Labelled by Blood

      Jesse lowered his guard. Minutes passed and nothing happened, so I got why he did. Something felt off, but he didn't seem concerned and I really just wanted some time to let loose. We hung around another ten-ish minutes before making our way to the clearing. Nothing was going to get in my way of seeing soda splay out in a fizzy firework.       So, we made the best of our evening. Jesse's strim let him make controlled explosions to propel himself around. He controlled it with some bulky, and honestly silly-looking, gauntlets. He danced around like a dragonfly and I'd have him randomly throw up a soda can so I could shoot it as fast as I could. Aim wasn't the issue. I don't know how it worked, but I could hone my water bullets towards targets with just a thought and even split them to hit multiple targets at once. I usually only took a couple of seconds to scope up, aim, and fire, and, every time, Jesse would cheer me on. It made me feel like the only person worth his time.       After messing around with sweet rain and black smoke, we sat against some trees and talked. He asked me questions, I answered them, and he would give me a nod or two. I could tell he wasn't just asking to be polite. It made me sweat.       "If you could have one thing in this world," he started, "no conditions. What would it be?"       I stared up, the back of my head pressed against the rough tree bark. Orange light streamed in rays against the ever-dying leaves. I shrugged. "You want the real answer or the cute one?"       He laughed, playfully pushing me with his body. I chuckled. "You're the cute one," he said.       This made me freeze. I stared out at the river. My heart went wild and it sent a shiver down my spine. Butterflies swarmed into bees in my stomach. I giggled nervously.       "Your real answer," he said, giving me an out.       "Right. Um. I think I'd want a world where people like me can just exist."       He put an arm around my shoulder. I leaned into him. We didn't speak again. He knew what my answer was. It was always the same. I never knew why he asked me this question so many times.       The sun was in a rush to go to sleep. Or maybe the moon was just eager to say hi. I picked at a small chunk of trunk that found its way to the ground. I flicked it. It landed with a soft thud. Jesse grabbed a twig and did the same. Then he checked his watch, sighed, and pulled away from me.       This ended the same way every time.       "Gotta go?" I said, keeping things light.       "Yeah, I'm late."       Uh oh. Late. "Oh. Yeah. I guess it's later than you wanted?"       "Mmhmm," he stood up, offering me a hand.       I took it and he pulled me up into a hug. I wanted to melt into it. I really did. But instead tears threatened to break free. One actually did.       He took my face in his hands. "What's wrong?"       I shook my head, steeling my nerves. Nothing was. I had to just tell myself this over and over again. He didn't buy it, but he pretended to.       "Let's get you home," he teased.       I smiled. "Right."       I wanted to walk him home. But he's told me "no" so many times, I knew it wasn't worth chasing. It's not that he didn't appreciate the gesture, it's just that he wanted to make sure his parents didn't see me.       And that was fine. I preferred to be invisible.       Instead, I let him lead the way. The river was distant and soft. The twigs under us gave way without a fight and our footsteps echoed that.       "Tomorrow's a gym day, right?" I asked, bracing for the answer.       "Yeah. Well, today was, actually. But I have to catch up. Strim practice helped, but lifting weights was better for gains."       "Hm."       He took my hand in his. I swallowed. We kept going in silence. We reached the edge of the woods, but I guess we made a wrong turn and we were actually kind of off from the main road. There was a small cliff jump down, and Jesse made it no problem. He extended an arm out for me and I reached for it.       As I did, his face twisted into shock. Then horror. His watch flashed orange in an instant. His hands enveloped in his gauntlets.       Time slowed. My brain was catching up. But it got cut off from a nasty hissing sound. Like TV static too loud.       It made my head ache and I tried to hold it together. It got more and more painful and felt like my brain would split right down the middle.       A voice raided my mind. It sounded so close but also like a radio that was set far too quiet. It was horrendous. Scratchy and chalky. Fascinating. I didn't know humans were able demonstrate such strim mastery. I will be testing you both soon.       I tried to speak, but I don't know what I actually managed to say. My mouth moved but nothing registered.       I felt the earth rumble. Jesse was in motion. His strim went off once. Twice. A third.       I was pathetic. The pain was debilitating and I tried to reach for my dumb stapler, but it wasn't going to happen. But then the static muted itself, the pain with it. I gasped a shaky breath in. Jesse was on the ground with his hands to his head, groaning.       I saw the figure standing over him. It was taller than I thought. And it's skin was colored in alternating layers of a cool gray and tarnished white. It had no face. No hands. No feet.       My hands whipped my stapler up into the air and my hefty rifle landed in my arms, readied and scoped. I wouldn't let Jesse fail. He acted first, and I'd wrap things up.       I held my breath and the world almost calmed down. My aim was true. My finger didn't panic. The creature didn't seem to notice me. I had ten bullets when fully charged. So, I had four left but only needed one. I squeezed the trigger. A roaring bark. A single bullet.       I missed.       Or, really, the thing just moved. Like a glitch in my vision. It was there one microsecond, twitched and dodged the next. My bullet left a trail of water on the ground and the creature's face followed it up to me.       The static came back, but not the pain. I see. I admire the courage. You are definitely interesting. I will be back.       The creature rushed right for me. I faltered, but managed a potshot. The thing was gone the moment I even though of shooting; my bullet rammed into a tree behind it. A deep hole bored into the innocent thing.       My breathing shook. I gasped for air. Jesse had stopped groaning, but held his head. His gauntlets vanished. He sat there in a daze. I ran to him and threw myself on him. I hugged him tight.       He coughed and patted my hand with his. He spoke with shaken confidence. "We should go home. We can talk on the way."       I nodded and got up, helping him at the same time. We didn't run home because that thing made it pretty clear it wasn't going to come back today. All the while, we talked about what that thing was. We both agreed it wasn't human, but what was it?       He mentioned that he immediately tried to tackle it down the first chance he got, but it moved out of the way and knocked him down with some kind of darkish purple shockwave. That's where I came in. And failed.       He asked me to research it. I told him I'm not going to the library alone. Whatever it was, it made me feel like I was worthless. More of a nobody than I already was. The rest of the walk home was silent. We got to my house, first.       He grabbed me by the arm right as I started to walk across the street home. "Hey. Alex. Thanks. I owe you one."       I shook my head, "what? No. You saved me first, I just tried to do the same."       He hugged me and told me to stay safe. I told him it'd be easier if he could be with me all the time. He then told me to head inside. I did. As he turned to walk home, I waved but he didn't turn around in time. He made his way around a corner and was gone.       I stood at my door, not sure how to feel. Now I had to face my parents. They also didn't like how I identified, but took to more of a silent treatment approach. It meant I didn't have to worry about them dogging me all the time, but also meant they didn't really want anything to do with me. It sucked.       Turning, I quietly unlocked the door and went inside. My parents were in the kitchen, cooking something. I'd have to eat waffles for dinner, again. I was too lazy to cook tonight, especially after what happened. Instead, I sneaked my way to my room and sat at my little working desk. The evening replayed in my head, over and over again. We knew that thing was around. Why didn't we just go home?       And we had the perfect day before it came back. It had to have been watching is that entire time. It told me itself: it was fascinated by what we were doing. It wanted to test us.       I decided the only way to know about it was to research it. So, I got down to it. Thankfully, I did all my homework today during lunch, so I was free all weekend. A couple of hours in, and I had thirty-odd tabs opened and bookmarked. None of it made any sense, but I was getting somewhere.       From what I could find, these things were here to collect the stuff my parents used to recharge strims. I decided to call them "Collectors." Felt right.       I was getting hungry by this point, and it was getting pretty late, now. I made my way downstairs; my parents already headed to bed. What a shame. I grabbed some frozen waffles, popped them in the toaster and walked to the living room. I went up to the fireplace and felt around a back corner. The rough bricks caught my skin, but then I felt it. Smooth, polished wood in a beautiful mahogany box.       I took it out of it's hiding spot and placed it gently on the coffee table at the center of our living room. I swore it was whispering to me. Propping it open, the mist inside poured out. Its white smoke-like fuel wisped and flickered. I took my stapler and centered it in the middle of the small rectangular inside and closed the box. It'd take about sixteen minutes to refuel. About two minutes per bullet.       I texted Jesse about what I'd learned about the Collectors and all that. He told me to meet him tomorrow at our usual spot after he hit the gym. My stifled smile still shone through.       The toaster popped. Waffles were hot and ready. Their flaky and crispy crust gave way to an almost gooey center. Some butter and syrup and I had a hot meal that rivaled home cooking. I ate quickly then cleaned up. No one would ever know I was down here. After, I went back to the box and opened it up. My stapler pulsed a cerulean blue and I looped it back where it belonged.       Time for bed. Without a sound, I headed to the restroom and brushed my teeth. Then I crawled into bed and popped in some earbuds. Music would keep me company. It always did.