Chapter 1 - The Things that Kill You can Actually Kill You

Veil Tremmons is a man most ignore. Why? Well, for starters, he's in love with someone else. He's been in love with her for nearly as long as he can remember. But his status and hers are that of miles apart. She was wrenched from his life like that of a molten socket screw falling out of his car. Unstoppably.

Today he was on his way to church. His one hope for solace in his life, as nothing else could give it to him. Everything else- bottles, drugs, pizza and ice cream included- did not bring him peace.

Walking in the front door, his chest nearly caved in as he saw two figures sitting alone on the pew bench. Bill Knocker was a sordid man, and while he hadn't committed many atrocities, he was still the kind of man who didn't fit in well with any form of society. Sitting next to him was the crown jewel of the church - the pastor's daughter, Claire. Quiet as always, Veil slowly pushed the door shut. He slowly walked forward until he was close enough to hear. Then he froze.

"And that's why I'm waiting for a girl more like you." Bill finished his speech in a tone that belied sadness, spoke of old memories. But to Veil's discerning ears, it also shared something potent- a sense of hidden pleasure and guilt.

At that moment, something deep inside Veil shattered. He began to take powerful strides and picked up the heaviest object he could find. It was a book. Picking it up, he strode over to Bill. "How could you!" He yelled. Taking the book, he took a wide swing at Bill. Bill flailed against it, but his skinny arms did nothing. 

"Wait!" Claire butted in. But Veil ignored her.

Reaching the Bible back into the air, he prepared for another wide swing. Bill instinctively raised his hands again to protect himself, and braced his back against the chair and his feet against the floor. As Veil swung, he stepped forward to increase the power.

In a miraculous display of too much power in motion, Veil tripped on Bill's legs, spun 180 degrees, and smashed his head against the organ. He slowly fell towards the ground.

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...Veil awoke in his old room. The room before he had lost everything. The room he slept in every night before his parents died. "How am I here?" He thought, oblivious to the fact of what had just happened. But then he remembered.

"I was beating the everliving daylights out of Bill for telling Claire he liked her with a Bible, then I tripped and hit my head. Did I die? Where am I?" While Veil didn't want to think too much about it, he realized that he still needed to know where he was and what the hell was going on. 

First on his list- the calendar on the wall in the kitchen. He got up from his bed to check it and noticed that his eyes were at the same height as his bedframe. "Wait a minute!" He thought as he hurriedly went to the bathroom. Looking into the full-length mirror, he checked himself against the ruler standing straight next to it. "Damn- 4'2". Where's the calendar? How old am I?

Rushing downstairs, he looked at the dates on the calendar. All the dates were crossed off except for the last two of March. Veil knew all too well. Today was on the weekend his parents died, the weekend that changed his life. Veil was 13 years old, and his birthday was in two weeks. Before his birthday, three things had happened: his parents sent a special box home with a letter telling him not to touch it. He received news about his parents' deaths, and the man his parents entrusted him to took the box and sold his life into slavery.

Veil looked at the clock. It was 9:32 A.M. Deep in his memory, he knew that the mailman carrying the box was about to arrive. He shuddered deep inside, and knew it was his chance to change his life and save his parents.

"Ding!" The doorbell rang. Veil trudged over. While he had the mind of an adult, his tiny body was starting to get tired of all the movement- and his mind was starting to tire as well. He reached up and slowly turned the knob. "Rrrrr." The door slowly creeped open. On the other side was a giant stork with a blue hat and a red satchel.

"What the heck?" Veil thought to himself. "Isn't it supposed to be a blonde girl with beads in her hair?" Everything about this day had been seared into his mind. There was no way he was wrong.

Opening its mouth, the stork spoke. "Delivery for Veil Tremmons from Dale Tremmons. Are you Veil?"

Mr. Tremmons the younger nearly fainted on the spot. It was the same words and the same voice as he remembered, but it was a freaking STORK.

"Stork speaking how?" His fumbling brain managed to spew out these simple words. He was much more eloquent in his own mind, but this... was all he could muster.

"I assume you haven't picked up the mail yet, have you?" The stork turned it's head and grinned in a knowing manner. "This Stork's name is Aily. Genetically, it is a specific type of Stork that the Freedom Alliance6 Postal Service uses called a Steering Stork. While it was bred specifically for short-distance, high agility flight albeit its larger size, the Stork race in general has an ability called "Megaphone Mouth." It allows us, the tamers, to speak through the voice of the Stork. Due to the long history of the Postal Service's breeders, the "Megaphone Mouth" was advanced to "Megaphone Body." Since Aily is a Steering Stork, I can now walk and talk as the stork itself! My name is Annabelle, by the way."

Realized that he was in the body of a child again, Veil realized he had the right to say things that he didn't think of when he was younger. "That's so totally wicked!" He yelled, quoting from a movie in his youth.

"Your package." Annabelle said, ready to move on to the next house.

"Wait!" Veil interjected. " I have a question."

"Yes?" Annabelle entreated. She was a sucker for cute things and young kids, after all.

"If I return the package to sender, how fast will it get there? My dad is on vacation, and I'd like to send him a message by the end of today."

"We do have a spatial package offer. I can always upgrade the package if you so desire. While you may not have an address for your dad, our Tier 2 postmen can deliver it based on his Freedom Alliance Identity token. The total cost is an extra 30 Freedom Alliance Dollars. I can tack it on to the mail cost itself if you'd like." 

While Veil didn't think his father would enjoy the extra cost of 30 FAD, in his past life his parents had died the next day. His dad was against phones. While he had left Veil at home without a way to contact him, he knew that Veil could fend for himself. The only problem was, now that Veil was trying to save his life he had few ways to actually do so. This might be his only chance.

Additionally, while Veil didn't know why at the time, when Veil broke free from the captors he had been sold to and secretly returned to his hometown, he learned that his godfather Julian had become insanely rich. He could only assume that the box held something worth millions of dollars, if not millions of dollars in bitcoin. 

He knew that now that he went back in time, even if the world was different, this time it would change. It must change. If you know how to change the world to make it a better place, it is your honor-bound duty to do so.

"Alright! Give me one second. Would you like to step inside?" Veil asked, want to cater to Annabelle's friendly nature.

"No, I can wait outside if that's okay."

"Okay! Be right back!" Veil yelled. He might be overdoing the whole acting-like-a-child thing, but it was one of the only things keeping him sane at this point. It was something to grab onto amidst all of the craziness that had happened within the last few minutes.

Knowing his opportunity was here, he took the box and ran upstairs. He opened the cardboard package and dumped out the true box from his previous life onto his bed, alongside the note from his parents. The note read, "Do not open until you're at least 18 years old - Love, Mom and Dad." The note was exactly the same as before.

He grabbed the remains of the cardboard box and ran back down the stairs to the front door. He waved at Annabelle. "Almost done!" He yelled an through her a cute smile. He needed to make SURE that this letter went through. He went into the computer room and grabbed a piece of paper from the printer. He wrote in big, bold letters with a large marker- "DO NOT TRUST JULIAN. YOU ARE IN DANGER." Throwing the letter into the box, he speedily continued the process.

Getting the box tape from the the desk drawer, he taped it back up. On the top of the box itself, he wrote the words, "RETURN TO SENDER" along with one of the secret marks his father had taught him. The symbol was a sideways oval with a line going through the middle. It represented the "Eye of Scrutiny." Once seeing this, his father should be super careful and not let anyone else read it. 

Veil's preparations were finished. He ran to the door and handed the box to Aily. Annabelle's voice came back out. "Alright, that's it. I'll reach out to my supervisor and send it to him tonight." 

"Thank you so much Annabelle. You have no idea how much this means to me." Annabelle looked at him oddly. It was strange even for someone his age, no- especially for someone his age to show this much concern. Her gaze pierced his eyes, but Veil stared right back at her.

"Don't be worried. I'll make sure to give it to him as soon as I finish my route." In the end, Annabelle felt that this boy's concerns might be valid- and although she didn't know what they were, it wasn't her job to find out.

"It's nice to meet you, Veil! I'll see you around." The Stork smiled. "Later!" She said and flew away to the next house down the road.