The Strength Within

     I guess it's time that I told our story, our legacy, our legend. My name is Dawson Sundrey and when I was young, about the age of twelve or thirteen. Me and my friends Jeffrey Illsen, Carl Beckit, and Reggie Strands, were all at my house.

They were spending the night, it was pretty fun, they all brought their game systems, Jeffrey brought his PS3, Carl brought his XBOX 360, and Reggie brought his PC.

I had a PS3 so me and Jeffrey played on the same server. We stayed up until about midnight and then we heard my mom coming up the stairs.

We weren't supposed to be up that late so we quickly turned everything off and pretended to be asleep. The door opened and the light shined in from the hallway. My heart was beating really fast. We wouldn't get in trouble but we were just trying not be caught.

My mom stood in the doorway for a few seconds then closed the door. After a minute or two, we knew she was gone.

"She bought it!" Jeffrey whispered.

We all laughed louder than we could imagine. It was a really good night. After that we just decided to go to bed, it was late and they had to leave early in the morning.

I can't remember how long after that it was, but I soon fell asleep. It was so unexpected but at about three in the morning, Carl woke me up. I can't remember why or what, but he was screaming at the top of his lungs. It woke us all up.

"Carl what's going on!" I asked.

He just kept screaming. My mom and dad ran in and tried to calm him down but it was useless. Every time they did something he just screamed even louder.

After thirty minutes of uninterrupted screaming, my mom finally called the cops. My ears hurt, they were ringing. An ambulance arrived not soon after, I couldn't escape that dreadful noise. The paramedics ran inside and stabbed him with a syringe.

He passed out after the medicine hit his bloodline. Even after the screaming stopped, I could still hear it in my mind. I would get headaches from it. It was horrible. We went to the hospital and told Carl's parents about what happened.

They met us at the hospital. After Carl was maintained and in one of the beds, we were allowed to see him. We all entered the room at the same time and saw him. He looked horrible, he was just laying there. He looked as if he was going to throw up right then and there. Carl's mom was crying, she thought he was going to die.

I walked up to him slowly and my mom grabbed my shoulder and pulled me back, "Dawson! He needs rest." She said.

I pulled away from her and walked closer up to Carl's bed. Something wasn't right, no one just wakes up and screams like that, I really needed to figure out what was going on. That's when Carl started talking to everyone.

"Mom, can I talk to Dawson alone?" He asked.

I smiled a little, I was scared about what he was going to say.

"Of course honey, anything for you." His mom said back, the room then cleared almost instantly after everyone left.

"What happened back there?" I asked him, he frowned a little, almost as if he was afraid to talk about it.

"It's hard to explain, but it's easier if I just show you." He told me, he then held out his hand really slow. He carefully touched my left arm.

I felt a charge going through my body, it was unspeakable and unbelievable. I could even hear his voice in my mind. I couldn't see him anymore, when he touched me, my whole ability to see ended. I was dreaming, but I wasn't. I could see stuff that wasn't happening. Like a vision. That's when Carl started explaining everything.

"When I was born, I was rushed into emergency care because I had multiple viruses inside me that could kill me in seconds. An hour later, those viruses were gone, the doctors couldn't find any. It was a miracle to them, but to me, it was like selling my soul to the devil. The viruses in me weren't like any other thing earth has ever seen. They were out of this world. Viruses that gave me special abilities, but soon took them away. Using the abilities the viruses granted me, caused them to stay around longer, but provided a better chance to kill me. The more usage of them, caused a faster death. At around six, I discovered how I could use them. At nine, I realized how they were bad for me. Tonight, I realized they can kill me."

He paused to let me think about everything he just said. I was still confused. What abilities was he talking about?

I then asked him, "If you knew they were bad for you, why did you keep using them?"

I could hear him laughing but I couldn't see. Everything he was talking about, I could see it in the vision.

"The less you use it, the viruses start to leave you. These viruses require a balance of good and bad. Without them, you die, with too many of them, you die."

I was starting to understand the picture but it was still to crazy to believe.

"How do you know all this?" I asked him.

"There are others like me, I kept in touch with them. I can also, give the power to others!"

The vision stopped and I saw Carl's hand touching my arm. I could see lights going through his hand to my arm. As soon as the transformation was finished, his heart rate, had stopped. They could hear it from outside and all came rushing in, doctors and nurses too.

"You have to leave now!" They told me. I was pushed out of the room and so were the rest of my friends and family. "What happened in there?" Jeffrey asked me. I stood there quietly and stared at my arm. He gave me his power. I knew he did. I grabbed Jeffrey's arm tightly.

"What are you doing?" He asked me.

He saw the lights go into him but I stopped before the full transformation was completed. I walked up Reggie and did the same thing and stopped before it was done.

"There, now we all have it." I said to them.

"Have what?" Reggie asked.

I smiled at the thought, "We have his power."