章 10: A New World

Laying on a couch with a wet washcloth across his forehead, Holden stretched out his limbs and found it difficult to move. His body ached, and he wanted nothing more than to lazily rest in that position for hours more. Unfortunately for him, the blue-eyed woman had other plans. While she wrapped her hair up into a neat bun, she gazed over towards Holden and smiled.

"Finally awake? You snore, you know." She leaned against the kitchen counter, taking small bites out of a sandwich. Her typical glasses had been alternated out with a pair of shades, and her attire consisted of a black tee shirt, jeans, and platform boots. "They say that snoring is a bad omen, just saying."

"Nobody says that, only you". Holden groaned and sat up after removing the cloth, hanging his head down and looking at the floor. His vision was blurry, an unfocused image painting his brain while he still adjusted to the conscious, waking world. Melony moved the collar of her shirt, making enough room for the surface of her shoulder to be exposed. From it, the skin warped and twitched like jello prior to a second neck and head being constructed, its appearance smaller but otherwise identical to her first head. The two faces grinned in unison before announcing, "Nobody kiddo? We both say it! Now what?!"

"That doesn't count..." Holden grumbled. Pepper, wagging tail and all, galloped towards him and sat by his feet. He reached forward and scratched behind her ears, causing her to pant with delight and lick at his fingertips.

"Yeah, sure, you're the arbiter of what counts right?" Melony allowed the duplicate head to be absorbed back into her body. She meandered over to the kitchen stove and fetched the tea kettle from the front burner, pouring the boiling water into a sizable white cup. Within it were a few portions of cocoa powder and, after giving the mixture several spoon swirls, she delivered the finished product to Holden's hands. The two both resided in a log cabin located off a distant trail in the woods. Several miles from any given public area, the structure was a perfect residence for hybrids. As a hybrid's proximity to cryptids has a tendency to strengthen the presence of said cryptids, the potential for one to manifest in a civilian-occupied area was greatly mitigated given how out of the way the home was.

The cabin itself was small but cozy. A fireplace and flat-screen television were the focal points of the velvet-carpeted living room, which one would pass through before arriving in the quaint dining room. Finally, the kitchen was a standard place to prepare food and drink, and aside from that, two bathrooms, a master bedroom, and a guest bedroom completed the necessary amenities required within a living space.

Sipping the hot beverage, Holden looked to the side as Melony sat next to him. Nudging his shoulder with her hand, she continuously poked at him until he gave in.

"What do you want?" He exhaled, allowing the air to exit his lungs and be released from his body.

"Feel okay enough to talk? I mean, about what happened at the hospital. Did you remember any of that?"

Taking a few moments to think her question over, Holden decided to open up.

"Some of it, yeah. Actually, more than I thought I would. I remember feeling so, just, single-minded. Like I had narrowed my focus onto one goal and disregarded all else. I wanted to survive. And the more I felt that way, and the more confident I grew about that want, the more I felt different. After some point, I lost control. My body went on autopilot, acting on its own. I felt like a passenger within my own body. Even if looking out of the window of my eyes was a fuzzy experience, I could understand what was happening..."

"Really now? Kiddo, I want to be honest, I haven't often seen something like this. It isn't impossible for extreme violent intent to overwhelm newly awakened hybrids, but usually that comes with some... caveats. Your actions back there were too coordinated, too purposeful. Real Jekyll and Hyde situation. I think I prefer you as you normally are. Moody as hell, but not trying to rip my head off."

"No shit I'm better off in this state than I am in that one. That much is clear as day." He placed his cup down on the nearby coffee table. Once more rubbing Pepper's head, he took a moment to simply listen to the fireplace ahead, taking in its soothing crackle. "I'm sorry for hurting you."

Melony gave a shrug and kicked her feet up, resting her legs on the table in front of the couch. Holden glanced at her with annoyance and slightly moved his cup in the opposite direction.

"Don't even lose sleep about it, I've been through worse. In fact, I'm glad we had the opportunity to fight, to discover more about your power. Speaking of, if you can remember what went down, do you recall what type of ability you displayed? I have a solid hunch on the functionality of it, but I want your thoughts too, kiddo."

"My thoughts? My thoughts are... that somehow, some way, I can make things my own. Or more specifically, take ahold of an object or energy source and add parts of it to myself. God, it's hard to explain, I have difficulty wrapping my brain around it myself. I just know that it felt as if the environment itself were... merging with me?"

"I have similar thoughts, dude. For instance, after you'd made contact with that knife you threw at me, your punches transformed from a blunt-force attack into a piercing one. Not only that, but you seem to have absorbed the aspect of metal the knife contained too. When we were both in the open field together, it just so happened that a bolt of lightning came our way. Now that wasn't just any old coincidence, was it?" She raised an eyebrow and jumped up from the couch. Leaping onto the table and facing Holden, she pointed down at him with her index finger and shouted with giddy excitement. "You summoned that lightning yourself! By taking in and enhancing the property of metal in an open area, you turned yourself into a human lightning rod in an attempt to fry me up. Admit it, I'm right!"

She was now dancing on the table, swaying back and forth and swinging her arms to the tune of whatever imagined melody occupied her head. Holden, who wasn't particularly impressed, pulled Pepper onto his lap and let her nuzzle into his chest. "Yeah, maybe. Though I didn't choose to do it. It just sorta... happened."

Suddenly springing upward, Melony glued her feet to the ceiling and hung upside down like a bat. She placed her hand on her chin and observed Holden carefully, only to then smile and give him a noogie which he promptly swatted away.

"Yeah, it did happen, and it was incredible. You looked so cool even if I did beat your ass! No hard feelings about that by the way, you started it. Or... you kinda started it? Your body started it? Meh, it wasn't started by me, and we'll leave it at that. I'm proud of ya, going into a new situation and dealing with it. Not everyday someone is brave enough to put their life on the line like you did, though I never would've let shit really hit the fan."

"My arms got destroyed before I put that doll fuck to rest. Don't you think that constitutes shit hitting the fan?"

"I was gonna step in at that point... but then I felt it, your aura of intent unleashing. Do you want to know what triumphs all in this world? It's mindset. And when it was all but confirmed that the little switch in your brain flicked on, well, I just knew my faith in you was well placed. I'm sorry I put you through that, ok? I get it if you're not cool with it. But I wouldn't have cut you loose if I didn't think you'd get through it. And in fairness, I think you were aware of what you were getting yourself into."

"Well, thanks for the vote of confidence. Yeah, I understood what I was doing and why, so it would be hypocritical as hell to hate you or something. By the way, why did my arms return to normal after the fact? I didn't feel like I did anything to cause that."

"Well, the game ended, you won. You could say that your arms were cards that were put on the table and then confiscated by the other player. But with your total victory, you claimed all the cards for yourself."

"Right… Sure then."

"Hey Kiddo?"

"Hm?"

"Good job out there, for real."

"...Thanks."

Melony, still perched on the ceiling, placed a hand on Holden's arm. She took a moment to study its surface before grinning and patting his head, once more causing him to swat her hand away.

"Your arm, kiddo... it feels strange. It looks normal, but the texture... it's different. More moist, more leathery. And its temperature is also hot to the touch. Don't tell me..."

"Yeah... I'm practicing with my ability. I transferred the warmth and feel of the rag into myself and to my arm. Though, I can only maintain it for a short time period. I don't even fully get how I'm doing it, all I know is that it feels... right. When I achieve that right feeling, and I pursue it, that's all I'm doing."

"Well, that was the point. Your body is quick to develop muscle memory for natural processes. To breathe, for example, is something even a child can do without thinking about it. Even still, the default of breathing can be expanded upon. Although we may automatically do it, the way we can do it can be consciously improved to a higher level. You may not be able to tap into this power consistently or potently, but now that you can do it at all, you'll reach new levels of ability with time. All ya gotta do is take control of that right feeling, make it your own, make it as much a part of you as the hair on your head!"

Melony finally peeled away from the ceiling and slithered back next to Holden, extending her hand to rub Pepper's back. The poor pup, now at the mercy of two helpings of affection, whimpered softly and rolled over, exposing her stomach while resting her head on Holden's lap. As her belly was granted that same showcase of love, her four paws danced and swiped at the air with joy.

"So long as you pay me to come along with you, I'll agree to it. Now that I know there's more to me, and more to my family, I can't just ignore that. I want to get involved, to grow further. It's settled then, isn't it? If you're the key to unlock this side of my world, I'll allow you to be that key, as bat shit crazy as you are."

"Look, kiddo... I won't lie to you. I know you've already come so far that you may think it's too late to turn back. But this isn't a decision you should make lightly. There are so many horrific things you could run into, so many dangers you could face. I get that you wanna learn about your folks and yourself, and trust me, I do understand that. I also wished to understand myself when I was young, perhaps more than you could imagine. Let's just say... for a while, grasping my true self was a task I thought impossible."

"Well, how did you grasp that?" Holden questioned. In response, Melony tilted her head back as if remembering something, a small yet somewhat sorrowful smile creeping upon her face.

"I had someone... special… help me figure it out. Someone I could count on to have my back and always believe in me. It was thanks to them, thanks to them never giving up on me... That's a story for a different day, though!"

Holden nodded and took a final sip of his cocoa before placing the cup back down on the table. He delicately removed Pepper from his lap and handed her to Melony, who took the pup in with open arms. Standing up and facing the fireplace, feeling its heat on his body, Holden stood strong and resolute as he spoke.

"Then I'll grasp it too."

"Well, consider yourself the newest recruit of my faction, kiddo! We're called, get this... Melony's Supa Dupa's! Cus all my members are super duper to me!"

Looking back over his shoulder, Holden's eye twitched while he glared at Melony, not even needing to talk for his mind to be spoken. All the same, he eventually shrugged his shoulders and released a gentle sigh, accepting the sheer stupidity of the name that would represent him.

"You said before that there were other factions... other's that are considered to be major ones. What are they? Are you on good terms with them?"

A brief display of disgust played across Melony's expression as her lip twitched and eyebrow lifted ever so slightly.

"No... we're not on good terms at all. The other three major factions are less like a close group of people and more like a facilitator of depravity."

"And... what are they?"

"Well, there's the Stitch-Face Crew. They're a faction who despises humanity and hybrids alike, hunting them down to create gruesome displays of violence and death as some sort of twisted, artistic message to the world. Then there's the Children of Kol Tamish. They're all about resurrecting their God or whatever, one who is believed to have existed millennia ago. They say the God in question was a hybrid of such power and cruelty that he and the cryptids of his era ravaged the Earth unopposed. Then there's..." She paused, a flash of contempt in her eyes following her hesitation. "There's The Editor's group. He's responsible for producing some of the most despicable operations imaginable. Hybrid trafficking, producing and distributing entertainment magazines based around the murders and tortures his associates commit... Some people have reasons for what they do. Other's only have distasteful pleasures..."

"Jesus... have you thought about putting an end to all of that? I mean, could you?"

"I could, and trust me when I say I want to... but it isn't that simple. They don't exactly operate in the broad daylight, kiddo. Usually my crew and I just stumble upon their deeds after they're done. Sometimes we find the culprit, and sometimes they even talk and give us some info. But... it almost never amounts to anything."

"Makes sense. I suppose I'm fortunate that this is the crew I'm joining. Though, there's still something I don't understand. What are you in it for? I get that you want to help, but why?"

"Because I'm Melony Harper, and that's what the best do. There's nothing better in this world than knowing yourself. Everyone should get to experience that comfort, that belief. It's just that simple. So, are you ready to know yourself? Who's the real Holden Cauthwell? Who is kiddo... behind the mask?!" She kneeled over and rested her chin on her hand, striking the classic thinker position. Rolling his eyes, Holden couldn't help but crack a small smile.

"You look ridiculous... Yes, I'm ready, just chill out ok?"

"Alright!" Standing up from her position, Melony put out her fist expectantly. Although ignoring her at first, Holden finally gave her the fist bump she desired, much to her amusement.

"I hereby announce to the world that you, kiddo, have been knighted as of this moment! You now stand as one of my supa dupa crew members, which is totally the coolest thing anyone could be by the way. Like, ever."

"Yeah, cool. Can I get some more rest now? We can have some useless celebration ceremony later, but I'm still tired."

While Holden laid back down on the couch, Melony gave a thumbs up and made her way to the front door. Stepping outside and standing on the patio, she leaned over the wooden railing and gazed upon the bright blue sky and the clouds that occupied it. The start of a new adventure, the introduction of yet another newly awakened hybrid to a brand new world. All the countless possibilities flooded her mind, yet a single clarifying thought was all that remained when the dust settled.

"Man... I can't wait to introduce him to Jackson and Natty."