1 Chapter 1: A Unholy Worm

Randy Teel had just gotten off of work, his job was very taxing and mentally demanding, as the dockworkers association asked a lot of him.

Randy is a well built 6ft man with straight brown hair, he wore a wind breaker over a black shirt and jeans. Remaining calm and collected with steady hands, he rested his palms on the steering wheel and let out a sigh at how his day went, and how it was about to go.

He helped people with achieving proper wages and overall better work conditions, his morals only boosted his want to help people displaced within Brockton Bay. He enjoyed his work, as annoying it can be, his good friend Danny also helped at times with the experience.

However this was different from most jobs he had become accustomed to.

He was currently trying to discern whether it was a good idea to push his son, Chris, to the next level in his education. Chris was currently in 8th grade doing his last year, he has, quite frankly, above average grades. History, science, english, math, art, p.e., and cooking. He excelled in all of them, with some issues on math, but with minimal effort he was excelling more than most kids his age. To put it frankly however he didn't really care about that.

He was still proud of him regardless of school.

He wasn't really booksmart in his younger years, so to see his son take to it with such ease made him giddy and overjoyed to be there for him.

Even with his support however, his son was, for lack of a better word, antisocial.

He didn't have any friends or at least any he wanted to hang out with outside of school. He doesn't make much noise in the house, and from what his teachers say, he barely talks at all.

At first he thought it was the kids, but no the kids seem relatively decent, not good, but they weren't gangsters at least. The ones that were weren't really that bad, just loud.

His next thought was that maybe the young boy was simply uncomfortable there, so he took it up to him. His reply was "No I'm fine there actually, the teachers are fine, and none of the students try anything. For lack of a better term, I feel comfortable I guess." He remembered his son's teenish voice, despite being 13 he sounded mature and confident. No doubt from his influence.

After a little bit of mental gymnastics, he determined his third thought, his mom. He may have been scarred from seeing his mom falling lifelessly like that. The news afterwards didn't help to ease his fears, perhaps expedited them. That may be why he's been having those nightmares for a while. He's tried to talk with Chris about it but he always finds a way to get around the topic in conversation.

If only he could spend more time with his son, then maybe he could better decide the situation. School was also close to ending, it was only February after all.

Taking all this into account, he made his decision, this would be beneficial for Chris, whether he knew it or not.

Now he just needed Chris's approval. Since he went ahead and did it without his knowing.

Something told him he didn't have to worry about it though.

As he began to pull into the driveway, he thought about what he would say, how he could convince Chris this was a good thing. He made his way to the door, fetching his keys from his jacket and methodically opening the door. As he opened the door however, he noticed the distinct lack of sound in the house.

Checking what time it was, he was sure Chris should be home already, maybe he was asleep, he tends to do that sometimes, a lot actually.

As long as the chores were done, the house was clean, and his homework was done, he didn't mind it. Although he wished he could spend a lot more time with his son, he was happy he could provide and make sure his son had what he needed for school. Maybe he could take off and spend time with him, go to the market or maybe fishing.

The house was a simple, small, quaint, one story house. It was situated in the docks, albeit a safer part of the docks. Relatively not too far from Winslow. The neighborhood was…decent, it could be far worse, the neighbors were nice enough. Although he didn't know any of them personally. They moved into it after his wife passed away and he couldn't support their old house.

As he walked into the comforting enclosure, he dumped his bags on the table waiting cautiously for something to happen.

After waiting for a short while, he received nothing, and thought it was clear to proceed.

However, his curiosity reared its head. He still wanted to see his son at least. He silently made his way through the hall, slowly pacing himself until he was infront of Chris's room.

He opened the door, however Chris wasn't in the bed to his surprise. 'Where in the hell could he hav-'

"Hey dad."

Randy flinched hard, he was almost caught off guard by Chris, almost. He didn't even finish his mental ramblings. However it makes sense, Chris loved to play tricks. As small as they were.

Chris was wearing a black shirt and some black shorts. The clothes complimented his dirty blond hair, and his long curls dropped low, his arms. His brown beady mature eyes stared back at his dad intently, yet silently conveying nothing all the same.

Recomposing himself quickly, he replied in as calm a tone as possible.

"Hey Chris, how was your day?"

"It was fine, very boring and very forgettable. As usual." The short boy said without wasting any breath, a bored tone evident in his voice. He began to turn around and started walking into the living room. His dad however wasn't finished however.

"Where exactly were you hiding? I didn't see you when I came in." He stated, trying to come to terms with the fact his son seemed to catch him off guard In a way no one else has, besides his wife.

"Well I saw you pull up so I turned off the tv and hid. I wanted to surprise you, that's all." He answered honestly. With a hint of humor in his voice.

"Glad to see you're doing alright then, well I was gonna grab some food, what do you want?" Randy asked, deciding to change the topic from his son's strange habits.

"How about pizza?"

"You always want pizza, why?"

"Yeah because it's good."

"Why don't you try something else? Like a taco or a burger?" The father questioned.

"No I'm good thank you dad, I'm kinda just craving pizza is all." The son answered back in a somewhat annoyed tone.

'I swear this kid.' Randy thought in his head.

"Is that okay?" Chris inquisitively asked, as he began walking back again to the couch.

"Yes it is. Also I got a call from your school, they're thinking about moving you up a grade." Randy finally told him.

"You mean highschool..."

"Yes."

"This year?"

"What other year?"

"Fair point, well I'm not really learning anything right now. So maybe it could be a nice challenge for me." Chris remarked, most of the kids in his school were just outright terrible. He didn't know if it was because of identity issues or whatever but everyone either complained too much, were gangsters, or just straight up bad to be around. There was no one he wanted to hang out with, the good ones were only just friendly classmates, people to eat lunch with, but nothing more.

Plus middle school was soooooo boring, so maybe highschool will be actually entertaining, in some way. Maybe he'd even make a legit friend.

"So is that a yes?" Chris asked, not sure of what answer his son had given him.

"No, that is a yes."

"...Alright then you little turd, lemme make the call."

"For the pizza or the school?"

'this little-' Randy thought, he swore he just didn't understand his kids 'humor' sometimes.

"The school one it is then." Randy stated, the finality clear in his voice, Chris picked up on that.

"Then I take back what I said earlier then." He replied immediately, with a smug smile on his face.

"That's what I thought. Now, do you wanna ride with me or chill out here."

"I think, I'll chill out here, I'm not really in the mood to sit in a car, even if it's with my pops."

"Whatever, what do you want on it?"

"Pepperoni."

"...…anything else?"

"Why would I want anything more?" Chris replied sarcastically.

"Fine. Thought you might want to try something different this time. Well I'm off, be safe alright."

"I'm not the one who's leaving the house."

"I was talking about the house."

"...Grown man, you're the one who's driving away from the house."

"My point exactly."

"WHAT!"

"Love you too, be back soon."

"Hey wait I'm not done yet-"

Before he could finish, Randy had already shut the door and begun speed walking to his car. This did not go unnoticed.

"Hey wait!" Chris ran out quickly. Fast enough to stop his dad from pulling out.

"Ohhh so did you change your mind on something?" he cooed cockily, a smug grin present on his face.

"Yeah, can I come with you?" Chris asked.

"Uhhh surrre you can, it's nice to see you getting out of the house." he replied back proudly however he didn't really understand why he was coming, maybe...

Unlocking the car, Chris began to get in the vehicle. Randy drove onto the road and began making their way to a nearby pizza place.

Curious as to why Chris wanted to come, Randy decided to question his son. "So did you come, was it for the food?" he questioned with interest.

"Yes, I wanted to ask about more cheese maybe." Chris replied to his questions with mild annoyance.

"Sure you can, is there anything else?" he asked, deadpanning at his spawns response.

"Uhh no that's not it exactly." Chris replied with a bit of hesitation in his voice.

"Hmmm…is there anything you want to get off your chest?" Randy asked in a concerned tone, a look that spread to his face. He knew how his son was, especially after his mother passed away.

"...yeah, ever since mom died, things haven't felt the same. And i'm not talking about obvious stuff like presence, smell, and atmosphere. I'm talking about how there's no one around to really talk to, so it gets boring. Without much to do besides doing school, tv, and chores." He said with sorrow, and boredom.

He continued "I guess what I'm trying to say is, I feel directionless, if that's even a word. Plus I have no real friends to go to, so I was just wondering how you felt about all of it." Chris replied sheepishly, not used to letting his emotions out like that. He became relatively reclusive when his mom passed on, he didn't believe it at first, until at some point it hit him. After all the days of cleaning, studying, and binging shows. It hurt him when the realization came that things were changing, whether he wanted them to or not. Even after all this time passed, he still hasn't really let go of it.

Randy sympathized with the young teens dilemma, he was in a similar mindset after his parents passed on. He was however overjoyed at the fact his son came to him, starting off the conversation that needed to happen, all by himself really. It showed he was ready to talk to him about it. Searching his heart and soul, he found the words to help his younger flesh and blood out.

"I miss her too son, i want you to understand that no matter how bad things may seem to get, we'll be taken care of. What you're feeling is natural, I feel the same way, but I don't really let it affect me, or show it. Mostly because it was out of my control, so why bother pondering over life grievances if you can't even do anything to prevent it. It's absolute and…we have to accept that. Your mother would want you to live a happy and healthy life, free from all the terrible things in this world, including this. I guess what I'm trying to say is, don't let this hold you back, the pain is temporary, your life is eternal, despite how change may seem to affect it, you have to learn to deal with it and move on." Randy finished, a hint of sadness in his voice, natural considering he too felt that same pain.

"Wow that was corny, but I guess that's a way of looking at that, it's just that it still hurts, even after a year." Chris replied, feeling much better about the whole thing.

"Yes, but to be fair you are 14. Give it 6 more years and then you can say you overcame some real obstacles, like bills, and car payments!" Randy finished in a silent laugh. He was glad his son trusted him enough to talk to him about things like this. He is going into highschool, hopefully he'll find someone there to actually bond with besides him. It would do wonders for his mental state.

"Fair enough, thanks dad. For the talk." Chris replied, glad to have gotten that off his chest, he still felt angry over seeing her mother in such a state, it was still burned into his mind. Things like that would make him stronger, and wiser, that's what he thought at least.

"No problem, that's why I'm here you dunce." Randy replied with a laugh. Chris replied with a huff, a blush noticeable on his cheeks, embarrassed by his father saying something corny. In his heart however, he was happy. Randy continued.

"Come on, we're almost there, you want to drop by the mar-"

Before Randy could finish that sentence, something crashed into the driver side of the car. A loud crash was heard, it knocked the wind out of Randy and Chris.

The collision caused some glass to break and fly in the direction of the duo. Chris made a sound as his head jolted from one side to another, he hit his head on the side of the car. The glass that came in sliced in their direction.

Randy violently jolted the car wheel, trying his best to regain control of the car. The sound of tires screeching as they tried to fight the momentum.

Regardless of the efforts taken, it didn't stop the car from crashing into the nearby building.

The sound and impact of the car colliding with a building caused Chris to nearly lose consciousness, but he willed himself to not pass out. He looked over at the driver's side, his vision blurry from the impact. He couldn't tell if his dad was there, he heard voices.

"Shiiiit fucking FUCK man!" He heard an unfamiliar voice bellow in pain, too hurt to accurately recognize any true distinction in the other driver's voice.

"Dude shut the hell up! Your FINE! We need to go!" He heard another person go. He tried to concentrate but he couldn't. The sounds started melding, his vision haunting, his sense of smell nonexistent, he didn't feel anything anymore, his taste buds were melding with pain, as he began to regain some clarity of thought.

He tried to scream for help but he couldn't yell, all that came out was an out of pitched whistle in comparison to a shout for help he had expected.

He fought through the want to just stop right there and fall unconscious like his body wanted him to, but he was still enamored by the fact they just got hit by a truck flying at around 60-90mph.

Tuning out the noises, he began mentally gathering himself until he was ready for the worst possible scenario. His mind racing at the possibility of the aftermath, and the fate of his father. Once he was ready began feeling his area, not moving too much just in case he potentially broke or would break whatever had prevented his death.

But once he got his barings, he looked to his left, towards the driver seat.

Chris feared death similar to other people especially more so since he had and wanted to live up to and beyond his parents expectations. It was natural that his mom and dad would die one day, leaving him to fend for himself. He thought he prepared himself for such an outcome when it happened, again it was out of his control, so why stress over it? That would be gods business, not his

He still wasn't prepared for the gruesome sight he would witness.

Impaled by a piece of debris from the building, his dad was currently breathing controlled breaths, at least the best he could muster as of his current status. The…whatever it was had stabbed threw his dad's chest, straight to the other side and into the chair. His eyes bloodshot from adrenaline, his ears bleeding, his noses had blood coming out of it as if it were a steady stream. He looked almost defeated, as if he had already tried to pull it out but realized that it was futile. He remembered the area of the puncture being relatively close to the heart. That wouldn't bode well for anyone's chances. He couldn't begin to imagine the pain he felt.

Tears bursted from his eyes, trying his best not to cry, as he was too old to be doing that kind of stuff, but he just couldn't help it, they flowed out like a violent flood from his eyes. He thought of all the times he spent, or did not spend with his dad, he thought about mom and sitting with during her final moments as her heart gave out, he thought of their old house and how run down and comfy it was, he thought of his whole life, and what it could've been if he hadn't died….

Wait, that can't be right, he's still alive, he's still breathing, he's still shaking, he's still feeling everything that's happened. So he's not dead, and if he's not dead then that means he's still here. In this current selection of time, this chapter, a life changing, life defining moment occurred. This moment would be edged in history as a tragedy that couldn't have been avoided,

Who would he be afterwards if he didn't at least try to prove them wrong, that he could do something to save the last memento of his childhood.

With his clarity restored and a newfound motivation in himself, he steeled his nerves, and he began analyzing the situation. He knew that his dad would most likely die, at least not without immediate medical attention from a Panacea or some other top tier healer.

So how could save a man that is already on death's front door step.

He looked at his dad, his face still stung of the tears that barreled down his face. It seemed in comparison, he had gotten off lucky, incalculably lucky.

Having gotten over that however, he tried to see if he could get out and get some help, maybe find one of those top tier healers to save his father.

"I'm going to find someone to help you, okay, stay right here okay, don't move." Chris spoke, trying his best to remain calm, however his voice was still shaken and somewhat raspy from the recent collision. He banged on the door, but when he found that the door had caved in on itself, he tried to climb through to the back, however the realization dawned on him that if he messed up, his dad may get hurt if he even attempted something like that. Why did his dad have to be so large!

"Chris…"

The young teen stopped in his seat and observed his dad, his dad barely turned to look at him, however his eyes traced over to his, conveying that this was it, this was the endgame.

"Its….alr…ight….im….im not going to…make it…." He said somberly. Chris's eyes threatened to leak a dams-worth of water.

"DAD, don't you fucking say that alright! You'll make it, I'll get help, we'll make sure you get patched up real good alright! You still have so much to live for! DON'T LEAVE ME, NOT LIKE THIS!" Trying his best to blow open the door, he started pounding and kicking in a feeble attempt to break the door off the car, but he wasn't strong enough to do that, so instead it violently rattled.

"I….. love you, thank you….for being our child." And with that the light that always reflected affection, memories, and life, left his body, leaving an unmoving, pale corpse of the once honorable man.

Chris tried to but couldn't process his dad dying, he began seeing his mom in that spot instead of his dad, and his dad, on the floor, cradling his hand. He sat there for a good long minute processing the end of a life…another life.

Chris began losing it, he was frustrated, sad, and hurt that something like this could happen to him. He started crying uncontrollably, he began punching the door out of anger and spite, he couldn't feel his bloodied knuckles anymore, he must have punched the door, the seat, and the car itself close to a hundred times through the overwhelming sadness and hatred. He was screaming.

He thought about why it had to be him, why did he have to go through all this and still take the high road. He snapped, losing all comprehension of time and his space. He delved deeper into his rage and sorrow for comfort, but there was none to be found, only a cold feeling of pain and futility.

He lost track of his surroundings and after what seemed like hours of endless raging madness, he began staring into the strange land-no it wasn't even that. A starscape was more fitting, as if he was witnessing a whole galaxy….it soothed him to soul, curing him of his emotions. He stared into the beautiful expanse of space, this lasted until he realized that he wasn't standing on anything, then he wondered the next thing.

"Wait.....Where the hell am I?"