-BEYOND THE HORIZON-

A Monster Like Me

One of his favourite things about Stonehaven was the street performers.

As he walked nibbling on the ice cream, he delighted in the antics of jugglers tossing colourful balls in the air. He gasped at the feat of athleticism and grace demonstrated by acrobats and contortionists. He giggled at the absurd shows put on by puppeteers and dabbed tears from his eyes at the sound of beautiful songs played and sung by street musicians.

Then his long pointed ears twitched as if for a moment, catching a sound. One, he could barely familiarize.

There were often sounds he could pick up subconsciously but don't always often seem to notice. Sounds such as the click, tick and shhh of every speech, the more obscure sounds that can lead reality to a scene. But the one he'd heard now was unlike any of these sounds.

Tapping his foot incessantly against the ground, whilst beating time with his hand against his thigh like some sort of metronome, he could have chosen to let this go, but the temptation of feeding his curiosity was too much to resist. He followed the sound, looking around to seek out the source of the interruption and leaving behind Orenji who stood watching dumbfounded.

It wasn't that far off actually. The sound he'd heard came from right underneath him.

The closer he came to the bridge's railings, the closer he heard. The closer he could see, feel the tension, the panic the air brought along with it. It wasn't coming off him nor was it from Orenji. It was a chemo signal, no doubt. One of fear, he sensed.

He held onto the bridge's railings, peering down and looking around below.

It must be the same nearly-disabling fear that'd become part of his life, making itself known again, he thought. His memories were a maze of confusion. He'd tried piecing them together right from his moment of liberation or so he called it, but no such luck.

"You're a pretty weird guy. You know that, right?!" He was told.

Out of nowhere came the strange sounds again that caught his ear and Kiel realized these weren't just ordinary noises, but one of a struggle. There was no way he could have imagined it. It was far too loud and clear for that.

His eyes darted down the area, searching frantically below, and on some teenagers, three of them, his gaze locked on to. They cornered a kid not more than 8 years of age into an alleyway, something of interest curled in the latter's arms. As though he offered it protection from harm, it seemed.

In particular, the source of the interruption.

Without a seconds thought, he held on to the bridge's railing with both hands and with his mind made up, he leapt across.
He leapt right off the bridge.

"Oh no," Orenji found himself mutter in disbelief. He hurried toward the spot Kiel once stood, looking cautiously below. There was nothing but the traffic of people moving about their daily lives.

He leaned in close at the bridge. Real close. Unbeknownst to him, he stared basically into the jaws of death if not already in it, but then came the revelation. The rude awakening in human form.

"'RENJI, YOU MORON! The heck do you think you're doing?!" Came the sudden voice that startled him for a moment, making him fall back on his rear end. "What are you, an idiot...?!" The voice scolded still.