You can't leave

“What am I?” Tony asked. “Mr. Shark?”

“Yes, Tony?” Kard answered.

“Am I a squid?” Tony asked.

“That's a good way to think of yourself,” Kard was pleased. “We are in an ocean and we have to collect as many sea life creatures as we can. In this game we have to be strong.” He projected mental images of fish and crabs and other cartoon like creatures.

“Like a real video adventure!” Tony was excited.

“Yes, now use your tentacles to captures fishes, and follow your sister.”

“Say, where are you, Mr. Shark?”

“The fishes are getting away, better hurry.”

“But...”

Kard reached out with his tendrils and found the boy. He reached inside the boys mind and forced the illusion of a sea adventure. “That's my boy.” The boy needed lessons, and it never hurt to make those lessons into a game.

Feeling weak, psychic tendrils sprang from Kard and found a banquet. He was not feeling all that strong, yet, and his hunger was far greater then he had ever been. He needed these people's strength. They could give him that much, at least, but what he wanted most of all was that guy. That guy at the other hospital. He was good. Or maybe that girl from the highway. She wasn't as filling, but just as tasty.

General pandemonium kept people running in all directions. Kard tried to leave the helpful ones alone for a little while. They brought a little order to the event.

Getting down from the gurney was difficult, and the dizziness nearly toppled his small girl's frame.

Someone of strength came at him. Kard had missed this one. Tall red hair, her bright colored clothes were distracting enough, but this woman was shaking bones at him. She was projecting something, and when it hit him, he drew it into himself. It was a joy to drink of such power. He absorbed everything she had, but she was soon spent. His body felt stronger, and he experimented with it by letting go of the gurney.

He didn't fall. That was good. He turned slowly around, surveying his surroundings. The floor had bodies laying about here and there, but it was not like before. There needed to be more bodies this time. “There are enough people here, and I think more are coming.” He received a message, and tried to trace it back to its source, but it was gone as quickly as it came.

“Where?” was the question it had asked. Kard knew someone else was hunting him, but this time he had backup. The children were here. His children. Though, it was difficult say the girl was here.

Sand kicked up into his face. The other children were laughing at him. His hair had been cut too short, and they all knew it. They were going to pick on him until his mother came. But these children were colorless. They jeered at him, but it occurred to Kard that they would go away if he just thought about it.

“NO!” that little girl yelled. “You have to fight me,” she said as she kicked more sand into his face.

The sand stung his eyes, and he wanted to cry. He turned away to run, and hit the hospital floor. “What is happening to me?” He asked aloud.

A nurse helped him to his feet and asked, “are you alright little girl?”

Kard found the male nurse attractive. Something about his full lips made him want to kiss them. Did he have a 5'oclock shadow? No, but why did I think that?

Kard shook off the feeling and plunged tendrils into the man, draining him of all life. The nurse's expressions changed rapidly and an almost pleasurable looked flashed on his face. At that moment he could smell the man. No, he could smell men, sensuous and overwhelming.

Then he was on the sand again. The little girl was kicking him.

“You leave me alone,” she screamed. She pulled back for one hell of a kick.

Kard reeled back from the kick, cringed and waited for the pain, only to find himself clutching the gurney.

“This has got to stop!” Kard yelled with his little girl's voice.

The nurse's body slumped and knocked over the gurney.

Kard released it as soon as he discovered that holding on to it would take his small body with it.

“Fine,” he resolved to fix this situation. His tendrils reached for victim after victim. Draining as fast as he could. No matter how much he drained, it wasn't enough. His hunger only grew. After feeding on 5 at once, his efforts paid off, temporarily. He felt stronger, and managed to get into a wheelchair.

Tony came up beside him and said, “hi, Kelly.”

“Hi, Tony,” Kard felt a little awkward pretending to be Kelly. “How many fishes have you caught?”

“A lot,” Tony said and ran down the hall. He found some stairs and went down.

Kard felt the presence of a strong pair sitting outside. His tendrils grabbed for them, but he only caressed them lightly. The younger of the two on the bench started chanting some words. “Why, he's casting a spell,” Kard spoke with Kelly's voice. It still sounded funny to his ears.

He sent thought to Tony, beckoning him to come and learn a lesson about magic.

After the lesson, Kard felt it important to teach Tony more, but he didn't want to be Tony's sister anymore.

Though he was still standing in the sand box, Kard was facing away from the playground. Something was nagging at him to turn around, he did. Before he could react to the little girl on a swing coming at him on a direct course, the little girl's feet came crashing into him, unable to dodge her.

“You can't leave,” was all he heard from her before he found himself back in the wheelchair.

He was thirsty, and getting weak again. He sent out tendril to find more life and killed another one. He used his tendrils to move the wheelchair to an open restroom and there he saw Kelly's reflection in the mirror. She looked pale as a ghost, sickly, and possessed.

Another tendril sought out more life and when if found three in a car trying to drive away, he drained them at once. The mirror showed color come back into Kelly's face. She looked healthier and stronger. “I'll be damned,” he said, with her lips moving in the mirror. “Am I killing my little girl?”

Kard felt depression set in like a brick. He was back at the sandbox. The little girl and her friends were kicking and beating on him. He had no where to go, but he climbed up the latter and found he could avoid most of their blows if he just stayed up in the small loft on the climber.

After a while the Kard decided it might be safe to come out. He was wrong, because the other kids were hiding under the climber and pounced on him once he touched down on the sand.

Kard ran away and found a dark place behind the trees and bushes. He would hide there until the bad kids went away. Kard was so scared, he fell asleep.