IGNATIUS The Colors of Rage

Chapter e Transformations

Three years or so before, when Iggy was just a fourteen year old asshole, he was inside Baine’s office, head to head with him in a power struggle. Baine’s massively strong body blocked the door to his office, and his demanding crow-like roar hollered, “I said, ‘read it!’” A hardcover book came flying across the room right at Iggy’s head. 

Since his eyesight hadn’t been so shitty then, Iggy smacked the book right out of the air and onto the floor. “No! I’m sick of your f*****g books!” he retaliated. He hacked up loogie and spit on the open pages. “I’m not reading it, so leave me the hell alone!” He proceeded to kick the book across the room with the heel of his rugged shoe.

Baine’s head boiled red hot. Iggy didn’t think that Baine would hit first, but he did. His fist slammed into Iggy’s nose, and his head whipped back, and he fell back onto his ass, and cradled his bowled hand around his nostrils. His eyes ran with tears even before he felt angry. Then, Baine snagged him by the shirt collar and slapped the side of his head. The commotion lasted a good two minutes, until Nansen blasted through the doors and dove in between them. 

Given a moment of rescue, Iggy bolted to the nearest bathroom. Behind the locked door, he washed his face frantically, but no matter how fast or hard he washed, the blood wouldn’t stop running from his nose. In the sink bowl, splotches formed a little river towards the drain. Drip. Drip. Drip. 

He could see it so clearly and he wanted it so badly. It had been wasted. He could feel the throbbing pulse against his lips. Then, he could taste it. The warm blood was just like the first time he had tried it. It was thick, hot, and satisfying the ache in his stomach. He gulped. 

The Red. 

His eyes shot open and he saw Emi lying beneath him. Her bright blonde hair glowed in the dark and her black eyes were open spheres with no end. His tight fingers squeezed around her left wrist, holding her to his lips. His teeth were inside of her, biting down hard, and the blood was flooding into his mouth. He swallowed and swallowed. He bit harder, eagerly, and her scream pierced his ears. 

He stretched her arm upwards, sucking at her wrist, and clamped his other hand around her throat to strangle the voice out of her. He was at peace, yet it was still somehow unnatural. The thoughts in his head were silent while his body did as it wanted without any instruction.

Baine’s glare struck Nansen’s. “Did you hear that?”

“Yea!” Nansen replied. “What the f**k was it?!”

The two ran out of the entertainment room, through the lobby, and lashed the office doors open. What they saw was the nightmare that they were dreading. Iggy was attacking, and even worse, he was attacking early with violent force. 

With the smell of blood floating in the air, Nansen halted at the threshold. Everything in his body told him to go away, to leave, so he did. He turned around, and jogged anxiously up the main staircase toward his room. 

Oblivious to Nansen’s retreat, Baine ran in and clotheslined Iggy back over the couch. They went down together. Lost in breath, Baine maneuvered one of his arms around Iggy’s neck and pulled his head upwards toward the ceiling. Wrangling him like a bull, Baine inspected his teeth with ungentle urgency and shaking fingers. His mouth straightened and his eyes were stiff, his usual serious self, and Iggy found some relief in that. 

“You’re so goddamn lucky!” Baine barked. He pulled his hand away from Iggy’s mouth. “If your teeth weren’t done growing, her infected blood would have healed them in a premature position, and you would have had some more serious problems to deal with, then!” He pulled his sleeve back away from his wrist and laid his bare skin against Iggy’s closed mouth. “Drink from me. Go on. I said, ‘drink.’ You need mine or else-” 

Baine’s wrist came inching in toward Iggy’s razor sharp teeth, but Iggy had no idea why he was there or what he was doing or what was happening- he couldn’t remember how he got there, at all! He slipped his fingers in between his face and Baine’s wrist, shoved him away, spun around and faced him.

“What’s wrong, aren’t you thirsty?”

“No,” Iggy shook his head. “What did… I?” The few gulps of blood lathered his throat, and the voice that he heard was not his own. It was deep and even toned. Grown. A voice that no one had ever heard before. Disgust overtook him for something that he couldn’t quite recall. He stood to his feet and stepped away.

Baine came up from the floor and took a step toward him, trying to hand him his wrist, still. “It’s OK, you don’t have to be scared,” he assured him. “Just take it. I’m giving it to you.” 

Behind him, Iggy spotted Emi against the further wall cradling her wrist into her bosom. Her large black eyes focused right back on him with distrust and her mouth hardened into a straight line at the sight of him.

Iggy couldn’t stand it. He needed to leave. He dodged his way around Baine and ran out of the room as fast as he could. 

Baine could have easily caught him, for he was still very young and comparably slow. He even turned to follow him out, but when he saw Emi huddled against the wall, cradling her healing wound further into her chest with her chin lowered over her knuckles and a chill rattling through her, he approached her, instead. “Are you alright?” he asked. “I thought he was alone in here.” 

She was too embarrassed to look into his eyes. “I didn’t realize that he was… That he was…” Her face twisted into an impending sob.

“Shhh… Let me see.” His fingers slid underneath hers and he clenched her wound against his palm. His finger tapped her lowered chin upwards, and they met eyes. “Did it hurt?”

“It hurt very badly,” she croaked. “But, why? Your bite didn’t hurt me like that. Why did his?”