Then and Now: Chapter 1 - "Just Beginning"
Chapter 1: Just Beginning
It was late. Slumped against the window in the back seat of a generic luxury sedan, young James idly wonders what he's doing awake. His body covered in snowy white fur, silver rings on his tail and a matching silver "mask" across his pink eyes, the seven year-old albino boy was a rather stark contrast to his parents. Mary, the nurse and Jack, the doctor were mumbling to each other in the front seat, talking about something going on at the hospital.
The little voice of their son caught their ear as he turned his head, spotting something odd outside. "How come there's a pirate in the bad neighborhood?" James asked, scratching his scraggly head. Mary, looking a bit rough herself from being pulled out of bed so late, smiled back at her son. "They're probably heading to a Halloween party, dear..." He simply nodded, jumping to the next thought to keep himself awake. "Dad, how come we have to go to the hospital so late?" The older male raccoon shifted in his seat, keeping his eyes on the road "My patients... Well, they need special help, James. A whole bunch of them are being moved to a different hospital and some of them..." After a brief pause, "It's just boring grown-up stuff, they need so many doctors and nurses. Besides, you'll get to play with your friends in pediatrics in the morning. Sound good?" James just smiled, nodding at his father even if he couldn't see him doing so. "I wonder how Klaus is doing?"
The minutes pass, the car moves from the slums of the city to a secluded side road. A nice shortcut Jack happens to know about. The ambulances use it when the highway is congested and Jack always liked the pleasant wooded surroundings. James' eyes grew heavy. He wasn't going to make it to the hospital awake. He quietly unbuckled his seatbelt and slowly laid down across the seat, pulling a throw pillow from behind the seat and draped it over himself. The raccoon's tired eyes closed slowly as he drifted off to sleep.
...
Spinning, suddenly everything was spinning. He couldn't hear a thing, only incomprehensible noise. It was as if everything was in slow motion, but the boy couldn't begin to get a grasp on what was happening. Nearly all of his senses were dull. Not a thing could be felt... Just numbness as everything around him spun... Then, as quickly as it began, everything came to a sudden stop. What seemed like an hour was in fact only a few brief seconds, all brought to a complete halt. For just a moment, everything was calm until he began to get his bearings. The stunning numbness in his body faded, he began to see what was happening around him. There was glass everywhere, the world outside was upside-down and there was a pungent smell mauling his nose. He took in a breath-- but found himself stifled by unimaginable pain in his right leg. He tried to look down at it but couldn't see anything in the dark remnants of what used to be a car.
A faint crackling sound could be heard, but his brain was screaming with sensory overload. Pain everywhere, that horrible smell and the pure disorientation of the catastrophic event. A voice in the back of his head was screaming at him to call for help, but the words wouldn't come. In the corner of his eye, he could see something glowing. A burning piece of something. His vision was getting dark. The light began to grow, brighter and brighter until he felt a wave of searing heat. Fire. The car was on fire! His urge to scream renewed, he let out the loudest sound he could muster. All that came was a quiet, gurgling wheeze. He could taste blood. Now that the light allowed him to see, he wearily felt around to try and free himself. The flames were getting hotter. He could feel his fur being singed as the car became a blazing heap of twisted metal.
Everything; every moment of his life ran in fast motion before his eyes. He could feel his heart racing, then slowing down. It all started to go black when he felt something grab him. Had help arrived? It felt odd. As if he was being wrapped in some cocoon and shielded from the heat. The blinding pain in his leg didn't even seem to bother him as he suddenly found himself looking up at the night sky. The full moon was beautiful; he thought to himself he would just go to sleep and wake up from this ridiculous nightmare. As darkness overtook his vision, he could make out a large, pointy-eared silhouette looking down on him. He heard three words that reverborated through his mind before slipping into unconsciousness:
"Not yet, soldier."