The Boy Who Cried...

Billy Perkins was a wild and sometimes demented young man when it came to pulling pranks. He pulled pranks on family and strangers, filming every little thing on his cell phone, and posting them on the internet for all to have a good laugh. People would tune in to his videos practically twenty four seven. In college he became somewhat of a celebrity to his fellow students and he enjoyed the attention.

The one thing he enjoyed doing most was prank officer Jim Holiday; the one cop that always gave him a hard time since childhood. For years he has caught him destroying mailboxes, throwing toilet paper at trees, drinking, smoking pot, and the list went on and on. Since then the young man has paid him back with fake emergency calls and giving false names in the process, making him look like a fool.

Billy would disguise his voice every time he spoke to officer Holiday on the phone. One too many times he had fallen for his tricks until finally Billy was given one last warning. He did just that but continued with his charade of filming pranks and sharing it with everyone. Tonight, he focused on the big party at hand, giving himself a break from all the filming he'd been doing lately.

The music was loud and the excitement intense. Everyone danced, sang, and drank up a storm. One of Billy's friends was hesitant in showing up for the party, due to the fact he had a bad cold and didn't want to share his germs with everyone else. Still, Billy convinced him to show up and handed him a bottle of beer to take care of his problem.

"Feel better, Doug?" Billy asked.

"No", said his friend, "I still feel like shit. This was a mistake. I'm going home."

"After a few minutes? You just got here, man."

"I'm not feeling well at all. My head feels ready to explode and my throat is sore."

"Yeah, I have to admit, you do look like shit."

"Thanks for noticing. I need to lie down, Billy. I'm about ready to pass out and-."

Doug felt his stomach about to erupt at any moment. Whatever he had was far worse than the flu or any illness known to man.

"What's wrong?" Billy asked.

"Oh, shit", said Doug, "I'm gonna throw up."

"No, no not here. The bathroom is upstairs to your right, you can't miss it."

"Thanks."

As much as Doug wanted to puke outside there were too many people blocking the door. He didn't have any time, leaving little choice but to push everyone aside, getting to that toilet before anyone else had a chance to use it. Doug fell to his knees and let it all out. The smell of vomit was so intense that the kids nearby backed up as far away as they did.

Officer Holiday had an hour left before heading home. He was very anxious to get home and sink his teeth on the nicely cooked pot roast the Mrs. had promised him. The one thing that pleased him the most was never having to deal with a certain someone's phone pranks. He'd grown tired of their little rivalry and didn't have the patience to deal with him.

Soon that all changed. The first call he'd gotten from his desk was none other than Billy himself, only this time he wasn't using a fake name or disguising his voice like he'd done before.

"Officer Holiday," said Billy, "I need your help."

"What is it this time?" Holiday asked. "You dropped your pants in the sewer? You're streaking across the neighborhood?"

"No, this is serious."

"So is this, hang up the phone or I'll lock your ass up."

"Wait, you don't-."

Holiday hung up in a hurry, not wanting to hear anything coming out of Billy's big mouth.

"I'm going to kill that boy," he said.

"Was that Billy?" His young partner, Jennings asked.

"Yeah, it's him. He ain't fooling me. Not this time."

"I thought he was warned."

"He was. He was told to stop or be expelled and arrested. Personally, I hope he does mess up and I have a fresh set of cuffs waiting for him."

Billy cursed out loud after the hang up and tended to Doug who continued throwing up. The bile filled up the toilet and the smell was even worse than before; like the odor of old garbage. Once Doug began vomiting blood, Billy knew that there was something seriously wrong with him. When he was done Doug passed out with some bile and blood all over his hoodie.

"Doug?" Billy said, noticing his friend not breathing. "Doug!"

Once again, Billy pulled out his phone, dialing nine one one.

"Nine one one," said the female dispatcher, "what is your emergency?"

"My friend," sad Billy, "I think he's dead. He isn't breathing or anything."

"What is your name, sir?"

"My name is Billy."

After telling the dispatcher his full name, the mood changed in a hurry.

"I need an ambulance," said Billy, "please hurry."

"I know who you are," said the dispatcher. "They warned me about you."

"What? I don't understand."

"Stop wasting my time with your pathetic nonsense. Do I make myself clear?"

"This is serious. My friend needs help."

"You're the one that needs help, young man. Goodbye."

"Wait. Fuck. Someone give me a hand here."

He got two guys to help pick up Doug, despite the mess and horrible odor of bile all over him. Billy's only solution was to take him to the emergency room himself.

"Fuck, that smell," said one of them.

"Never mind that," said Billy, "get him in my car."

They struggled carrying him, shouting at everyone to clear the way. They didn't need encouragement; the foul stench was enough to drive anyone away. Most of them assumed Doug had too much to drink or high on something lethal.

They got down each step as quickly as they could, reaching ever close to the door.

Then the unexpected took place. Doug's head rose up and his eyes popped wide open. Billy was surprised seeing his friend up and about, but those eyes of his left a chill up his spine. There was something different about those eyes. Something that didn't look human.

"Doug?" He said. "You all right?"

The one guy on Doug's left looked into his eyes and couldn't prepare for what came next. Doug bit into his nose, ripping a piece off.

"What the fuck?" Said Billy, in shocked at what just happened.

Doug bit the other guy holding him, biting off his ear. Both guys dropped to their knees, screaming in pain and spilling blood in front of the young crowd. Soon Doug put the bite on two more, and then another three until he was thrown to the ground, were all the boys began stomping him.

"Stop!" Billy yelled, but no one was listening. Once again he called for help, but the same dispatcher he spoke to responded with the same warning she gave him earlier.

"Listen, sir," she said, "if you don't stop this right now, you will be arrested. This is your final warning."

"Fine, arrest me. This is serious. The shit is for real, you understand? It is real. Oh my God! They're changing. Everybody's killing each other. Please, help. Please send-."

The last thing the operator heard in the background was the phone falling to the floor and high pitched screaming. If this was a phone prank, she was not laughing.

At the station, Holiday and the rest were getting calls from all over the neighborhood.

Screaming and yelling from the house across the street; youngsters running away, some covered in blood. One girl biting another after falling to the ground, painting the green grass in crimson red. When Holiday found out the disturbance was coming from tonight's party, he already knew who was behind all this. Holiday had had enough. He gathered up the troops and took a drive towards the house, dying to know what Billy had done this time.

"That's it," he said, "I'm going to arrest him and lock him up for the rest of his fucking life."

"You sure it's a prank?" Jennings asked. "Is the whole neighborhood in on the joke?"

"That's his friends."

"His friends?"

"Yeah, his friends. He must have taught them how to impersonate their voices, just like he used to do. This is all been one big joke for him and I'm ending it."

"I don't know. It sounds a bit far fetched, don't you think?"

"Please, those little punks have watched one too many horror films as research for this shit. Tonight, I'm going to give them a horror show. Believe you me, their lives are going to be over after I'm done with them. As for Billy, he just made my night."

Nothing would please Holiday more than to slap the cuffs on Billy, sending him on his way. He was confident that this would be the last time he would ever hear from him.

"This sounds kind of personal," said Jennings.

"You have no idea," said Holiday. "That boy has been a pain in my ass throughout my entire career. I've busted him so many times I've lost count. But this is it. I'm going to plant the final nail on his coffin, and be rid of him forever."

Holiday and the others turned the nearest corner, driving straight on towards the house. Along the way some of the youngsters from the party were running away screaming hysterically, with some covered in blood.

"Did you see that?" Holiday asked. "The hell is going on?"

"I don't like this," said Jennings. "I got a really bad feeling about this."

"Don't go soft on me. It's a prank and you're going to see how right I am."

"Something is not right."

"Everything is going to be fine once we arrest his ass. It's all over for that miserable little punk."

They had arrived, passing by more youngsters running away, in fear of their lives. Holiday pulled over, catching the attention of one girl, holding her wounded arm.

"What the hell is going on?" He asked.

"Dead! Everybody's dead!" The frightened girl said.

"Where is he? Where's Billy?"

The girl ran off without saying another word, leaving a trail of blood behind. Holiday and his men stepped out of their vehicles, carefully approaching the house. The lights remained on and inside was eerily quiet; not a scream or a whisper could be heard.

"This is officer Holiday," he said. "Billy, if you're still in there, come on out right now."

No response except for the sound of movement. "Billy, if you don't come out here, we're going in and drag you out. It's over, Billy." All he heard, still, was movement inside and a shadow by the front door.

Holiday pulled out his taser, ready to put the shock on Billy. Instead of him, a young girl walked out slowly, with her chin dripping blood. Her hair mussed and her clothes in crimson red stains, reaching out for help.

"My God", said Holiday. "Are you all right? Get an ambulance. Now!"

Jennings spoke through the CB on his shoulder. The veteran officer held the girl by the shoulders, looking pale as a ghost and speaking not a single word no matter how many questions he kept asking.

"You'll be all right," he told the girl, "I need to know what-."

Without warning the girl bit into the web of his hand. The pain was agonizing, leaving him to scream his lungs out. Jennings rushed right over, throwing the girl onto the ground, but not before ripping a chunk off Holiday's hand.

"What the hell happened?" He asked.

"The bitch bit me. She actually fucking bit me."

Holiday signaled the others to go right in with their tasers out. Jennings had his pointed directly at the girl, eating the piece of flesh she'd torn off.

"Stay down," he ordered, but the girl slowly rose right up. "I said stay down!"

The girl got back on her feet, slowly walking towards Jennings, leaving him little choice but to fire his taser. The girl's entire body twitched from the electrical currents, but remained on her feet.

"What the fuck?" Said Jennings, not believing what just happened.

"Take her down and cuff her," said Holiday, pulling out a handkerchief, wrapping it around his wounded hand.

Jennings didn't want to get rough, but he had a job to do. He grabbed the girl by the arm, pinning her to the ground, and slapping the cuffs on. He remembered to not get any part of him near her gnashing teeth.

"You all right?" Jennings asked Holiday.

"My fucking hand feels like it's on fire. I can't believe she bit me that hard."

"The hell happened to her?"

"I don't know. She must be on something. All these kids know how to do is get high on that shit."

"What shit?"

The officers who rushed inside, came back out with the look of dismay on their faces. What they all saw was something they never thought possible. One man stopped and threw up.

"What's going on?" Jennings asked.

"It's bad", answered one. "It's really bad."

"How bad?"

"Blood everywhere. Some of them are...eating."

"Eating? Eating what?"

"Each other."

Holiday and Jennings both had a tough time taking it all in. That quickly changed when more bloodied youngsters came pouring out of the house, carrying that same feral look the young girl had on her face. Each one of them walked slowly as she did, and neither spoke a word.

"Hold it right there!" Holiday shouted, expecting a comply he would not receive. "I said hold it!"

"What do we do, Jim?" Jennings asked.

"If they attack then shoot to kill."

"What?"

"You have a better idea?"

More kept pouring out of the house, joining the group and increasing their numbers. Holiday and his men needed to act fast.

"This is your last warning!" He shouted once more.

As the young men and women drew closer, Holiday gave the word to fire on site. Bullets pierced their bodies, but no reaction from any one of them. Every shot fired they flinched, showing no signs of pain or agony. They poured on the fire power; the group just kept coming.

"They're not going down!" One cop yelled, firing until his weapon grew empty.

"Jim, what's going on?" Jennings asked.

"Damned if I know, but this shit stinks of Billy."

"I don't see him."

"I'll deal with him later. We need to fallback."

They were ready to do so until one cop managed to take down one young man with his left cheek bitten off. He alerted everyone to aim for the heads. Everyone did just that; firing every target coming near them. One single shot to the head and they all went down one at a time. The last one standing turned out to be Doug; Jennings took him down without question. Half the block was now littered with corpses, all covered in the combined smell of blood and vomit.

Holiday's pain on his wounded hand worsened. The pain grew so intense it rose straight up to his arm, forcing him down on his knees. While the officers checked on the bodies, Jennings rushed to his aid, seeing up close he was in bad shape.

"My fucking arm hurts," said Holiday, "and I don't feel good."

"The ambulance will be here soon. You hang in there."

"No, get me out of here. Now."

Jennings helped his partner into the passenger seat while he took the wheel. They stormed right out, leaving their fellow officers with the mess they were left with, including the one girl who put the bite on Holiday. The neighbors stood in their homes, looking on at the shocking event that took place. They were all unaware of what really went down at the party. No idea it all started with a sick young man named Doug.

Billy was one of the first to run off into the night, but not before Doug planted a bite on his leg. He was trying to find some help, but he wasn't thinking straight. Already he was feeling the effects of whatever symptom his friend infected him with. The pain from the bite got worse, leaving him to limp to wherever destination he was headed for.

Soon he collapsed, vomiting up a storm as Doug did earlier. Billy now feared for his own health, believing he would behave in the same fashion as Doug when he began biting everyone. Would he do the same thing? He didn't want to think about it, but he had to consider the possibility of it happening to him.

Billy grew tired and weaker with each step he took, until finally his heart gave out, hitting the ground face first. He laid there, eyes wide open, and not a single breath released from his lungs. In about a minute later he rose again but he was no longer himself. He became exactly as his friend; a pale look on his face with a deep insatiable appetite.

The sound of music playing and people cheering grabbed Billy's attention. The annual town fair took place around the corner; plenty of fresh meat to feast on. Billy turned the corner, making his move towards the cheery crowd, unaware of the danger slowly coming their way.

Jennings was only a block away from the nearest hospital, but not before Holiday puked out the window. Soon his heart gave out, leaving his eyes staring straight into the night.

"Hang in there, Jim," he said, "we're almost there."

When they arrived Jim's eyes popped open. Slowly, he turned his head, staring deep into Jennings' neck, looking ripe and fresh to feast on. Jennings stepped out of the vehicle, rushing right over to his partner. When he opened the door, Holiday pulled him back inside, taking a big bite on his neck. The last thing the young officer would hear was his own scream.