Chapter 1: Passing on

Shoes shredding tearing up the grass in the moonlit park as he sprinted away from what would end up causing serious damage to his body. A sharp pain blossomed in his chest; no matter how much oxygen was sucked in his body just wasn't getting enough energy to keep up the pace to reach safety. Leg muscles ached from the heavy strain they were being put under, muscles barely exercised for years, he silently wished he had taken his parents advice and participated in a sport during high school. If he had perhaps his life would involve more friends, high school had been a lonely experience and only at a time of crisis like this did he really understand that his life had been a sad experience so far. Hard tension crept up his spine he was close to giving up, his body couldn't handle the exhaustion. The relentless pursuers behind him never tired and slowly Jason Lychas realised his chances at reaching safety were slowly dwindling.

Why did it have to be tonight of all nights? Deciding to take a shortcut home had been a spontaneous decision, you know take action for himself for one. This must be a cruel joke; surely fate was tormenting him, slowly slicing through the lovingly spun piece of twine, each thread splitting apart as the cool edge of Atropos' knife cut deeper into his red string.

Thoughts raced through Alex's mind as he chased the target, chemicals pumping through his body with every beat of his heart with something else, a foreign substance was rapidly attaching itself and altering any cells in its reach, claiming it's new host.

Riding the high with his new brothers made him feel powerful; the power in itself was a drug, one that he would never willingly give up. Not for anyone. The prey was in sight.

What was his name again? Jake, maybe Jackson, or ... No it was Jason, yes that's it Jason! The kid didn't deserve a name he's little more than a piece of meat waiting to be devoured, a meal to make them stronger.

The foreign substance was bringing out unknown changes in the host body, increasing the bodies physical abilities but dulling the mental ones, it's host didn't need to be smart. Faster and stronger than any other, more aggressive and dominant with killer instincts, a baby predator in the making, but a predator none the less.

The prey was in sight it was slowing down; fatigue was setting in unfortunately for Jason. Alex and his brothers were still going strong.

Amazing! With every step bringing them closer to their target ... A.J said this drug, titan, was amazing. This stuff puts steroids to shame.

What Jason didn't know was that tonight was just a bad night to be out in this neighbourhood; tonight members of The Lost, a gang that recently rose to power in the area, complete their final initiation test. It got worse, the senior leadership of the gang had decided to change the final initiation task for full membership to the gang to reflect their recent increase in drug distribution; they wanted rivals to understand that their members were willing and able to kill for the good for the gang.

In certain situations there comes a point where a person knows everything is about to change, thoughts dash across their mind as different outcomes coalesce if only they had done things differently, if only.

Jason tripped while struggling to make it to safety, he missed the tree root protruding out of the ground and his foot got caught on it. A sharp pain blooming in his palm pulled him out of the shock that overwhelmed him because of the fall; he cradled his arm while silently watching the blood gush from the open wound for a few seconds before he realised the peril he was still in. Quickly disregarding his hand he pushed himself up from the soft grass and started to run again, it was too late; his pursuers were upon him. One tackled Jason to the ground shoving his face hard into the dirt. Punches were thrown if Jason was going down he was going down fighting, with no real idea to what he was doing he aimed at anything and everything, when hitting his attackers nose he felt a perverse sense of pleasure when a sickening crunch echoed after a devastating but lucky blow connected. A scream erupted into the night; the attacker rolled away hands cradling his nose trying to prevent the blood spurting down his face and the intense throbbing pain coming from his broken nose.