---December 24^th, 2008, 12:00 PM, Evan Campbell’s Home---

 

Evan continues to rearrange his home to his liking, all while decorating it for the Christmas holidays. Amy’s memories have yet to return, though, with only three days having passed since she awoke, it is hardly surprising. During those three days, Evan has attempted anything and everything to trigger her memories, from telling her stories of their younger days, to showing her various places they had shared around the neighborhood. When even the stream behind his house didn’t work, Evan decided that he would stop trying, that her memories would come back on their own eventually, and that he should just be happy she was awake and coherent. After stringing up several sets of lights, as well as a few sprigs of Mistletoe, he begins to ponder on Amy’s whereabouts, noting that he hadn’t seen her since breakfast that morning. He walks around the house in search of her, checking every room, but coming up short, until he remembers that he hadn’t checked his room yet. He hadn’t been down to his room the entire time they had been home, he had given it to her until she felt comfortable enough to let him in, or until she had her memories back. Evan makes his way to the door to the basement and stops in front of it. He sighs and grips the knob. He turns it and pushes in, the door slowly opening. Instead of going down immediately, he calls down, to see if Amy is indeed there.

 

“Amy? You down there?”

 

After several sniffles, as if she was crying, Amy calls back up.

 

“Ye-Yeah, I’m here, come on down.”

 

Evan descends into the basement and sees Amy sitting on his bed, her eyes red and puffy, evidence of her tears. She is staring down at a picture of Her, Evan and Jay that was taken during the summer. Evan walks over and sits on the bed next to her, wrapping his arm around her shoulders, allowing her to lean on him. Wiping her eyes again, she continues to look down at the picture while speaking.

 

“I want to remember this day so much…but I can’t. I don’t even know who the other boy is. Hell, I barely know you. The only reason I trusted you enough tome here is because of this necklace. When I felt what you were feeling, I knew you would never hurt me. Tell me, who is the other boy?

 

“That’s Jay. He was a bit of a rich boy, but a great friend nonetheless.”

 

“Was?”

 

Evan sighs, remembering the events of that night.

 

“Yeah. He was with you the night of your…accident. Unfortunately…he didn’t make it. Neither did my grandparents.”

 

Amy clearly notices the obvious pain remembering that night puts him in, but she presses on.

 

“Tell me about the night…please? I think it would help, both of us. It might jar something and my memory might come back, and I know that talking about something makes it easier to deal with, memories or no memories.”

 

Evan closes his eyes. He would rather forget that night, rather than relive it all over again. He finally decides that Amy regaining her memory is more important than a bit of pain for him.

 

“You, Jay, and my grandparents were visiting me at the hospital. An accident happened during a field trip we were on at school, and I was injured. I woke up and felt fine, so we left. I decided to walk home that night, I still don’t know why. When the four of you left, I started my walk home, but I don’t remember too much after that, it’s all a blur. I know that the car you were in was attacked by something, no one knows what exactly. It killed Jay...my grandparents…nearly you too…”

 

“I’m glad you walked home that night. You might’ve died too, and I’d be alone now.”

 

Amy's words stab into Evans heart like a knife, twisting and turning, as he knows that everything bad that happened to him, his family, and friends all stemmed from that night, when he lost control and the beast took over. Unable to bring himself to tell Amy the truth, he responds with few words.

 

“Yeah, me too…”

 

After several minutes of sitting in silence, Amy breaks it, not moving from under Evans arm.

 

“Tell me more about my life. What were my parents like?”

 

Evan sighs yet again, knowing that nothing good could possibly come from where their conversation was going. Going against his better judgment, Evan begins to describe Amy’s parents to her.

 

“Your mother was…a wonderful person. It’s easy to see where you got your beauty from. Never was there a nicer person. A little bit after your ninth birthday, she was taken from you, cancer had claimed her. She had been fighting it for over two years at that point; her body just couldn’t keep up its end of the fight, though her mind was as strong as ever. Your father, who had, up until her death, been an equally great guy, took her loss hard. He began drinking heavily. At first, he just yelled at you, never touched you. Last summer though, he started to physically abuse you. You kept it well-hidden until about four months ago. When I finally noticed what had been going on –I still kick myself for not realizing it sooner– I gave you a weapon to use against him, lest he ever do it again. Well, he did, and you used it. Burned half his face. He got up before he should’ve and escaped before the police arrived, no one has seen him since. Ever since that night, you had lived here with me and my family.”

 

After several seconds of silence, Evan looks down at Amy to try and gauge her reaction. What he sees baffles him. Instead of anger, sadness, or any other of the range of emotions he had expected, he sees only a wry questioning look.

 

“God…I can’t imagine how screwed up I must’ve been. With all that, I’m amazed I didn’t try and kill myself or something.”

 

“No, you never let it affect you, that you showed, anyway. I had noticed a change in you a while back, that’s how I was able to time what happened, but as soon as you moved in here, you were back to the Amy that I love.”

 

A cough heard in his head stops Evans thought process. Visibly annoyed, Evan closes his eyes and thinks out a response.

 

“Got something to say?”

 

“You could say that.”

 

“Well? What is it? Not like I have all day here.”

 

“Okay Mr. Snippy, I might’ve had a way to restore her memories, but since you decided to be all touchy, now I’m not gonna tell you, so there.”

 

A muscle twitches in Evans jaw as he fights off the urge to yell at the voice in his head out loud.

 

“Don’t fuck with me. If you’ve got a way to fix her, then you better tell me, or else!”

 

“Oh, big man! Or else what? I live in your goddamned body, there’s not much you can do to me, in case you haven’t realized it yet.”

 

“If a certain disembodied voice doesn’t fork over the information, I will find a way to rid myself of him, no matter the cost!

 

“Okay, Okay, chill out Spartacus. I had an idea that I thought might work. Since I have access to all of your memories, particularly the ones involving Amy, I figured that if I could tap into her brain, I might be able to have her absorb them all in one big burst. Maybe her memory will be jolted into coming back if I can do it…but that would require you telling her about me.”

 

“Hmmm…that does pose a quandary. On one hand, I'd rather she not know that I’m housing a technological abomination, a literal definition of the term monster-“

 

“Hey! I can hear you y’know!”

 

“-But on the other hand, this might bring her memories back. So, on one side, we have her remaining miserable because she cant remember anything while I’m somewhat happy at having her alive and awake, and on the other side, you’ve got her with her memories restored, but possibly being quite pissed at me for causing it anyway. Well…shit.”

 

“Shit indeed. The way I see it, you’re fucked either way. I say go the route that might not piss her off so much: fix her brain.”

 

“I think you might be right. I’ll tell her tomorrow. If she gets her memories back, it’s the best Christmas present she’s ever got, and if she’s not too pissed at me, it’ll be a not-as-shitty Christmas for me.”

 

“I shall leave you to your own devices whilst I prepare this veritable mindfuck I’ve concocted.”

 

Evan opens his eyes; his conversation with nightshade finished, and finds Amy staring up at him, a quizzical look on her face.

 

“You okay? You zonked out there for a bit.”

 

“Hmm? Oh, yeah, I’m fine, I’ll be even better tomorrow, around present opening time. Okay, now for the real reason I came down here. It’s about lunch time, you hungry?”

 

“Starving. Having nothing but liquefied hospital food for three months tends to make a person crave real food.”

 

“Good. To the upstairs!”

 

Evan rushes up the stairs with Amy hot on his heels, the two of them heading for the kitchen. Amy takes a seat at the table, watching as Evan begins to prepare their meal.

 

---Fifteen Minutes Later---

 

Evan franticly opens the oven door, wincing as black smoke billows out of it. Holding his breath, he reaches in and grabs the burning substance and pulls it out of the oven, rushing to set it in the sink. He turns the water on, dousing the flames. Still coughing, he looks over at Amy, who has her head on the table, her shoulders shaking with barely contained laughter. He glares at her for several seconds, until she looks up, her face red, still barely holding in her laughter. She attempts to get out a few words, chuckling between syllables.

 

“May-Maybe we shou-should order pizza.”

 

As soon as she finishes her sentence, her laughter finally escapes from her, exploding out of her, echoing all over the house. The laughter is easily infectious and soon, Evan joins her. After several seconds, their laughter dies down. Evan pulls his cell phone out of his pocket and dials the number of their local Pizza hut. He orders two Medium Cheese Lovers Pizzas with double sausage. He hangs the phone up and puts it back in his pocket.

 

“It’ll be about 20 minutes.”

 

“Kay. Be right back, must bless bathroom.”

 

Amy heads up the stairs to the restroom. Before she enters the room, something catches her eye. A slightly opened closet door reveals something with several strings. She opens the door fully, revealing an old acoustic guitar. She picks it up by the neck and looks at it for a few seconds, finally noticing the engraving on the face of it. It reads:

 

“To My Son, Evan:

If you grow up to love music as much as I do, then you’ll appreciate this.

Dad”

 

Her trip to the bathroom forgotten, Amy walks back down the stairs, guitar in-hand. She walks into the living room, where Evan had relocated, waiting on the pizza delivery guy. He looks up from his book, which, incidentally, is titled ‘The Last Hope’ by author J.D. King, and sees the guitar in Amy’s hands.

 

“Look what I found.”

 

She holds the instrument out to him. He grabs it by the neck, a look of awe on his face. He positions the instrument, pulling the pick out from under the strings. He runs it along the strings, producing a slightly out of tune melody.

 

“Oh wow…I haven’t touched this thing in years. I forgot it was here. I used to be able to play this thing halfway decent, lets see if I’ve still got it…”

 

Evan plays several strings, tuning the guitar to his liking, before settling down into a certain eight note melody. He closes his eyes, getting into the melody, easily remembering how to play the guitar. Surprising him into nearly dropping the beat, Amy begins to sing along.

 

“He's got a smile that it seems to meee,
Reminds me of childhood memoriiies,
Where everything was as fresh as the bright blue skyyy.
Now and then when I see his faaace,
It takes me away to that special plaaace,
And if I stared too long
I'd probably breeaak down and cryyy

 

 

Whoaohoa, Sweet Child O’ Mine,

Whoaohoa, Sweet Love O’ Mine.”

 

Evan continues the melody, and finds himself singing in response, his mind conjuring up the words from the depths of his memory.

 

“She's got eeyes of the greenest seeaas,
As iiif they thoouught of raaiin.
I haaate to looook into those eeyes,
And see an ounce of paaiinin.
Her hair remiiinds me of a warm safe plaaace,
Where aaas a child I'd hiiide.
And pray for the thuunder aand the raaiin,
To quietly paass me byyy.

Whoaohoa, sweet child o' mine
Whoaohoa, sweet love of mine.”

 

As Evan slowly fades the melody out, the two of them trade lines back and forth.

 

“Whoaohoa, sweet love o' mine”
“Whoaohoa, sweet love of mine”
“Whoaohoa, sweet love o' mine”
“Whoaohoa, sweet love of mine”

 

During their last four lines, the two of them moved closer together, their final line spoken together, nearly a whisper, their faces inches apart, staring into the others eyes. As their lips get closer and closer, a knock at the door interrupts their moment. Evan closes his eyes and sighs, cursing their awful luck. He sets the guitar down on the couch and gets up, walking to the door.

 

“If you’re not the pizza guy, then you’d better run…”

 

Evan opens the door, a bit disappointed that it actually was the pizza guy. He was hoping that he would have someone to punish for interrupting. Dejectedly, he takes the pizzas and pays the delivery guy, shutting the door in his wake. He walks back to the living room and sets the two boxes on the coffee table, before taking a seat beside Amy. They each take a box for themselves and begin to dig in, a comfortable silence filling the room.

 

---December 24^th, 2008, 1:13 PM, Sanctus Ira Cemetery---

 

“Dig faster you imbeciles! I want that body exhumed while there’s no snow on the ground!”

 

One of the goons digging up a grave stops, looking up at his boss from the considerable-sized hole he was standing in.

 

“But boss, what if someone sees us diggin up this here grave?”

 

“Don’t you think I’ve thought of that already, you petulant swine? I closed the cemetery for the day and sent all the Staff home. It’s just us here. Back to digging, you’ve only managed to secure seven out of the hundreds of bodies buried here, and we need them all for the ritual to work!”

 

As the boss surveys his goon work, the goon mutters under his breath.

 

“Maybe if somebody helped me dig, this’d be done a lot faster…”

 

“What did you just say?”

 

“Who, me? Nothin…”

 

“Good, let’s keep it that way.”

 

The lead man surveys the cemetery as his goon continues to dig and mutter under his breath.

 

---December 24^th, 2008, 1:17 PM, Evan Campbell’s Home---

 

Evan carries the now-empty pizza boxes into the kitchen, before returning to the living room. He flops down on the couch next to Amy, not wanting to move, for he was too full. Deciding that it was time for a bit more music, but something funny this time, Evan grabs his guitar from its spot against the couch, laying it across him. He grabs his pick and begins to strum, tuning the guitar to his liking again, before beginning to strum a very familiar tune to all southern rock fans. He continues on, the tune rising in melody, volume, and emotion, revealing itself in full when Evan begins to sing with it.

 

“If I leeaave here tomorroooww…Would you still remember meee?

For I must beee travelin on, nooow, There’s too many plaaces I got to see.

And if I staayed here with you, girl, Things just couldn’t beeee the same.

Cause I’m as freee as a biiird noooow, And this bird you cannot chaaange, ohowohowohowho.

And this bird you cannot chaaange, And this bird you cannot chaaaaaaange.

Looooord know I can’t chaaaaaaange.”

 

During the guitar break, Evan gets up off the couch, still strumming the song, and moves to the front of the coffee table. He lifts his right leg up and places his foot on the table, resting the guitar on his knee, still playing; now facing Amy, who watches in silent wonder.

 

“Bye, bye baby, it’s been a sweet love…yeah…yeah…And though this feeling I can’t chaaange.

Please doon't taaaake it soo baaadly, Cause the Loord knows I’m too blaaame.

And If I staaaayed here with yoouu giiirl, things just couldn’t beee the saaame.

Cause I’m as freeee as a biiiiird noooow, and this bird you’ll never chaaange.

Ohowohowohowho And this bird you can not chaaaange.

And this bird you cannot chaaaaaaaange.

The looord knows I can’t chaaaange.

Lord help me, I cant chayayayayayayange.

Looord I can’t chaaaaange.

Wont you flyyyyyyy hiiiiiiigh Freeeee Biiiiiiird, yeah…”

 

As Evans voice fades out, he takes his leg off the table and hunches over, gripping his guitar with even more fervor as he begins to go into the really long and really awesome guitar solo. Not thirty seconds into the solo, a loud BOOM echoes throughout the house as dust and wood splinters fly everywhere, the front door having been kicked in. Evan is startled out of his solo and his pick skips on the strings, slipping out of his hand. He watches as it falls to the floor, seemingly in slow motion. As it impacts, he feels a dark fury well up inside him. How dare anyone interrupt the awesomeness of the Freebird Solo! He turns towards the door, guitar held by the neck in his right hand.

 

A figure materializes in the debris, stepping on the door and into the living room, his footfalls heavy. He finally comes into view, revealing his half-scarred face to the two teens in the room. Amy takes in the mans visage, connecting the dots from Evans story on her parents, to the man standing in the room. She looks over at Evan, trying to confirm it with him.

 

“Is that him? Is he...my father?”

 

“Unfortunately.”

 

Richard Riley stares at his daughter and her boyfriend, the unscarred half of his face twisted in fury, while the scarred half lies motionless, its nerves destroyed long ago. Evan attempts to distract him, while trying to come up with a better plan.

 

“What do you want?”

 

Richards’s eye narrows at Evan, the left side of his mouth twisting up in a snarl.

 

“Like you don’t know. I’ve come for my daughter.”

 

The only thoughts that come to Evans mind aren’t particularly helpful.

 

“ShitShitShitShitShitShitShitShitShit!”

 

“Mighthaps I could lend a hand?”

 

“Id rather she didn’t know about you just yet. I’ll think of something, just-just gimme a minute.”

 

“What about that green jewel thing you had?”

 

“Nah, that’s in the basement. I left it down there when I was getting the room ready for Amy to come home.”

 

“Perhaps its Kabong time?”

 

“Huh? What do you- oh, right, now I remember. That’s not a bad idea….”

 

“You can’t have her! You should go, before something bad happens to you.”

 

“I was counting on it. You got a lucky shot in with that shovel last time, It won’t happen again. Come on boy…show her. I know you can feel it, just under your skin. It must be itching to get out. Let it loose. Let it take control. Let it massacre me, right in front of her, see if she ever lets you near her then. Come on boy! DO IT!”

 

With every word, Richard had stepped a bit closer to Evan. His final words are screamed right in Evans face, barely a foot away from him. Evan bares his teeth, grunting through them as he grips the neck of his guitar with both hands.

 

“Fine!”

 

He swings the guitar into the air and, before Richard has time to move, Evan brings the base of the guitar down on Richards head, shattering the guitar into dozens of pieces, splitting Richards head open with the sharp strings. Richard staggers back, the base of the guitar still hanging around his neck, blood flowing freely from the wound to his head. As he rushes to the door, Evan rushes at him, muttering under his breath as he does.

 

“Not this time!”

 

He tackles Richard to the debris-covered floor an before he noticed the feeling of warmth envelop his right hand, he begins to pummel Richard, slamming his fist repeatedly against the mans face. After nearly thirty seconds, he feels arms pulling him off of Richard. Consumed by rage, he shrugs out of their grip and turns around, a feral look on his face, to see who attempted to remove him from his victim, and to kill them too, if necessary. When he turns around, he sees Amy, a terrified expression on her face, taking several steps back from him. She works up enough courage to speak.

 

“That’s enough!”

 

Evan turns back to Richard, raising his fist back into the air, preparing to strike him again as he speaks.

 

“It will never be enough! Not after what he did to you!”

 

He begins to send his fist at Richard again, but his momentum is cut off as Amy grabs his wrist, not noticing that his fist is covered with inky blackness.

 

“No more.”

 

This just gets Evan angrier. He wrenches his arm from her grasp, making sure to push back the Dragonskin covering his right forearm. He paces around Richard, before getting in her face.

 

“You should want this! After everything he’s done to you, everything he put you through, you should be Loving this!”

 

“Hey! Listen to me goddamnit! How many times do I have to fucking tell you?! I don’t remember Him, I don’t remember You, I don’t remember ANYthing! Whatever he did, He didn’t do it to Me, he did it to the Amy you knew, the one that existed before she got her fucking head caved in! That’s not Me, and since you can’t seem to get that through your thick fucking skull, I’m leaving!”

 

Amy turns away from him, heading for the door herself. Evan reaches out and grabs her by the arm. She promptly turns towards him and slaps him across the face, thoroughly shocking him into releasing her, staring at her leaving form. A cough from the ground turns his attention back to Richard. He sees the mans one eye staring up at him, a smirk on half his face. He spits blood onto the floor, before weakly laughing.

 

“Ha…ha...”

 

With Amy out of sight, Evan grabs Richard by his shirt and lifts him off the ground, slamming him against the wall, his rage back in full swing. His eyes wild with rage, Evan growls at Richard.

 

“You want to see it? Fine!”

 

Evans grip tightens around the man, as he begins to snarl, breathing heavy as he feels the transformation take hold. He lets out a long and loud yell as his body expands outward, black liquid covering his body, expanding to impossible sizes. Evans face transforms into one of a monster, the white pools of his eyes jaggedly staring at him, the impossibly wide mouth with row after row of razor sharp teeth snarling at Richard. Holding him to the wall is not the skinny kid covered in black stuff that he expected, no. Holding him to the wall was a monster. The beast speaks to him, its voice a preternatural growl mixed with Death.

 

“Is your curiosity sated, old man?”

 

As he nods, Evan feels his control of the beast slipping away. In a rush, he hurls Richard into his living room and fights to bring the beast back within. He drops to his knees, fighting to rein the monster in, drawing its size back within himself. With a loud yell, he slams his fist against the floor, cracking the wood underneath it, finally bringing the monster back inside him. Now breathing heavily, Evan stands up, intent on looking for Amy. Instead, he feels all his energy leave him. Nightshade in his head decides to say the ever-popular I told You so.

 

“I told you not to do that. Toldja it would be too hard for you to control, but noooo, big bad Evan has to scare the shit out of ole fuckface. Why should he listen to me? I’m just the thing that made the goddamned monster!”

 

“Just-just shut up and help me!”

 

“I don’t think I should. This would be the perfect opportunity for you to learn a lesson in listening to me.”

 

“Goddamnit, I said HELP ME! I have to find her before she gets too far!”

 

Evan hears Nightshade sigh, which is odd, as he doesn’t breath.

 

“Fine. If you’re gonna whine about it. Hold still.”

 

Several seconds later, Evan feels a jolt of energy run through him. He stands back up and rushes out of the house, looking all over for any sign of Amy, as Nightshade gives him another warning.

 

“This wont last long, I can only do so much after you unleashed the beast. You need to rest for me to fix you up all the way. I’ll give you one hour to find her. If you’re not resting somewhere after that hours up, I’m taking control and Making you rest.”

 

Choosing to ignore him, Evan takes off down the street in the direction he thinks Amy went. He spots her house in the distance and notes that an upstairs light appears to be lit, the electricity still inexplicably on. Knowing that’s where she must be, Evan begins to jog towards her house. He reaches it not a minute later, pushing open the door. He walks in, looking around, noting that someone had come in and destroyed all the furniture, had torn up the walls. He walks up the steps and finds the lit room. He slowly opens the door, revealing Amy sitting on her bed, staring at her room, which is still in pristine condition. He knocks on her door, standing in the doorway. She looks up at him and wipes away fresh tears.

 

“What do you want?”

 

Evan comes into the room and sits on the bed next to her, draping his arm around her shoulders, pulling her close to him.

 

“I stopped. Tell me...what made you leave?”

 

“The way you looked when you were hitting him. I had never seen something so goddamned scary before. It’s like you were turning into a monster. You were going to kill him if I didn’t try and stop you, I just knew it. Where is he now?”

 

“Hopefully still lying in the pile of rubble I left him in. last time we left him alone he got away. Sneaky bastards tougher than he looks.”

 

“Ugh...damn. All I seem to do is cry…things are so fucking hard without any memories to guide you…”

 

At that moment, Evan decides that her memories are more important, that waiting until Christmas was a stupid thing to do.

 

“I…might have a way to restore your memories.”

 

She looks up at him, a tiny glint of hope in her eyes.

 

“Really? How? I swear, if you’re doing this just to mess with me, I’ll make what you did to my father look like nothing!”

 

“Take it easy now Rambo. To tell you, you have to hear a story.”

 

“Oh god, not a story…this is going to be along one, isn’t it?”

 

“Yep. I suggest you find a more comfortable position, because to properly tell it, I need to stand.”

 

Evan removes his arm from her and gets off the bed, turning towards her. She readjusts her self, leaning against the wall, grabbing one of her pills and hugging it to her chest.

 

“Ready? Good. Okay, here we go.”

 

Evan sighs, hating to do it like this, but knowing he didn’t have any other option.

 

“Make it fast; you don’t have too much time left.”

 

Evan ignores him, launching into his story.

 

“About three months ago, give or take a week, we went on a field trip. You, Me, jay, and a dozen other students went to Steele Developmental industries. They make all kinds of shit there, but it’s mostly weapons. During the tour, one of their test subjects went crazy and tore some shit up. In the process, I got covered in the stuff he was testing. I’m not too clear on what happened directly after that, because I woke up in the hospital. I took all the medical stuff off of me and when I did, I heard a voice in my head. It told me to do things, and I obeyed, I was compelled to. It told me to jump out the window, even though we were on the 11^th floor, and I did. About halfway down, I felt this warm feeling crawling all over my skin. I looked down and suddenly I wasn’t me anymore. I was covered in what looked like oil. Let me show you…”

 

Evan closes his eyes, willing the transformation to start. With the immense drain on his energy, it takes it a bit longer, but soon, Evan feels the warmth traveling up his body. He hears Amy gasp as it covers him. He opens his eyes, seeing her through the Dragonskin's filter. He looks down at his body and clenches his fist, feeling the power radiating through him. He soon releases the transformation, drawing the Dragonskin back inside him. He looks at Amy, a shocked look on her face, a hint of fear in her eyes.

 

“Yeah, it’s creepy as shit, I know. Anyway, back to the story. Before I splattered into the ground, I grabbed onto the building, and stuck to it. I was freaked out and thinking how cool it was at the same time. That’s when I heard the scream. I went to investigate cause, well, I was drunk with the feeling the stuff gave me. I saw this woman surrounded by three guys. I kicked the shit out of them, I might’ve even killed them, I can’t remember too well, it’s hard to remember details like that when I’m in the suit. I managed to get back to the hospital before you guys woke up. We left, and you had your accident. During that time, I got to talking to the voice in my head, which I figured out was the suit. I learned how to control it better, how to do a whole mess of things. When you woke up and didn’t remember anything, I didn’t hear from the suit for a while after that. Then, today, he tells me he might be able to fix you up by basically linking to your brain and showing you my memories of us. He figures it might snap something and unlock your memories. I thought it was worth a try, but I’ll understand if you don’t want to do it. Hell, I’ll understand if you’d rather have nothing to do with me ever again, cause to tell you the truth, I feel that way about myself sometimes.”

 

Without a moment’s hesitation, Amy responds.

 

“Let’s do it.”

 

This naturally surprises Evan.

 

“Well…you took that a lot better than I thought.”

 

“I want my memories back. That’s more important than you being whatever the hell you are. If this works, I’ll deal with that information when I’m back to normal. If it doesn’t, well, we’ll cross that bridge when we come to it. So, let’s get it on!”

 

“Okay, hold on, I have to see if he can do it just yet…”

 

“Well? Can you do it?”

 

“I’m not sure that this is the best time. In your weakened state, I might draw too much power away from you, it could kill you, and since you’ll be linked to her, it could kill her too.”

 

“Fuck the consequences. Let’s do it.”

 

“Once again, you don’t listen to me. Fine. Now, I have to be in control to do this; so, don’t panic if you suddenly realize you can’t do anything.”

 

A moment later, Evan feels his control slip away as the Dragonskin washes over him. He watches as Nightshade takes control of his body, moving towards Amy. A tiny bit of doubt crosses her face, but she quickly squashes it down, closing her eyes, waiting for whatever was going to happen. Nightshade extends his hand out to her, palm facing her. A tentacle slowly emerges, twisting and turning, growing longer and longer. It stretches, meeting her forehead. It slowly penetrates her skin, delving deep into her mind.

 

“Whoa…that feels…funny.”

 

Once Nightshade feels that he has gone far enough, he summons up the memory bank he created earlier in the day, filled with Evans memories of Amy. He starts to feel them through their link, slowly at first. He decides that a big shock would work better, and jams all of them across the link at once. Amy feels the memories enter her, a sharp jab of pain accompanying them. Her vision fades out as wave after wave of memories flash before her eyes, going too quickly to comprehend. She sees a younger version of herself playing with a younger Evan. She sees her bruises, sees their first kiss. She catches a glimpse of herself in a car, a terrified expression on her face. Suddenly, the memories stop, and all she can see is blackness.

 

---December 24^th, 2008, 9:16 PM, Evan Campbell’s Home---

 

Evan, who has spent the last four hours or so cleaning up his house and repairing the damages as best he could, due to Nightshade forcing him to rest for at least three hours, stares down at Amy, whose eyes have just begun to flutter open. She looks up at him from her spot on the couch, before clenching her eyes shut, feeling the backlash of having thousands of memories jammed into her head at once. Finally getting things under control, she slowly opens her eyes and sits up, groaning, holding her head, which felt like it was about to split open.

 

“Guh…you didn’t happen to get the license number of that truck that hit me, did you?”

 

Laughing, he declines, taking a seat next to her.

 

“How do you feel?”

 

“Like shit.”

 

“Only natural. So, what do you remember?”

 

“Everything…oh God, you have no idea how much better this feels. I felt so alone when I couldn’t remember anything. Even with you here, I still felt alone, because I didn’t know a thing about you. Jesus Fuck, that really sucked. What did you end up doing to my dad?”

 

“I showed him my darker half. He didn’t like it. When I came to find you, I left him here because I’m an idiot. As soon as I came back, he was gone. I cleaned things up as best as I could. Lucky for us, I managed to stick the door back on. Unlucky for me, I wasn’t able to fix my guitar. Ah well, it felt good breaking it over his head.”

 

“Well…what do we do now?”

 

“Since you’ve been knocked out for about eight hours, I can only think of one thing. We need to get a little high.”

 

With those words, Evan gets up from his seat and heads down into the basement. He descends the stairs and spots the green gem on his nightstand. He grabs it, pocketing it without a thought, and heads to his closet. Deciding that he didn’t need to keep it a secret anymore, since it was just him and Amy there now, he grabs the briefcase stuck against the back wall of the closet, as well as his Zippo lighter, and heads back upstairs. He walks back into the living room and takes his seat back, setting the briefcase on the coffee table in front of him. He pops the clasps and slowly opens the case as Amy leans forwards, curious as to what the briefcase contains. The bottom portion holds row after row of baggies, each one filled with the stickiest of the icky, the greenest of the green, the sweetest of the sweet leaf. In the top compartment are several boxes of rolling papers, half a dozen pipes, and even a small bong. Evan motions to the smoking devices, while looking at Amy.

 

“Choose your weapon.”

 

Amy makes a face and studies the three methods of taking up, finally deciding on the classic method: rolling papers. Evan removes two or three sheets of the paper and grabs one of the baggies, closing the case when he removes them. He opens the baggie and removes a portion of the marijuana, setting the baggie aside. He crumples the plant up on the table until it’s in fine green pieces. He opens one of the rolling papers and scoops the green plant onto the paper. He licks one side of the paper and begins to carefully roll the joint, taking great care to twist the edges so the plant doesn’t fall out. Finally, after several minutes, Evan produces his Zippo lighter and flips it open, lighting it by sliding it across his knee. He puts the joint to his lips and touches the flame to the other end. He draws in a breath of air, getting the joint started, taking a long hit. He passes the joint to Amy, holding his smoke in for as long as he could. As Amy takes a drag from the joint, Evan blows his smoke in her face, causing her to laugh, and release her own earlier than she had planned, inducing a coughing fit. Evan sticks out his tongue at her as he takes the joint back.

 

“Fucking Lightweight.”

 

Amy responds by punching him in the arm just as he takes a hit off the joint, making him cough in retribution.He rubs his shoulder with his free hand and speaks, the smoke exploding out of his mouth as he lets out a high pitched scream..

 

“Ow! Damnit woman, don’t hit me!”

 

“Be quite and pass that shit you big pussy, you’re fucking up the rotation.”

 

Evan passes her the joint, rubbing his shoulder as she takes another hit. Grumbling to himself, Evan begins to roll another joint, when a thought enters his mind. He stops rolling and sits back on the couch, a thoughtful look on his face.

 

“Huh. I just realized that, during the entire three months I stayed at the Hospital with you…no one from the school stopped by to see why two of its students had gone missing. I mean, they don’t let two students just up and leave without looking for them and forcing them to come back. Very strange…”

 

Amy sets the nearly-expended roach on the coffee table and blows out the last bit of smoke from the first joint, responding before the smoke dissipates.

 

“Yeah, weird. Think we should look into it and go back?”

 

Evan looks over at her and raises a questioning eyebrow.

 

“Me? Go back there? Please. I’m too smart for school.”

 

“Said the sixteen year old stoner.”

 

Evan raises his eyebrow again, before reaching out. He grabs the bag of green leaves and brings it up to eye level. He talks to it.

 

“Sweet Leaf, you see her? She’s the Real pot here, and she just called me, who is the Kettle, black.”

 

Amy takes this opportunity to snatch the bag away from him.

 

“Okay, you’re talking to inanimate plants; I think you’ve had enough.”

 

“But I haven’t.”

 

An odd look comes across Evan face at that exact moment, confusing Amy. He gets up from the couch and, without a word, grabs the coffee table and flips it over, hurling at across the room and through the living room window. Amy’s eyes widen in fear as she presses herself against the couch, subconsciously clutching the bag of marijuana she snatched from Evan. He turns around to look at her, his teeth bared, his eyes pure white. She watches as he clenches his fists, and a black liquidy substance envelops his body, covering him completely. The white eye coverings quickly grow jagged as his body expands outward, quadrupling his muscle mass. A mouth wider than should’ve been possible splits along his face, revealing row after row of teeth.

 

The beast lets out a loud roar and snatches Amy off the couch by the throat. He kicks the couch across the room before slamming Amy to the hardwood floors, hard enough to make a point, but not so hard as to shatter the floor. He pounces on her, pinning her to the ground. He runs his tongue across her face, producing a whimper from her. She feels him pressing up against her body and watches as several thick tentacles sprout from odd points all over his body. They begin to gyrate round and round, coming closer to her body. The creature snarls at her, its words like nails on a chalkboard.

 

“Its time for us to have a bit of fun…”

 

As Amy stares into the jagged white pools of the creatures eyes, her mind decides to bring forth a memory she had previously repressed. She sees the same creature on top of her hoist the car into the air and hurl it at a building. All at once, she connects the dots. Ignoring the many tentacles surrounding her, Amy is able to place where the creature is positioned, and brings her knee up, directly in his strangely unprotected groin. The creature lets out a deflated grunt and rolls off of her, holding himself in pain, animalistic whimpering coming from him. Amy gets up off the floor just as the creature begins to slowly return to its previous form. As the blackness is drawn back within his body, Evan gets to his feet, very shakily though, as Nightshade had chosen the exact moment in which contact was made to give him his body back. Breathing heavily, his face pale, Evan starts to say something.

 

“Amy, I can explain—“

 

“”Explain? EXPLAIN?! You can explain how it was YOU that fucked the car up, that it was YOU who killed your grandparents AND Jay, AND put me in a motherfucking COMA! When you told me about the Dragonskin, I didn’t even suspect that it had done anything to you, but, I see now that it has…it made you into a monster!”

 

Evan takes several steps towards Amy, still wobbling from her attack, and speaks to her, earnestly trying to convince her otherwise.

 

“No, that wasn’t me, that was the Dragonskin, it took control, made me do those things, I had no choice, you’ve got to believe me!”

 

Amy takes a step back from him, keeping a bit of distance between them, replying quickly.

 

“Why should I believe anything that a murdering monster says? I’m calling the police…”

 

Amy turns her back to him and begins to walk towards the door. Evan finds a rush of strength and lurches forwards, grabbing her by the elbow. He turns her around, only to have her knee him in he groin…again. He immediately drops to the ground, his head smacks off of the upturned coffee table. He finally hits the floor as blood begins to pool under his head. Amy glares at him, noting that any feelings she may have had for him weren’t there any more. She leaves the house and informs the proper authorities where the person responsible for several murders and severe damage to city property is.

 

---Evans Mind---

 

Evan finds himself back in the vast landscape that is his mind, once more in front of the lake. Instead of its former blue shade, the lake has been tinged a sickly black, due to the beast standing in its center, barely visible but for his head. The thing approaches the shore once it spots Evan, quickly walking onto the bank, the water drizzling off of it. Nightshade is greeted by an angry punch to his jaw, sending the materialization of the thing that has successfully ruined Evans life sprawling to the grass. Nightshade quickly gets up, only to dodge another punch from Evan. This continues on for several minutes, with Evan getting several direct hits in. Finally, Evan grabs Nightshade by what appears to be his shirt and pulls him in close, slamming his head against Nightshades, knocking the materialization for a loop. As Evan advances on him, a loud and booming voice echoes across his mind.

 

“ENOUGH!”

 

Just after it fades out, Sorrow fades into existence, along with the other six emotions that felt they had been called. They surround Evan, putting themselves between him and Nightshade. Sorrow steps forward, directing Evans ire at himself.

 

“Get out of the way.”

 

“I’m afraid I can’t do that. The more you harm him here, the greater you harm yourself in the waking world. Yes, he is to blame for what has occurred, but, unfortunately, there is nothing you can do about it. He has become a part of us. Permanently. The only way to separate him from us is in death.”

 

“Yeah, well, forgive me if death is starting to look pretty damn good right about now.”

 

“Don’t go all emo on us—“

 

“Said the guy calling himself Sorrow and wearing black eyeliner.”

 

“I said he couldn’t be separated from us. I didn’t say he couldn’t be controlled.”

 

Evan finally looks at Sorrow, instead of glaring through him at Nightshade.

 

“You have my attention.”

 

“Oh, don’t give it to me, give it to…him.”

 

Just at that moment, another figure materializes next to Sorrow. This time, though, he doesn’t look exactly like Evan, though color switched. He does resemble Evan, but only in a way that a father resembles his son. Evan stares at the smiling figure, connecting the dots between them.

 

“…Dad?”

 

---December 25^th, 2008, 12:03 AM, Evan Campbell’s Home---

 

Evan slowly opens his eyes, his vision blurry, and a massive headache already attempting to break his skull apart. He groans, and then sits up, immediately regretting it as the burst of speed makes the pounding in his head much worse. Evan puts his hand to the back of his head and feels a warm, sticky liquid. He looks at his hand, which is now covered in blood. He gets to his feet and immediately feels pressure; Nightshade was attempting to take over. Evan squashes his attempt, flying on pure adrenaline, remembering what his father had told him. He starts towards the door, when a voice, amplified by a megaphone, speaks to him from outside the house.

 

“Evan Campbell, We’ve got the house surrounded. Come out of the house with your hands in the air!”

 

Evan looks out the shattered front window and sees several police vehicles, lights flashing, in front of his house. Nearly a dozen officers have weapons of various caliber aimed at his home. Evan throws himself forwards, dodging out from in front of the window, in case any of them decided to take a free shot. His fathers’ words echo in his head as he rushes to the back door. He throws it open and rushes out into the cold night air. He rushes towards the wooded area directly behind his home; a helicopter douses him in false sunlight just as he disappears into the trees. He continues his speed, dodging the trees, leaping over the small creek, nearly tripping on the edge of the opposing bank. He manages to catch himself and keeps going, intent on reaching his destination.

 

Minutes later, Evan dashes out of the trees, and is immediately spotted by the helicopter. It bathes him in a spotlight and warns him to stop, or it will open fire. He disobeys, and the officers piloting the copter immediately begin to discharge their weapons. Evan dodges gunfire left and right, narrowly missing the shots, feeling the wind created as they rush by him. He feels Nightshade crop up again and forces him back down. That momentary lapse in his concentration sends him right into the path of a bullet, digging straight through his left calf. He immediately stumbles and falls to the ground, the pain unbearable. Evan looks up from the grass, feeling his strength leave him as his blood does, and spots his destination. He grits his teeth and forces himself back up, immediately hobbling as fast as one can with a bullet lodged in their calf.

 

As he fights through the pain, he hears a sort of whining sound in his ears, like an electric guitar slide, slowly building up, very loudly, until it covers the sound of the helicopter blades, even the sounds of thousands of bullets being fired at him. He rams into the back door of the house he had been aiming for, breaking the door down in a shower of splinters. He rushes into the house, trying to remember what was where, based on his fathers description. He finally finds the door to the basement and throws it open, nearly ripping it off the hinges, the whining guitar slide increasing to near-deafening levels as he flies down the stairs, taking them three at a time. He roughly stops at the base, his injured leg screaming. He hobbles over to one of the walls in the basement, hobbling again, blood leaking all over the place. He rips the false wall down and looks in the room, spotting a large vial of viscous black liquid. As his eyes land on it, a quick drum and guitar beat replace the sliding whine, stopping just as suddenly as it started.

 

Evan hobbles over to the vial and pops the cork. Without hesitation, he dumps the vial on his head, feeling it as it oozes over him, covering his entire body in the viscous liquid. He feels Nightshade attempt to take control one final time, but doesn’t stop him. Instead, the viscous liquid covering him squashes his attempt, effectively absorbing Nightshade into itself. He feels the conscious mind of his Fathers upgraded Dragonskin attach to his own, and promptly passes out.

 

---December 25^th, 2008, 1:19 AM, Basement---

 

Lucky for Evan, the suit only put him out for ten minutes, to heal him, and to assimilate itself into his brain so he would have an easier time using it. Evan opens his eyes and realizes he is seeing through a more advanced version of the Dragonskin’s filter. He looks down and finds that he has been Blackened, covered by the Dragonskin, yet he feels no other presence in his mind. He suddenly realizes that he knows everything that the suit can do, and how to do it. This thought pleases him. His eyes narrow as he hears several loud footfalls above him, hears several officers enter the house. Almost immediately, the sounds he heard prior to finding the upgraded Dragonskin start back up, faster and louder. Apparently, his mind has decided to provide him with an appropriate soundtrack. Several police officers flood into the basement, setting up a perimeter. They quickly spot him in the room, aiming their guns at him. Evan clenches his fists as a burst of dark purple, so dark that it’s nearly black, flashes throughout the room. When everyone’s eyes regain their sight, they show that Evan has…grown. He appears to be at the halfway point between Nightshades monster and his normal self. Increased muscle mass, no gaping mouth or jagged eye holes. One of the soldiers works up the nerve to say something.

 

“Wh--what the hell are you?”

 

Evans eye coverings flash red for just a second, before he answers him.

 

“I am the darkest knight, I am death personified, I am cold unleashed, and I am fear unfelt. I am….Shadow.”

 

---December 25^th, 2008, 2:02 AM, Thomas Steele’s Office---

 

Thomas Steele, businessman extraordinaire, stands staring out at the small city of Sanctus Ira, waiting for the police report involving Evan Campbell. Based on various witness accounts and his own personal speculation, he had no doubt that Evan would fare well. The double doors behind him swing open, revealing his right hand man leading in a young redheaded girl. She looks around at the office, and then at Steel. He turns to face her, sitting in his swiveling chair, steepling his fingers as he rests his elbows on his desk. In an oily voice, he speaks to her.

 

“Miss Riley…tell me everything.”

 

She takes a seat in one of the chairs across from him, a bitter expression on her face.

 

“Gladly.”