Agent “Reco“ Stewart

I walked over to my desk with my cup of cinnamon tea. Yawning, I glanced out the window lazily, watching the last students making the trek home. Sadly, it stung just a little while watching them leave, and they were all in danger. The monsters that watched the halls sat in my English class and that idiot. Damn, it was just another headache.

Victor Moore had been a normal human, at least at first. The bastard had somehow seen the monsters and spiraled downward. His self-care faltered, his grades deteriorated, and his eyes grew manic. The gradual degradation of the boy was scary, once average into what I could only describe as a tired, wounded husk of what he was hellbent on suicide. Then the information he got from him explained everything. To stare at those things unprotected m damages the mind, the briefing I called a thinning. I didn’t get the reference. With the protection, I could only glimpse at them the edges of my mind fraying every single time.

My fingers touch the bangle at my wrist, rubbing the silver rock at the center. It was my lifeline against the monsters now sitting in my class. The fact was the strange thing carved into the stone acted like a hazmat suit to the inherent madness of those creatures. Sadly, the human brain was not fully able to handle the monster's true form or comprehend what exactly it was. The boy should be dead, but he wasn’t. But something worse had happened.

Thinking back to the fight, the blows to the head should have given him a concussion. The last kick didn’t just shatter what was left of his skull. I heard the telltale signs of bone snapping, I knew he was not walking out of that unharmed. Maybe a broken bone, at worse a cracked skull with a side of broken nose. But then he stood up and became an unearthly combatant, then the brutal blows were far stronger than someone his size should have been able to throw. Lastly, it was the laugh. Victor‘s laughter was altered something else was spoken in his body. Finally, the fact was I could see the first mutation on his body. Shuddering, I sipped my tea, thinking about what to do.

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Victor couldn’t be moved, as the connection could infect those around him. That and it would tip off those things, then leading to another can of worms. Then the fact he gained power from those monsters means they are connected. There was a term for this, but I refused to acknowledge it. I hated this. This mission was bullshit, and I was on the verge of quitting. I could have been deeply covered with white supremacists, that would have been better at least they were human.

Swallowing my tea, I wrote my report with disgust. I truly pity the bastard, Victor, he would never have a normal life again. What could have possessed him to look, to observe them? The foolhardy wish to be a hero, to save the world? He had stared into the abyss, and it had left a mark. Hopefully, he didn’t spread to everyone else.

I finally finished my report along with the recommendation. With a simple click, I damned that boy. It disgusted me, but there was no rest for the wicked. So I moved away from my desk and decided I needed fresh air. Prowling the school I stumbled onto the principal and Victor's parents, discussing what had happened. That was rough, but I need the kid close. So I listened enjoying the show that Victor had created.

“He would never do that. Sure he had a rough spell but breaking someone's arm? Beating someone unconscious. My son is sure a rash but not cruel.” the mother pleased.

“I saw Miss Moore your son attacking and breaking the boy’s hand worst. However, he did at least stop the trio. Yes, they were a problem but the method must also be correct. His actions were brutal and led to major complaints from other parents.” The principal spoke in a death rattle. “ My opinion on the matter is simple. To solve a wrong, Victor committed a wrong. Possible a worst one.”

Another voice came from the room a gruff quiet tone came from the man who sat across his wife. He was cold and slow like a man calculating triage or plotting something harsh.

“Those boys when they bullied that other one my neighbor? Why exactly didn’t your teachers stop that? I know damn well you felt those boys were going too far and they didn’t start today ?’ he said in a cold, uncompromising tone.

“We were but -” the principal began.

“But what? As far as I see it my son stopped something bad by showing exactly what happens when you push something too far. Say what you will about the methods but that is true” Victor's father retorted. “ Now I have little time and my wife and I are busy so let us solve this already. I say at least three days of suspension, and at least a month of detention. Is that acceptable ?”

That stunned me and the principal. The punishment was small but the fact he was so cool about the fight. It was strange, and I found him refreshing. Still, I wouldn’t bother with the damned conversation anymore I needed to finish my damn report.