Sorry for the wait, I wanted to get this up earlier, but I couldn't find the time. No excuses though. Enjoy!
Disclaimer: Do I really have to say it anymore?
It was cold, cold and dark.
If you squinted, you could just make out the small, white haired boy huddled in the corner. Tears streamed down his face, and whimpers escaped his mouth.
For over six months now, he had been a lab rat. Day after day, experiments were conducted on him by people who seemed to have no emotions whatsoever.
A draft flew through the cell, and he huddled closer to himself, moving even farther back in the corner.
He had absolutely no idea how long he had been in that horrible place, but he knew he was beginning to break. He was beginning to lose himself.
The only thing that kept him going were his friends. they expected him to come back. He would escape, no matter what it took.
He had to see them again, even if it was the last thing he did.
These were the boys last thoughts as he drifted off into a fitful sleep, haunted by nightmares of what might come.
The boy awoke to the sound of rattling, like the jingling of keys, and then the sound of the door opening, and footsteps. He opened his eyes to see the now familiar face of a man with curly black hair and golden eyes standing over him. The man grimaced. "Damn it, the solution didn't work." he muttered
Lately, he and the others had been trying to find a way to accelerate the natural healing process all living creatures went through. Again and again, they made the boy suffer unimaginable pain, just to see if their new solution worked.
It never did.
The man sighed. "You're not totally healed yet, but we just finished the new solution. Get up boy, I've got work to do." he said, motioning for the boy to follow him.
He stood up, and followed, allowing no emotion to show. He had long learned it was better for him if he didn't fight back. So, he fought his instincts, and let himself be ordered around.
Because of this, he despised himself. He let them do whatever they wanted to do to him, and never did a thing about it. He just gritted his teeth and bore through the pain, trying to let as little of it show as possible.
The people here had begun to call him 'monster' 'freak' and 'devil'. And, after so many times of hearing it, the boy was beginning to believe it himself. Some small part of him though, wouldn't let the words fully consume him. It was the only reason he hadn't come to believe those horrible words fully.
If his situation got any worse though, that small part of him might just crumble, and disappear.
The boy walked behind the man through the twisting hall ways that made up the building they were in. They guaranteed that if he ever tried to escape, all he would manage to do is get lost.
They man led him into a room where he was strapped onto a steel table. This was nothing new to the boy though. Sadly, it had become an almost daily routine.
The man smiled maniacally, and spoke. "You know boy, I had a very bad day today. I almost decided to take out all my anger on you. You're lucky though, I realized that that would probably kill you. So... I decided to only take part of it out on you."
The boys eyes widened, and the man took out a knife.
He was scared, but he would not give them the satisfaction of seeing his fear and pain.
The man brought down the knife, and slowly, ever so slowly, began to carve lines and shaped into his skin, filling him with a brand new sense of pain and fear.
He had to bite his tongue to keep from screaming, and even then, it barely helped.
Finally, after what felt like a millennium, the man stopped, and pulled the knife away. The boy let a sigh escaped his lips. It was finally over.
It wasn't though.
The man smiled again. "You think it's over, don't you? Well, it's not. I'm going to remind you of the pain you felt when we first met. Do you remember that?"
The boys eyes widened again, and the man took out a lighter.
All the boy could do as the fire was brought up to his bare skin was scream. Tears leaked from his eyes. He wanted to fall asleep, to leave this horrible place, but his body wouldn't let him. Please! he begged Let me escape from this pain!
Eventually, his vision started to fade to black, and the sense of pain he was feeling was replaced by a dull tingling, his minds pathetic replica of the true pain he felt.
His eyes closed, and a sense of peace enveloped him. Not even the thought that he would just have to wake up, and face the cruel world full of pain and suffering could shake the sense of calm he felt...
When the boy awoke again, the first thing he could sense was heat. An unbearable heat, slowly crawling towards him.
Then, there was smoke. It filled his lungs, making him cough violently.
His eyes opened, only to be met with red and orange.
He was surrounded by fire.
And he was still chained to the wall. He couldn't move.
The heat was intense, unbearable. The flames, beautiful in a horrible way, danced, crackling, growing bigger every second.
They reached towards him, as if trying to welcome him in a hot, burning embrace.
As the first flames licked his skin, they boy began to panic. He pushed himself as close to the wall as possible, trying to get away from the flames.
The ceiling groaned, and the boys head shot up, just as it gave out.
He could only watch as the smoldering wood fell on top of him.
That wasn't right though. The room he had been in before had been completely metal. If that was true, then where was he?
He had been moved.
The hot embers of the ceiling filled him with pain. A couple of ribs were broken at the least, and he knew he would have horrible burns after this.
He just couldn't bring himself to care enough to move out from under it.
As his world once again faded to black, the last thing he heard were sirens. Sirens of the fire trucks, coming to put out the flames.
It had been one month since Lavi had lectured Lenalee. The police had finally stopped looking for Allen, and it was all they could do not to fall into severe depression. Even Kanda had looked a little crestfallen when he heard the news.
Allen Walker, age: 15, race: unknown, was now presumed dead by the state.
There was no hope to finding him now. Either he was dead, or he wasn't able to escape.
Lenalee couldn't bring herself to accept that though. He had promised her he would return. He always kept his promises.
She still believed that he would come back, and eventually, that belief rubbed back on to Kanda, Lavi and Komui.
She had almost been destroyed, but had picked herself back up.
She had to be strong.
For Allen.
A couple weeks after Allen had been presumed dead, there was a new story on the news.
"A fire has just spread throughout London's forest region. The presumed cause is a small building was set on fire. So far, there have been no fatalities..."
Komui sighed as he pressed the mute button. He really didn't care. Right now, he was worried about Lenalee.
She acted strong, but he could still see the pain in her eyes. She tried her best to hide it, but he saw right through her mask. He knew Lavi and Kanda did too.
'Allen Walker, you better return. If you don't, I'll kill you for causing this much pain to Lenalee' he thought
Right now, Lenalee, Lavi and Kanda were in her room doing homework. It was all they could do to continue on with their normal lives these days.
Komui was about to turn off the television, when something interesting appeared.
"... Also reported, it seems 15 year old Allen Walker, kidnapped seven months ago, was found inside the building. It is presumed that his kidnappers had left him there, hoping he would not come out alive. Signs of torcher have been found. Please, if you have any idea of where his current guardian, Marian Cross is, contact the local police station..."
A large grin spread on Komui's face. He quickly got up and ran to Lenalee's room. He couldn't wait to tell them the news.
When Komui just suddenly ran in the room, Lenalee, Lavi and Kanda's heads shot up. Seeing her brothers smiled, Lenalee asked "Nii-san? What's going on?"
Komui felt his smile grow even larger. "There was a huge fire reported on the news just now. It was started when someone torched a building in the middle of the forest..."
Lenalee gave him a quizzical look. "So...?"
"They found Allen in the building. He's alive."
Yay! Allen has been found!
The next chapter will be the epilogue, and then the story will be over. Don't worry though, I'll make a sequel. It probably won't be very long, just a little insight of Allen recovering from his trauma and stuff.
Anyway, please review. If you have something you want to see in the epilogue, please tell me and I'll see if I can put it in.
Until the next... er... last update then!