Warrior: Xenomorph Transformation Chapter 7

Warrior: Xenomorph Transformation
Chapter 7: The Family Portrait

The morning afterwards felt like a cinderblock had been dropped on top of me. I woke up with a powerful headache and an upset stomach; it was odd, but not impossible to solve. I soon chocked it up to be the afterglow of Cody’s and my “yelling competition” last night. Cody had recently become the bane of my existence because of his biased opinion towards me and my appearance. I had proved to him that I could be dangerous, and he’d most likely never let me live it down.
“Ugh…turn of the alarm…it’s too early.” I turned to see Emerald, waking up before I shook my head.
“Dude, there’s no alarm.”
“Then why is my head ringing?!” he asked. I scratched my head before remembering that our minds were interconnected. It was most likely that my headache had resounded off of his mind. However, I merely shrugged and outstretched my arm and allowed him to slither up my arm and onto my neck.
“Come on, let’s get some breakfast. I’m really going to hate today,” I commented before leaving the sanctity of my room and heading down to where my mother was undoubtedly waiting for me. As soon as I entered the kitchen though, I saw that Mom was gone, but a note was on the counter and I picked it up and read it.
“I’m very disappointed in you Arthur. Make yourself some breakfast, and we’ll talk when I get back from work, Mom.” I looked up after reading the message, thinking on how I was clearly in trouble. At that moment though, my stomach growled and I turned to Emerald, all previous concerns blocked out by hunger.
“Well, what is it you want for breakfast today?”
“Besides bacon, I’m down for anything.” I nodded at his request and immediately took out our waffle-iron to begin making waffles for us. After setting up and making the batter, I took a seat and started thinking on what I should do with the time I had left before Mom returned home. After setting up my computer, I began to start playing Command and Conquer: Generals - Rise of the Reds.

The day was brisk, cold, wet. An uncommon sight in the summer months, even in Colorado. As a result, I spent most of the day playing video games on my computer, but as day grew to night, we began to grow bored and went to check deviantART. Thankfully, Tristan was online and, and naturally, we went to Skype to chat with one-another. But today, I felt like we had to keep up appearances on deviantART, so chatting there wouldn’t be too maddening...for now. So, I opened up a chat with Tristan, only to have my computer shut on me by Mom, who had arrived unexpectedly early. She was clearly angry, and I would even go as to say furious!
“We need to talk,” she said in a stern voice. I immediately snorted in angst at her after she said this.
“What’s there to talk about? Cody was fast asleep, I changed the channel on the TV, and he wakes up angry with me for no particular reason other than drunkenness.
“And you attacked him!”
“He started it, I finished it and told him that he’s being negligent!”
“Well you’re being belligerent! Arthur, you can’t do that to any adult, even to Cody!”
“Cody’s been nothing but negligent and prejudiced against me since the start. He’s acting more childish than my brothers! Even dad is more accepting of my new appearance! He’s not just prejudiced, but he’s an asshole!” I retorted. This statement seemed to make my mom’s eyes widen. Two long minutes of silence resulted until she finally spoke again.
“Okay…Cody told me that you attacked him without reason.” I hissed in a sigh and shook my head before looking to her eyes.
“Tell me. Who do you trust more: Your first-born teenage son, or a drunkard who’s lied to you before?” Silence was my answer, but I have a feeling that she knew that she could trust me more easily. However, before she had a chance to respond, Emerald spoke for the first time nearly all day.
“Look, Cody may be your husband, but he’s still a liar. Trust us, we wouldn’t attack without a reason.” Before any of us could interject any longer, however, Cody walked in the door, cursing beneath his breath when he saw me. However, Mom was the first to make a move and walked to Cody.
“Cody, you snapped at Arthur for changing channels on the TV…when you were asleep?!”
“No, baby, no! He attacked me without reason. He’s too dangerous, we got to get the kids out of…” he was immediately interrupted by a slap to the face. Both Emerald and I smirked at this, knowing that Cody was getting what was coming to him.
“You don’t have the right to hurt my baby anymore!!! Arthur hasn’t done anything to you!!!”
“Stop yelling!!!” Cody interjected. The irony was that he yelled himself. “That’s not Arthur anymore, and you should know it!”
“What, just because of his appearance? Underneath that skin is the same Arthur that I raised!” Immediately, Cody pushed Mom out of the way and walked towards me.
“Stay away from my family!”
“They aren’t just your family. That’s my mother, and I have every right to be with them. You’re just negligent and lazy.”
“Really? Prove it!” he yelled. I smirked and began counting off the reasons with Emerald.
“When you get home, you go straight to the chair and make a divot in the cushion.”
“When you do get up, it’s usually to get a bear or to get to the table to eat.”
“You let your mother control your children more than you talk with Mom about it.”
“And moreover, you’re being a prejudiced bastard because you cope with my change and Emerald’s creation.” After saying these and giving him his reasons of negligence and laziness, he stood there, a hulking slob of a construction worker. He stood there with beady, angry eyes before he punched me to the ground. I didn’t expect it, and the punch left my jaw feeling sore.
“Get out of my family’s house!” After saying this, I got up and wiped my jaw before punching him in the gut. Immediately, a gasp of pain escaped him and he collapsed onto his knees.
“Yeah, I’m calling the police. Emerald, you speak.” Emerald nodded before I took out my phone from my pocket, which I had gotten as a Christmas gift, and dialed the number.
“Hello, emergency hotline, how may we be of service?” the operator asked.
“Yeah, this is Arthur Jackson calling from 1742 Springmeadows Court, I need you to come and arrest James Cody Vanhorn.”
“Wait…you’re the alien kid, right?”
“Yes, I am.”
“Alright, I’m sending a car, it should be there in about 15 minutes,” the operator replied. I hung up to look Cody in the eyes.
“Cody, I like to see the good in people, and I know that you’re a good man. You’re going to prison, but I’d like to see some humanity before the cops arrive.” He looked up to me with blood trickling from his nose. I guess the force of the punch strained his muscles so bad that he got a nose bleed. Whatever the case, he looked to me with teary eyes and immediately began apologizing. Something I didn’t expect.
“I’m sorry Arthur! I’m sorry I ignored you, I’m sorry I was negligent, I’m sorry that I was prejudiced and insensitive! I’m sorry for everything!” he cried as he looked to me. I looked to Emerald.
“I wasn’t expecting that,” I said.
“Guess he was just afraid,” Emerald replied telepathically to me. “What do we do? Tell the police that it’s all a big joke?” I immediately shook my head.
“No. He deserves jail time, but I think that when he gets out, he’ll be a better man.” Cody just sat there, crying as he was being watched by my brothers, Mom, Emerald, and I. I then turned back to Cody and put my hand over his mouth.
“Stop your sniveling. You’re going to jail, can’t change that, but I accept your apology. I hope you can prove that you’re sorry when you get out.” Cody immediately nodded before curling up in the fetal position and crying silently.

When the police arrived, all had been quiet. The kids weren’t being rambunctious, Mom was outside smoking a cigarette, and I was on my computer, all while Cody silently sobbed as he was dragged away into the cruiser. As the lights began to dim and the sounds of police sirens died away, I began to think on if what I did was the right thing. He had attacked me, but was I right to punch back, or did that make me as much of a disgrace than him? Whatever the case, he was in going to be in jail for about a year or so, and we’d be a little more financially challenged.
“You alright dude?” Emerald asked quietly, and I turned to him.
“Just thinking if what I did was right,” I replied. “It’s funny, really. How I say that he’s the degenerate and I’m the one who punches back.” Emerald immediately interjected to stop me from beating myself up.
“Dude, you did more than the right thing. You’ve improved your relationship, somewhat with him. He’s not going to be bothering you anymore.” I smiled before getting up and heading upstairs to sleep, my dog waiting for me on the bed to cuddle like the cute little pooch that she was.

Our junior year of high school was the quietest so far. I felt great, as did Emerald, and I was finally able to find a new look. I now had blue and grey-striped shirts that I’d wear, along with a new hat. The style suited me well, and people began to fear me less as the year went on. People may have supported me, but there were always the paranoid and those who were afraid of me, but they gradually began to die down and treat me as normal. Eventually, I was only noticed as another regular person in the world. No news crews, no special gifts, nothing special. I finally was living my life on a semblance of normality, and I wouldn’t have had it any other way. Between you, me, and Emerald, I personally hated the popularity. Made me more popular in school, but I was constantly watched to make sure that I didn’t go ballistic. However, the year was blissful, even on Christmas. Cody was allowed to be seen on Christmas, but he was still in jail for assault. But even then, that was a blissful affair. I got a new laptop and a new phone, and was able to visit my dad and my sisters. My grandma knew of what happened, but treated me normally. My sisters were apprehensive to see me at first, but they eventually grew accustomed to my appearance. But the day that I was most anxious for was the day when Cody would return. On that day, we were all dressed and waiting outside our home for the cruiser to bring him home. We waited and waited and waited for hours on end. Emerald had eventually begun to start to entertain himself with my memories and thoughts. I, on the other hand, was a nervous wreck. While I didn’t show it outside, I was contemplating what would happen on the inside and thinking of responses to nearly every question or statement that Cody would give to me. My thoughts were soon cut short, however, due to the arrival of the police cruiser that we had been waiting for. As soon as it parked, the vehicle opened up to reveal Cody. He had clearly been working out, as he no longer had his beer belly, and was smiling. I don’t think I’d seen him smile in a long time seeing me. However, he was smiling, and as he walked up to me, I don’t think I’d been more ready to defend myself. However, when he patted me on the shoulder, it was the one reaction I had not expected. Had Cody changed?
“Hey, Arthur?” he asked. I merely turned my head to the side as a sign of acknowledgement. “Look, I’m really sorry about the past four years…I was just afraid. I thought that if you lost it, hurting the family.” His words rang true, and he clearly had changed physically, but mentally, he may have been the same old Cody. Whatever the case, the next thing he did was totally unexpected. He held out his hand. I looked at it in disbelief before taking his hand and shaking it.
“Are we on good terms?” he sincerely asked me. I looked to him and nodded before saying, “Yes, we are Cody. Welcome home.” It was a touching moment, where we all posed to take a family picture. A picture that would become engraved in my mind for the rest of my life. It was in front of our house. Cody and Mom were behind the kids, with Ian to the right side of the image and Tom to the left, and Emerald and I were in the middle, with Cody’s and Mom’s hands on my shoulders. In the image, I looked happy, and Emerald was there looking at me instead of the camera. It was a happy family photo, not a time of hate and strife, and I would forever treasure that image.