Alright Ladies and Gents.... we (well, mostly me... because I love this story! Lol!) wanted to post another infected story!!! It is a continuation, but can stand alone if you've never read 'Wing of Grey' or 'Things Change'. Hope you all love it as much as I do! We had so much fun working on this one :)
Also, just because people seem to be getting confused, all the stories that have been and currently are being posted have been posted to the site before and posted to my (Gweall) personal blog. So if you're having a feeling of Deja vu, that's because you've probably read it before. I'll be sure to write a note to you all when it's a new story. See my author bio page for a link to my blog for all of my stories ready to read right now, or you can wait a month or two for them to be posted here.
~ Gweall and Naughty
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"Get out!" Chris shouted.
"Chris, please. Just give me another chance," Ethan begged.
"No. Get out. I don't want you here anymore. I've tried to help you, but you've made it obvious you can't be changed. Mike was right about you," Chris shook his head, in tears.
Ethan had tried his best to accept Anthony, and his differences, but he couldn't help his hatred for the infected. He didn't know where it came from, but it was there. Mike glared at him as Anthony held onto his side.
They had been having dinner when Mike had brought up Alex. For some reason it sparked an old hatred for the mutants. He had gotten emotional and Anthony tried to comfort him. Ethan glared at the cat's paw on Mike's shoulder. His fingers were tipped with claws, and his tail swished back and forth gently. Ethan found himself watching Anthony's tail a lot. It just made him so angry. After that night, almost a month ago, he found himself falling back into his old way of thinking. He knew it would hurt Chris if he ever found out what Ethan was thinking, so he tried to hide it, tried to keep it bottled up. But that only made it worse. Now, a month later, things had reached their boiling point.
He didn't know what set him off. Why it was tonight, and not any other night they had spent together. Because they were all such close friends, Ethan found himself alone with Anthony a lot. Sometimes Chris would be in the bathroom, and Mike would be out getting some beer, or something. He and Anthony would be alone. It was always kind of awkward, but they worked through it. But tonight had been different. Anthony was in a happy mood and was trying to spark up a conversation between him and Ethan, but Ethan didn't feel much like talking.
"So how are things with Chris. I have to admit, you guys are really cute together," Anthony smiled.
"Thanks," Ethan mumbled.
"His birthday is coming up, right? Have any plans? Mike and I were thinking of throwing a surprise party for him," Anthony said.
"I hadn't thought about it yet," Ethan said, not really participating in the one sided conversation. Anthony stared at him a moment, before trying again.
"Maybe we could go to a theme park or something. Six flags or Disneyland," Anthony smiled.
"That could be fun," Ethan said, not really interested.
"Ethan... is something wrong? I know we're not exactly close, but you seem a little off lately," Anthony said.
"No nothing is wrong," Ethan shook his head, lying.
"Are you sure? I just think you seem kind of-" Anthony was silenced when Ethan hit him, sending him flying onto his back.
"You don't know me you fucking infected piece of shit!" Ethan shouted suddenly. He didn't know where the blind fury had come from, but it completely filled his mind. He couldn't think about anything other than the creature that was so worthless in front of him. Anthony blocked his face as Ethan crawled on top of him, drawing his fist back. He punched him again, but before he could swing a third time, he was pulled off a bloody Anthony.
"What the fuck!?" Mike shouted. He had Ethan by the waist and threw him onto Mike's bed. Chris knelt by Anthony, who had crawled over to the opposite wall. He held his nose, which gushed blood and Chris tried to stop the bleeding with a towel he had grabbed from the floor.
"Ethan, what the hell are you doing?!" Chris shouted, looking up from Alex for only a second. Ethan's vision was beginning to clear, and it was like a red haze had been lifted from his mind. It took him a moment to realize what he had done.
"What the fuck happened?!" Mike shouted, resisting the urge to help Anthony. He was more concerned with keeping Ethan far away from his beloved.
"I- I don't know... we were talking... ow!" Anthony hissed, as Chris pressed on his nose.
"Mike, I think it's broken," Chris said. Anthony was crying softly, in the arms of his friend.
"I'm going to kill you, you piece of shit," Mike swore, before moving to Anthony's side. He rubbed his shoulders soothingly, before trying to help Anthony up.
"Chris..." Ethan stood from where he had been thrown on the bed.
"Get out!" Chris shouted.
"Chris, please. Just give me another chance," Ethan begged.
"No. Get out. I don't want you here anymore. I've tried to help you, but you've made it obvious you can't be changed. Mike was right about you," Chris shook his head, in tears. Mike glared at Ethan as they helped Anthony out of the dorms. Mike grabbed his keys.
"Come on, we need to get him to the E.R," Mike said. Chris nodded, and they left. Ethan was left alone. He cursed and kicked the leg of the bed. His leaned against the wall and sighed. He had ruined it. He loved Chris, he really did. He just couldn't take the panther anymore. The cat had worn on his last nerve.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Ethan stormed through the campus, angry as ever. Chris wouldn't answer his calls or texts, neither would Mike. It had been a few hours and Ethan didn't know what he would do. He couldn't go home, he didn't want to face Chris. Not after what he had done.
'He's kicked me out of my own Goddamn home!' Ethan thought to himself. 'He'll defend that stupid fuck of a cat until the end. He doesn't deserve it. He doesn't deserve Chris's love!' his mind screamed. His hands were shoved in his pocket and he frowned when his fingers hit something cold. He wrapped his hand around it and brought it out into the street light. It was his small pocket knife, shining in the light. The red haze began to return to his vision, cutting off any sense of reason or logical thought. He just needed to make somebody hurt.
The boy had small horns on top of his head, curved back and around his ears like a ram. His legs were reversed and ended in black hooves that clicked loudly on the ground. He had lost track of time in the art studio and was heading back to his dorm. It was cold out that night, and it made his small tail twitch nervously. The night made him even more nervous. The campus wasn't exactly the most peaceful one out there, and he knew he should be careful. He tried to take the most lighted path, directly through the campus. His hooves echoed and he didn't like the sound, it made him feel alone. He smiled when he saw a figure walking ahead of him. It meant he wasn't alone.
He quickened his pace, happy to see another person, even if he was heading the opposite way. The man's hands were shoved in the pockets of his jacket and he walked quickly, as if he had somewhere important to be. The ram hybrid slowly began losing his smile as he got an uneasy feeling in his stomach. He swallowed and looked around at the empty campus around him. Far away you could hear the heavy music of a party, but other than that the night was still. He shook his head, it was just a man who was cold and was in a hurry to get warm. There was no reason to be afraid. He often found himself thinking the worst of people when he was alone at night, and crossed paths with a stranger. It was just a stupid thing he did, tricking himself into thinking he was in danger.
He smiled a little as he passed the man, who kept his head down as he walked past the infected. He shook his head and rolled his eyes.
'See, you freak yourself out over nothing!' he laughed at himself. His internal laugh was cut short when he felt a sharp pain in his back. He cried out, before falling to the ground. He was flipped over, and as he took his last breath he watched as the killer plunged the small pocket knife into his stomach, again and again.
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"I would love nothing more than to sentence you to a few years in prison, Mr. Khan," the judge said, addressing Ethan. "I don't think that will help you all that much. You seem to have a history of prejudice against the infected," the judge stated. "I want to see if we can do something about that."
"Like what, Your Honor?" Ethan asked.
"You're going to spend the next six months doing court appointed volunteer work at a facility that was created to care for infected citizens," the judge replied. Ethan swallowed, how could this idiot actually think that was a good idea?
"Thank you, Your Honor," Ethan's lawyer said. Ethan glared at him as he began packing his briefcase.
"'Thank you, Your Honor' is all you have?" Ethan swore at him.
"Hey, kid. You're lucky you're not in jail, that infected kid almost died," his lawyer returned. It was true, the poor ram hybrid he had stabbed was in the ICU. Ethan cursed as he left the courthouse. How was he supposed to spend the next six months in a big building with a bunch of infected scum running around?
~~~~~~~~~~~
Ethan stared up at the tall gray building. It looked like someone had taken some plain apartment buildings that should have been torn down a long time ago, and slapped on some new gray paint. It looked hopeless and desolate. The inside was only a little better. The walls were a dull beige, and a few pictures hung from the walls. But all that was in the lobby was a desk, three chairs, and a plastic plant in the corner.
"Hello, can I help you?" the blonde woman at the front asked him.
"Uh. I'm Ethan, the court appointed worker. This is my first day here," he mumbled.
"Oh! Okay!" she said, showing her bubbly self. She grabbed a stack of papers and set them down. "I just need you to sign these and then we're good to go!" she said. He quickly signed the papers, and then she walked out from behind the desk and headed down the hall. "Come on!" her high voice called out to him. He followed her lazily, just looking around the blank walls.
"My name's Trish. I'm usually the one at the front desk, if I'm not there then it's Aaron. He's a really nice guy." she smiled. Ethan gave a fake smile back and then rolled his eyes once she turned back around to watch where she was walking.
"So what exactly am I doing here? Mopping floors or something...?" he grumbled.
"Oh no! Of course not!" she answered. "This program was started to help people who have been infected and don't have anywhere else to go. A lot of times, families were killed in the camps. Or the infected were so badly disabled they couldn't live on their own anymore. With no one else taking them in, that's what we do! Those who can afford it pay rent, those who can't... well... they don't," she shrugged. "It's a rough program, and we don't have a lot of money, but we do what we can. What we really need is people to go in and talk to them. A lot of them get lonely and just want a friend. Sometimes that's all they really need," she smiled.
