Chapter 6

Tourniquet

Words couldn't describe the pain that Tyson felt as he limped home, bleeding and bruised. Holes littered his cloths and some of the buttons had been ripped off his shirt. His mind was blank from the pain, and every now and then an almost inaudible groan could be heard coming from his torn and bleeding lips.

Some people might say he was lucky to still be alive. Alive? That made him laugh. How could he enjoy life when he had no friends, the one that he loved despised him, and he had been tainted? How could anyone still want to live after that? Why had he even bothered to get up from that ally after what they did to him and come home? No one would care, or they would hate him, or they would say it's his fault for going out in the first place.

As he came closer to his home and saw the lights on he prayed for no one to be home, though he knew that at this late at night it was impossible. Trying to remain as quiet as possible he crept to the sliding door of the dojo and slid it open a crack to try and hear any voice. Silence answered him however and for that he was thankful.

Not wasting any time he entered the house and went straight to the bathroom on the way though he heard someone talking on the phone. Curiosity getting the best of him, Tyson listened in on the conversation.

"No, he hasn't come back yet." Tyson managed to recognize the voice as Max's even in his hazy state.

"Don't worry I'll call you as soon as he comes home," Max reassured the person on the other side of the phone. "You know, this is just like Tyson to go out in the middle of the night. He never thinks things through."

Hearing the annoyance in Max's voice Tyson knew where this conversation was going, and with an aching heart he continued to move down the corridor to the bathroom.

X.X.X.X.X.X.X.

Tyson winced as he stared at his reflection in the bathroom mirror. He knew he was banged up bad but he didn't expect it to be this bad. More than half the cuts on his wrists had opened up, and now his sleeves were drenched in blood. Scratches covered his face, and he had a black eye. Lifting up his shirt you could see black smudges where bruises were, and red bite marks. Blood seeped through his pants, reminding Tyson of what had happened and making him want to hurl.

Disgusted with himself, Tyson turned away from the mirror and began slowly peeling off his cloths. Wincing every time he moved his body, he somehow managed to take off all articles of clothing and turn on the shower. He knew the sound of water running would alert Max to his presence, but he also knew Max wouldn't walk in on him if he was taking a shower.

Stepping into the cool water had been the hardest part, for the moment that fresh pure water touched his skin his body burned and ached. Blood ran down his body in rivers as he held himself and silently cried. His own blood felt like mud sliming its way down his body, and his chest became heavy, as if there was smoke in the air. Gasping for breath he leaned against the cold shower wall and shivered.

His head throbbed with an all too familiar pain. The feeling of his head splitting in two and his soul being sucked out of his body made him want to cry harder, but his pride wouldn't let him. He deserved this. He had been foolish enough to go out in the middle of the night. He was stupid, he was worthless, he had nothing but grief.

After rinsing his body of any blood, Tyson turned off the water and grabbed the blue robe that was in the room and put it on. Wanting to stall having to face his friend he took his torn and blood soaked cloths and began to wash them in the sink, but the whole time the urge to throw up never left him. Finally finished with washing his filthy cloths he let them hang up in the shower, not caring any more who saw them.

Taking a deep breath Tyson tried to quell the urge to hide all night in the bathroom. Thinking up excuses with each step he took towards the door he stood there in front of it and opened the door. As the door slowly slid open Tyson heart froze in terror as the sight of someone standing outside the door made him want to slam it, and go back into hiding. Another part of Tyson however was able to coax him into opening the door fully, only to reveal his older brother.

To say Hiro looked upset was an understatement, he was downright pissed. Anger and resentment were like growing flames in Hiro's eyes as he stared down at Tyson, making the younger boy more frightened.

Why did I open this door again? Tyson thought desperately as he took a cautious step backwards.

"Don't walk away from me!" Hiro shouted as he saw Tyson take a step back from him; it was too dark in the hallway for Hiro to see the bruises on Tyson's face, so he had no idea what had happened to his little brother. Grabbing Tyson by the wrist he pulled the younger boy into the hall, ignoring the hiss of pain coming from Tyson as he did so. "What were you thinking going out in the middle of the night!"

Shaking violently Tyson tried to change the subject. "I thought Max was the only one home when I got back. I didn't know you were here too."

"Don't change the subject!" Hiro shouted, making Tyson try to pull out of his grasp, which only made Hiro hold on tighter. "We were all worried about you Tyson! How could you be so stupid!"

It was indescribable; one moment Tyson had been scared to death of his brother and the next it was as if he were nothing but a ghost watching the whole thing from the outside. Those words had shattered something in Tyson. He didn't know what it was that had been broke, but everything now felt so cold and meaningless. His spirit was gone, and he was left with nothing but a hollow shell.

Tyson had stood there listening to Hiro tell him how wrong he was to go outside so late at night and how he could have gotten hurt. Hurt, the word was meaningless to him now, but he knew the irony of what his brother had said to him. As his brother continued to berate him for doing such a stupid act all his friends came home, and each pulled him aside to talk to him after Hiro had finished with his lecturing. Luckily Tyson had managed to cover his face with his bangs, or by looking down at his feet shamefully, so no one had even slightest idea of what he went through.

He was now in his room, and his hand was holding the cool steel weapon that had eased his pain so many times before, but it brought no feelings to him as it used to. Originally when he had first started cutting he would be scared, but at the same time excited, but now all he felt was emptiness and a sense of longing.

Without a thought or a care he lifted the knife up and made the first new fresh cut. He felt the pain, but didn't show it; he had felt much worse than this. Slowly he moved the blade across another patch of skin, opening old wounds in the process. The scent of blood filled his nostrils and that's when the feelings began to return to him.

Passion filled his shattered heart as he fell into an ecstasy from the blood filling his senses. Anger passed through his blood as he thought about all the things his so called "friends" had done to him. Despair froze over his bones, making him long for a warmth that didn't exist. Hunger engulfed his mind; he needed more. He needed more of these feelings and more blood. How he used to hate these insufferable feelings but now they were all he had and he wasn't willing to lose them.

Slashing his wrists over and over again he started to lose focus of what he was doing, and began to slit his wrists and arms in any possible direction, and cutting as deep as he could in the state of mind. An insane laugh floated from his lips that would disturb anyone, but to him it was beautiful music.

The sound of running footsteps could be heard through the doorway, but Tyson knew they were too late. There was a puddle of blood surrounding him, and the fact that he was still conscious was a miracle enough. So with one last slash Tyson allowed himself to fall into the darkness of his mind, but before he did he heard the horrified gasp of one of his "friends" when they entered his room, and smiled insanely at them all.

X.X.X.X.X.X.X.

Akira: Finals! I must get to work on finals! Sorry for not being able to answer reviews right now.

Poll: There are two endings to this story. In the first one the ending is dark and people die. In the second some people come close to death. Now tell me which ending you would prefer to have.