Chapter 2: Pain

Contrary to popular belief Graverobber had had two fantastic parents, a decent home life, friends, and a mind and heart that were not jaded… at least not until…

They were rolling down a hill, innocent flowers crushed under their weight. The world turned right side up and upside down over and over. The sun shone brightly overhead, a jewel in the vast blue sky. There was screaming and it was everywhere, the red was everywhere. He had jumped out of nowhere right into the path of their car and they'd had to swerve to miss him. The turn was too sharp, though, and the car flipped onto its side and didn't stop flipping over and over until they were at the bottom of the steep hill of black dirt. Red was everywhere now. It was on the floor, ceiling, and seats. It covered him and his parents as they hung upside down by their seatbelts. It was everywhere. There was an eternity within the minutes in which he refused to acknowledge what the dark red liquid was. He did not, for several minutes, accept that the two bodies on either side of him with empty, wide eyes and white bones jutting right out of their arms and legs were his parents. Then, when it finally came crashing down on him that the red was blood and the bodies were that of his parents did he scream. It ripped right from the depths of a soul the eleven year old hadn't, until now when it was torn up inside of him, believed he had. He stopped when his voice refused to make noise anymore. There was a silence that seemed like the calm before the storm and another scream broke the silence, it was the begging, pleading, and sobbing of a man.

"No! Please no! I just need another month, I can pay! I can pay! I CAN PAY!"

He could see the man, it was the one who'd run in front of their car, through the broken windshield and he was backing away from something or someone. A black shape, a living shadow that rarely showed up in the light of day, rushed the man and knocked him to the ground and he promptly passed out from the blow to the head. The black clad man went to work at the job the young boy immediately concluded by the appearance of this stranger was organ repo. He felt, all at once terrified, disgusted, perhaps morbidly fascinated and oddly…glad. Yes, glad that this man, who just had to be addicted to surgery like the rest of the world, who could not keep up with his payments for his organs, who ran from the repo-man who came to take what was rightfully GeneCo's, who ran right into the path of their car, who caused his parents death was dying in such an awful and painful way. The man's heart came out with a squish sound that sent chills up the boy's spine. The repo-man's fierce glowing eyes turned his way after the he stored the heart in what looked like a cooler. He stood slowly, examining the upside down wreck that was their car. He punched a button on his wrist communicator and called an ambulance then headed towards the car and stuck his head through the windshield. It quickly crossed the eleven year old's mind that that was probably not a very good idea.

"Is anyone in here alive?" His voice was gravely and evil sounding.

The boy tried his best to answer but all he could manage was a groan of pain; he wasn't even sure what was broken but something sure was.

"The ambulance will be here soon," the repo-man's voice had changed now, it sounded gentle and fatherly, "I'm sorry this happened."

He didn't think too much on the change nor did he allow his eyes to wander to his dead parents. He was tired and the only thing he wanted to do was sleep for the rest of his life. Dark spots were intruding upon his vision and he was fighting for awareness of his surroundings.

"Don't worry, it shouldn't be much longer," the repo-man assured him. Somehow, a repo-man of all people reassuring him and trying to make him feel better just seemed wrong.

For his part, the boy held out until the ambulance arrived only then did he allow himself to slip into the dark oblivion of unconsciousness…

His sleep was riddled with nightmares of cars crashing and blood everywhere, of men being ripped in two by a shadow and feeling cold satisfaction of the death of this man. He woke with a small gasp of fear that did not escape his lips. The first thing he noticed was that he had a pounding headache, it drummed out a tune in his head and kept him from returning to sleep. With nothing better to do he tried to wake himself up. The pain hit him first and he felt his muscles constrict from the shock and intensity of the pain which seemed to cover his entire body. When the pain began to subside his muscles relaxed and he began breathing again. The first of his five senses that started working again when he regained semi-consciousness was his hearing and the first thing he heard was yelling.

"How did your target manage to escape so many times! How could you let that chase go on for as long as you did?" The voice was deep and hinted of a well hidden accent.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Largo, but you neglected to tell me he was a marathon runner. I'm just a surgeon. The blame falls on me, yes, but that bit of information would have made repossessing his heart easier. That boy might still have his parents," the voice that said this was familiar and he soon realized it was that of the repo man who'd killed the man that caused their car crash and called the ambulance.

"What do you propose we do then, Nathan!"

"What can we do, Rotti, but put him in the orphanage? We checked and he has no other family, it's the only thing we can do for him."

He didn't want to go to an orphanage; he knew what went on in those places and it wasn't nice. He tried to open his mouth but after three or four tries he knew it was not willing to do what he wanted. Instead, he focused on opening his eyes. He was about ready to give up after the fifth try when light shone through the small opening his eyes had allowed him to make. Encouraged by this small success he opened his eyes slowly, allowing them to adjust to the light, until they were fully opened. Before him stood the stout and familiar figure of Rotti Largo, owner and CEO of GeneCo. His dark hair and tailored suit were familiar to the world, but never could the boy have imagined seeing the man in real life. Beside him was smaller man who wore glasses, he was unassuming in appearance but the minute he spoke it was obvious to him that this was the repo-man, "How are you feeling?"

The boy tried once again to make his mouth work and this time with more success than previously, "Not so good. Mom and Dad are dead."

"Yes, they are and I'm so sorry."

"Not your fault, guy couldn't make his payments. I'm glad he's dead."

"You're going to be sent to an orphanage, young man, do you understand?" Asked Rotti Largo.

"No," was his plain answer to owner of GeneCo.

"But you don't have any place else to go to," explained the man whom Rotti called "Nathan."

"I don't care."

Nathan sighed and looked at him sadly. This was clearly a man with a great burden on his shoulders, "Mr. Largo-"

"Curse your bleeding heart, Nathan, there is nothing else we can do!"

" Well, I could take him in."

"And pray tell, how exactly you plan on making time for a child and repossessions. No, I'll have none of it," his accent became more obvious with the rise of his temper and he paused a moment to calm down , sighed and said in a voice that did not hide his concession to Nathan well, "If any compromise is to be made then perhaps it ought to be that he is allowed to live in my home but responsibility for him ultimately falls on you."

"I think that's a fair compromise, Mr. Largo. What do you think?"

"I guess that works. How'd they die?"

"I'll tell you later, but right now you need to rest."

"Yeah, sure. Your name's Nathan right? That's what I heard Mr. Largo call you."

"Yes, it is."

"Can you at least tell me how I'm hurt?"

"One of your leg is broken clean in half, but that'll make the healing process easier," he was all doctor now, "You seemed to have suffered a minor concussion that may affect your vision later in life. A couple of you ribs are broken and you needed some stitches over one of your eyebrows."

"Anything else?"

"No."

"Thanks," he croaked out.

The listened to the beeping of the monitors and the patter of feet passing by the door to his room. The monotonous sound was comforting and he found his breathing had synced up with the rhythm of the hospital ward. He tried to remain conscious but found himself prone to nodding off. When he was finally ready to give up the fight for consciousness he was woken up some by what he heard Rotti and Nathan talking about, namely him.

"He doesn't seem that upset about his parents, Nathan."

Right now, I'm not sure how to feel about my parents.

"Give it a day or two, Rotti. Right now, he's numb and still trying to process what has happened to him."

That's probably true.

"The child psychologist wants to see him when he's up to it," Rotti said this with little interest, "How long do you think that'll be?"

Forever, if I have a say.

"It's difficult to tell, but I'd give him a week to rest. Let his body heal and it'll be that little bit easier to heal his mind."

You sound awful sure of yourself.

"Very well, I'll have his room set up by the time he's discharged from the hospital. It's to my understanding that his parents never had a single surgery in their lives."

Funny, I thought he'd be upset with anyone who never had a surgery, but...he sounds just fine with it.

"Yes, that's true," Nathan replied, "It seems they were part of a group of purists."

Yeah and they ar- were proud of that fact.

He heard the door open and footsteps then a woman's voice spoke, "Rotti, Dr. Wallace I think you should let the poor boy sleep. All your talk is keeping him up, I'm sure. Mag's waiting in the lounge. Rotti, we're meeting with the florist today to go over the flower arrangements. I want everything to be perfect for our wedding."

"Of course, Marni, Nathan will you help us out?"

"Of course, Rotti."

He heard them exiting the room and the click of a light being shut off. He remembered now, there had been an announcement just last week that Rotti Largo was to marry a woman named Marni. The whole world would ,of course, be in on the details. He briefly wondered if he would get to see her the next time Rotti Largo and Nathan the Repo-man visited. He was alone now and while his physical pain had settled into a dull roar the pain that was far too emotional ate away at him without the presence of others to distract him . He would have tossed and turned in his hospital bed, he even tried to at one point, but it made his injuries scream in protest which made him scream too. He feared the return of his nightmares, the sleep he had felt coming on before he'd overheard Rotti and Nathan's conversation had potential to be peaceful but now it didn't look like that was going to happen anytime soon. He began to panic as he wondered if he'd ever sleep again, if he was going to spend the rest of his life awake. In his panic he didn't notice the heart monitor increased speed, didn't hear the nurse walk in, didn't feel the orderlies hands holding him down, didn't feel the needle go into his are, and didn't realize he was asleep until the nightmares began again.