But You And Me We Know, We Got Nothing, But Time, And Time Won't Give Me Time, Won't Give Me Time

--"Time (Clock of the Heart)", Culture Club

I come into being.

No time to gather my surroundings, I'm immediately upon the first hooded man I see before me. I barrel into him, a blur of pure white, like a mountain falling upon the man that he is. He doesn't die, he simply is no more. That's when I feel it. The fear. I feel the unmitigated fear of the individual who willed me into existence. I know the task set before is not over.

Finally able to gauge the situation, I notice that there is a gray Honda minivan parked precariously in the drive-thru lane of the Wendy's situated in front of me In the vehicle are four individuals, a family of sorts. Surrounding it are still five more individuals, all with the intention of doing my master harm. I cannot let that stand. Before the first soldier's remains has a chance to fully settle, I'm already heading towards the next man, who is gesticulating wildly at the front of the minivan. If he's shouting anything at the terrified group of four--or is it five, as I failed to notice the baby seat wedged into the passenger seat--I do not hear it. The man, the poor man, is too oblivious in his own threats to hear his companions warning him to turn around. Before he has a chance to heed their warnings, I slam him into the front of the van. The two of us cave the hood in with him taking the brunt of the damage.

Unlike his fellow soldier, this man manages to put up some resistance. Momentarily shaken, I watch his arm reach inside his coat for something. A knife, a gun, some other weapon--who knows? I bite into his arm, my fangs rending into the soft flesh easily, and tear it away from the rest of his body. He too will die in a matter of moments.

Four more to go.

I notice the family's terror has shifted to me. Not only do I see their gaze swivel around to the men who accosted them before I showed up, it has turned to me as well. That confuses me but I cannot dwell on it. My time is limited; my purpose, clear. I have one mission and that is to clear the area of danger quickly. I give them a smile, amusement spreading across me muzzle. That's what you're supposed to do when your master is scared, right? Get them to believe that everything is okay? Instead, I only succeed in frightening them even further. I watch as the apparent father in the driver's seat indicate to his wife and kids to get to the middle of the van. He thinks I'm going to snatch him through the windshield. He thinks I will hurt him, his family. He doesn't know what or who I am.

By this time, the cars behind the minivan have taken stock of the danger they've crossed into. A mass panic erupts as the three cars try to reverse, turn around, and do everything they can to get away. The guy in the blue Scion already at the window drives off as well. The four remaining soldiers, now with their weapons in hand--three semiautomatic rifles and one guy with what looks to be a ceremonial knife--use the confusion to position themselves to attack me en masse. However this goes down, it doesn't figure to last for very long.

I feel my muscles tense. Every one of them. I don't know what I will do next. I don't know if I will survive whatever it is they have planned. Imagine that, born and died in the span of a minute. It must be a new record. If I'm to die the one thing I can comfort myself with is the fact is that I was brought into the world once; it's in my master's power to bring me back again, even from beyond the grave. It wouldn't be a pleasant trip. However, that's my whole point to existing. I live to protect and even to die in the service of that protection. My time is not my own. My time can only be used to do one thing--kill those who would kill whomever brought me into the world. That's all I have to go on.

I move. I move faster than the four men have the agility to react to. The mustached man I come into contact with first dies with one rake of my taloned paw. As his insides becomes his outsides, I leap to the guy standing next to him. He tries to level his rifle at my head mid-air. That's his fatal mistake for, even as he begins firing, I'm already descending. The bullets cannot hurt me. Short of tearing through my head with a lucky shot, I have no fear of this man killing me. The men's only hope was to have coordinated their attacks, hit me when my back was turned to one of them. Maybe then they would have stood a fighting chance. As I land to snap the neck of the second man, I realize this battle has already been one. The other men, seeing their companions all fall in such a small timeframe begin to hasten away. Normally, I wouldn't have let them go. Normally, I would have made sure no one survived to come back for another crack at the family.

But I feel the fear dampen.

I feel the need for me die away.

I'm not letting them go. I'm being let go of. I look back to the van to see who is dispelling me at present. I watch the family still cowering away from the windows. The four of them are still too shaken to have the wherewithal to focus me out of reality. It doesn't make much sense. I want to do some more damage. I want to be sure. The need to destroy things is still creeping over me and they're obviously still in anguish. How can this be happening?

Then I notice the baby... girl. She's wrapped up tightly in her car seat. She can't be more than two or three. I notice she's the only one not scared any more. She's the only one who seems to be calm. Before I fade to nothing once again I take a step closer to my new master. I see something else that baffles me.

She's smiling.

"Snowflake!" she screams.

I leave my existence behind.

Yours Swimmingly,
mojo shivers