For those who've read my Bluebird story, this was actually the original concept for it. I wasn't sure I was ever going to write it, so I went ahead and called by other story Bluebird since I didn't know what else to call it. Expect angst, some gore, lots of bloodshed, and a general undercurrent of horror. Maybe some fluff in the later chapters.
"What's your name?"
"K-Kudo Shin…Shinichi." He grit his teeth as another punch hit his gut and sent him flying into the back wall. Gasping for breath and clutching his stomach as he curled into a ball, the child felt tears spring to his eyes. He didn't want to give them the satisfaction of crying, but couldn't stop. The pain was horrible, and kept getting worse each day he resisted. He couldn't give in though. He saw what happened to the others who had, and he refused to let it happen to himself. They wouldn't kill him – not yet. He was too valuable to kill. Even if they couldn't break him, they could ransom him back to his parents and cover their loss.
"What is your name?"
Eyes brimming with tears and hate shining in them, he glared at the man seated before him. "Kud-"He didn't even get to finish before a kick landed in his ribs, breaking a few, and leaving him coughing up blood.
The man who asked his name let out a disappointed sigh. Shinichi was barely able to see the older male's form as he rose and walked closer. He felt the blunt nails digging into his cheeks as a strong grip forced him up until his toes left the ground. "I'm disappointed in you bluebird. I'd truly hoped you'd learned your name by now." The child let out a strangled scream as he was tossed back to the ground. "I'm growing tired of your games. If you still haven't learned your name by tomorrow, I'll make sure you never forget it."
The blue-eyed child felt his lips tremble. He was tired of the pain, and he was scared. He'd watched countless other children die since he'd arrived, and knew with every day that passed he could be next. Whether he broke for them or not, if they got tired of him or he was no longer useful to them, he would be killed without hesitation as an example for the others – do as you're told and maybe you won't be next.
It was honestly a surprise he'd lasted this long. He'd seen others killed after a week or refusing their new 'name'. Shinichi had been refusing for a little over three months. Valuable or not, it was odd they hadn't killed him already. The only other one he knew of who had resisted this long was nicknamed 'Blackbird'. Shinichi didn't know his real name. There were cameras and microphones everywhere – even the slightest mention of your real name or previous life would guarantee you a beating or death. The first and last time he'd used another child's real name, it had been the kid who'd paid for it.
Shinichi had had a front row seat to their death.
Every night he woke up drenched in a cold sweat and crying from nightmares. Every day he felt himself crack a little bit more. He didn't know how much longer he could last.
The pain was bad, but the more he took the easier it got to ignore it. What he couldn't ignore were the screams of the other children as they begged for their lives, or the smell of the blood that coated the rest afterwards. The sight of flesh being torn into and the sound of bones being crushed. The splashes their bare feet made in the red liquid that seemed to cover everything. The way the blood would start out slick, then get tacky, and finally dry on their clothes and skin before being harshly scrubbed off when the 'clients' came for a visit.
Every day another child was killed as an example.
Every day more children were brought in.
Every day another child was taken away.
Only those who their captors deemed the most valuable were constant. When they moved locations, those of value were the priority. Sometimes they were the only ones that made it.
"You're making it worse for yourself." Shinichi gazed up at the once beautiful face of White Rabbit. She'd come in just before Shinichi, with flawless pale skin, long silver hair, and big green eyes. She was a year older than he was. After three months with their captors, her eyes had dulled and started sinking into her head, dark bags were a constant, and her hair had lost its shine that had reminded Shinichi of the moon. She had aged years and they all knew she wouldn't last much longer. Their 'clients' had stopped asking for her, and she couldn't hold a meal down. If she didn't starve to death within the next day or two, she'd be killed as an example.
She was looking forward to it.
Death had become the only escape in sight, and for those who'd been around long enough, a blessed way to end their suffering. It terrified him to think he could wind up like that. It was the main reason he refused to give in. To be in so much pain you longed for death was something he never wanted to experience. He'd rather be beaten to the point he couldn't move every day than to know what that was like.
He gave the girl a shaky grin, black spots dotting his vision. He'd only make it worse if he gave in. That's when the true pain would start. He faded out of consciousness as she placed a kiss on his forehead and whispered, "I'm going to miss you bluebird."
Shinichi stared blankly in front of him, White Rabbits blood splattered across his face and torso. He'd been through this so many times he no longer had bile rising in his throat as he tasted the coppery liquid on his tongue. He was numb to everything around him as the rest of the children were filed back into their cells. He didn't feel the hand grasping his hair and dragging him along, only barely registering the black strands that fell when he was all but thrown to the ground in front of the man from earlier.
He could see his mouth move, but couldn't hear anything that was said. Even so, he knew the question. It was the same one every time. What is your name?
His jaw moved up and down, but still no words filled his ears. A boot slammed down on his left arm and searing pain overpowered the numbness enough he could hear a scream. Wrong answer – they'd broken his arm this time. It had been his scream.
As his arm throbbed, the silence returned. He watched as the man's mouth moved again, longer this time, before he moved away. Shinichi didn't know what was happening. The person who'd broken his arm – or at least that's who he thought it was – hauled him to another corner of the room. He didn't know what was going on. He didn't know if he even cared. His arms were jerked up, no care for the fact it had just been broken, and pinned there.
Everything was spinning from the pain. His heart was beating too fast, his breathing was erratic, and he was on the verge of passing out once again.
And then everything was burning.
Shinichi didn't know what was causing the pain, but his entire front was in utter agony that had his trying to struggle free of the iron grip even as it made his broken arm worse. He was screaming – the sound being ripped from his throat – and thrashing as whatever was causing the pain dug deeper and deeper as though burrowing into his body. Even after the searing heat was gone the pain remained.
Tears were streaming down his face as he tried not to hyperventilate. Their might have been hands on him, moving him, but all Shinichi could feel was the pain. He'd never been in so much pain at once. Cold water rained down like bullets, clearing his head enough to feel vicelike fingers around his throat and warm breath on his ear. "Now," The voice was soft and the tone had the child shivering, "Maybe you'll remember your name."
The broken child let out a strangled sob as he was released, blacking out as he hit the ground.
When Shinichi recovered enough, he hobbled over to the cracked old computer screen they used as a mirror, Blackbird as his crutch to keep him from toppling over. When he saw his reflection, it took a moment to realize what they had done to him. Across his chest, from one side to the other, was that damned name burned forever. Bluebird. His knees gave out and only 'Blackbird's' steady arms kept him from falling all the way.
He opened his mouth to scream, but no sound came out. 'Tou-san…Kaa-san…I wanna go home. Why didn't you come for me?' Feeling his eyes burn with tears, Shinichi turned and sobbed into the older boy's shirt. His captors were right – nobody was coming to save them. The last part of him that had held out the hope his parents would find him and gave him the strength to resist shattered.
After three months, Bluebird finally broke.
I love Shinichi, I swear.
So some general notes on this chapter is that Shinichi's perception of how much time has passed isn't trustworthy. He has no way to measure how long it's been except for his best guess.
No, I'm not going to give you the actual timeline.
Blackbird is someone from DC, but I've fiddled with their age a bit to fit this story. White Rabbit is an OC. She's not a huge part of the story, but will be mentioned again a few times.
And that's everything I'm going to tell you. The rest is up to your imagination~
Let me know what you thought~
