I don't own MR
I wrote this for my creative writing class last year and I re-read it today and decided I really liked it so I'm going to post it on here.
Also, to anybody wondering, yes I'm working hard on a bunch of new stories. Some of which I hope to start posting within the next few months, as well as a Motocross re-write I may have or may have not mentioned before.
But anyways, onto the story.
Stay Majestic
VR
He was seven. Only seven. It's when his life ended and his work began. His words turned into unspoken thoughts, and his fading smile darkened into a thin line. Ari had never known true joy. He'd never ridden the cups at Disneyland, or spent a night at a friend's house; he had just sat and waited. A loyal dog muzzled with a shock collar providing his limits. He could wander around his father's office, be dragged into an experiment room when nobody was looking, but go nowhere else. Not without his dad- not without Jeb.
Jeb, who was never there. Jeb, who was somewhere in Ari's past. Jeb, who had forgotten about the little boy he left behind.
Ari didn't care either way. Not anymore. Sometimes he'd wonder why he wasn't good enough for his father, he'd think thoughts no seven year old should even poke at. His mind would twirl and spin strings of gold that threaded into questions of steel he would never ask out loud. Nobody dared to ask questions after the TinkerBell experiment disappeared. Not after Max disappeared.
Vaguely- no, vividly, no matter how much he failed to admit it- Ari remembered her the most. Her tawny wings that spread so gently, her pout, the way her chocolate eyes lit up when she saw Jeb. Her eyes never lit up when she saw Ari. She never saw Ari. He was a shadow that tiptoed by the walls, and sometimes if he was lucky she'd scowl in his direction.
What a beautiful human being; what a glorious freakshow she was.
Sometimes Ari would stare at her wings while she slept. He would wonder how many feathers he'd have to pluck before she'd wither up in pain and accept defeat. Sometimes he even pondered what she'd feel if he ripped them off of her.
Would her pain compare to his? Not even close. Nothing could compare to losing a parent to another child because they were a freak and the biological one wasn't.
Ari should have been Jeb's number one priority no matter the time or the day. At least, that's what he was told by the scientist who dragged him out of his father's office where he spent most nights dadless. Her hair was blonde like his, but her eyes were a different shade of dark. The kind of darkness Ari held within himself that he had been precariously tugging at ever since his father took the winged children and left him to be submerged in the truth of being normal.
It didn't get you attention.
"Will Daddy love me after you do this?" Ari remembered asking as the leather restraints strapped themselves tightly against his flesh, pinching it. It didn't bother him too much anymore. He was used to being stolen from his corner in an unused room to have shots inserted into him.
The scientist never replied. She didn't even know who the kid's father was. All she knew was he hung around and he was pure. Pure things lasted even less time than the tainted.
There was no warning before the needle penetrated his skin. There never was and Ari never wanted to know. In a way he liked the sudden feeling of pain- of life. It was proof he was more than a shadow that everyone could surpass.
It was Ari's last dose of whatever they were inserting into his bloodstream when his eyes began to drift away from him. He no longer saw a pristine ceiling or glasses being pushed up the bridge of a nose. Instead he saw darkness, which had always been what he was used to.
He's rejecting it!
For a moment the seven year old thought he saw his father in the dimness that had engulfed him. He thought he saw the dark hair and mustache of a man who he had once called dad. The lab coat was white as always, the hands gloved and ready for surgery, the straight line where his smile should have been obviously present.
Let him die, he's just the first of many.
Death. It didn't sound so bad to Ari. He could fall off of the earth into whatever came after life and his father would be nothing but a horrible memory he could soon forget. A bad dream that faded as alertness shoved away the fog.
Inject the adrenaline! If we can save him we need to!
The ceiling was back. His eyes had realigned with his brain and all the sudden he could flicker them around and peer at the four scientists in the room. They all shared an expectant look, as if waiting for him to say or do something. But he only stared.
"Well?" The same woman who had dragged him across the tiled floor earlier demanded, and he opened his mouth, watching as they all leaned in curiously, not yet pleased with their work but not yet disappointed.
"Well... what?" Ari asked, his voice a curious quiver. It held no strength, no promise of golden stars and outstanding performances, but it was enough.
Two scientists in the back high-fived and hugged, and the woman almost leaning over him screeched in delight. The other bounced up and down on his heels, a smile lit across his face that shone brighter than any sunshine Ari remembered seeing.
"We did it! He's amazing, he is! He'll be the best Eraser of them all." The woman with glasses cheered, and Ari almost smiled when he realized they were talking about him. Finally, he was acknowledged. No, he was more than that; he was amazing.
Cautiously, he sat up, his restraints broken and his table at a different angle than what it had been at earlier.
Languidly, the word Eraser caught onto a neuron in Ari's mind, and he plucked at the information he could find tucked away in his thoughts.
Erasers. Ninety-eight percent Homo sapien, two percent Canis lupus. They had a form that was human enough, but on command they could morph into wolfish creatures that had eyes as red as blood and teeth as jagged as a broken blade. All experiments to create them had failed- until now.
Ari liked the sound of being an Eraser. At least then he could pluck Max's feather's. He'd have the strength to. His muscle would be enough to rip her precious wings off and then she'd have to acknowledge him- her brother. She'd have to look at him because he would be her sole commander.
"How do you feel?" The scientist who had been jumping for joy asked, his eyes watching Ari's movements as the boy got to his feet ever so slowly, testing out each limb to make sure it still worked. He had heard about the experiments gone wrong, where a leg got lost in the battle for better genetics, or an arm.
"I feel… not normal." Ari finally answered, a smile growing on his face. A real one that showed off his sharpened, jagged teeth. Finally, he was what made his father tick. An interesting object overflowing with abnormalities to be noticed. Maybe now he wouldn't be forgotten when he saw Jeb again- if he saw Jeb again.
If. The word disgusted Ari as he stood in his spot, the scientists all in an elated mood while his smile dripped away. He had no idea where his father was. Jeb had taken the bird kid experiments and left- forgetting his son.
Ari felt a feral growl dribble out of his throat. He would find Jeb. He would make him remember. He would show him just how strange he could be.
He was only seven.