Monster

Slender, pale fingers wrapped around the clear glass that held orange juice. Emily Morris took a sip of the tangy yet sweet drink that washed down the toast she had ate not so long ago. The yellow in the kitchen walls brightened as sunlight poured through the window.

It was calm, so odd for the energetic Aurum City even though it was seven A.M. Emily gave a sigh as she admired the silence. The city was slowly waking up; few cars made their morning commute; fourteen year old Jared Franklin delivered the day’s newspapers from his bicycle; some citizens went jogging or walked their dogs; and Mrs. Gray, along with some other neighbors drove to their jobs. The seventeen year old waved back to Jared who had dropped off a stack of newspapers in front of one of the brownstones that was across the street.

Her mother, a caring woman of the name Adriana Morris, gave a sigh as turned on the kitchen’s small television. After changing a couple channels she settled on AC News to see what the weather would be like for the day.

“Your father is already at work.” Adriana said exasperated. Her blue eyes were focused on the closed door of Eric Morris’s office, the first door up the stairs. She walked over to the coffee maker, ready to prepare a mug for herself. As she brought out her pink: ‘#1 Mom’ coffee mug, Adriana hummed a cheery tune. “He was looking through some files since four in the morning. Apparently this is one major case assigned to him.”

Emily placed her empty glass in the sink. “What case?”

“Breaking news.” Thomas Harrison, the anchorman of AC News announced from the television.

Adriana's eyes widened and she immedietly stopped humming.

“Dangerous mobster, Mark Anthony, of the Anthony crime family, is dead.” Thomas said, his voice clear and serious.

Emily’s eyes widened as she heard the dead, psychotic man’s name. He is was one of Aurum City’s and America’s most wanted criminal. She remembered seeing some members of the Anthony family in the city; they always carried some intimidating feeling around them, even the children of some members did. A majority of the violent crimes committed in Aurum City were caused by that crime family.

“Officials have found his body in an alley near the Falcon Pub around 11:30 P.M. ‘This may be another gang war as foul play may be involved. The victim’s body was covered in bruises and the cause of death is strangulation.’ Head Police Chief Ronald Michaels stated at a press conference. “ Thomas then cleared his throat and continued on with the news that would make headlines across the nation. “We now have reporter Melody Smith live at the crime scene.”

The screen changed from the news station to a woman around her early thirties with brunette hair pulled into a bun, and was standing in front a line of police tape.

“Hello. I am Melody Smith, reporting live from the location of mobster Mark Anthony’s death.” Melody then started to state details of the incident. “These officers and members of the FBI have been around this alley ever since midnight. The victim was found with no pulse, and has bruises on his abdomen, head, and neck. A pistol, one stray bullet, and a feather were found near his body. More details will come later. “

“Thank you Melody.” Thomas said as the screen changed back to the news station. He then changed to much more pleasant news. “Firefighters have saved an elderly couple from a kitchen fire yesterday afternoon when –“

Adriana turned off the television, cutting off Thomas. “Well I suppose this is both good and bad. We have one criminal off the streets but a killer on the loose.”

Emily silently nodded in agreement as she also felt both relief and fear at the same time.

• • • •

“It’s Monster. “

Emily looked up from her history text book to give fellow classmate, William (Will as he likes to be called) Nigel an odd look. A few other students that sat also around the table followed her gesture.

“Will.” Robert Samuel-Emily’s boyfriend of two years-wrapped his arm around her shoulders and rolled his eyes at the eccentric classmate. “Just because its study hall and we’re in the library doesn't mean that it’s time to be weird.”

Will gave a snort. “I am not being weird. Besides, this is very important and concerns current events.”

“Go on.” Robert said.

“Do you know about the death of that mobster Mark Anthony?”

“Everyone in the nation knows about his death.” Emily said in a soft voice, knowing the librarian will personally kick a student or staff member out of the library for speaking any louder than a whisper.

“Well a lot of people say it’s foul play…by a human.” Will gave a grin as reached into his neon green book bag and pulled out a newspaper. “But what if it isn’t a human?”

“The Daily Strange.” Emily read the ‘newspaper’s’ title before raising an eyebrow. “And how does this ‘newspaper’ that’s actually complete superstition support your point?”

“Well my two little lovebirds, read the front story.”

The title of the article said ’'Monster Strikes!' in red ink with a photo of a person’s shadow that has wings. Emily stared at the photo, shocked at how real the photo looked. She caught the details of ‘genetic mutating’, ‘winged monster’, and ‘mob weapon’ from the print.

Robert scoffed as he finished reading. “This ‘Monster’ is a bunch of bullshit Will.”

“It’s perfectly logical darling Robert.” Will said the word ‘darling’ in a cooing voice. His gaze turned to Emily, she looked down at floral tablecloth with more interest. “Well I guess Emily is the tie-breaker.”

A snowball formed in the pit of her stomach as she felt both Robert and Will’s eyes on her. She knew The Daily Strange was science fiction but she remembered last fall when her father told her about a lab explosion that occurred eight years ago. There were also some notes on her father’s desk when she brought him his coffee.

A frequent word on the notes she caught was ‘mutating’.

What if The Daily Strange was right?

She gave a shudder at the thought, and then pulled a small smile, “Don’t be silly Will. There has to be a logical reason to Mark Anthony’s death. And escaped genetic mutations are not logical.”

Will gave a defeated look. “Well I would expect these answers from the honor student and son of the Governor. “ He started to read the comics part from The Daily Strange.

“I told you so.” Robert said before getting back to writing his book report for Hamlet.
Emily gave a nervous smile and finished the chapter of her history book peacefully.

• • • •

A spine chilling feeling crept upon Emily as she collected her textbooks from the old locker she temporarily owned for the school year. She felt a pair of eyes staring upon her and then looked behind her.

No one.

“Calm down Emily.” She muttered under her breath. “Will’s stories and some government conspiracy are not going to get the best of you.”