I awoke in a room, it was dark and I was alone. As I sat up slowly I pulled the blanket to me. As I did, though, I realized it wasn't a blanket. It was a jacket. I felt the smooth texture of it as it crinkled under my fingers familiarly. Davi, my body felt stiff and I frowned, slowly everything came back to me. The meeting, Kai briefing us on Johnny, Johnny yelling and the flash of pain as he slit my throat.I gasped and put my hand to my throat, I felt the slightly raised and puckered skin.
My blood ran cold in my veins as though someone poured ice water into my blood, and I felt my stomach churn just as the door opened. I forced myself to be calm, to face whomever was there, "hey you're awake, good." I looked and, thankfully, saw Julia standing in the doorway.
She looked tired and I could see she had bags under her eyes, but was other wise fine. "Ugh I don't know why he insists on putting this ratty thing on you," she said and tugged at the jacket. I frowned at the loss of its comfort and warmth, "let me see." She said and before I could protest she put her hands up to either side of my head.
She closed her eyes and I felt a tingling in my mind as she moved her fingers. "Good, you're fully intact. Sorry about the scar, I couldn't quite get rid of it." She bit her lip and I saw the worry in her eyes, I put my hand over hers and squeezed to reassure her, "hey don't worry- I've had worse. Besides, I'm sure I look badass, right?"
I put on my best tough guy look I could muster and she spluttered out a laugh before she could help herself. "Oh gosh, yes. The most baddest of bad asses." We laughed for a minute and it felt good. I felt my spirit rising, for the first time in days. Just as it was rising, though, the door opened. I sighed but stopped as I heard it hit something.
I turned my head to see Julia behind it blocking it with her foot. "Nope, go away she's not ready." I frowned as she said that, there was a scoff from the other side of the door and I heard a humming sound, "David Michael Kenton-" she said in a menacing tone and I stifled a laugh.
She shot me a glare, "you're not helping." I closed my mouth, "I'll send her out when she's ready. Shoo, go run Kai's errands I know he gave you. "
There was silence and she glared at the door before leaning her head against it to listen, I opened my mouth to warn her not to when there was a loud thud against it.
Like a fist punching straight where her head was. I grimaced and closed my eyes as she growled, "DAVI!" She screamed, he didn't say anything but I swear I could hear him laughing as he walked down the hall.
She turned back to me and rubbed her head, "your boyfriend's an idiot." Her tone was short and clipped and I couldn't help the small smile that tugged at the corner of my mouth. She sighed, "We need to fix your hair, I'll clean ya up." I frowned in confusion but looked down and saw my clothes were burnt and tattered.
Didn't I just change? My hands had black smudges on them, my arms and legs were covered in soot and dirt and as I reached up to my hair she took my hand.
"Don't worry, I'll fix it." I felt my eyes widen at the urgency in her voice, "Julia- what happened?" She wrung her hands in front of her and wouldn't meet my eyes, I stared at her refused to budge. Eventually she met my eyes and huffed a sigh.
"So- Johnny decided to run his mouth and try his hand at being in charge, he in turn probably killed his guys. The idiots," she said as an afterthought and I frowned. "Anyways, he got ahead of himself started blabbering stuff about you and then decided to force our hand and-" she stopped mid-sentence. Her hand instinctively went to her throat and I dropped my gaze for a second.
I couldn't speak, suddenly as if her small movement had triggered it I remembered. I felt that awful warmth spilling down in front of me, the god awful gurgling my throat had made when I tried to speak. I couldn't help but shudder as I did. When she spoke again, her voice was soft, "If Kai hadn't warned us before- I would've lost it" her voice shook at the end and I looked up to see tears in her eyes. "Hey- it's ok. Don't cry I'm here," I said and held my arms open for her. She scoffed, "you literally died-again- and you're comforting me?"
I shrug and drop my eyes to my hands in my lap, "I- I've always been the caretaker. Even if I'm hurt, I make sure everyone else is ok. I'll be fine and check on myself later, besides I'm not worried about me. " I heard a scoff and looked up to see she had her hands on her hips.
Uh-oh I'm in trouble now, this was her signature I'm-about-to-start-telling-you-off stance. I was about to get it. "Listen to me, right here and right now, if Davi hasn't made you realize your worth being taken care of-that's his business. Also, he's an idiot." She says and steps closer to me and wraps her arms around me.
It hurts at first but quickly subsides as I feel warmth enveloping me and my spirit rises. I feel warm and bubbly and I can't help but smile, when she pulls away I realize I still have a stupid grin on my lips. She boops my nose and I laugh, "you're amazing dude. You truly are." She shakes her head as she says this and smiles at me, "you don't even realize it, but you help keep all of us grounded and you're the strongest person I've ever met. You always put everyone first and no matter how many times you've been broken down, you've just gotten back up. So, let me take care of you and help you just once- ok?" I nod slightly taken aback at the praise. She smirks knowing my silence means she got to me, and steps back.
"Ok, so your injuries are mostly healed though you're gonna need to see Doris to fully check you out. Now then- looks," she says and bites her lip. I frown, "how bad?" She shrugs, "I can fix it." With that she picks up scissors and I feel myself inwardly cringe as she goes to work on my singed hair cutting it and fixing everything. It can't be that bad- right?
A few hours later, she hands me clothes and a small hand mirror. My hair had been long- ish, but with Timothy's explosion it just kind of singed. I sighed as I slowly opened my eyes and saw it was just a little shaggy and above my shoulders. I felt tears prick my eyes as I ran my hand through it. My hair was styled but it still looked like a boys cut and I felt the tears fall. Slowly I set the mirror down and closed my eyes trying to hold them back.
There was a soft knock on the door and Timothy came in, "hey, Kai and D-" he stops and stares at me wide eyed.
Jules huffs, "they're ready? Ok great, thanks- leave." She says and pushes him out the door, "go change ok? I'll be right back." I sigh but nod lamely to show I'd heard her. After she leaves, though, I sit for a moment and just stare at myself in the mirror. I have a bruise on my cheek under my right eye, there's dried blood on my neck from Johnny, and I look overwhelmingly pale.
Tears fall freely now that I'm alone, and I can't help the soft sob that escapes my lips, I promised myself I'd never look like this again. Never. Here I am, brutalized and on the verge of death. I bite my lip and chew it slightly as I think, there was a soft knock and I look up just as I see the door open in the mirrors reflection. I feel myself instantly calm as I recognize the person standing there.
"Thank god," he says and it sounds as though he's out of breath. He crosses the room in two strides and wraps his arms around me, pulling me to him. "I was so worried about you. You're alive, you're safe." His voice quivered at the end and I found myself wrapping around him just as tight. I wrapped my legs around his waist and effectively spider monkeyed him. We stayed like that, holding eachother as though we were each other's life line, for what felt like hours. Somethings wrong, the alarm in my head started to sound but I quickly tried to quiet it.
I felt as Davi shook and that's when I realized something, my head- it felt, wet. "Baby, are you-" I say quietly and he pulls back to look at me. My eyes widen and he smiled, "I know, I'm supposed to be your rock I'm-" I cut him off by kissing him quickly. He smiles down at me and I wipe his tears, "hey, don't you start with that. You can't always be the strong one. That's not healthy. Just like you're my rock I'm yours. Got that?" He nods quickly looking at me and I see as his eyes focus in on me, "you've been crying too."
It's not a question just an observation but I nod anyways, "yes- I have. I saw my reflection and I don't know- just lost it. I promised myself I'd never look like this again. Beaten, broken, wasted." The last word came out barely a whisper and I felt him wrap his arms around me again.
He went to speak but the door opened and Jules came in, "so, I couldn't find Davi but I found Kai and he s- oh." She says stopping short when she sees Davi wrapped around me.
"I see," she says and I smile, "he just came in." Her eyes never leave his face but she nods in answer to me just the same. As her eyes find mine, they widen and she holds the hairbrush in her hand out menacingly. "Davi so help me, if you hurt her-" I open my mouth to defend him but he laughs. "You'll, what? Assault me with a hairbrush?"
She glared at him and holds it menacingly before her, "try me," she says and I see him sit just a little straighter. She notices the slight movement and I see her smirk, "exactly. Now then," she says turning her eyes on me. "Tsu- hun I know it's short but it'll grow back and as it does we can play and make new styles with it."
It takes me a moment to realize she's talking about something as simple as my hair, I sigh and turn back to the mirror "yea, I know. I'm not worried about it." I don't meet her gaze, though, I don't want her to see how affected I am.
Suddenly, I feel a hand run softly through my hair and fingers weaving their way through. I feel a tug and my head tilts back so I'm looking up at Davi. He's smirking down at me and I can't help but feel my cheeks redden, "nah-" he says looking to Julia but still holding my hair. "It's plenty long- besides, she can do stealth stuff now." He says it with a wink and I feel my face heat up just as she gags. "Ew," was all she said. Davi let go of my hair and just as he went to speak his phone rang.
Just as quickly as it'd come, his smile left and his face went back to its grave setting. He didn't say anything other than 'yea,' after a moment he hung up and sighed. "Come on guys, Kai wants us. Emergency meeting." With that, the small bubble of joy seemed to evaporate completely and I was instantly reminded of everything. Johnny, the bombs, the pain, Tim- "is Jason ok?" I ask quietly and Davi looks down at me confused. After a moment, he simply nods but doesn't speak. The gesture slightly concerns me.
I focus instead on our walk, it's instantly unrecognizable and I feel my breath hitch, oh god where am I? Are we- no Davi seems at ease, with the walk at least, you're fine calm down. I swallow and force myself to breathe and relax, as I do I hear Davi chuckle.
"You've gotten better at that, that's good. But you do know I'm here and can help too, right?" As he says it, he grabs my hand and pulls it to his lips touching them to the back of my hand. I feel as a smile plays over my lips and warmth spreads through me. I can't help but look away.
As I do, I see that we're now outside. I turn and try to gather my bearings and see what looks like a small shed. Julia notices my questioning stare and smiles softly, "it was quicker to get to and had a first aid kit. It's a tiny home, I was surprised by the space." I feel as my eyebrows raise in concern but decide to shake off the question buzzing in my mind.
I look instead to the sky. It has a pink tint to it now, "wait- is it sun rise or set?" I ask staring at the beautiful colors ahead of me, all while trying to discern if the sun was coming up or not.
Again, Davi chuckles, "you really don't pay attention in school do you?" He shakes his head and I frown, "meaning?"
I ask and look around us, there was enough light from the sky to see we were on what looked like a farm. There were cows grazing here and there in the field around the house, that's when I noticed it. I stopped and turned to my left, then my right, "w-wait a second," I say. Davi pauses and looks to me confused, "what's wrong baby? We gotta pick up the pace Kai wants us-" I frown, "where are we?" The only thing I see no matter which way I look is field. Miles and miles of open field, and one dirt road. Nothing more.
I do a complete circle trying to be sure that something wasn't going to pop out in front of me. I see a trailer that looks a little weather worn, to the side of it is a large car port. It's not quite what I'd call a garage but definitely used as one, two cars were parked there as well as various lawn and farming tools and instruments. There was a tractor parked next to the house and a little ramp that lead to a door next to the makeshift garage. As I turned, I saw a fence lining the property and "are those chickens?" I ask confused.
At that, Davi laughed outright.
I frowned and stared at him as he did, I realized I hadn't heard him laugh like this in a while. Too long, my mind chastised me, I smiled as I watched him double over holding his gut. "Oh baby, I'm sorry-" he says after a moment wiping at his eye, "it's just- the fear in your voice as you saw the chickens, it was adorable."
I scratch the back of my head and shiver slightly at the lack of hair there, my hands play absentmindedly with the short locks as I think. "Well," I say finally, feigning annoyance, "I'm glad I can amuse you, I guess." I say shaking my head, he takes a step towards me just as I hear a creaking sound behind him.
Instantly, I feel as my body goes on the defensive and a firm breeze picks up around us. I see a man standing on the little ramp I'd noticed earlier he's standing in the shadow so I can't make much out. Davi turns to me and smiled, "don't worry baby, we can trust him."
When I don't move he sighs and rolls his eyes, with a little nudge he pushes me forward and I hear him whisper. "Go on," he says and slowly I let the breeze fade down.
"DAVIIIIIIIIIIIII," the man screams suddenly. I feel my eyes widen as I mentally question just who this person is and why they're so loud. I shake my head and watch as he throws his arms up into the air. I watch as he comes down the ramp at a quick pace, like a boulder rolling down hill, and I just can't help the fear that fills my face as he moves towards us. Davi groans but stands there waiting, when the man gets to him he wastes no time throwing his arms around Davi and squeezing.
I stand in shock and fear as I watch Davi be embraced in such a tight bear hug, his arms are pinned to his sides and his face says it all. His eyes are set straight ahead and his mouth is scrunched up into a disapproving scowl, showing this happens a lot. But, he doesn't move.
Eventually, the man let's go and smiles at him, "Jesus you've grown, what's it been- ten years?" Davi rolls his eyes, "you know your numbers change each time I see you. And they get more exotic." He casts his head to the side drawing the strangers attention to me and I feel fear running through me. Oh god he's gonna hug me- I don't want a hug. I look to Davi pleading and see the smirk on his face grow, the man gets closer to me and I feel my eyes widen again as I look back and forth between the two.
At the last second, though, Davi decided to take pity on me, "Ash I wouldn't hug her, she may seem locked in fear and noncompliant but I promise she'll have us flipped and on our asses before we even know what's hit us."
The man, Ash, stopped mid-step and frowned slightly, "oh, ok. Guess I'll have to divert her hugs to you," with that he went back to Davi and squeezed him again. I sighed in relief and heard as Davi choked out, "what- no that's not what this meant. I lied she's a hugger after all get in there, come on man." I couldn't help but snicker as Ash finally let go. Davi rubbed his hands down smoothing out his clothes from the death gripping hug he'd just received.
Satisfied, Ash turned and walked back towards the house while Davi glowered after him for a moment before following. I felt at a loss. No one said to follow but on the one hand I didn't know these people and they apparently gave out hugs. Lots of hugs. I shivered and mentally shook myself. It was follow them, or stay outside. Outside wasn't bad, but it had chickens.
I grimaced, I may not know them but- they've got to be better than these monsters, I look around and notice the beasts getting closer. In the end, I decided I didn't really want to be stuck outside with the chickens, lest they decide to turn the tides and eat me. Of all the animals to have, it had to be chickens, I started walking and saw as one got closer to me. I decided to pick up the pace before sacrifices were made.
As I got up the ramp, I heard the sounds of chatter and arguing and heard the tv playing. Davi stood just in the doorway leaning on the wall looking slightly uncomfortable. As I came in and closed the door, quickly, he seemed to ease up a bit.
I looked around and saw what looked like a simple living room with a chair and couch around a tv. To the right, connected to it, was a play room? Why would they have a play room? Toys were scattered here and there and just off the main area there looked to be a couple bedrooms.
Behind us was a small kitchen and dining room, the place seemed cluttered but comfortably so. Davi tugged my hand and led me towards the kitchen where Ash was leaning against the small counter looking at someone.
As we came in more I noticed it was, "Kai!" I say interrupting whatever he'd been about to say, he smiles and opens his arms for me to hug him. I look to Davi who shrugs and take off like a shot bounding up to Kai. When he lets go, I feel a small weight lift off of me, I'd been so worried about him. "Hey kid," is all he says before Davi pulls me back to him.
Ash looks back and forth between the boys and raises a brow at me, as he does I realize I can finally see what he looks like.
He's about Kai and Davi's height maybe a little taller even, his skin is pale. How if he works on a farm? Don't they wake up at ungodly hours? Speaking of- I glance behind Kai to a clock on the counter and see it says 5:56 "why are we awake!?" I suddenly blurt out and feel slightly embarrassed by my outburst when everyone looks at me.
Ash laughs and I can't help but chuckle when I hear a snort or two come out, his voice is I wouldn't say deep but it can definitely carry across a town. He leans forward looking at me and in his eyes I see nothing but joy.
"Awake at an ungodly hour?" He asks and I shrug trying to feign nonchalant. I focus on holding his gaze matching him, if I look away it means he intimidated me. No sir, not anymore. As I stare I take in his features. He's pale, his eyes are bright blue like the ocean, he has a smattering of freckles on his cheeks and across his nose, his build is nice too. He's not overweight or anything I can see it's all muscle thanks to working with these devilish creatures.
Suddenly his gaze drops and I blow out a sigh of relief, "I like her man. But uh, which of you is she with? You both talk like you're dating her- is this a throuple?" His gaze bounces from me to the boys and I feel my mouth drop open at his bluntness. Davi laughs outright now and Kai shakes his head clearly amused. "No," Kai says simply and I see slight disappointment in Ash's eyes.
"Uh-huh, suuuuuure it's not. Now then, more importantly," he says grabbing a soda from the counter. Davi moved quickly and takes it from him, "uh-uh." I frown, isn't this his house? Davi must sense my confusion, because he turns to me and smirks, "trust me. Never, and I mean never, give him sugar. Unless we tell you to."
I turn to Ash and raise a brow, he smiles knowingly but shrugs "the others are in the meeting room," he says over my shoulder to Kai. Davi goes to set the soda down but thinks better of it and instead sticks it in his coats pocket.
He's still in his suit, I notice with a shock, Jules wasn't. Kai isn't- why is Davi in his 'work suit.' "Come on, let's go, the others will be happy to see you." Davi pulls me by the hand and leads me through the room just off the dinning room. It has a washer and dryer with toys and clothes scattered throughout.
I turn back to Ash and see him watching after us with a peculiar stare. We walk to the back of the room and I frown, "Davi? This is-" there's a scraping noise and Davi smiles bending down to grab a handle on the floor.
I feel as shock registers on my face and try to wipe it clean quickly, he chuckles and gestures for me to go first. I take a deep breath and nod before going down the ladder into what looks like a basement. Davi comes quickly behind me jumping at the last two rungs. "Come on," he says and walks down the small hall.
Clearly, he's been here a time or two before, because- unlike me- he's at total ease walking down this way. I find my gaze bouncing all around us, taking in everything. The walls and floor are cement and there's a string of lights on the wall to light the way otherwise it's completely blank. The hall slowly opens to a big room, it looks almost like a small living/rec room. There's a fridge, a small kitchen like nook, small couch, and a teeny tiny tv. We walk through the room to a door and Davi opens it, as he does I hear "TSU!"
Next thing I know, I'm on the ground being hugged and squeezed and squished by three people. "Help!" I say calling to Davi but he just leans against the door laughing at my despair. I hear Jules laughing too, she's on top of the pile, "what the- why are you bombarding me? You know I'm fine!" I say to her she stands slowly, "you think I'd miss an opportunity to hug the unhuggable? Besides, you were blindsided."
She said with a wink and I couldn't help but laugh. I heard footsteps behind me and turn my head back to see who it was. As I do, I see Kai. He looks amused but I can tell it's just a mask hiding something just underneath the surface. "Alright guys, up ya go." Is all he says, slowly Julia and Jason stand but Timothy clings to me still. I frown and look down curiously, "Timothy are-" I say and notice he's shaking. I wrap my arms around him holding him to me. I feel my shirt getting wet as I hold him, I kiss the top of his head trying to soothe him.
That's when Jason speaks up, "he feels guilty. For- everything." He says slowly and I feel my heart break at this broken child on me. "I-I'm sorry Tsu! I- I didn't mean to," he choked out and I hold him, "shh, it's ok. I'm not mad, I'm right here."
After a moment, he leans back and looks down at me. His eyes are filled with tears and his face is red but I can see he's calming down, I smile up at him trying to ease his mind.
"Come on Tim- Tam, we gotta be strong right now. She's ok, see?" Jason says quietly helping Timothy up, he nods and I smile again. Davi hauls me to my feet and wraps his hand around my waist before walking in with me. The room is essentially the same as our meeting room back where we live. A big white room with a big white oval table and black chairs.
Kai nodded to the chairs and we each went to our respective spots, only when I went to sit down, Davi grabbed me and pulled me to him. He pulled the chair out and sat down leaving me standing confused, Jason glowered at Davi and Kai seemed tired. I went to walk towards the other open chair when Davi pulled me to him and onto his lap. He wrapped his arms around my waist and placed his head on my shoulder.
Kai shakes his head but doesn't otherwise comment. "Good, we're all here. There's a lot to discuss and not a lot of time to do it. So, naturally, let's start from the beginning shall we?" He says looking around the room. As he does, I can see the shadow on his face. His chin has a light set of stubble and under his eyes are dark half circles. His eyes are what catch my attention though, they're not warm or showing any type of happiness but are instead devoid of light. They look pale, and sad. It's clear he hasn't slept or rested for a few days.
"I'm sure you're wondering where we are, if you weren't, I'd honestly be surprised and concerned." I look around and see Jason nod and notice that Timothy is actually paying attention, not playing or snacking. This must be pretty serious if he's paying attention. I feel myself sit a little straighter and as I do I hear Davi suck in a breath "hey, baby?" He asks quietly and I lean towards him to show I'm listening, "maybe cool it on the moving? You're pinching the leg, don't worry though I'll give ya the ride of your life later."
I feel my cheeks redden as Davi whispers to me and I close my eyes trying to compose myself. When I open them, I see Kai staring at us and suddenly I'm reminded of that saying 'if looks could kill.'
"Davi," he says and his voice comes out a snarl, I feel my heart pounding, "you said you could handle it. If you can't, move her. I'm not in the mood." Davi nodded and I felt as he shifted in the seat before Kai continued. "Now then, as I was saying, we're at one of our safe houses. I'd called ahead and got everything set up about a week ago. Ash has been taking care of the place for us. We should be out of the public's eye out here, Ash is an old informant of D- ours."
I frown as he stutters, Kai doesn't stutter. What is going on? He pushes on though as though nothing is bothering him, "the minute Johnny started sniffing I had Ash get everything ready. That being said, do not ever- and I mean ever- give Ash sugar. Unless myself or Davi asks." Timothy raised his hand slowly and I could tell it caught Kai off guard, he chuckles slightly as Jason pushes the younger boys hand back down. "You don't have to raise your hand," he scolds softly and a soft pink colors Timothy's face all the way to the tips of his ears.
"Sorry," he says softly and I see Kai loosen up, "what's up Timothy?" He asks kindly, "I-I'm just wondering, why can't we give him sugar?" I feel as my head snaps up, thank you Timothy, I was wondering too. Kai turns and squeezed the bridge of his nose between his thumb and finger before turning and making eye contact with Davi. I feel him shrug behind me but he doesn't otherwise move. Kai stays quiet for a moment before speaking again, "honestly- it's for my sanity. And Davi's."
I raise a brow at that as I see Timothy and Jason having mirrored expressions of confusion. They could be twins.
Upon seeing our reactions, Kai sighs loudly, "look Ash is like us. He's our safe house operator so he kind of has to be," he says more to himself than us. "Anyways, that being said, Ash's ability is- I guess it'd be described as a sugar rush." He trails off a bit at the end and I feel my interest being piqued even more.
Davi scoffs, "sugar rush from hell. Listen here assholes, anyone- I mean anyone- gives him sugar, you're bunking with him till it wears off. Unless we give the ok, don't do it." I chuckle slightly at his serious tone, it can't be that bad- can it? With that Kai nods and continues on. "Ash has helped many times in the past, we can trust him. Now then, where are we. Well, we're out in Palm Springs on a 'dairy farm.'"
I feel my mouth drop open at that just as Timothy's eyes widen and Jason sneers, "why?"
Kai asks continuing on. "Well no one knows us out here- granted our faces are plastered all over the news so be aware of that. The only one who's not up is- you guessed it- Ash. He'll help get info and supplies to us. Next, in order for you to understand who we are and what we do- you guys need to know everything from the beginning. Which means, you finally get the back story as well as some hard info for you Tsu." His eyes land on me and I feel a knot in my stomach, I bite the inside of my lip but don't look away.
I swallow once before finally speaking up, "why does it always come back to me?" He smiles and it seems almost sad, "guess you're just that special." I frown and mutter, "I don't want to be special." Davi squeezes me tighter, "being normal is for losers even Jason's ugly ass is special." With that I couldn't help but laugh and Kai continued.
"As you know," he starts off, "my powers showed up when I was in kindergarten. I remember sitting in the class and suddenly I could feel everyone. It came gradually, more of like being aware they were there but even more so. If that makes sense." When no one answered he quickly continued with the story, "Anyways, I realized it wasn't just the people I was feeling. There was a difference, some were cold and some were warm, familiar almost. It's strange to explain but I couldn't understand it so I went to my parents."
He shivered slightly and I thought back to the woman we'd met not so long ago at Julia's wedding. She seemed kind enough but definitely like she could beat your ass and not bat an eye.
"My parents turned me into the government, as you know if you're found harboring someone with powers you can be killed. I don't necessarily blame them, I wish they'd done different but I mean- what can ya do?" He says it with a shrug but I can tell it still bothers him.
I wish my family would've given me up instead of keeping me as a punching bag- how different would that have been? "The government was excited to find someone with my ability. Not only can I sense people around me but I can sense others with abilities, or afflictions as they called it, and I could help those that were sick." He used air quotes on specific words and rolled his eyes showing how ridiculous it all was, I could see the pain in his eyes though and knew this story was affecting him.
"Anyways, I was a stupid kid who got played and used by the government. I basically sold our own people out and lined them up to be slaughtered. I thought I was doing good. Until one night when I was twelve."
He sighed and rested his hands on the table almost as though he were bracing himself, "I was being escorted to my room by a couple of guards. They had been a little ahead of me and I remember they seemed more distant than the others. I overheard them talking and one of them said I was worse than the ones they brought in, at least they had decency to stick together. I was selling them out and killing them just to have the 'luxurious life.'"
His hands were in fists at his side and I felt my heart break, he was overwhelmed with the emotions from his past and I could tell he didn't want to continue. But he'd convinced himself we had to hear this. What could be so important he had to put himself through this? He takes a deep breath and centers himself, "sorry it's been a while since I've told of what I'd done and seen."
We all nodded, clearly wanting to give him his space but after a moment he continued. "After that I found myself more and more curious like- how could I be in the wrong? I'm helping them- right? I snuck out of my room and around the guards to the offices and picked the lock into one at random. I'd taught myself when I was younger how to pick locks because my mother used to lock me in cabinets when I annoyed her." The comment comes off calm but I could hear the slight venom in his words.
"I went in and ransacked the desk looking for files and paperwork, it took going through about three offices before I lost my patience and broke into the big one. I'd only seen this guy once and I remembered he terrified the shit out of me. He was just so overwhelming, intimidating. I remember seeing him and thinking, 'holy fuck this guys gonna be the death of me.' I picked my way into his office and I- at first I didn't see anything. I mean he had normal papers and whatnot on his desk and even in it."
He shook his head lost in the memory of that day, "I was baffled, like what the hell were those guards talking about? But then I found them."
His voice changed then, all emotion drained out of it and I could see just how pale he'd become. He looked sick and his hands were shaking slightly. "The files were on people I'd helped them bring in. All of them were pictures taken after death. They were on slabs and their faces were swollen and bruised, their hair was stained with blood, some of them- you couldn't even tell they had been human. It was horrible. In that instance, I decided I was getting out no matter the cost. When I opened the office to leave, there were guards and they were pissed. I remember panicking and thinking 'shit calm down please don't shoot just calm down,' and then- they did."