eunoia ; malum

04

MICHAEL WAS A HUNTER; ADOPTED AND TRAINED THAT WAY. Ever since he was seven, he was kidnapping and killing off people who had very special gifts. Ever since he was seven, he had learnt that diploids were.

He wasn't sympathetic; he never was. He couldn't help but notice that the word itself had 'pathetic' in it. He was stone-cold like his adopted family. All four of them didn't even blink when they slit the aliens' throats.

But when he looked into Calum's eyes that first night in the restaurant, he couldn't do it. His eyes were too human, his face was too innocent. He had pulled the human act off way too well. Michael had fallen for that before.

That was one of his biggest mistakes.

He thought getting the job done quick and easy would make him forget about those way too human eyes. But he couldn't. He had the knife against his throat, and he let him scream before he even attempted to do anything.

The two were smart. They knew that being in groups would improve their chances of survival. Not once were they alone.

He wished they were dumb, like the guy who helped them find the two boys. They nearly killed him off, but they decided not to because he was too valuable. He had found too many people for them. Without him, they wouldn't have killed three diploids.

***

Calum was working at the restaurant again, waiting tables ten to twenty. Ashton was in the kitchen, watching his best friend, looking out for a certain redheaded boy and family. He was scared for Calum, and offered to swap places ten times.

The Maori was fine with it, only annoyed that table eighteen was large and noisy. There were probably fifteen people squished into a booth, all trying to talk over each other. They kept on giving him funny looks, but he couldn't hear their thoughts over the angry couple next to them.

"Can you bring more ice, please?" a younger boy from the table asked for the fourth time.

"Stop asking for ice!" the girl next to him yelled.

"I can't help it!"

Calum returned with ice, and was utterly confused when the boy downed it like ice wasn't frozen. Feeling a little awkward, and unable to look away, he asked, "Would you like a spoon or something?"

The twelve-year-old smiled politely and shook his head. "No, thank you."

As he walked away, he swore he heard the kid think, what an idiot, but he ignored it. The night went along fine, and Calum helped Ashton do dishes, and Ashton was thankful, but he didn't say it. When it was nearing midnight, they walked out of the restaurant and got into Luke's car.

They put their seatbelts on, and Ashton put the car into ignition. Then – of fucking course – somebody jumped on the hood of the car. Both of the boys groaned, but not before Calum let out a girly scream.

They got out of the car, and Ashton dragged the girl off of the hood, his teeth gritted. "What the hell makes you think you can jump on people's cars?"

"I . . ." just wanted to see if you were the screamer. Ah yes, sounds real normal, Stacey. She looked down. "Your fingers twitch, but not your hands?"

"Why'd you jump on the fucking car, Stacey?" Calum asked, impatiently tapping his foot, completely forgetting the fact that he'd just said the stranger's name.

"How do you know my name?" The blond girl grinned, looking more excited as the realisation caught on that maybe Calum was just the guy she thought he was.