Isn't that an odd philosophy for a vampire?
A/N: I know that some important details, such as the vampire virus, are still unexplained or look rather unreliable. But don't worry, you'll be able to connect everything soon with the following chapters. And of course, reviews are appreciated.
CHAPTER THREE: TO BE OR NOT TO BE, THAT'S THE QUESTION (Shakespeare)
Hakuren was sleeping, his head on his knees. It was calm, too calm, again – like time was nonexistent – and I couldn't stop thinking about Mikage, which made the moment even calmer and sorrowful. Absolute silence could stimulate your amygdala and your hippocampus, especially when a suspicious sound suddenly broke in. Hakuren began to breathe louder.
"Hum, Hakuren? Are – are you ok?" My voice was trembling.
He didn't answer. Therefore, I could not know if he was hungry or he had a nightmare.
I was hungry.
"It's just a low blood sugar," he said after he opened one eye. "Teito, you look delicious to eat." He smirked.
His words just freaked me out. I hoped he was joking.
"Hakuren, I was wondering. Why do you always distance yourself from others?" I tried to distract him.
"You think I should stay closer to you?"
"No, no, no! I mean at school. I've never seen you close to anyone. And I found it odd about what you said on the authorities this morning."
"Teito," he said with a more serious voice, "if you're trying to distract me, well you're not. The more you talk, the more I feel your presence. The more I feel your presence, the more I want to – You understand? Now, stop talking."
Perhaps, I was only good at staying near the button.
In the center of the room, a large plate, containing foods, a glass of blood and a napkin, was pulled down from the ceiling. There must be a pulley and an opening, but I couldn't see them due to the light bulb that blued the above. When the plate touched the floor, the string, that was used to pull it down, was automatically detached and rose back up until it disappeared into the light.
Hakuren stood up and rush to the plate, but to my surprise, it wasn't for the glass of blood, it was for –
"Let us out! You fake democrats!" He yelled to the ceiling like he was possessed.
I was completely dazed by what he just said. Fake democrats? That was totally... uncommon... inappropriate... eccentric! Of course, we had the freedom of speech, but if anyone insult the authority that everyone loved so much, that person would get beat up by others very badly.
Hakuren could no longer stay focus on the ceiling. He was trembling really hard like he was about to explode. He fell on his knees and tried to reach the glass of blood… but he took the napkin instead and red what appeared to be a sentence written on it. "Congratulations! You both have stayed alive for 6 hours. You may now enjoy your first dinner at AYA Federal Laboratory. ;)"
Still mad, he torn the letter and threw it in the blood.
"LISTEN, YOU BARBARIC POLITICIANS! WHEN I TURN INTO A GHOST, I WILL POSSESS THE MASTERMIND AND DESTROY YOU ALL!"
Even now, his kept his elegant tone and creative insults, but still those words were eccentric.
He rushes to one of the wall. Just before he success in bumping his head on the wall's surface, I ran to him and stopped him by holding him back. "Are you out of your mind? Just drink the damn blood!"
He turned to me and grabbed me by the head. I now realized that I should not have stopped him; a vampire couldn't die by hitting his head. He was already dead! Moreover, he would probably kill his savior.
Hakuren licked my neck.
"Ahhhh!" I pushed him away and he fell by the plate.
Like a obsessed victim who was deprived of drug for a long time, Hakuren failed to resist. He took and drank the glass of blood… with the letter within. He then went back to his corner and sat down, like nothing had happened. I took what was left in the plate and went back to where I was sitting. There was a small box of Romano's Macaroni Grill Chicken Florentine salad added with French Feta cheese and a bottle of natural spring water.
"Teito!" Hakuren called out. "Don't eat too quickly. Sodium rich food can increase your blood pressure." Was he telling me that he was able to feel my presence by reading my blood pressure? "By the way, you can talk now. I suppose that glass of blood can hold me a while, probably."
That was assuring.
"OK, let's talk about the democrats. Why do you controvert them?"
"Because they are bad."
"..."
"And fake."
"Then, what are they in reality?"
"Remember the song that they make us sing in elementary school? Governing power derived from the people; citizens secured by legitimized rights; liberties protected by a constitution; everyone can vote and every vote has equal weight. Barsburg, oh, my motherland! Chief of Heaven, oh, I believe in you! Amen."
"Of course, I have never forgotten that."
"And now, think of what they done to you. Did you accept to be here? Was it liberty and security? Does your voice really count as the same weight as theirs?"
"But we are in crisis now," I said after a long pause. "They might not have enough volunteers if they don't do this."
"Oh our dear child thinks it's volunteering!"
"Stop calling me a child!"
"They are forcing you to do this! To them, you're nothing but their sl-subject." He changed the last word, but I could still guess what he really wanted to say: slave.
"I don't believe you. You don't have any proof."
"You want the proof?"
I paused and nodded.
Hakuren stood up and went sitting next to me.
"What are you doing?" I asked, alerted.
"Don't worry," he whispered to my ear. "It's only to prevent surveillance camera recording."
That was a very prudent decision. It gave me goose bumps, though, feeling his voice so close to my ear.
"After the Chief of Heaven had been elected as president, Verloren, his son-in-law, built the Black Hawks Federal Laboratory. He and his personal subordinates developed a protocol of brainwash that could uniform the citizens' ideology. That means everyone would have the same world view, which is the world view imposed by the government. Their brainwash process began with the first state and ended with the seventh state. But before Verloren and his troupe came to the last state, many citizens was already aware of the situation and escaped to the Republic of Raggs.
"During this time, I was part of the refugees; I was almost five.
"Verloren called for the army to destroy the Republic of Raggs. The United Nation tried to bring peace back between the two countries, but failed. Barsburg's army came back when the Raggsian president, Weldeschtein Krom Raggs, was assassinated and Verloren continued brainwashing the seventh state.
"Meanwhile, the Barsburgish survivors formed the Anti-Brainwash Clan (A.B.C.) with some Raggsian survivors. And I was also part of this clan. We traveled secretly through Barsburg to inform people about Verloren's protocol and to recruit members, so one day, we could be strong enough to bring freedom to our country, and Verloren and the Chief of Heaven to justice. In less than three months, we reached up to one millions of members. Unfortunately, we was soon found and stopped.
"Verloren was so happy to find a mass of samples for his laboratory tests. He put us in his back yard, surrounded by electric fences. Well, it was not really a back yard, it was called 'ghetto'. I was put in a small room with my mother, my father and my sister, Shuri Oak, waiting for our turn to be used in a medical test. The bed was so small that I had to sleep on top of my sister. (She was chubby, so it was comfortable.)
"Two weeks later, after the death of my mother, my sister and I found a small whole on the electric fence and decided to announce this to our neighbors. On that night, I escaped the Black Hawks Federal Laboratory with two other kids of my age. The whole was too small, so my sister couldn't go through. I still remember the last thing she said before she disappeared in a bomb explosion, "Yo bro, don't forget to brush your teeth twice and wash your hair every day. Seriously, cut them; they accumulate germs and smell really bad."
"So the two other kids and I ran. They got injured and died. I got lost. Luckily, an old woman adopted me because I was cute.
"The day after, I saw in the news that Verloren was killed by an accident of explosive gas. The journalist highlighted that it was a very common case in laboratory. It was also said that Verloren's son, Ayanami, who was travelling in Hawaii during his father's death, came back and rebuilt a bigger and fancier laboratory, called the AYA Federal Laboratory.
"I knew the news was fake. Verloren was killed by a bomb activated by the A.B.C. and Ayanami… was travelling in Cuba.
"I was deeply upset and depressed and I regretted that I didn't try to save my sister, even though she was fatty meanie that always steal my food.
"I didn't say anything to anyone, not even to my adoptive grand-mother. I knew they wouldn't believe me because they got brainwashed. But when I came to Barsburg National Academy, I said it to Frau. Actually, that was my second time meeting Frau. He was a wise philosopher who took position on many topics such as freedom of rights, of religion, gender equality and homosexuality. His talents were difficult to be seen because he used a pseudonym for his works. However, my parents knew him somehow and told him about the brainwash before the A.B.C got caught.
"So, on one afternoon, I went to Frau's office and told my story and also the fact that I had suicidal tendencies.
"'You stupid brat commit suicide at an age that you barely know what the hell is really going on in this world.'
"'Then… should I?'
"'No! You're too young! How can you abandon life without experience the joy of drinking alcohol and having sex?'
"Frau was really wise! After he told me this I finally understood what I had to do. How could one abandon his live without completing a goal, bring some change to the world, make progress to human civilization? From that day on, I had decided that I wanted to be Pokémon trainer! So I trained hard, skipped school exams…"
Hakuren fell asleep on my shoulder. I was unable to move him or myself because he wrapped his arms around me. This position was worst!
I put down the box of salad.
"Hey, Hakuren. You're story is weird and full with typos. So, I'm still not convinced." I tried to wake him up by saying nonsense, but I failed.
Whatever. I closed my eyes and tried not to think too much about the possible pains. If this salad was the last meal, if I would see that red eyes when waking up, if this was how I would die, I hopped that it would proceed quickly.