CHALLENGE FOUR: SHIFTING

"The secret side of me I never let you see. I keep it caged, but I can't control it, so stay away from me, the beast is ugly.

I feel the rage and I just can't hold it."

FOUR:

Toby Smyth

Long car rides are boring. I can't get my internet to work because we're constantly moving, I've beaten all of the games on my laptop and I can't download anymore because the internet isn't working. I've seen every movie I own. Basically I'm left with staring out the window and listening to the radio, sleeping, or talking. None of those sound appealing to me. I should also add that my ass hurts.

We try to eat some decent food at least. You know, none of this filling up on only McDonald's and Burger King crap. Don't get me wrong, I love it all, but it makes me feel like I ate about a ton of bricks. Cory got the brilliant idea to keep fruit and jerky in our stock constantly. I swear, he's a genius, funny as hell too. I still don't know yet if it's a made up fictional personality, or if they really are two separate people in the same body. Time will tell I suppose, but I kind of with Cory would make more appearances than T would. The guy has no spine. Yes, he did save my life, but he's so quiet I sometimes I want to punch him to see if he'd do anything about it. Makes me sound mean, I know, and I'm usually not, but for some reason he just rubs me the wrong way. I think it has something to do with his 'poor me' walk. Dad always talked about it back home. The people who wallow in their own misery and don't do nothing to change it. That's what T makes me think of. I don't know what he did, but he needs to buck up.

Three days of driving and we arrive in beautiful Florida. I'd never been away from home before. My family didn't go on vacation, too expensive. We sometimes would take day trips in state, but it never amounted to anything all that crazy or fun. Then when my 'condition' showed up, we didn't even leave the city. Let me tell you something about my home town: it's small and old fashioned. Like if I'm going to buy anything fun or interesting, I get it at Wal*Mart which isn't even in my town. It's in the next town over. The movies we get are all delayed. I'm sure you all can see why I got into my internet pirating hobby. Funny thing is, my mom fully encouraged it because it saved us money and kept me occupied.

I didn't steal everything. I bought a lot of games and things. I did have a job, and I had to have money and a legit copy of Final Fantasy XIV to get that up and running for so long. Without that, I wouldn't have met Moira. I love her, and my life wouldn't be the same without her. I'm still amazed that she's a part of the game. Amazed and worried. We are on different teams, and even if winning would change my life, I'm pretty sure it would change hers too. As much as I want to cure my problem, I also want her safe and happy.

We park at the coordinates on the GPS, which is the entrance to a park in the Everglades. Exciting huh? Only not really. I'm not looking forward to this one bit. It's hot and kind of sticky and it smells weird. Though I can't complain about getting up to stretch my legs. I rub my butt too, massaging out the numbness. Ipod sees me doing this and gives me a weird scowl.

"What?" I ask her. She only shrugs and turns to stretch. Then bounces off to start blabbing at T in sign language. Those two are always talking as though it's their secret language. I'm not quite sure how to feel about this. I don't like secrets. I spend so much of my life in them, but complaining about it also makes me feel like a hypocrite. I guess I just hate that they're so necessary. They're shady.

"Okay, we're here and there's supposed to be something to tell us what we're going to be doing exactly." Ryan says and she's searching for our instructions. She's always business. It's more or less annoying. Even when we stayed at a hotel, and that's saying if we did because she always wanted to keep trading with the driving so we were constantly on the go. Until Cory threw a fit over needing some solid sleep before we drove off the road. Anyway, at the hotel, she made sure to get us in bed early and up at the ass crack of dawn. Kind of irritated me because I finally had an internet connection that would let me do more than send off a fast email. I really want to kill something. I feel stressed and overwhelmed which usually leads to bad things.

Games have always been what kept me normal. School stressed me out a lot and so did my chaotic social life. I'd come home and play a game, and get to be me. Being the star football/basketball/baseball/track/golf/tennis player, I was naturally rather popular in school. Not to mention the fact that I have amazing abs. Girls were always all over me, but I was never allowed to date because of my 'condition'. It's also why I couldn't go to parties. Day trips to the mall or the movies, sure, but no parties, and I had to leave school dances early. An hour of fun didn't make it worth my time. Thus, games.

“This might help.” I point to a plaque nearby that has the big ol' Escape Show logo on it. We all crowd around it. “In the swamp you'll find what you need. A treasure to help you with your deeds.”

“And how are we going to find a treasure in the middle of one of the largest swamps in America?” T asks with a frown. “Especially since we don't know what we're looking for.”

Ryan investigates the plague some more and finds something that resembles a tracking device attached to the back. There's a red light that blinks every so often and a quiet beep to go along. “This perhaps?”

“Let's get moving.” I make a motion for her to step forward. “The sooner we finish this, the sooner we can have whatever the awesome reward is.” Not to mention I was curious as to what this treasure was.

“Um, g...guys?” T says in a shaky voice.

“Hunters!” Ipod spits it out for him and points behind us just as a group of suited men and women get out of a car. Unlike before, they don't hesitate to start running right off the bat.

Ryan bolts and we all follow. I have no idea if we're going the right way though because the beep is becoming even more spread apart than before.

“We need to go in a new direction.” I shout after her. “Turn around!”

“And get caught?” She shouts back, glancing over her shoulder at me.

“Pick a new direction then, just do something!”

“I think we're losing them,” T adds.

Ryan turns a sharp right on the path and then another so we start heading back towards where we came. At least we're on another trail, and she slows her pace as she tries to figure out which way to go next. We go left now. Stop. Turn around and go right. I'm not sure she knows what she's doing, but I also have realized that telling Ryan she's wrong and incapable is a bad idea. She's too determined and way too high strung. The only person who has the balls to stand up for her is Cory. I try, but she doesn't respect me enough to listen. Too bad he's sleeping, or wherever the hell he goes when he's not present.

We keep heading down this path, the beeping on our tracking device is becoming more steady and more frequent. Then of course we hit a dead end.

“Are you kidding me?” I groan, panting. “Now what?” In front of us is gross, smelly, swamp. Ryan takes a step towards it and the beeping becomes more excited. Figures right? That we'd have to go into the middle of a nasty ass swamp.

“I doubt it's deep. We can swim.” Ryan suggests.

“Gaters,” T says. “I don't think it'll be so simple.”

“I see canoes.” Ipod says. She's always the observant one. I've yet to see her miss a thing. Sure enough, there are canoes not too far off. They're on the other side of the protective railing.

Without any hesitation, Ryan hops on over and lands in the water. She climbs into one of the canoes. I follow after, I've never been in one before, but I figure if I'm going to be safe with anyone it'd be her. I'm not a fan of the water. Drowning scares the crap out of me. I know how to swim and all, but unless I'm in a pool, I don't want anything to do with it. If I can't see what's going on around me, then I'd rather not have anything to do with it.

The other two are close behind us. Ryan and I are already off, following the now persistent beeping. Thirty feet or so and it's one solid sound. It's giving me a headache, and that is never a good thing. They're another trigger for my ability.

“Who's going down there to-.” I begin.

“I got it! Then I can tell you if something is going on.” Ipod says and starts to strip off her shirt so she can hop into the water. I'm not complaining. T of course is trying to not look and be all gentlemanly but I have a feeling he's not complaining either. She jumps in and goes under. “I think I see something. Like a light or something.”

We all watch, our eyes fixed on the water. There's bubbles, the canoes start rocking, and hunters appear at the shoreline. They don't get into the water, but they don't need to yet. One of them points and a gust of wind blows over us, threatening to tip us into the water as well.

“Something has my leg!”

T stands up and jumps into the water, probably without even thinking first. The wind gusts are getting stronger, one hunter walks into the water, and it makes me think of Terminator a little too much. I shiver. And that's the last thing I remember beyond falling out of the canoe and hitting my head against something in the water.

When I come to again, I'm in a bed, and I know what happened instantly without anyone having to say a word. They all had the same unsure, shocked, scared expression.

“What the hell did you do?” Ryan finally demands. “You could have killed us all! Why didn't you tell us that you turn into some kind of a monster?”

“Do we know what you can do?” I snap back. “I barely know anything about any of you. Why should I share all my deep dark secrets?”

“Because this one could have killed us!”

“Ryan,” T says and shakes his head. “Let's not scream at each other.”

I think this is the first time I've liked the guy. Wait, no the second time. The first was when he saved me from the box. Without him I'd be dead.

“It started when I was about thirteen. I was attacked by a dog, blacked out, and my parents were freaking out because I turned into whatever it is I turn into. I don't remember anything that happens when it does. I just go by what people tell me, and I guess it's bad.” Real bad, and I hate it. People don't tend to think I feel remorse though. After all, the monster is me, right?

Ipod grabs my hand and gives it a squeeze before she hugs me. I like her, but she also seems like the only sane person in the group.

“So what happened?”

“You went unconscious.” T says. He's pacing now. “I tried to pull you back onto the canoe, but then you started changing. Your body shifted, got larger, became this weird purple and black color, and wings.” He shudders. “You saved Ipod. The hunters were holding her under. I don't know if you....”

Killed anyway, got it, but I did some damage. I groan, my head hurts. It usually does right after. “We get the thing?”

“We did,” Ryan says. I can tell she's still pissed as hell. “We were waiting for you to come to first before opening it. It's some kind of a box.”

“Well, I'm up now.” I mumble.

She nods and grabs a white box. She pops off the lid and holds it for all of us to see inside. Inside are five envelopes, each with our names on it, a brass key, four tickets for Disney World, four flashlights, and an LCD screen.

“A gift for you. Something personal, something fun, something to protect you, and something for your future.” Ryan read a small strip of notebook paper. “These must be for protection.” She points to the flashlights. “We used these against the hunters in the fun house. I'm not sure what this thing does.” She points at the screen. “I guess we're going to Disney World though.” She then hands out all of our envelopes.

Ipod opens hers first and smiles as she sees a picture of what has to be her family and her boyfriend at a picnic. She reads a note. “Remember your goals.”

T opens his next and chews on his lip. He doesn't show anyone the picture. “My note says the same thing.”

I rip open my envelope, curious as to what I'll have. A picture of my family no doubt. I miss them, but at the same time, I don't like the pressure they've put on me to 'get better'. I'm surprised to find a picture of Moira. My heart beats a little faster, and I smile like a nerd.

Ryan opens hers and scowls. In fact, I think I see tears in her eyes and she quickly leaves.

“Are we done now?” I ask.

“For now.” T says. “I think we can all use some sleep though.”

I nod, and reach for my laptop so I can send Moira an email. I can talk to her, and I don't even want to question why. If I mention it, I'm afraid someone might try to take her away from me.

“Thinking of you. I just wanted you to know. Love you.”

I put her picture under my pillow, but I never let go of it. Then I fall back asleep.