The Shattered Genesis (Eternity) Read Free Page B

stream of colorful words and terms spewed out of my mouth. How did they know where I lived? What could they possibly want? It couldn't just be to assault me at that point, and honestly, was my insult really so damaging to their already far out of proportion egos that they had to hunt me down and harm me over it? I cursed myself and my big mouth. I cursed my own over-inflated ego. I cursed the day I realized I wasn't normal.
                  Throughout all of that cursing, I didn't think about where the third ma n, the one who had spoken to me, was lurking. As I stomped and kicked like a child having a particularly contemptuous tantrum, I didn't hear his footsteps approaching behind me. But even if I had been completely silent, I still wouldn't have heard him. Jus t as I poked my head around the wall, I felt his hand wrap around from behind me and hold firmly to my mouth as he pulled me backwards.
                  Forget all human tendencies. Forget the thought processes and emotions that elevate us above other mammals. The moment I felt him pulling me back into the darkness of the alleyway, I fought like any other animal in a struggle for its life. At first, I just thrashed around wildly, attempting to weaken the painfully strong grip he had on me. Quickly, I realized attempting so me actual defense was my only hope.
                  I opened my mouth and sunk my teeth down into his hand while simultaneously kicking my foot back to nail him perfectly between the legs. He suppressed a cry of pain by just grunting like a wounded hippopotamus, which I would have found hilarious had I not been in a fight for my life. After his hand released my mouth, I took in an unbelievably capacious gasp of air and screamed . As a child, before I decided against having friends, my companions and I used to have competit ions to see who could scream the loudest. I always won. But those screams were nothing compared to the real thing; I was sure that everyone in the metropolitan area had heard me.
                  But just as the last bit of air was exhaled from my lungs, his hand was clam ped over my mouth again.  When I opened my mouth to bite him again, he swung my body hard to one side and slammed my head up against the brick wall of the alley. I tried to scream but the sound choked off as silver and white stars danced in shimmering pool s of black in front of my eyes. I collapsed back against him, struggling to stay awake as the ground slid sideways abruptly, right out from beneath my feet. I was hanging upside down with nothing keeping me attached to the earth but him anymore. I was prep aring to tumble head over heels into the starless black sky. I would keep falling forever...
                  I snapped out of those thoughts just as I began to feel the sensation of falling. My head rolled painfully to one side and rested against something that scratched at my skin.
                  I started to mutter something but I felt his hand press to my mouth again.
                  “Do not say anything.” His voice whispered fiercely to me and instantly, that fight sparked to life once again. I pictured a phoenix roaring back to life from its own ashes, from its own demise. But with my head spinning and exhaustion beginning to take over me, the phoenix's life was snuffed out by one mighty wave of ocean water.
                  My eyes shot open, widening when I became aware that I was submerged in complete darknes s. There were three peculiar, nickel-sized holes in the black wall in front of my eyes and through them, I could see the alley clearly. I attempted to move my head but found that it weighed far too much for my small neck to support. That was new. Before, I had a completely normal head, of a completely average weight.
                  Strange , I thought to myself.
                  The scratchiness that I felt against my head was