The color red stains the child's sight. It reeks of rotten flesh, bringing a sense of fear and disgust to the boy that was on his knee, drenched in the color red. But among it, a tall man of sharp fangs and of evil intentions appears from the darkness that surrounds him. With tears and blood stinging the boy's eyes, he sees the features of this monster through a vague image. The unknown man walks closer and closer till he is now inches from the small child.
The boy rises slowly and looks up at this tall person.
"Those eyes," the man growls. "They hold the one thing that hurts me. They are disgusting..."
His voice was fierce, but also very melancholy and a hint of haughtiness in his tone. Whatever this man was, the boy knew what this unknown man had in store for him; his gut being the alarm.
The boy gasps in fear, twisting around to run, but the man grabs hold of him by the forearm. The man was of surprising strength, so much so that the boy gasps in pain as the man tightens his grip.
"Your eyes have such sorrow and pity. It's sad, I wanted to keep the one who gave them to you."
"Please, let me go!" the boy cries, tears began to fly off of his cheeks as he tries to jerk away from him. "I haven't done anything wrong!"
"Oh, but that IS where you are wrong." the man says as he forcefully tilts the boy's head to the side. He then presents his long, sharp fangs and begins to draw closer to the boy's neck.
"Please... please, no!"
Slowly...
Very vivid and vague...
He began to hear everything around him, heighten in volume.
He awakes in comfort but also in pain; The pain felt like a thousand hot needles piercing his joints and his skin. His eyes are filled with silent tears, his forehead drenched in sweat. He sees a IV next to him and hears the sound of beeping, in-tune with his heartbeat. The tears that build up in his eye leave from the lingering spot and, in doing so, he observed the room with a more clear image.
Strangely, he had trouble opening his left eye. When he did, it pulsated with considerable amount of pain.
The room he found himself in was rather large; big for a small stature as he. Mainly, the color white from the ceiling to the floor coated the room. The boy inhales the scent of the air, a scent that is neither pleasing or nose cringing. The moment the scent of medicine reached his nostrils, he feels a stinging sensation run in his nose.
Suddenly, his ears perked to the voices that were heard outside of the doorway of his room. He tries to push himself up, but a sharp pain radiates through his arm the moment he puts pressure on it. The boy collapses back on the bed and whimpers in pain.
"Oh! Please, don't try to get up." the voice of a man says.
The boy looks towards the doorway to see a man in a long trench coat. The man had a pair of reading glasses on and wore his straw colored hair in a ponytail.
"How are you feeling, young man?" The man asks as he walks over and sits on the edge of the bed.
The boy was uncertain of who this unknown person was, but he oddly and instinctively felt a sense of relaxation being in the presence of this man.
"Umm... O-Okay... I guess." he says, enacting a smile from this unknown man.
"Oh, that's good. I was worried."
"E-Excuse me, b-but who are you...and where am I?" the young child stammers. His voice revealing his worry.
The unknown man stands up and bows. "How rude of me, I apologize." the man says. "My name is Kaien Cross, I'm the headmaster of a school I run. I came here to meet you."
The boy confusingly cocks his head for a moment, pondering the man's reasons for wanting to see. He didn't even know him, but then allows a gentle smile to grace his face. "Oh, p-pleased to meet you, Mr. Cross."
"Pleased to meet you, too..." Kaien pauses for a moment and then says. "I'm sorry, but what is your name, young man?"
"I'm..." the boy tries to remember his name, but for some reason, he couldn't remember. "Who I'm I...?"
"You can't remember?"
"N-No, I can't." The boy tries to think some more, but to no avail, he knows nothing. "Wait, where am I!?"
The boy tries to get out of the bed but Kaien puts both of his hands on the child's shoulders to stop him. "Calm down, young man. You are in the hospital."
"Why am I here!?"
"You and your family were in a accident. You were the only one to survive but you're badly hurt."
"I need to leave. Now! Please!" The man continued to hold the young boy in place.
"Please, you need some rest. If you try to move now, you could hurt yourself more." The boy stops resisting to the force of Kaien's hands and allows him to lay the child back.
"But I..."
"That's enough. You've been through a lot. Know that you are safe." The boy shows a look of confusion.
"Safe from what?" he asks.
"Safe from the bad men who hurt your family."
"Bad men...?"
The man stays silent for a moment. The boy saw sadness in his expression, which confused him. And without answering his question, goes to leave the room. "I'll be going now, but I''ll be back tomorrow. Okay?"
"Umm, yes. Thank you." As the man goes to leave, the young boy stops him. "Please wait!" he shouts.
"Yes?" Kaien says, turning his head back at the child.
"My name is... Takashi, sir." The man turns towards the now Takashi and looks at him with amazed eyes. "Do you remember anything now?"
"Uh, no." he replies, lowering his head shamefully. "But...the name suddenly came to me in my head... I just thought you wanted to know."
Kaien smiles tenderly at the child. Seeing his smile, Takashi felt his insides flutter like a child sheepishly accepting praise. Kaien walks back into the room, smoothing the child's hair as he returns to his side.
"Thank you for telling me... Takashi."
The feel of the man's hand on his head brought Takashi a sense of warmth and comfort, but also sadness. Tears build up in Takashi's eyes, and his stomach starts to knot up. He bites his lower quivering lip as tearful whimpers didn't hold. Kaien suddenly noticed this, promoting him to ask.
"Are you alright, Takashi?" The boy slowly took the man's hand and hugged it close to his chest.
"Please, don't leave. I don't want to be alone again."
Takashi remains silent, saved for his sobbing. Kaien sits by the fragile boy's side and hugs his small, trembling form.
Kaien gently pats the boy's back and says softly.
"It's alright, Takashi. You won't be alone."
The boy wraps his small arms around Kaien's body and begins to hold tighter and tighter. He didn't know why he suddenly had a sense of happiness or why the man had a familiar feel to him, but he didn't care.
Takashi continued to bury his face into the man's chest, inhaling his scent in as he hugged as tightly as he could. Takashi took a small glance at his right arm and jerks away from Kaien. He looks at both of his arms with shock. Both of his arms were covered in cuts and bruises, the cuts were covered in oozing blood. The bruises were large, colored with black and purple.
Takashi jumps from the bed to the floor, ripping off the wires that were attached to him and ignoring the pain that screamed throughout his body.
"Takashi, wait!"
The boy runs out of his room, with Kaien trying to catch the fleeing Takashi.
Takashi runs through the hallway, wearing nothing but sweatpants and a over-sized shirt, bumping into men in lab coats and women in scrubs. He quickly apologizes to every person he bumps into while he runs.
"Someone stop him!" Kaien shouts as he runs after the boy. Takashi continues running till he sees a restroom nearby.
He quickly goes into the bathroom and slams the door behind him, locking it before anyone could intervene.
Takashi ignored the pounding on the door from Kaien and the muffled murmur's of the staff outside, and was more concerned of what he saw in the mirror. He climbs up the single bathroom counter and looks closer at his figure in the mirror.
His face was covered in bruises, on his cheeks, as well on his throat. He lifts his shirt to examine his body. His exposed body revealed more scars then he originally thought. His left eye was black and blue, and was swelled up to the point that there was no room for the green color in his eye. Feeling ashamed, he tries to cover it with his jet-black colored hair, hoping to hide it.
When he shifted his hair, he took notice of the bandage around his neck. Looking at it made him remember the dream he had before he woke up.
Just remembering the last moment of the dream made Takashi's overactive imagination go in every different direction.
"Takashi, please open the door! Takashi!"
Takashi gingerly removes the bandage on his neck so he can put his suspicions to rest. Slowly unraveling the bandage, however, Takashi screamed in terror. The bandage hid four long gash marks on his neck. The gashes were rather deeply cut in, almost enough to reach the jugular vein. The gashes resembled almost as if someone with claws did it to him, and remembering that the man in his dreams had such, this frighten him. Takashi backs away from the counter till his back reached the wall. Once it did, Takashi slides down the wall room, burying his face in his knees while he whimpers in fear.
"Takashi, whats wrong!? Answer me!"
"So, you lived?" a voice in Takashi head spoke.
"Some people just don't know when to keep out of my business." Takashi recognized the voice, it was the same one from his dream. Wanting to drown out the voice, he covered both of his ears with his hands and tried desperately to pray that this wasn't real.
"Filth like you need to be put in their place." The voice growls loudly.
Suddenly, a burning sensation ran from Takashi's brain throughout his whole body. Screaming in pain, Takashi holds his head in hands as that's where the pain was most painful.
"AAAHH! Please stop!"
"How shameful." The voice said in a joyful tone. "I would come to finish what I started, but I have other things to attend to. But know that even though you were a accident, you belong to me."
"No I d-don't... please stop!" His begging enacts a maniacal laugh from the unknown voice.
"Oh, that is rich. The disobedient little slave resists. How typical." The pain in Takashi's body began to intensify, and with that, his screams as well.
"I gave you life, I can take it away in a heartbeat if I wish... but I rather have a little fun first. Bye-bye, my little pet."
With the voice gone, the pain went away. Takashi feels his body suddenly lose all energy. Losing his consciousness, Takashi falls onto his side. Before he fell unconsciousness, he hears the door being broken open. As he feels someone gingerly pick up his small body, his half open eyes shut as exhaustion claims them.
One of the nurses, a young woman with auburn hair, comes into the room carrying a bottle a water for Kaien. Kaien sat in a chair next to the hospital bed that the child slept peacefully in. It's been more than a few hours since he fell unconsciousness. Worried murmurs could be heard when one of the hospital staff walked by his room.
"Here. You must be thirsty." the nurse says as she hands him the bottle.
Kaien smiles at the woman and takes it from her. "Yes, thank you."
The woman's gaze caught the unconscious boy out of the corner of her eye, locking onto his small form with sadness. "Poor boy." she says sadly. "I hope they get the bastard who did this."
Kaien nods. "I agree... No one this young should have to go through what he has."
The nurse nods in agreement, still looking upon the pained face of Takashi, who seemed to tremble with each breath that he took.
"If... If you don't mind asking, Cross-san, but... would you know anything about what happen to him?" The nurse asks with suspicion in her voice. Kaien turns to her and he shook his head.
"No, I don't. Why do you ask?"
"Well, please don't take offense to this. But... you were the one who brought him to the hospital. So I thought you were aware of who this boy was or as to what happen to him." The nurse lowers her head sheepishly as she continues. "I was curious, is all. I wanted to know if you were any aware of who did this."
Kaien sadly adverts his gaze any from the questioning nurse.
"I do not know myself. Though I wish I knew. But like I told the authorities: I found him on my way home, unconscious and badly wounded. Do you doubt that I told the truth?"
The nurse sheepishly waves her hands from his comment. "Oh, no, please! I'm- I'm not trying to accuse you. But you must understand my concern. My concern is only for this boy." Kaien knew the truth in her words. He knew that she was in no way trying to accuse him, but she wanted to know his side. She has worked in this hospital for years now. And in those years, she has never seen a case like this, especially to a child as young as he was. The boy looked no more than six. To think, someone was sick enough to harm a child that couldn't defend himself in such a torturous manner...
It's truly a sad and horrible thing.
Kaien smiles reassuringly. "I do understand. And don't worry, I wasn't implying anything of the sort."
Now with the air cleared of superstition, the nurse relaxes her muscles and smiles back. "Oh, thank you, Cross-san." she says kindly. The nurse places a hand on Kaien's shoulder and locks eyes with the man with kindness in her gaze.
"Listen, you should probably head home now. It's getting rather late."
Kaien shook his head and kindly smiled. "Thank you, but I'd would like to stay and make sure he's not in any harm."
"We'll be giving the best care possible, you needn't worry. And if you want, we can keep you posted on his condition."
"Speaking of his condition. How is he?"
The nurse's face darkens upon the question. The most good news that she could give him is that the child was no longer in critical condition. However...
She gazes upon the slumbering child as she says. "Well, he's fine now. But add to losing a large amount of blood - 5.5 pints to be precise - he is suffering from more than 30 lacerations; more minor cuts; bruising of the rib cage and trauma to his head. To be frank, he's a very lucky young man to survive."
Kaien began to notice the woman's voice creaking as she spoke. He looks to her, seeing her hand covering her lips as tears began to well up in her eyes.
"Miss? Are you all right?"
The nurse jumps, quickly wiping away the tears that began to fall.
"I-I'm... I'm sorry." she stammers in her breaking voice. "I just don't understand what kind of monster would do this to a child. He couldn't have done anything wrong..."
The woman found the calmness she was looking for. She sighs, holding back the sorrow with more force and held herself in a more serious, yet gentle state.
"No child should have to go through what he has been through." she finishes.
Kaien, and any other person, couldn't agree more.
To their relief, Takashi began to moan lightly as he slowly open his eye. Halfway open, the black-haired boy rubs his one good orb as he tries to sit up. The nurse quickly came to his side and gently laid the boy back down.
"Oh no, please. Don't try to move." she says in a gentle hush tone.
"H-Huh? W-Where am I?" Takashi asks as he rests his head on the pillow.
"You're still in the hospital, dear."
Takashi turns with a kink in his neck to lock eyes with the straw-haired man who stood next to him with a gentle smile on his face.
"I'm glad you're awake, Takashi. How are you feeling?" Kaien asks as he leans down closer, brushing the boy's black fringed bangs aside. Kaien feels the boy's forehead, relieved to feel he had no high temperature.
"I... I'm fine." Takashi replies. However, his voice trembled.
"You know, that was a very reckless thing you did, young man. We had us very worried." Kaien says in a firm, yet kind tone. Takashi strangely felt at ease whenever he listen to Kaien speak. His voice, perhaps, was very warm and gentle. Unlike... "Him."
With that thought in mind, he sheepishly says. "I-I'm sorry, Kaien-sama. B-But I-I... wanted to see what I looked like. I was scared, seeing all the gross things on my body. But I wanted to see them." His eyes began to turn away from the adults' gaze, looking at what ever object didn't stare back at him with concerned faces.
"I really didn't mean to burden you... I'm so sorry."
Takashi eyes begin to sting as his eyes began to fill with tears. He tried to stop his lips from quiver, biting gently down on the lower lip to do so, but it was too much. Kaien immediately pulled a tissue from his coat pocket and began to wipe the child's eyes.
"It's all right, little one." Kaien says. "You are not a burden. You just had us for a scary, we are not mad at you."
Takashi shyly cocks his head. "... Are you sure?"
Kaien nods. "Of course. So please, don't worry yourself. Okay?"
The young lad smiles slightly, nodding understandingly. The nurse places a hand on his shoulder, Kaien turns his head toward her with full attention.
"I'm sorry to interrupt," she says kindly. "But visiting hours are almost about over. You should probably head home." On those words, Takashi's one good eye widened with shock, his gut twisted at the thought of not being near Kaien, whose sole presences comforted him and made him feel protected and safe.
When he sees Kaien nod, Takashi tries to shout out the words he was trying to grasp. Yet he couldn't find the words.
Kaien's gaze returns down towards the young boy. The headmaster could see fear in his eyes and his expression. Even so, he says.
"I'm sorry, Takashi, but I must go. I will see you again, though."
As he turned to leave, Takashi launches himself up and grabs firmly, with all his tiny might onto Kaien's hand. He tries to pull his arm close to him, hugging the limb as if it was his last time he would ever see him. And for all his battered mind could comprehend, he would be alone after today with no memory of family or even a home to return to.
"Please, Kaien-sama! Don't go!" Takashi shouts with tremor in his voice. The child buries his face into the adult male's arm, hugging it close to his chest.
"I-I don't want be alone..." His voice he spoke now was more quiet, but the two adults could hear how fragile his state of mind is. Though the woman and the headmaster remained calm, she and Kaien's heart swelled with pity for him.
"If I'm alone again... then... then."
He couldn't finish his words. The memory of the burning pain coursed through his mind and it began to bring tears to his eyes.
Kaien takes his free hand and smooths Takashi's jet black hair. Takashi slowly removed his face from the man's arm and locks eyes with Kaien's hazel orbs, they held such warmth and kindness in them.
"Please don't cry, Takashi. I won't leave you alone. I promise; I will come visit you again." Kaien says.
The boy releases his hold on the male's arm before he raises his one right pinkie out towards him.
"Pinkie promise?"
Kaien chuckles softly, locking his pinkie with Takashi's tiny finger.
"Of course I promise. But you must promise me you will rest and try to get better."
Takashi smiles brightly as he nods lightly.
"Mm-hm. I promise." he replies. And with that, Kaien smiles in return and heads towards the door. He stops in the doorway and turns his head towards the black-haired child.
"Goodbye, Takashi." he says. His eyes filled with sadness and sympathy. His heart filled with melancholy when Takashi throws a small wave with a gentle grin upon his battered face.
Kaien does the same; giving him his own simple wave. And then, he turns and leaves.
"Alright, little one," The nurse says. She gently places her hands on his shoulders and leans him back. "Do as Cross-san says and rest."
Takashi nods as he lays his head into his pillow. "Okay... thank you, Nurse-san." The nurse cocks her head surprisingly with a strange grin on her face.
"Nurse-san, huh? Never heard that before." she says with a amused tone. She has seen her share of polite children, but this boy was almost too polite considering his circumstances.
"Hmm? What do you mean?" he asks.
"Oh, never mind me. I was thinking out loud." she replies with a cheerful, up-beat attitude. The nurse proceeds to tuck the covers under him. After she finishes, she pats Takashi lightly on the head.
"Good night, Takashi." The nurse replies. After the black-haired boy bids goodnight, she turns and leaves. Flipping the light switch off and shutting the door behind her, Takashi is left in almost complete darkness, with only the full moon to act as his nightlight.
He gazes upon the rock that shined through the curtains, feeling a strange sense of relief as if the light of the moon was acting as his shield. With this thought in mind, he turns on his side and leans his face into the pillow that smelled of strong, clean lavender.
For a while, he stares blankly in the dark corners of the room. And as he did, he let his imagination play tricks on him. The thought that out of those dark corners, "He" would appear. Even though he didn't know who or what this thing was that caused his heart to beat like crazy in fear, he couldn't control these emotions.
But there was one thing that appeared in his mind: Headmaster Cross. Thinking of him, the creatures of the dark that he fears dissipate away from him. How could a man he never met before, give him a sense of safety and security?
Either way, Takashi finally allowed his heavy eyelids to close.
As he drifted off, he prayed for morning to come. The morning when Kaien returned.