down and nuzzles her beak and head under Jody’s motionless arms.

Carefully Nadya clips her now unbandaged beak around Jody’s surgeon gown and holds it in

place as if it were a bridle. Jody wakes when Nadya is in a full sprint, her bird legs thin but

durable.

“What the…?” Jody begins.

“Just hold on,” Nadya reassures her.

And as they speed down the hallways of their former school, past their science teacher’s

room with stuffed hawks eating squirrels, past the special education rooms with trampolines and

swings, past the class projects still posted on the walls—student poems and short stories, detailed

drawings of still life from the art room, and past the “Bienvenido” signs hanging over the

Spanish teacher’s door, until they reach the auditorium.

Nadya crashes into the revolving door with her head and rams it open.

“Ow,” she eeks, but keeps barreling down the vomitorium (what kind of name is that for

the aisle of an auditorium anyway? Are we supposed to vomit on the actors as they leave the

stage and rush down these sunken alleyways?)

Nadya keeps running until the weight becomes unbearable and all she can do is fly.


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Chapter 24: The Auditorium

The auditorium is vacant. Just like the gymnasium and the library-turned-diabolical-

computer-headquarters. The faded red velvet seats are empty. The stage is empty.

Everything is quiet.

Nadya keeps flying, struggling to maneuver this new ability while holding Jody’s weight

until they reach the catwalk. Nadya had spent the past two and a half years of middle school in

this catwalk, far above the audience and stage. She was a techie for every production that went

on since 6th grade.

“Annie”

“Annie Get Your Gun”

“Anne of Green Gables”

and

Anne Rice’s “Interview with a Vampire”

Kathryn Bloy, the Charles Chesnutt Middle School theater director, had a thing for staged

productions with “Anne” in it. Apparently it was the name of her partner. The one she was

unable to marry because of laws that said two women couldn’t marry in most of the United

States. This was Kathryn’s way of making that commitment public. Ms. Bloy and her partner

Anne were together for more than twenty years. Anne had died before Jody and Nadya got to the

middle school but because it was a small town everyone knew the story. Ms. Bloy, who had

produced so many moving, romantic works of art on this stage, lived one of the most tragic love

stories of all: love lost without recognition. Unlike unrequited love, such as Quasimodo’s for


56

Esmeralda or Cyrano de Bergerac’s for Roxane, Kathryn’s love for Anne was classified as

criminal.

“Where are we going?” Jody asks as she dismounts her flying friend.

“I don’t know. I figured this would be a safe place. Not many people knew about it when

we went to school here so I am hoping no one knows about it now. Come on.”

Nadya leads Jody through the steel beams that house spotlights, megaphones, and

hundreds of thick, interwoven electrical cables. They walk carefully through the webs of wires

stopping frequently to allow their long legs and wings to gain passage.

“Well, this used to be a lot easier when I wasn’t Big Bird.” Nadya smiles at Jody.

They tiptoe across a few uncertain planks and make their way over the stage.

“Here.” Nadya stops at a small door. It would be a miracle if their human selves could

have fit through this narrow opening and thus is impossible with the extra beastliness they are

sporting.

“There’s no way we can fit through,” Jody insists.

Nadya opens the laundry-chute sized door and reaches around to unhinge a latch. A door

about six feet tall and three feet wide opens up before them.

“How about now?”

They step over the base of the door, careful not to lose balance and plummet the 20 some

feet to the hard stage below. Once inside, Nadya shuts the door and a tiny light turns on,

warming the small room.

“What is this place?” Jody asks.

“This…this is my dungeon.”

Nadya grins.


57

“Your dungeon? Haven’t we played prisoner enough already?”

“Hey. We needed somewhere safe and quiet. What better place than here, right?”

“I guess…” Jody sighs uncertainly.

“So…what are we going to do?” Nadya poses.

“I don’t know. I mean, there’s not a whole lot we can do. Is there?” Jody asks, somewhat

downhearted.

“Oh, I don’t know about that.” Nadya is returning to her human self. Optimistic. A

survivor. An immigrant. Foreign to the blasé attitudes of American culture.

“Listen. Before my family left Kosovo we once had to wait 19 days in a room not much

bigger than this. Eight of us. My three aunts, brother, sister, grandma, mom and me. We were

waiting for the Slavs to retreat. And boy did they take their time. Stupid, selfish soldiers sitting

around sulking.”

“I love how you alliterate when you’re angry.”

“What? Why would I worry about words when I’m worn out?”

Jody snickers.

“Oh, shut up.” Nadya smiles at her longtime friend. “So, anyways. My family had to wait

for what seemed like an eternity in a small room like this. We didn’t do much. Most of us cried a

lot. Emil, who was only six at the time, grew frustrated pretty quickly and wanted to go out and

fight. But every time a bomb exploded near us, he’d keep quiet a while. We all did. We all knew

that bomb could have been aimed at us, but somehow it never hit us. None of them did. The

streets were blown up when we got out nearly three weeks later. The bags of bread and potatoes

we brought in to the bunker were molded and awful smelling. It had clogged the air with a


58

disgusting stench. But when we walked out into the streets, a new smell reigned. Death.

Everywhere death.”

Nadya is silent for some time. As if the emotional bomb that just landed was too close to

home. “But…we stayed alive. We were destined to. We survived.”

“Then we will, too, Nadya. We will survive and fight Altnu. Somehow. They may control

half our bodies, but the other half is ours. The other half will fight back. Somehow.”

The girls close their eyes to rest in this bunker above the middle school stage, props from

“Anna Karenina” still strung about as if the production had never ended.


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Chapter 25: The Visions

The girls slept. And dreamt. Visions of Sugar Plum Fairies danced in their heads. Then

those Sugar Plum Fairies were eaten by hideous hybrid-beasts like the SabreDon and Pterodact-

Owl. The Sabre-Don sinking its six-inch claws into the plump bellies of the plum fairies, ripping

it into small, bite-sized pieces to bring back to its cubs. Sometimes the great-great cat would

devour one of the fairies in two great chomps as it tried to demi-plié away, pouncing on it and

playing with it first, of course. Letting it think it still had a chance to live. The Pterodact-Owl

would be left the scraps: limbs of fairy legs and snapped off wings. They were mostly bones,

these frail fairies, and not particularly filling, but they were sweet. The sugar plum fairy, dancing

in the heads of boys and girls until they reached the age of reason was delectable. Once the

dreamer became an adult, however, the fairies would turn bitter. Rotten.

The Pterodact-Owl and SabreDon gobbled down the fairies as they were ordered. Altnu

had been placing more and more hybrids into the dreams of their subjects, more or less for

observation. Altnu kept a close eye on the creations and collaborations during the day, the ones

that hadn’t escaped, that is. Yet, they were hoping if they could start tracking dreams, implanting

the visions of the more intimidating beasts, fear would force compliance.

***

Jody wakes with a start.


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She can’t place her dreams and the visions. At first, she merely feels unsafe, vulnerable,

as if something or someone is watching her. She looks to Nadya, who is still sleeping. Then,

carefully, she cracks open the door leading to the catwalk. No one is on the catwalk. She is safe.

As she begins to close the door she hears a voice.

“They will not have gone far. The bird-girl has been given The Visions but I cannot be

sure Jody, the one with horse legs, had a successful implementation.”

It’s The Doctor’s voice.

He is here.

He knows they are near.

Jody creeps the door closed, millimeter by millimeter, and latches the front. Not like this

door will keep them safe when something like the Pterodact-Owl finds them. Or The Visions.

The Visions.

They come back to Jody. The implementation of these beasts into Jody’s subconscious

while she was being operated on was indeed successful. Not like she wants to tell The Doctor

how great of a job he did. But The Doctor said The Visions were successful in Nadya as well.

Jody leans closer to Nadya and sees her best friend squirming. At once Jody shakes

Nadya awake and a look of terror takes over Nadya’s face. She is lost. Paranoid. Trembling. Jody

holds the wing of her best friend and hugs her. Jody gives her a comforting smirk, a forced one,

as she tries to be strong. It is meaningful enough because Nadya noticeably sheds some of her

fear.

With a great breath Nadya begins,

“I just had an…awful dream…”


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“I know, Nadya. They have implanted Visions. Altnu has. I assume they are meant to

keep track of us or scare us into submission, but we can’t let that happen.”

Nadya can’t help herself and begins to nod off again.

“Nadya.” Jody shakes her friend awake. “Don’t do it. Don’t fall asleep yet.”

The girls are dead tired. After the day’s adventures, there was nothing either of them

wanted more than rest.

“I’m going back out there. The Doctor’s out there.”

Nadya nods subtly as if giving her permission. Jody opens the door again and this time

hears another voice she recognizes. A younger voice. A squeaky, cracking under the pressures of

puberty voice.

Without constructing much thought, Jody steps onto the catwalk to confirm her

suspicions.

There, talking to The Doctor, is Derek. Unharmed. As if he hadn’t fallen off a cliff trying

to save her life.

Still, something is different about him.


62

Chapter 26: The Weight

Derek has been overweight for almost as long as he can remember. There was a time, up

until he was about seven or so, that he looked the part of a physically fit young boy. A real

spunnort. One of those run-around, chase-after, throw-the-ball boys. One of those keep-busy,

play-with-friends boys. That was when they still lived in Fondleton.

But that life couldn’t go on forever. All that is thin and healthy must go somewhere to

plump up. And that somewhere is this small mountain town of Apple Lake. Apple Lake isn’t all

that bad. There are parts where decent folks live. There are some stores where those decent

people shop. And, once upon a time, there were schools and hospitals and companies where

decent people went to learn and get better and everything.

When Derek and his family moved to Apple Lake, he was in second grade. That much he

can remember. When Derek and his family moved to Apple Lake, he was that cute little boy.

Fun-sized. Not yet super-sized.

When Derek and his family came to Apple Lake, he was happy. Oh, sure, he found

closets to hide his self-pity and depression that settled in with his chunkiness. But, those closets

weren’t big enough for Derek’s increasing size. So, emotionally, he would move from closet to

closet. Stuck at times. He would grease himself out some days, just butter himself up with false

confidence and slip right out of that confined emotional state.


63

All this is to say, Derek has been a big boy for most of his remembering life. Most of his

memories show him carrying 50-100 pounds more baggage than his friends and cousins he used

to play with. But, either because of, or in spite of, this extra weight, he had a sharp sense of

humor.

He can remember walking home from school one day last year in seventh grade. He was

with some of his new friends, the ones he now hung out with because he started coming out of

his closets more, started showing people how funny he was, started being himself. One of

seventh grade’s most popular boys was walking home with Derek that early evening. It was a lot

of pressure. You know, like a job interview or something. Derek wanted to do his best to impress

this Mr.Popular, say all the right things, follow all the unspoken conduct that would make this

guy like him. This “friend” of his, this highly-regarded boy, was one of those kids who looks

cool from the moment they wake up. He didn’t need to try. He was a trend-setter. If he woke up

and didn’t comb his hair in the morning, every other boy in school would go for the “messy”

look. If he forgot to wear a belt one day because he was in a rush that morning, kids would start

wearing their pants in a “saggy” fashion. If he decided to wear one of his older brother’s Phish t-

shirts because he wanted to be like his brother, guess who else came in the following week

wearing their siblings’ tie-died t-shirts. Everyone.

So, this guy was quite the VIP for Derek and his two middle-of-the road buddies. Derek

tried not to let this new guy throw him off too much. He tried so hard to stay out of his closet, to

stay with his new self, his goofy self. Well, whatever Derek said, the hot-shot acquaintance

approved. But a couple sentences would change Derek’s adolescent mind-set. It would change

the way he saw himself and whether or not he wanted to stay hidden in closets the rest of his life

or try on his new wardrobe as a popular kid.


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“Derek. You’re like, so funny! You’d TOTALLY be the most popular kid in school if

you weren’t so fat.”

That was it. His words of wisdom. Straight from the mouth of a king. They weren’t even

malicious, simply factual in his eyes. Derek could have it all: sense of humor, friends, maybe

even a girlfriend, if he could just lose that weight.

This is what Jody saw as she crept onto the catwalk. She didn’t see Derek the delightfully

jolly middle-schooler. Chunky and closeted. She saw a new Derek, a creation perhaps more

hideous than any of the beasts she has seen roaming around or chained to the dungeon of this

school. She saw a trim, lean Derek.

And although he is her boyfriend, she couldn’t be less attracted to him and the mutations

he must have gone through to be this…popular new boy.


65

Chapter 27: The High Costs of Fame and Frame

“WHY DEREK!?”

Jody screams in her head and in her heart, but thankfully her hand catches the words

before they slip out. She can’t believe her eyes. Is this another Vision? How did Derek survive?

And turn into this skinny version of himself? Then she got her answer.

“Where will I find them, Doctor?”

His voice is eager, not the same as when he really, really wanted a chocolate donut from

Everix Bakery. No, this eagerness is shaded with the colors of cowardice.

“We have reports they are in this building. The bird girl shows up right at this very spot

on our chip-tracking system, but Jody…”

So Jody is still untraceable, unfindable. Free for now. And Derek is helping The Doctor

find them. Jody doesn’t know if Derek is familiar enough with the theater to realize there is a

hidden cubby up here in the catwalk. She prays he doesn’t know. But then again, she prays he

will come up here. Jody is unsure whether she would punch Derek’s lights out or kiss him square

on the lips and try to snap him out of his current daze.

Derek wasn’t always susceptible to peer pressure, but somehow The Doctor found his

weak spot.

“You must find them. You are fit now, you will have no excuses.”

And with that The Doctor hobbles away. There appeared to be something wrong with

The Doctor. Jody could tell by the way he was walking, but she doesn’t concern herself with that

now. Immediately, as if enhanced by some extra sensory perception, Derek looks up to the


66

catwalk where Jody is eavesdropping. She quickly rushes into the shadows but it might have

been too late. He had to have seen her.

Well, if Derek wants to find them, he will have to come and get them. He’ll listen to

reason…won’t he?


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Chapter 28: Television

If there was one thing Derek loved almost as much as food it was television. He couldn’t

tell you how many afternoons and weekends he spent wasting away…or rather, the opposite of

wasting away…enlarging…in front of a television. Some call it the electronic babysitter, but for

him, it was more. The electronic mother. The electronic nurturer and friend. The one who made

him laugh. Taught him new jokes. Accepted him.

Every day after school he would spend a healthy two or three hours watching some of his

favorite shows and movies. And every Friday afternoon was an adventure. Not out on a hike in

the woods (although occasionally this did happen) or out with his friends looking for excitement.

No, he would come home, throw his backpack on the couch, grab some Cheeze-aritos or

whatever junk food he could find and click on the television to embark on his quest.

The adventure wasn’t anything exciting like solving the murder of some famous person

or tracking down the loot of some robber baron. No, the adventure was solving the mystery of

whether or not this weekend was a free premium channel weekend. They happened often

enough, about once every couple months, enough to keep Derek wanting more.

Disney Channel (before it became a regular cable channel).

HBO.

Showtime.

Cinemax.

Whichever.


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He pursued them like a safari huntsman tracking its prey, excited to watch some new

television for a change, perhaps catch a movie with some curse words or something you

wouldn’t normally see on basic television. These things motivated him: junk food and television.

It was so much of who he was. He had become one of the millions of kids hooked to the stuff.

Like a drug, he needed it bad, couldn’t go one day without it.

So, though Derek said ‘No’ to peer pressure from his friends, he always gave in to the

electronic babysitter, the mother of entertainment, television.

Jody knew how much he loved television. That was practically all the two of them did

together when they went to Derek’s house. Watch T.V, eat chocolate chip cookies, and hold

hands.

Well, Jody never thought she would find herself in this position, but here she is. She

could let Derek come up here and drag the two girl-beasts back down to the gurneys and hospital

beds with the other hybrids, or she could try to stop him.

Before she could give it another thought, it dropped. It plummeted like a meteor from the

sky and burst into a thousand pieces. It crashed onto the stage as if it was part of some outer-

space-sci-fi production the middle school was putting on. It didn’t hit Derek though, thank

goodness. But it did seem to shake him up a bit.

Perhaps that happens when someone throws a television at you from about twenty feet up

in the air.


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Chapter 29: Normal

Derek didn’t snap out of the trance The Doctor put him under, but he did show a glint of

his old self. The television was just a warning from Jody, but Derek took it as more. Derek took

it as a threat to his life. Derek took it as if Jody was trying to kill him. Was she? Was she trying

to kill her own boyfriend? No, this wasn’t her boyfriend anymore—was it? Wasn’t he about to

come up to this catwalk and feed her to The Doctor?

Derek runs off stage. As quick as an actor who forgot his lines, he vanishes behind the

thick red curtain. Jody tries to follow him along the catwalk, but as soon as he is out into the

audience, he is gone.

“What the…”

Jody can’t believe her eyes. Has he really just vanished into thin air? No. He’s not

magical. The Doctor didn’t give him the powers to turn invisible. All he gave Derek was what

was rightfully his, his health and fitness. Derek turned into a “normal” sized eighth-grader.

Normal. What is normal anyways? Wasn’t being fat normal? Was skinny the only normal? No,

The Doctor hadn’t turned Derek normal. In this modern day of overweight kids, junk food and

television and laziness, The Doctor merely turned Derek into a healthy young man. And it was

that healthy young man that vanished - - - dashed so fast down the vomitorium aisles and is

nowhere to be found.

Jody grows tense. She doesn’t know where the real entrance to this catwalk is. She and

Nadya flew up here, you know, like “normal” 8th grade girls tend to do. Jody guessed the


70

entrance had to be on the far side of the catwalk. It obviously isn’t on this side where she and

Nadya had slept, inside this small room.

That’s when she heard his footsteps. They were quick at first. Loud. Probably like

thunder to the imaginary audience below. Then they slowed. Had he seen her? Did he stumble

and fall? Why had he stopped? What was he going to do to her? To them? How much of his kind

soul had he given up to become this new, fit young man?

And then she saw him.


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Chapter 30: Three’s Company

Jody doesn’t want to hurt Derek. And she certainly isn’t going to throw another one of

the television prompters at him. They were fastened in just a way that it was easy for her to stand

on one and hold onto the railing and watch the television fall below. But she couldn’t use that

trick now that Derek was up here. On the catwalk. Creeping toward her.

She scrambles for some sort of weapon. Or shield. She is unsure whether she should be

attacking him or protecting herself. She thinks back to how Derek plays chess. Tries to

remember what sort of strategies he taught her that day on their field trip to the ski hill. Should

she attack or protect? What would he do? Would he wait for the first strike, afraid to lose his

Queen, as he always did? Or has he turned into a completely new strategist because of this new

body he is trapped in?

Jody decides not to wait and find out. If he were going to attack he would have done it by

now. So, there was something the same about him. He is still reluctant…perhaps kind? Perhaps

he does still love her?

That’s when they find them.

The hybrids barreled through the theater like the steel doors are made out of Legos. The

SabreDon leads the way with its mammoth head, followed by several of the beasts that escaped

The Laboratory:

The Polar Flamingo, bright pink and full-bear-sized (except for its clumsy, handlebar

thick legs).


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The huge Lion-Squirrel, not quite a Griffon exactly, but equally intimidating as it leaps

and soars from seat to seat smelling for the stench of human and human-hybrid.

The Pterodact-Owl sniffs Jody and Derek out in seconds. It screeches as a message to the

hybrids below that their hunt is over. They have found their prey.

Jody knows now what she must do. It isn’t Derek who is the enemy. She knows this

clearly because of the danger he is in from these hybrids. These hybrids have no conscience, no

way to differentiate between those who work for The Doctor and those who do not. You are

either hybrid or you are a dessert to them.

Derek looks as if he is about to fly off the catwalk onto the Pterodact-Owl. Then

something comes over him, oh yes, probably the memory of how it turned out last time he tried

to jump on a moving pterodactyl/owl hybrid. Not too well.

Jody calls out, “Derek, in here!”

The two former lovers scramble down the catwalk just as the Pterodact-Owl strikes the

metal planks at Derek’s feet. He leaps toward Jody, who reaches him just in time to save him

from falling back into the pit of hybrids forming below. The roars, snarls and growls below are

deafening, and with their hunger-cries is a horrid, beastly stench. It is like going to the petting

zoo except the pets are ten times the size of the children petting them.

And they eat children.

And Jody and Derek are those lucky children.

Jody pounds on the door to the room Nadya and she holed-up in last night.

Immediately, Nadya opens the hatch and the half-horse girl and Derek squeeze into the

small quarters, now made even smaller as three bodies try to fit in. It is roughly the size of the


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vegetable crisper at the bottom of a refrigerator, if that helps you understand how much room

they have. Unless you don’t eat vegetables, then you’ll have to use your imagination.

“What’s going on out there?!”

Nadya paces, her mind reconsidering the times her family spent in similar near-death

circumstances during the war.

“They’ve found us,” Jody replies.

“The hybrids,” Derek adds.

“We’ve got to get out of here,” Jody says, needlessly.

“How?” Nadya and Derek say this in unison.

“Nadya, isn’t there another way out?”

Nadya looks up. There. Above their heads is a discolored tile leading to the roof. “I’ve

never been up there. I don’t know what it looks like or if Altnu has security forces up there or

what. And…”

She holds back the obvious pronunciation that neither Jody nor she will fit through the

small opening, not as half-beast anyways.

Derek seems to understand the predicament. “I’ll go. You two should be safe for a few

minutes. I’ll look around and see how I can get you two out of here.”

A half-ton prehistoric bird crashes into the door of the small room. The thud and its

accompanying screech pierce the hideout’s thin metal walls.

“And what makes us know we can trust you? What the heck are you doing here? You

looked like you were about to take me down to The Doctor two minutes ago.”

Jody’s hurt feelings seep through her watery eyes.


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“You are exactly right,” Derek begins. “That’s exactly what I was going to do. I can’t

stand the thought of you living like this. Half beast. The Doctor is the only one who can save

you…both. You have to know that.”

“So, what were you going to do?”

This is Nadya interrogating now. What exactly was Derek going to do? What could The

Doctor do to help them? They are escapees. And evidence of the “creations”.

“Why would The Doctor help us? We know too much. We are more of a threat to him

alive…he’d rather kill us than have us turned back to normal.”

“Babe, that’s exactly why he wants to turn you back to normal. So that no one will

believe human hybrids ever existed.”

Jody is unsure, but Derek doesn’t wait to hear her protests. He turns his back on the two

half beast women and reaches for the escape hatch to the outside world.


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Chapter 31: Sunrise

As soon as Derek’s thin, fit self crawls out of the hatch leading onto the roof, he is

blinded. The sun is unusually bright. Or perhaps Derek has spent too long in Altnu’s lair. The

Doctor found Derek (after his heroically stupid attempt to jump on a flapping pterodactyl) lying

on a small ridge off the cliff. Derek was unconscious and didn’t suspect The Doctor would ever

rescue him. But The Doctor moves in mysterious ways. He always has his own interests at heart

and so brought Derek to Altnu.

The Doctor’s master plan was to use Derek as bait to find Jody. That worked easier than

he thought when they found out Jody and Nadya were stashed somewhere in the old middle

school auditorium. Still, The Doctor hadn’t planned on the hybrids scaring the three 8th graders

away. It turns out hybrids have their own interests as well - hunger.

Derek scans the rooftop for beastly hybrids that might tear him to shreds at any moment.

Seeing none, he yells down to Jody and Nadya,

“The coast is clear.”

“Good. Now get us out of here!” Jody wails above the repeated thrashing at the metal

door. The Pterodact-Owl is relentless; apparently, someone woke up on the wrong side of the

pre-historic nest this morning.

“Okay…”

Derek retreats to the outside world. There’s no way he can get these two out of here. Not

on his own at least. He needs something…or someone to help. In desperation he runs around the


76

rooftop looking for some sort of assistance. Nothing. No rope, no TNT, no wrecking ball, no way

to free his girlfriend (or is she his former girlfriend now?) and her best friend.

The sun distracts him again. What did The Doctor say happens at sunrise? He was talking

about it over the phone while Derek was still recovering from his attempt at flight. Something

about the hybrids. Something happens at sunrise…

Derek abandons the sunrise mystery when he sees an answer to his more immediate

problem. A fire hose and axe alongside the chimneystack of the middle school roof. Now, Derek

is no body builder, but when he needs to assert his strength surely he will be able to do so, right?

Especially with this new build of his. Derek kicks open the small glass door that holds the axe

and hose and cautiously lifts the axe out of the case. Then he notices the key was left inside the

case and realizes he could have just unlocked the glass door and saved a step, but that wouldn’t

have been as dramatic.

Derek grabs the axe with one hand and starts heading back toward the girls. The axe,

however, isn’t budging. It seems to be fastened to the case somehow. After closer inspection

Derek notices the axe isn’t locked in place. It is just heavy. So heavy Derek attempts to remove it

with both hands and barely knocks it out of the glass case. Okay, so maybe Derek’s new fitness

didn’t include increased strength. Still, isn’t some adrenaline supposed to be kicking in about

now, turning him into superman or something? You know, because he needs to save someone he

loves. Derek looks at his watch. Still no adrenaline. Must only work for mothers. He looks at the

sun, almost rising completely.

He remembers now what it was that happened to the hybrids at sunrise.

Suddenly, full of the anticipated adrenaline, Derek yanks the axe over his shoulder and

rushes toward the hatch leading down to the girls.


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“BACK UP!” he yells. And with one great swing Derek tears into the metallic side of the

hatch. It seems to be some sort of cheap aluminum and melts easily under the blade of the axe.

Derek, still fired up from knowing what will happen in mere moments when the sun rises,

unleashes another WHACK! against the side of the hatch. The blow is terrific and creates a

manageable dent. Once more Derek pummels into the aluminum side as sweat drips down his

cheeks. He keeps at it for a minute straight.

Jody and Nadya are not exactly the helpless type and have barricaded the door leading

into the room with a small couch and some discarded lighting equipment. The Pterodact-Owl

hasn’t called it quits either. It seems to sense the sun’s near rise and repeatedly smashes its body

into the wall of the catwalk room. To Jody and Nadya’s surprise, they hear something in addition

to the thumping of the Pterodact-Owl’s wings. The Squirrel-Lion seems to have found a way to

fly itself up onto the catwalk-maybe by flight or maybe by clawing onto the walls of the

auditorium. Jody and Nadya don’t much care how that great beast managed such a feat. All they

know is they want out.

Derek has fashioned a significant gash in the hatch, large enough for both horse-girl and

bird-girl to sneak through.

Just as Jody bends down to raise Nadya onto her shoulders, the thin wall leading to the

catwalk crashes down.

“GO! I’M COMING! JUST GET OUT!” Jody screams like a commanding officer to a

reluctant soldier. Nadya scrambles out of the enlarged hatch and watches as Jody attempts to

fight the Lion-Squirrel once again.

“I outsmarted you once, kitty. I’ll do it again!”


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The Lion-Squirrel seems to be in no mood to play and lunges at once for Jody. However,

her body seemed to expect it and she uses the Lion’s head as a springboard and hurdles herself

upward toward Derek and Nadya’s outreached arms.

“RWAAAAOOOOAR!” The Lion-Squirrel howls in anguish. But before it or the

Pterodact-Owl can maneuver their way out of the enlarged hatch, the sun rises.


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Chapter 32: So, What The Heck Happens At Sunrise?

And with the sunrise is a glorious sight. Not like a firework show or paint spilling across

the sky or some kind of metaphor like that. No, this was real. With the sunrise brought a new

twist to Jody and Derek’s (and Nadya’s) story. With the sunrise nature is restored, balance is

made, life returns to the way it was.

Through some miracle of life as we now know it, all hybrids, for one split moment, are

returned to their natural forms at sunrise. Not long enough for them to enjoy an espresso and read

the New York Times. Nor is it so short that the hybrids don’t notice something changing, or

rather, returning. In the same span of time that Pink turns to Orange, however long that takes,

that is when balance is restored. No longer are they prisoners of dual-creation. However, when

Orange turns to Yellow, the hybrids are once again chained to another life form.

So why was Derek so rushed to remove Jody and Nadya from the hatch at sunrise? It

wasn’t the hybrids he was afraid of, just the opposite. He was hoping beyond hope he might

witness some sort of transformation in these two girls. He was praying the sun might return the

horse-girl back to normal, back to his girlfriend (if she forgave him for sort of working with the

evilest doctor that ever lived, that is).

Now the Red is fading to Pink and Derek holds Jody tight. She assumes he is in a state of

shock and so embraces the moment and the young man. Derek stares at Jody’s hooves, expecting

some wink of change, but soon the sun turns Orange and nothing happens. Both of Jody’s horse

feet remain; there is no flash of humanity. They are as beastly as ever.


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But what he didn’t notice was a single feather floating above his head, softly, gliding

through the early morning air across the roof. It came from Nadya’s wing. It had burst off in that

moment of opportunity. Derek had not noticed it, but Nadya had felt it. As if she were herself

again, she felt sadness and grief and love and dreams and all of life rolled heavily into a few split

seconds - all of life’s emotions bottled into one promising moment.

“Nadya, are you okay?”

Her best friend gazes into the sunrise. “Yes. I…”

She is unable to express the change or understand its relevance. But Derek knows.

“Did you feel something, Nadya? A moment of… change?”

“Yes. As if I were myself again, as if everything inside me were human again. How did

you know?”

“I may know how you can return to normal. But...it’ll take a trip back to The Lab.”

The 8th grade girls look at each other. Just last year, their major concerns were whether or

not anyone noticed their new haircut or a stain in their skirt or the pimple on their forehead

(which they feared was the size of that big red Kool-Aid guy). Now they are concerned with a

different appearance - whether they are human or beast.

“I’m ready,” Jody asserts.

“I don’t want to - but it may be our only shot.”


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Chapter 33: Derek Plays Doctor

When the 8th graders return to The Laboratory they find it completely rehabilitated.

Everything has been restored – the crumbling roof and fascia, the front wall, everything. This

brings Derek relief, for what he needs must have survived the beastly outbreak from yesterday.

What the 8th graders don’t realize is that they are not alone.

“Wait!” Jody warns.

“What? Do you need to take a manure stop?” Nadya jokes. She is in high spirits after

finally being released from the Altnu dungeon.

“Speaking of that, Jody. How do you use the bathroom?” Derek asks bluntly.

“Well, if it is anything like me, I just use my newfound animal instincts and squat on the

windshield of a car…” Nadya smiles.

“Nice,” Derek approves.

“Gross,” Jody denies.

“Are you denying your animal tendencies?” Nadya wonders.

“No. That description was gross. Defecation is normal. But I am afraid your birdly ways

are a bit repulsive for my taste,” Jody says with a false air.

“Oh, yeah?” Nadya nudges.

“Yeah. If you had any taste and civility you would do your business equestrian-like. I

simply plop whatever I want behind me like I’m marching in the St. Paddy’s Day Parade.”

“Okay. I stand corrected. THAT was gross!” Derek laughs.

“No. That was hilarious!” Nadya joins in the laughter.


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The three of them enjoy their 8th grade humor and the relief from the dread that lies

ahead. Jody, ever the strong one, breaks their silliness and walks up to The Lab door.

“You guys ready?” she asks as she begins to punch in a key code.

“As we’ll ever be,” Nadya summons.

“Okay, let’s find whatever Derek is looking for and get to work. The Doctor will

probably be back soon, and I’d rather not run into him until we are ready.”

And with that warning, they find not just a laboratory filled with medical machines,

equipment, and unknown doohickeys. They find the man himself, The Doctor, asleep near the

front door. Apparently, he was hoping to keep guard but failed.

Jody gestures to The Doctor. Derek and Nadya freeze instantly. “This is what we’re

going to do…” Jody begins in hushed tones.

As she whispers her idea, a small animal friend pokes its head through The Lab door. The

surprisingly friendly Prairie-Bat nudges itself near the eighth graders.

Jody and Derek move fast to execute the plan and look for the proper “medication” for

The Doctor. Derek finds some of it in one of the tubes marked, “Emergency Sedation Only” and

quickly jabs it into The Doctor’s leg. As he jolts upward, the three eighth graders leap onto him,

keeping him from leaving. And, in a moment, The Doctor is once more fast asleep.


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CHAPTER 34: About Those Hooves of Yours…

The three former 8th graders are now on a time limit. The sedation injection says it will

last four hours. Derek is no doctor but he was The Doctor’s only human assistant for the past few

procedures. He calls to his patients when he can no longer put off the inevitable.

“Jody…Nadya…can you two come over here, please?”

Derek is bundled up in personal protective equipment: rubber gloves, a surgeon’s mask

and smock; and he even has those cute little booties on his feet (that stop you from slipping on

the puddles of blood during surgery – that would be embarrassing).

“I can’t do this,” Derek says, his hands shaking as they try to sterilize a forceps.

“Sure you can,” Jody encourages. “Listen, it’s not like we have a lot of choices. I’m not

asking for a miracle, but we need to show The Doctor he doesn’t control us. We need to provide

some sort of hope for the thousands of people in this town that will end up looking like me in a

couple weeks. We need to stop that from happening. This must be done.”

“Well, why don’t we just destroy The Lab again?” Derek asks. But he already knows the

answer.

“Destroying The Lab will prevent others from suffering, but it won’t help us now.”

Nadya places one of her feathered hands on Derek’s shoulder. “You can do this, Derek.”

“Okay. Lie down please. Both of you.” Derek assists each hybrid lady friend to a hospital

bed.

“I’m going to have to…strap you down. Okay? I mean, I can’t have your body

convulsing or anything during the operation.”


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“That’s fine with me,” Jody permits.

“Strap away!” Nadya smiles.

Derek forces a smile but it quickly fades as he locks his friends into place before

removing their feet and wings.

“I wish there was another way…” Derek whispers as his two friends put on their

facemasks and suck down their anesthesia cocktails. They both smile at him and close their eyes

within seconds.

Derek is lost. He truly has no idea where to start. If this were Jody in his position, she

would figure out how to get them out of this mess. But, unfortunately, he just anesthetized her

along with the one man who actually knows how to do these surgeries. There he goes acting

before thinking again.

“That’s it!” Derek perks up. “If I …force The Doctor to do these surgeries…or somehow

convince him…”

Derek checks the clock. 8:30 in the morning. It’s not that Derek isn’t a morning person.

But performing a double transplant on two of his animal-human friends at this hour is a bit

unusual for him. Plus he’s tired. He hasn’t slept in almost a day. Not good. His hands keep

shaking. He tries to hold them still, hoping this will also still his mind.

No luck. He knows what he has to do.

Derek walks over to The Doctor’s medical cabinet and withdraws a small bottle of

Alertol, a medication he has seen The Doctor use to suddenly wake patients up.

He crushes the pill and pours it into a half drank cup of coffee. Then, as if he were force-

feeding a baby, he spoon-feeds the wake-up medicine to perhaps the most malicious doctor who

ever lived.


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Chapter 35: The Doctor Does Derek’s Bidding

“What…What are you doing, Derek?”

The Doctor can see Derek has strapped him down into one of the electronic wheelchairs.

It is one of those wheelchairs controlled with a joystick by the person sitting in it; only this one

has been rigged by a remote. Derek wheels The Doctor around and around, touting his control

over the wheelchair-strapped Doctor.

“What is this, Derek? I demand answers!”

The Doctor is more than confused; he is scared. Derek can see the fear in The Doctor’s

eyes and slows the wheelchair down so they can talk.

“You are going to do my bidding,” Derek demands.

“Your bidding? Have you become someone’s criminal arch-nemesis? Really? Bidding?

Why not, I am going to “do what you say” or “you have to do what I say” or something more

general? What’s with the sinister undertones? I believe that is more my realm, wouldn’t you

agree?”

“This is no time for jokes, Doctor.” To prove he is serious, Derek childishly rotates The

Doctor in a couple more circles.

“Okay, seriously, I’m gonna be sick,” The Doctor groans.

“You are going to fix Jody and Nadya.”

“Nadya? The bird girl? And if I don’t?”

“Let’s just say no one will be able to ‘fix’ you when I’m done here.”

“A threat? From such a young man. Are you sure you want to go down the road of


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threatening violence? You know that means you have to follow up. That’s a lot for a 12 year old

to burden.”

“I’m 14. I’m starting to grow peach fuzz below my nose. I can handle it. Now, are you

going to help or should I just put you back to sleep? Maybe a sleep you won’t wake up from?”

“You wouldn’t hurt a fly.”

The Doctor doesn’t know Derek’s pain. He doesn’t know the bullying and incessant

name-calling he has been the brunt of for so many years. The Doctor does not know Derek has

taken out all his anger from bullies on his sisters. Throwing rocks at them. Bruising them.

Ridiculing them. The Doctor truly doesn’t know what Derek is capable of. Derek isn’t proud, it

is the cycle of violence he has been sucked into. The Doctor has no idea how short Derek’s

temper can be and how easily he can lose control of his emotions and his actions.

Derek grabs a pair of surgical scissors off the nearby medical cart. Without thinking of

the consequences, indeed, driven by the torment of his bullies, Derek stabs the scissors into The

Doctor’s leg.

“OW!! That’s my injured leg!!” The Doctor yelps in anguish. “WHAT ARE YOU

DOING!?”

“Hurting a fly.” Derek remotely wheels the tied up, bleeding Doctor to the sedated bodies

of Jody and Nadya.

“Now tell me how to fix my friends.”


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END OF BOOK ONE

! by ! ~e.theis ! approx 20,000...

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