(random story I wanted to start. Not sure where I'm going to take it but enjoy this introduction )


Chapter 1 -

A shadow moved quickly through a dark night. Running swiftly but silently, his legs carried him on a sidewalk that wound up a hill. He took the side of the road that had no lights, although this late at night, nobody would ever see him.

He stopped at the top of the hill, finding a house on the side he was on. He made sure he had the right address, and he knew the simple layout of the house like the back of his hand. He sneaked past the few cars in the driveway and leapt over a makeshift fence. He climbed onto an air conditioning unit that sat underneath a window. Peering in, past a very slight crack in the curtains, he could see a young man sleeping in a queen-sized bed.

The creature reached out and placed his scaly hand onto the window. Waving his index talon, he manipulated the lock on the window, it sliding out of the lock. He was able to open any door, window, and lock just like this. Lifting the window, he grimaced as the sound of the window sliding was slightly noisy. He watched as a sleeping dachshund lifted her head instinctively.

The dog began to growl just as the creature got the window open wide enough for him to sneak in. He cloaked himself and leapt into the room, past a desk cluttered with books and things that was behind the window. The dachshund raised her head in alarm, but as soon as the creature landed, he grabbed a handful of powder from a pouch on his belt and grabbed the dog's mouth. The dachshund struggled for a moment, then her eyes closed and she rested her head and fell back asleep.

The noise made the young man in the bed awake and sit up. At that moment, the creature ducked onto the floor, his scaly body changing color and blending in with his surroundings. He was a master of camouflage, even the cloak that wrapped his body blended in with the place.

The man looked around. He swore he heard his dog growl, but looking, she was fast asleep. She must have been dreaming..., he thought, and laying back down, he closed his eyes. The creature rose, his quiet footsteps lurking to the side of the bed. While the man never saw him, the creature's body was revealed in the dim light. The black cloak covered a reptilian body, his face shrouded with a black hood. A slim, sinister-looking snout extruded from the hood, the scales on his body were a dark violet, his underbelly a more cream color. His eyes were a piercing yellow that sometimes glowed when the light hit it just right. His cloak had no kind of sheen on it - it was made from a particular fabric that made it nearly impossible to see in the darkness. He wore a belt that had a few bags filled with various powders for different uses, and he was also equipped with darts tipped in poison. A small dagger with intricate designs on both the hilt and blade was sheathed on his belt as well, but he rarely used it. He walked barefoot, and his tail rested limp on the ground. He was very careful not to knock anything over with it.

The reptile reached into the opening of his hood and held something that he wore around his neck. It was a tooth, but not any regular kind - it was one of his own fangs. He removed the necklace from his head and reached it out to the man, the tooth pointing right at him. He inched closer and closer, the moment seeming to feel like an eternity for him.

He barely touched the fang onto the back of the man's neck, just enough for it to break the skin. It was more than enough to do the job, as a minuscule amount of a virus entered into his system. The reptile quickly removed the fang, straightening up as he placed it back around his neck. The creature turned and leapt over the desk and through the open window, stopping and waving his scaly hand at it again. The window closed shut and locked itself. Standing up, the creature let out a sigh of relief, and then bounded over the fence, making his way down the hill.

Like all the others, he was still learning. This mission was just practice, and soon enough he would be sent out to do a real mission. For now, he would keep an eye on the man he just infected.

"Another hatchling to train...", he spoke under his breath.

Chapter 2 -

Chris awoke at 6:00 AM, grumbling as his alarm radio woke him up. He sat up and looked over to Brandy, who was still asleep on the bed. "Brand, you okay?", he said to her, touching her brown fur. The dachshund's eyes opened and she looked at him through the corner of her eye. Chris was surprised - Brandy normally wakes him up at 3:00 or so every night to go outside. She didn't wake him up last night at all.

He got out of bed and shut the alarm off. Rubbing his neck, he walked out of his room and took Brandy outside. As he passed by his mom, she asked, "You feeling okay?" "Stiff neck.", Chris replied.

He did his usual stuff in the morning - got a shower, had breakfast, took Brandy and Boo walking. Everything seemed normal today, although he wished he didn't have to get up so early for school. "It's all good in the long run.", he kept reminding himself.

Chris finally left home at 7:00 and drove to school in his Mercury Mountaineer. He popped in a new CD and listened to a metal band called Cronian. "Not bad for a mix of metal and progressive rock.", he thought, having the first song stuck in his head all day. He went through the day normally, going to a few classes, relaxing for a while during his free time.

After his last class, he walked back to his car, and reaching into his pocket, realized his keys were missing. He was always careful not to lock them in his car, but looking through the window, he saw them sitting on the driver's seat. "Damn!", Chris cursed. It was the only set of keys to the car.

He put his hand on the side of the car door and tried to think of what he would do. Suddenly, the door unlocked. He looked curiously, and then tried the handle.

The door opened.

Chris was absolutely relieved, but he didn't understand how it worked. What caused the door to open? He didn't think about it much longer, he just wanted to get home after another exhausting day of school. He opened the back door and put his backpack in, sniffing the air for a moment. "Guess I need to grab some air freshener later on...", he said to himself. The back seat didn't smell too good.

He sat in the front seat, and starting the car up, he forgot he left the Cronian music blaring. He jumped as loud metal music filled the car and scrambled to turn the music down. He wouldn't realize that he not only startled himself, but something hiding camouflaged in the back seat as well.

Chris turned around, inspecting the seat. Nothing unusual aside from that weird smell. He thought he heard a hissing sound though. Maybe it was just the car's engine, or part of the music. He shrugged it off and backed out of the parking space, heading home with a headache after nearly deafening himself with the music.

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He made it home, but unlike any other day, he went straight to bed to take a nap instead of doing his usual chores and routines when he got home. He was feeling a little dizzy, and popped a few ibuprofen pills into his mouth before closing his eyes. He felt both Brandy and Boo jump on the bed and slink under the covers next to him, and just after that, he had an odd dream about pirates.

...Not just any kind of pirates...

...Lizardmen pirates? It was an odd dream, but he was on a boat with reptilian pirates. Some were good, others were bad, so he was fighting alongside some of them and against others...

Chris awoke suddenly. Something had startled him awake. He must have been asleep for a while - the room was dark and little light was coming from the window. Then he noticed an unusual shadow sitting on the desk. He put his glasses on and clearly saw someone in the room.

He jumped, his eyes locked onto the figure. "Who...?", he began to speak, but the creature held out a scaly arm. Chris felt his lungs lock up, he couldn't breathe.

"Don't run, or I will take the breath from your lungs.", a raspy voice spoke to him. The creature's hand dropped, and Chris gasped for air.

"What...are you?", he mustered out. The creature stood, and dropped the hood that cloaked his face. Chris' eyes widened as the creature before him was a reptile.

Chapter 3 -

To be finished soon...