Chapter 1
...
"Shinji? Are you okay?" A blue haired woman peeked through the steel doors of a concrete room.
"Mother..." The boy, named Shinji, moaned painfully. "I can't sleep, my back hurts, everything hurts so much.."
"Oh it's your wound." The woman, coming to him closer, worriedly replied. "Your wound is bleeding again." She added. She crouched down and gently started applying a new set of dressing to it.
"There, feeling better?"
"Yes!" He answered and hugged her. "Do you think I'll still become a hero like granddad someday?" He snuggled. "Do you really think that my eye is a beautiful?
"Of course!" She ran her fingers through his dry velvet hair. "Your eye is far more beautiful and precious than any gems I've seen. And do you know what makes it prettier than any gems?"
"I don't know.."
"It's because it's alive."
Shinji smiled wholeheartedly.
"And no one can steal it away from you, it's yours alone. They can only gaze at it in jealousy."
He pulled back his head and looked at her, his bright red right eye slightly illuminating the dark room. She wiped a tear that slid down his cheek.
"Do you think I'll become a better hero than my sisters and brothers?" He asked.
"I believe even better than all of them." She smiled softly at him.
He laughed and smiled back.
"I can't wait to grow up! And save lots of people!"
...
It was seven in the morning and a soft knocking was heard on the door of Paul's room.
He squinted his eyes and pulled the covers over him.
He was having the same set of dreams again with the familiar blue-haired woman who kept on calling him Shinji. He knew fully well that it was a just dream but somehow he felt a deeper connection to it as if it was something that happened to him in some other way unknown to him – a lost memory.
"Just leave him alone Sister Cheryl, he may still be asleep." The voice on the other side of the door suggested.
"Don't you think it is better this way?"
"Sister Anna! How dare you talk something like that about one of our dear children!"
"Sorry.."
A few more knocks were heard before everything went still and quiet.
Paul was well aware of how big today was going to be. Today, Veilstone City Orphanage was celebrating its 15th Anniversary. For someone who was avoided by everyone in the orphanage, who caused nothing but fear and dismay, he decided to lock himself inside his own isolated room.
Paul has spent all his life living in the orphanage where Sister Cheryl, head Sister of the orphanage, had been taking care of him way before he even knew who he was. He only knew so little about his original family. One thing he knew was that his mother died giving birth to him seventeen years ago, and soon after his birth, all of his family members died. It was so odd that he found it unbelievable.
It was something that couldn't just happen.
He bitterly entertained the idea that he was something else, that he was something inhuman, something cursed. And it was something connected to his reoccurring dreams with the blue-haired woman with beautiful sapphire eyes, whom he kept on calling his mother.
When he was five the first family that adopted him all died mysteriously and he was sent back to the orphanage, and so the same thing happened to the second and third family that adopted him in the following years. It was as if wherever he went, people just die.
As if he was never meant to have a family, as if he was Death incarnate.
The series of dreadful events that happened around him glued fear in the hearts of everyone in the orphanage.
They were so scared of him and the events that happened that they named him 'Paul Diablo'.
Everyone thought that they might die too if they got close to him. He was eventually put at an isolated room at the orphanage's attic. It was only Sister Cheryl that hadn't changed her caring attitude at him even after the tragic events.
When he removed the pillow under his head to cover his eyes, he felt something underneath it. It was the picture Sister Cheryl gave to him ten years ago – a wallet size picture of his biological mother with his name 'Paul Blackwell' written in cursive at the back.
Because of the fact that he had barely any information about his original family, he doubted if it was his real mother that was in the picture. She looked so different from the one in his dreams. But then again it was all just a dream. The one in the picture and the one in his dreams, both were so unreal that they were depressing.
He sat up on his bed and stared at the object, she had the same purple hair and eyes and the same firm and stiff smile. The only thing that was different was the expression of their eyes. Her mother looked so beautiful and calm with her velvet irises. Unlike his, though velvet his eyes were dull and stormy. He thought that he might have gotten the expression of his eyes from his biological father, not that he knew how his father have looked.
He sighed and caught view of his bedroom mirror. He stood up and went near it.
He exhaled deeply, closed his eyes and opened them one by one before examining himself on the mirror.
He breathed out a sigh of relief.
He checked out his limbs, they weren't sturdy nor they were weak. They were fair and normal. But unlike in his dreams, they weren't full of stitch marks that ached like crazy.
I told you we should have never adopted that child! Look at his right eye! It's red! It's a manifestation of a devil!
Devils still exist today! I knew it!
Call the GAS or whatever, this kid is a demon! A killer!
A MONSTER!
Paul winced at the sudden recalled memory.
Even though he wanted to have the same eyes as his mother, he somehow found comfort in his own dull velvet eyes. At least they weren't what he feared others claimed them to be – bright red filled with malicious intent.
The families that adopted him saw how his right eye glowed red, and before they could do anything Paul would see them fall down one by one, dead. He never saw his right eye glow red before but ever since then he feared that the iris of his right eye was capable of turning red. And that he really was a killing machine.
He was so afraid that he rarely looked at himself.
He peeked through the curtains of his window and saw how cheerful the other kids were in preparing for the event. There were lots of balloons, confetti and food. Laughter was all around.
More unwelcome memories started to surface inside his mind, a memory not too long ago.
"It's not..." His lips and voice trembled. "This is not...this is not my fault.."
His peers slowly backed away from him. They all had that terrified look.
"Diablo..." He heard one whispered. "Diablo has returned."
"Who said that?!" He screamed. "I didn't kill them! I swear I didn't kill them!"
"Paul Diablo..has returned."
He ran towards a girl and grabbed her shoulders.
"This is not my fault! This is not my fault!" He screamed at her, fear and panic welling up inside him. He went agitated in a split second.
The girl screamed and shook off Paul's grip. "Paul Diablo held me! Help! I'm gonna die!"
She pushed him to the ground as they all started screaming and running out of the backyard.
"We're all gonna die now! We're gonna die!"
Sister Cheryl, alarmed by the screaming, immediately went to the backyard and tried to calm the children down, they were all too distressed.
"What happened in here?" She asked, her voice dripped with weary from trying to calm the children. But apparently, the children were too terrified to answer her.
Some escaped the backyard and the few remaining hid behind Cheryl.
She looked ahead and saw Paul on his knees with his hands over his face, he was trembling so badly. She immediately ran towards him.
Paul is supposed to be with his new family since yesterday. How did he end up here?
She looked behind him and saw his bags with all his belongings sticking out.
'So..it happened again..' Cheryl thought. 'This can't be happening..'
"I didn't kill them. I swear I didn't kill them. I swear I didn't." Paul kept on murmuring to himself. "It's not my fault. It's not my fault."
"It's okay Paul. It's okay." Cheryl hummed and hugged him. "This is not your fault. This is not your fault." She tried her best to sound as comforting as possible.
Paul stopped murmuring and looked at Cheryl. Big drops of tears started streaming from his eyes. He hugged her. He cried and cried until he no longer remembered what happened afterward.
"I think it's better for them if I leave this place." He closed back the curtains. He stared back at the picture of his mother one last time before sliding it into his pocket.
"I'll leave a note for Sister Cheryl at least." He muttered to himself.
...
The bell of Hearthome Generic Pharmacy chimed as a certain blue-haired girl excitedly went inside. She placed her bag over the counter as she unbuttoned her school blouse revealing a white tank.
"Dawn!" Solidad, the head of the pharmacy, was surprised to see the cheerful bluenette early. "Aren't you a bit early today? It's still five pm, your working shift doesn't start until six."
"Nah, school just started and we had an early dismissal. They kept on talking about devils still existing nonsense." She answered as she slid on her white working blouse. "And plus." She twirled around in her white working uniform and smiled at her. "I love working here!" She hid her bag and hurriedly went behind the counter.
"It's always so refreshing to see you work so hard." Dawn only answered her with a grin as the bell chimed for the second time. "Well, I'll be at the storage room." She added before disappearing completely behind the storage room.
"Yes mam!" Dawn saluted as she properly positioned her white nursing cap on her head. She tapped her skirt before facing the costumer that just got inside.
"What can I-" She cut herself off when she realized the costumer was a childhood friend.
She raised an eyebrow at him.
"Looking pretty as always Deedee." A brunet sneered at her.
"Har har, funny Kenny." She rolled her eyes at him. "Now what can I get you dear costumer." She batted her eyelashes at him.
He rested his elbow on the counter and stared at her.
"Your smile is all the medicine I need." He grinned.
"Dimwit!" She blushed slightly and looked away.
Kenny stood up and laughed.
"Why can't you just be my girlfriend already?" He asked. "I mean I've been asking you for three years already."
She looked down and sighed, a familiar kind of sadness starting to resurface.
"Kenny I told you already. I'm not gonna be-"
"What? You're gonna say all those weird devil bullshit at me! Look at me Dawn, I love you and I have loved you way back when we were kids! I can protect you from any devil whether they still exist or not and I am willing to put my life at stake for you!" Kenny cut her off.
He gave her that stare filled with determination and sincerity.
"You, you don't understand.." She replied, deciding not to meet his gaze and looked at the floor.
Kenny sighed. "I'm sorry." He shook his head dejectedly. "I'm sorry I suddenly brought this up Dawn."
She looked at him and sighed.
"I'll just be outside okay? I'll walk you home tonight. I love you." He waved off and went out as soon as Dawn nodded.
The bell chimed for the third time as Dawn regained her composure and greeted the costumer.
But before she was able to do so, Solidad inserted herself.
"Dawn, I believe you really don't have to start your work this early. I may not be a doctor or whatsoever but I know just as much that a little walk outside might help you ease a little." Her coral-haired boss advocated.
Dawn thanked her mentally before leaving her nurse cap on the counter and went outside.
She met with her brunet bestfriend and the two decided to stroll around the city for a while.
Dawn Berlitz originally lived with only her mother in Twinleaf Town, a quiet town several miles away from Hearthome City. She never knew anything about her father. She used to constantly ask her mother anything about him but she would give her that saddened look always and would dismiss the topic immediately. She never knew why her mother wouldn't talk to her about her father.
And unfortunately, as time progressed, the topic stressed out a gap in between her relationship with her mother that she eventually lost her trust in her. She ran away from home before she started her high school and started to support herself as a cashier in Hearthrome's Generic Pharmacy. She decided that if her mother wouldn't speak to her anything about her father, she would just look for him herself whether he's still alive or not.
Kenny Summers is Dawn's childhood friend way back at Twinleaf Town. Since there were only a few people living at such a quiet and peaceful town, they became good friends really quick. Kenny was never the outgoing and social type of person. In fact he was timid and really shy to the point that he hated social gatherings and crowds. Dawn was really fascinated how Kenny approached her easily as if he saw something that pulled him to her.
Dawn had long entertained the idea of leaving town during her middle school, it was Kenny who helped her pushed the idea by leaving town with her three years ago. They're both currently residing inside the same apartment complex.
"You wanna grab something before going back to work?" Kenny asked as they made their way through the busy sidewalk of Hearthome City.
The sun had set minutes ago and what was left were tiny debris of orange rays that seemed to settle and crowd at the distant horizon of the sky. Street lamps slowly lit one after another.
Dawn looked at her partner beside her and her gaze slowly directed to his beautiful blue tear-shaped necklace.
The brunet noticed this and stopped walking. He wrapped his hand around the cold object. "If you want I'll give this to you someday." He smiled.
"What? You don't have t-" She was cut off when she heard a loud thud coming from an alley they just passed. Her ears perked up and they both traced back a few steps.
Both teens stared at the seemingly long and dark alley beside them, it was still, quiet and devoid of life. They could see nothing as the darkness was all-consuming. Then they both felt something evil that their hairs stood up and they each broke out in a cold sweat. Their vision slowly adjusted to the darkness that they were able to slowly make things out from the surroundings, from trashes scattered on the ground to the tiny vandals on the walls.
And finally, three lying bodies on the ground. They were all lifelessly still.
And in between the bodies stood a figure barely standing up.
"What in the hell is that?" Kenny whispered and squeezed Dawn's hand. "This is bad.."
Fear quickly crippled the two. Even breathing started to become difficult.
The dark figure noticed the pair and glared at them with a bright crimson eye that glowed in the dark.
The atmosphere suddenly went dangerously appalling and paralyzing.
They both gulped noiselessly.
The red eye they saw weren't just frightening, they were brimming with malevolence.
And hunger.
"This is really bad.." Kenny whispered. "Dawn!" He shouted at her. "It's gonna kill us!"
Dawn only backed away a few centimeters. The dark figure walked to them slowly. No, he wasn't walking, more like limping.
"Back the hell off!" Kenny charged himself in front of her and stood in a defensive stance.
Before the mysterious figure could even reach them by a meter, he collapsed on the cold pavement. It was then they realized that it was a boy about the same age as them.
Dawn swiftly rushed to him, knelt down and cupped his head. He had purple hair. His jeans and sweater were tattered and torn. And by the look of it, he seemed fatigued and his face was drained of colors. And what shocked the bluenette more were his eyes. They were half-open yet she could make out the colors they were – one velvet and the other red.
She really just wasn't seeing it earlier, that eye filled with killing intent was really his.
"Kenny! We have to bring him-"
"Woah... Do you think he did this?" Kenny paced around the bodies on the ground. "They all have no pulse Dawn. They're all dead."
Dawn's heartbeat suddenly pumped rapidly and loudly.
"And what's even weirder?" Kenny continued. "No blood, no injuries, their mouths are foaming and their eyes, it's all white. This is too bizarre, like something overwhelmed them to death."
She looked back flabbergasted at the boy he held, his right eye reverting gradually back to normal.
"M-mo-mother..I-I'm sorry." Paul looked at her with shaky eyes.
It was the last thing he said before fainting.
Dawn looked at Kenny with tears she weren't even aware of.
"Kenny we need to help him."
Chapter 1 End: Seventeen Years Later