intro / teaser




  "A cluster of space debris has been tracked approaching Earth, almost all of the meteorites should burn up in the upper atmosphere, giving a wonderful lightshow worldwide over the next couple days, truly the meteor shower of the millennium, simply be outside after dark, to see countless trails of light, this shower is not expected to end for 48 hours"

  I turned off the TV and looked out the window, seeing one or two streaks of light. I didn't have anything planned for the night, so I figured it couldn't hurt to have some meditation time outside. I was already feeling far too stressed with all the crap that had been going on in my social group lately.

  My Dracano series had been met with much public disdain, even though half the people that read it thought it was great, the other half detested it, claiming I had stolen ideas and plot points, and quite frankly, after looking at their evidence, I couldn't argue with them, it was almost word for word in a couple cases.

  I put the computer in sleep mode, and headed outside. I needed some time to think, and watching meteors would be a good way to simmer down.

  I just didn't know what to do with my life anymore, it seemed to just have lost its spark, I couldn't write, I couldn't draw, nothing ever seemed to make sense. Friends were attacking each other, and everybody blamed someone else, it was a classic clusterfuck.

  I laid down on the grass, and stared up into the sky, admiring the countless shafts of light, until I made a very noticeable observation, they were getting a little low. A couple moments later, one roared overhead, rattling windows and setting off car alarms.

  I got to my feet quickly, and looked in the direction it went, seeing it slam into a cluster of trees. I looked around, and though several people saw it, it looked like I was the only one who saw where it landed. I ran inside, and grabbed a water bottle, flashlight, and a bucket before dashing back outside, this was a once in a lifetime event, I could get a fresh meteorite, I knew for a fact that they're worth upwards of hundreds of dollars a pound.

  I ran into the cluster of trees. I didn't even need my flashlight because there was a mild glow coming from the crater. I suddenly lost my enthusiasm at that, and my heart began pounding, I had gone from excited to scared, this was straight out of a sci-fi horror movie, and I was the guy who gets killed in the opening scene.

  I had to convince myself this was real life, and not a movie, and I inched closer to the edge of the crater. The glow was coming from a single crystal, sticking out of a piece of the fractured meteorite. I slid down into the middle of the ten foot crater, and leaned in closely, pulling out the water bottle. I squirted a small amount on the rock, making it simmer, it was still hot.

  I poured all the water out onto it, and it fractured, releasing the crystal, which was still glowing. I shoved the fragments into the bucket with my foot, and then squirted the water onto the crystal until I was sure it was cool enough to touch. I sat there for a moment, and pondered my situation "should I touch the glowing green crystal from space? Decisions, decisions….aw, what's the worst that can happen?"

  In retrospect, not a good decision. The second my hand touched it, pain shot up my arm as a green spark arched from the crystal and it stopped glowing."Gah, fuck, I broke it" I just sighed, seeing the price tag roll back from "glowing mystery crystal" to "lump of radioactive quartz" and all the things I was thinking of trading it for just poofed.

  I picked it up, not getting shocked this time, and pocketed it, heading back to the apartment with my prize in tow. By the time I was stepping in the door, my whole left arm was tingling. I took the crystal out of my pocket, and set it down on the coffee table, and took the bucket to the kitchen, filling it with water to rinse the meteorite chunks, and then went to turn the TV back on while I grabbed a soda.

  Not to my great surprise, the news was back on "Authorities are stressing that the chance of being hit by one of the meteorites is incredibly low. It's not yet known just how much damage will be caused by the projectiles, but the danger to human life is minimal "You're just as likely to get hit by one as you are to be struck by lightning, so there's no real risk here, just propriety damage." Says a NASA astronomer who was interviewed moments ago, more news will be revealed as this story progresses."

  I just sat there and sipped at my soda, looking at the clock. It was midnight already, getting to bed would be a good idea, but just as I was getting up, pain surged through my arm, making me drop the soda can as I collapsed to the floor. It felt like I had just hit my funny bone with a sledge hammer.

  I stared in horror as my fingernails on my left hand began growing longer, bending and curving, turning into claws, and scales began sprouting out of my skin, slicing through it like a thousand razorblades. The pain was excruciating, but just as quick as it began, it stopped, leaving me on the floor, gasping and sweating.

  I just swallowed a couple times, despite my mouth being dry, trying to regain my composure and figure out what had just happened. Once I was back on my feet, and the feeling came back to my arm properly, I examined it, the scales now went right up to my shirtsleeve, so I quickly pulled it off, and looked in disbelief. My whole arm and my hand were now reptilian, and the scales came as far as my chest, where they came to an abrupt end, bordering what looked to be the edges of scutes, like on a snake. I felt on my back to see how far the scales went, and I froze when I felt it, a large lump, at the base of my shoulderblade, my mind started clicking it together, unless I had just been infected by some space mutant parasite, that was an anatomical feature indicative of a dragon.

  I just stared at the crystal on the table, eyeing it wearily, I still didn't know quite what was going on, despite how obvious it was, I just didn't want to believe it. I went over to my computer and took it out of sleep mode, I just had to tell somebody.

  Mom was at work, and Dad and David were both over at James's helping clear some debris from a storm that raged a few days ago, so I had a good 5 hours to figure this out and find a way to reverse it.

  I logged into Skype, hoping somebody could help me, but everyone was offline, busy, or away from computer, so I just sat there, afraid, and confused. I must have sat for half an hour before I started feeling nauseous, and got out of my chair.

  I felt slightly disoriented, and started heading to the bathroom to get some motion sickness medicine, but I stumbled and braced myself against the table, my still human hand touching the crystal on it. The instant it made contact with my skin, the illness ceased, and I felt fine again.

  Something faint clicked in my head, and I backed away from the crystal to the other side of the room. Not long after, I felt ill again, until I came near the crystal. "Oh, great, now I'm stuck with the thing." I thought, and picked it up in my reptilian hand.  It actually felt good having it in my hand, and when I put it down, I felt a desire to pick it back up again.

  I needed to know I could isolate myself if I needed to, so I put it on my computer desk, then went to the other end of the room, turning on the TV, and waited. Within minutes, I was feeling sick, and half an hour later, I could barely stay awake and the room was spinning. Around midnight I lost consciousness.