Children of a Lesser God

Chapter 86: You Need To Leave...

Laz woke up to a normal alarm. Ever since the incident with Kennedy, he decided it was best to change that particular bachelor choice. Of course, he didn't wake up alone. Vivi had taken her place right at the head of the bed on the other pillow, so of course Laz woke up with a face full of fur. After taking a quick shower and getting dressed he left for school.

The familiar walk took almost no time before he was there. As he walked through the doors, it seemed like everyone was discussing news of the changed people. Not surprisingly, a lot of interesting name choices came up; freaks, criminals, deranged, sick. There were a few more unusual ones though; cursed, fallen, and the one that seemed to stick in his mind, the children of a lesser god. Apparently there were some extreme religious fanatics, or at least, the children of extreme religious fanatics. As such, there were plenty of crazed websites condemning those who have changed. As it stood, normal people in many religions were called the children of god. As such, for the extremists, it only made sense to refer to them as such.

'Children of a lesser god huh?' Laz laughed in spite of himself. Considering everything that had happened since he first changed, he wondered if there really was a god who just liked to fuck with people? Of course, he didn't really believe it. He would much rather bet on the people of the crazed hottie whose life was now tied to as being a cause.

'Still though, this is starting to look bad,' was Laz's final conclusion. Most of the students seemed to have a negative view of the ones like him. Even if they were just empty words, more than once he heard guys talking about wanting to jump a freak and beat him human again. The girls were a little less aggressive about it since most of their conversations seemed to be focused on who they thought might be changing, or if they themselves were. Overall, the atmosphere was one of fear. And fear never ended well.

Walking into class, Laz took his normal seat and shot a quick glance towards where Malene normally sat. It was empty. Looking at the clock, although it wasn't time just yet, it was close. He couldn't help but wonder if she was coming.

"Hey Jesse, I can't believe you were in the news!"

"Yeah, looking good!"

"Your dad is handsome too. Seems you get it from him?"

Laz's ears perked up at the conversation. Although he didn't show it, he focused on the group sitting around the three rich kids.

"It's nothing major. My dad wanted me in the taping since he said I was a major factor in developing the test, but I'm too young to take credit for it." Jesse gave a barely humble response to help stoke the interest in him. In truth, he was thrilled with the fact that his ideas were used by the old man to come up with the test. His work at the company was starting to prove fruitful.

"What happened? Come on, tell us!" One of his stooges begged, opening the stage for Jesse's ego trip.

"Well, it's classified. But lets just say that the idea hit me friday night and became a reality saturday. From that point on, it was easy to figure out and we already had several test subjects lined up. Since the test worked, it will soon be available worldwide. Still though, my old man wants me to finish up here before I go work at Global Sciences. After all, we still have our whole lives ahead of us." Jesse smiled, obviously gloating at this particular accomplishment of his.

"You seem rather happy with just the crumbs left over from your father's feast," Annie interjected from the side.

"What do you mean?" Jesse asked with a slightly diminished smile.

"Although you guys made it, we are doing distribution and marketing. As such, I can already tell you the inventor's patent is licensed to your father," Annie said, while looking at her phone.

"Yeah, that's because I'm too young to get it," Jesse replied.

"No such thing actually. Even if you don't have court rights for it's development and sale, you can most certainly be named it's creator." Anne smiled and she pulled up a page on her phone and passed it to Jesse. What remained of his smile faded and left him with a face frozen in anger.

"And you, what the hell is wrong with you?" Annie asked Tommy while taking back her phone.

"The shit from the party is what." Tommy replied while gnashing his teeth.

"Really? I had a blast. Pity that one guy got away though. He looked like he would make such a wonderful toy," Annie replied while thinking of a hard muscled and bloody young man wearing a skull mask.

"Yeah, everyone said it was great after they woke up the next day. One big fucking orgy. Awesome time. Oh hey, how come you had that little guy beat the shit out of your prized fighter? All the shit and questions," Tommy barely got out while a vein throbbed in his forehead..

"You know..." Jesse interjected after calming himself down. He got Annie and Tommy's attention and then waved off the rest of the goon squad to back away and give them some space.

"I get the feeling that guy was one of the infected ones."

"What?"

"Huh?"

Tommy and Annie both looked at Jesse with a bit shock.

"Think about it. Between his size and build, how could he have possibly won? It doesn't make any sense. And on top of that, the hidden weapons were only enough to scratch him. How is any of that normal?" Jesse explained, bit by bit.

"So... he was an infected huh?" Tommy's eyes shown with a strange light for a few moments before going back to normal.

"Yeah. You said he was your girlfriend/dealer's body guard right? Think you can find him for me?" Jesse asked a bit sneakily while Tommy was looking distracted.

"Ah, so you want another test subject huh?" Annie asked as though she had seen right through him.

"Psh... yeah. I don't know who this guy is, but based on what I know, he must have some of the strongest blood illness out of everyone we've seen so far. He would be like a gem for research."

"What about that guy who could turn into smoke? That seems much better in my opinion." Annie asked, knowing what would happen to her dream pet if Jesse got his hands on him.

"What do you know? That guy became so de-structured he ended up vanishing. No fucking clues or life signs, like his cells just split up and dissipated. Most of the insane freaks like that end up dying shortly after they develop their abilities, making them useless. But this guy is able to keep living and seems very sane. He's perfect."

"If he's perfect, then what am I?" Tommy asked a question that only the three of them would understand.

"Human, and that's enough," Jesse replied back with reassurance.

"Well, don't get your hopes up. From the responses I'm getting , she's getting the fuck out of town." Tommy answered with annoyance.

Laz's head shot up as he stared over at Tommy. Luckily, no one was paying attention to him so didn't see the look on his face, a look full of pain and shock.

"Well, still. Find out if she would take a few hundred thousand and just let us know his name. We can do the rest. For the bitch obsessed with cash, I'm sure she will sing quickly."

"I'll try. But no promises. I just want to beat the hell out of him myself." Tommy said to his feet.

"Still though, it's a bit strange huh? New like this comes out and suddenly a few kids are pulled out of school with emergencies and seem to be moving," Annie said in a meaningful way.

Jesse and Tommy didn't say anything, but their brains were on overdrive with this thought.

"You mean... you think that these people might be infected?" Jesse wanted to clarify.

"If they weren't, why would a dozen kids all the sudden decide to leave school the day after the report. Knowing that a blood test is being developed in the area that can tell others what they are would be a bad place to stay, don't you agree?" Although Jesse had the brains and Tommy the rampaging dick, Annie was the business based one. She knew how to read people and make insights into their thoughts, a much needed skill when trying to close a deal.

"Hmm... You have a point. Although there is nothing we can do about it right now, it would be good to keep an eye on these people for future use," Jesse pondered out loud.

"You're right. Pretty soon, domestic terrorists are going to have a new face. It's only a matter of time," Annie agreed. She could already see where the trend was going and she was going to do what she could on her own to capitalize on it. Having funds from her father was a start, but she wanted to get away from his influence. She was starting to get ideas that could combine her business sense with Jesse's brains and Tommy's connections. It gave her the groundwork for one hell of a crazy plan.

"Actually, there is more than one way to get what you want when you've got the money for it," Tommy suggested, putting himself into the conversation.

"Oh?" Annie asked, looking at him.

"If she doesn't want to come, make her. It's not like people never go missing. Since she already told others she was moving, now is an even better time to make a move." Apparently Tommy had some experience in this sort of endeavor.

'What if she isn't one of them?" Jesse asked, his interest peaked.

"Sell her overseas. Anyone who thinks smuggling rings don't exist in this country is a sheltered idiot." Tommy shrugged his shoulders. He seemed to have forgotten that she was originally his girlfriend.

The bell rang at this point and everyone took their seats. Although most kids were paying attention to the lesson, the trio was still talking about plans that involved getting some people to sneak over to Kennedy's place. On the other hand, Laz had pulled out his phone and was quickly typing a message to Kennedy.

:You need to leave your house, tonight.:

:Uh, hi to you too. Something wrong?:

:Your rich fake boyfriend and his friends want to find you to test you.:

:Test? What test?:

:The test to show you are what you are.:

:Why the hell are they going to test me?:

:They have this idea in their heads. A dozen kids are pulling out of school as of today. The posse seem to think it's because they are all like us.:

:But we haven't even sense anyone else. Why would a dozen kids suddenly pull out? SHIT!!:

:I don't know either. It probably has more to do with someone else in their families or something, I don't know either way, you need to be out of there tonight.:

:Yeah, we are already packed. After my cousin saw the news, he made arrangements. If it wasn't for him, I wouldn't have even known this was a thing.:

:Good. That's good..: Laz felt relieved. It seemed like the trio had guess right although Laz didn't know why Tony was getting involved. But at least he felt Tony to be someone reliable at stuff like this.

:What about you?: Kennedy had asked Laz a question he hadn't considered.

:Um. No one suspects me and these tests are not wide spread so I doubt I will come under focus anytime soon.:

:So I'm damned for doing huh?:

:Yeah.:

:Fine. You can't be passive since this thing isn't going away. You need to make some plans too. I can maybe ask my cousin to see if he can set you up with a place?: Laz could almost hear her concern with this question. He couldn't help but be touched.

:Yeah. Maybe. But not now. I've still got my grandpa to worry about.:

:Ok. Uh, hey?:

:Yeah?:

:Can I see you? Tonight? Before I go?:

:Sure. uh... where?:

:I'll meet you outside your other job, ok?:

:Yeah, 7 pm. See you then?:

:See you then.:

At the thought of being able to see Kennedy again, Laz couldn't help but smile. He felt like a weight had been lifted off his shoulders. Which was probably why he didn't notice the teacher looking at him.

"Mr Crowe. Although I know puberty is different for everyone, I doubt there is any good reason to be smile while looking down at your crotch." Laz forgot this teacher was something of a bitch to most students, minus the upper class ones.

"Can't help myself, not everyone can be this blessed," Laz shot back. Everyone in the classroom seemed to gasp at the same moment. Considering Laz's past reputation of quiet and unnoticeable, no one would have guess he would have cracked a joke at this moment. And a dirty one at that.

Even Laz himself was rather surprised by his response. It seemed he had become quite a bit more bold and daring without even trying. The teacher didn't respond since she had no idea about his background as she hadn't had any contact with him. As far as she could remember, he was only a good student who hardly even spoke so because of that, she didn't know how to handle him and decided to be passive for now.

"Pay attention!"

"Right-o." Laz tucked his phone back into his pocket and looked over at Malene's seat one more time. He didn't even have her number so he had no idea how he would get a hold of her. Due to these worries, he didn't notice a pair a cold eyes staring at him.

While looking at Laz, Tommy seemed to recall something that was somewhat buried and almost forgotten.

'He knows her.'