Hybrid

TWENTY-EIGHT

⫷ JAMES ⫸

"Do you... do you even hear me, man?" The guy beside me slurs his words as he struggles to take another sip of his beer. He's hunched over the bar and there's a small puddle of alcohol in front of him from his constant spilling.

The bartender only nods, not completely into the conversation with the drunken man. He turns to me with a tired brown eyes and cocks his head to the drunken man. "Is he your friend?"

I scoff into my own glass. "Not a fucking chance."

The bartender lets out a heavy sigh before turning towards other customers.

"And then I went over there, like 'hey, you!'" The drunken man slightly turns his body to look at me. "Know what I'm saying?" Poor dude didn't seem much older than me. If I'm not mistaken, he'd just indulged us on how his wife cheated on him with his boss. Oh, scratch that, she cheated on him with his boss and his bosses wife. Separately.

I ignore him and take another shot that's sitting in front of me. The burning sensation is welcomed, but it's not enough. It's never enough.

The drunken man waves his hand dismissively at me and turns back to his drink.

I let out a sigh after checking the time; three in the morning. I down the last four shots that I had already bought. The moment I stand up, a wave of dizziness finally kicks in. I stumble backward, accidentally bumping into a broad man.

"Watch where you're going, punk."

I turn to glare at him. "What did you just say?"

He puffs out his chest to appear intimidating, only making me laugh. "You heard me," he replies. "Watch where you're going, punk."

Thud. Thud. Thud. Somewhere far, far at the back of my mind, I hear Caleb telling me to calm down before I do something stupid. Fortunately for me, that buzz kill is nowhere to be seen.

My fist smashes against his cheek, causing him to crash into the wall behind him. Anger likes at my nerves, greeting me like an old friend. One of his friends grasps my arms from behind and another punches me in the face. Breaking from his hold causes his body to crash against a nearby wooden table.

Anger. Power. Feed it. Let it take away the pain.

I let it. Every time. Punk guy in front is an easy target. With a simple punch, his head cracks against the wall and he falls unconscious. Drunk guy hoots and hollers in the background.

The boiling of my blood pumps hot air up into my brain. I spin around, seeing another of his friends staring at me like a deer about to be slaughtered. Good. Be afraid. He quakes in his boots; maybe because of his unconscious friend, or maybe because I can feel my eyes darken in colour. Canines grow from my gums. Just one swipe of my growing claws and his blood is my meal.

I'm going to do it. Kill this coward. The beast inside of me agrees. I'm about to show the claws at the tips of my fingers, give him something to really be afraid of, but strong arms haul me out of the bar. With no alcohol in my system, there's no way I'd let anyone pull me around like that.

Outside, I stumble against the brick walls to gain my balance. Sure enough, buzz kill looms over me. "I thought I told you to stop drinking," he grits. Even Caleb, ever the boring brooder, is getting tired of my shit.

I laugh. "You can't tell me what to do."

He doesn't reply. I notice Kasey is close beside him, giving me a weary look. I hop into the backseat, far too tired to care. I feel the car roar to life as Caleb drives off.