Alright, now this day is done...

Not Strange, Just Different

Chapter 13 Like Father Like Son

Spirit was at a loss of words. He knew that there really was nothing he could do for him, no matter how badly he wanted to help. So he just held on, trying to think of something he could say or do that would at least do something. Judging by the look in Stein's eyes, whatever it was that he was seeing or feeling wasn't going away. He wished there was some way; somehow this would all be done.

Stein sat, looking at Spirit. He could still feel the scalpel pressed against his face, his father's hand on his shoulder and elbow pressed against him. More blood poured out and ran down his face, a drop falling to the floor. When he tried to move slightly in an attempt to get away from his father, he tightened his grip on him and pressed down on the scalpel harder. He winced.

Spirit lightened his grip, but only by a little bit. He was hoping that the way he was holding onto him would have a sort of comforting affect, give him the feeling that he cared and felt concerned. It was a little hard for Stein to notice it much from the way his father was up to him. The boy began to shake very slightly in his hands, but not nearly as badly as he had the other times.

"Kill him," his father commanded, leaning down so his face was right next to Stein's.

"No," Stein said shaking his head slightly, "I can't."

"Yes you can. You just have to convince him you're sane. If trick him well enough, you'll have no problem getting to him."

"I can't. I won't," Stein refused. His father pressed down even harder, now to the point that a good deal of the blade was in his skin. This brought tears to Stein's eyes, and more blood down his face.

"Yes, you will." His voice sounded stern and menacing, like something bad would happen if he didn't. Stein began to shake a little more, but the idea of cutting into Spirit began to sound rather appealing to him.

"See, I know you want to," his father said, almost as if he could read his mind. "Remember, you just have to make him believe you." Stein's eyes widened slightly as he realized what he was thinking, that he really wanted to kill him. His father seemed to have sensed this, for he drug the blade down fast and hard, causing more pain to the boy.

"I said you have to convince him." After his father said this, he began to want it again. His eyes became less wide, and he stopped shaking. "Good."

Stein loosened himself as to make it appear as if he were more relaxed. Spirit noticed the change in him, so he let go of his grip a little more. Stein looked him in the eye, making sure that there was no trace of madness showing in his. The sudden look of sanity surprised Spirit, but it pleased him and made him feel more relieved.

"Stein, how are you feeling?" Spirit asked this, hoping for a positive response.

"I am feeling fine now," Stein said this, doing so in a way that he would sound calm.

"Are you sure?" His father put the blade on a spot next to the first cut he had made, showing that he would hurt him if Spirit were doubting him.

"Yeah, I really am," he said, managing to sound relatively sane again. Spirit smiled at him, and Stein's father released his grip slightly at knowing he believed him.

"I am glad to hear that. You don't know how much you have been worrying me."

"Sorry that I worried you."

"It's fine. I know you can't do anything about it, and as long as you are fine; that's what really matters, not whether I am at ease or not." His father let go of him, but Stein could still feel that he was there.

"Well, you don't have to worry anymore." Stein said this, and his father disappeared. His voice, however, was still there in the back of his mind.

"Good, he believes you." His laughter began to echo. "This is what you need; you know it is." To please him, Stein did not say anything back.

"Could you let go of me now?" Stein asked in his regular bland tone.

"Oh yeah, sorry." Spirit let go, and as soon as he did, Stein stood up. He took a couple steps from the bed, keeping himself as calm as he could. Spirit looked up at him, completely fooled.

"It's fine," he said this, turning to face his dissection table.

"Mr. Collins will be really glad to hear you're doing better. He came by earlier to see how you were doing."

"Oh, yeah?"

"Yeah, he said that he was worried since you didn't show up for class."

"That was nice of him." Stein saw his scalpel lying on the table, and noticed that it still had blood covering it. He walked over to the table and picked it up.

"I guess I'm going to need to clean this off, huh?" He picked up the scalpel, turning it over to look at the other side.

"Yeah, that thing's disgusting."

"Do you mind if I go clean it off? Maybe we can go get something to eat afterward."

"I would prefer if you cleaned it; the thing has to be covered in germs. And sure thing, we can have whatever you want."

"Okay, I shouldn't take too long." As he said this, he began to walk over to the area where the door was.

"Do it!" his father yelled. The madness began to increase, and Stein had to try to keep himself from showing any signs of it. He actually managed to keep Spirit believing his ruse, and this even impressed himself a bit.

He walked over to the point that he was behind Spirit, and right before the boy began to turn around he wrapped his right arm around his neck. He pulled it against him hard enough that it constricted his airway, so he began to gasp. Spirit reached his hands up to Stein's arm, trying to pull it off. Stein just pulled him back from the bed and onto his feet, squeezing a little harder.

He brought his left arm, the one that held onto the scalpel, up to the boy's face. Spirit tried to yell to Stein, but all that came out was strangled noises. Stein's father appeared standing next to them.

"What are you waiting for?" his father asked. Stein pushed the blade onto Spirit's skin, which caused him to jerk in an effort to get away. It did no good, for he only brought the blade slowly down his face. Spirit could feel blood start to poor out, and he was honestly terrified. Tears began to run down his face, and he started gasping even more. Stein brought the scalpel up to his head, and Spirit began to get lightheaded from the lack of air.

Spirit transformed his arm into a blade, and brought it up to Stein's chin. He kept the scalpel at Spirit's head, but did not move. Spirit stuck the blade on his skin, meaning that if he does anything he will slice him. Stein just grinned, and began laughing quietly.

Spirit could feel himself start to become unconscious, and he was scared beyond believe. He pressed the blade into Stein lightly as he kicked Stein from behind him in the legs, trying to scream again while doing so. Like last time, no words managed to come out. He could feel Stein's grip loosen very slightly from the blade at his neck, so he pressed a little harder. The blade was beginning to cut into his skin, and he could feel it. He knew he had to try something else, a different plan. Therefore, he let go of Spirit, shoving him forward as he did so.

Spirit wiped the blood off his face, even though he knew more would just come out. He grabbed onto his neck, as it hurt very badly from having that much pressure applied to it. After catching his breath, he noticed how Stein was just standing there looking at him. He looked normal again. Spirit's arm transformed back to normal, but he knew he still could not let his guard down. He knew that he could very well trick him again; however, he did not know that he already had.

Stein thrust the scalpel forward, madness reappearing in his eyes instantly. Spirit ducked and stepped to the side, turning to run out of the room as soon as he got out of the way of the knife. Stein watched as he fled in terror, and began laughing at this. He grinned and started his way out of the room, only to see Spirit shut the door to his room.

He started toward the boy's room, finding out that the door was locked when he got there. He tried to turn the knob multiple times, but soon gave up when he knew it would not budge.

Spirit remembered that Mr. Collins said he could call if something were to happen, so he grabbed his phone and started dialing the man's number. He was halfway through dialing it when Spirit heard a loud noise, looking up only to see his door breaking into pieces. Stein stood in front of the doorway grinning, green electricity surrounding his hand.

Stein walked in, and tried to grab Spirit. The boy just ducked and ran under his extended arm, and burst out of the room. Stein turned around and began to follow him. He saw Spirit go through the living room, and open the door running out into the back yard. Stein walked at a fast pace through the same way the other boy had, and got outside. Spirit was running around the side of the house, and out to the front.

Spirit ran to a bush that was on the other side of the front of the house, and crouched down behind it. He started dialing the number again, and actually managed to do it completely this time. He began to hear it ring, and he could hear Stein start to get close to the bush.

Mr. Collins was sitting on his couch watching TV, and his phone began to ring. A confused look came across his face, and he picked it up to see who would be calling him. He heard Spirit breathing heavily, and Stein laughing in the background. He instantly froze up.

"Spirit? What's wrong?" he asked, obvious fear showing in his voice.

"I need you to come over here now. Stein is trying to kill me." he heard come from the other end, along with more heavy breathing.

"Okay, I will be there in a minute."

"Hurry!" he heard Spirit yell, more laughter coming through after.

He hung up his phone, throwing it down on the couch. He got up and slipped out the door, then ran down his stairs as fast as he could without causing himself to trip. He began sprinting down the road, cursing to himself.

"Damn it!" he yelled, running as fast as he possibly could.

Spirit ran out from behind the bushes, and around to the back of the house. Stein ran from the other side, hoping Spirit would be at the end of the wall when he got there so he would have a very little chance of getting away. When he got to the side, he was running through the back door. Therefore, he went over to the door, and went through it. The other boy was trying to hide in the bathroom, but Stein knew it would be no problem to get into.

Spirit was trying to catch his breath, panting and holding onto his knees. He heard laughter come from the other side, and quickly straightened up. Soon Stein was kicking the door in with his foot. He got it open on the third kick, and ran through to Spirit. Spirit began to shake because he knew that because the bathroom was so small, he was cornered.

Stein tried to grab the boy, but when he did, he punched him as hard as he could in the face. Stein could feel blood start to drip out, and his nose began to throb. He just ignored it, though, and turned to see the red head go through the door. Stein rushed out and into his own room, where the other boy went. Spirit was standing in the corner, so he just blocked him from moving. The corner had his dissection table, so he realized this would make things easier for him.

Spirit began shaking when he heard Stein's laugh, and even more when he saw him reach over to a tray that sat next to his dissection table. He grabbed a needle from it, and shoved it into Spirit's neck, injecting the chemicals into him. He began to laugh even more as he dropped to the floor, landing at Stein's feet.

Mr. Collins ran in to see Spirit on the floor in the corner, and Stein with the needle in his hand. He did not know what he had just injected into him, so this scared him a lot. Stein turned to face Mr. Collins, and threw the needle to the side as he walked towards him. He tried to hit Mr. Collins with his wavelength, but he grabbed Stein's other arm and brought it to behind the boy's back. Stein clenched his teeth, and used the other arm to elbow his teacher in the ribs.

Mr. Collins winced, but he kept holding onto Stein. Stein tried to kick him from behind, but could not quite get him. Mr. Collins grabbed onto his head and pushed the boy down onto the ground, in a way as to make sure he did not hurt him too much in the process. Once he got Stein on the ground, he kept his arm behind his back, but stepped on it to keep it down instead. After he got him down, Stein began to giggle from under him.

Mr. Collins reached over to his dissection table, grabbing a needle. The label showed that it was an anesthetic, so he got it and injected it into Stein. Stein stopped laughing, and he was out cold. Mr. Collins lifted his foot off his arm, and picked up the other needle that was on the floor. He sat both on the table, and looked down at both boys.

"I suppose if someone were to come in right now this wouldn't look too good," Mr. Collins said aloud. He first picked up Stein, sitting him down in his bed. Then he picked up Spirit, and carried him out of the other boy's room. He walked down the hall, stopping a couple times to readjust himself so he would not drop him, and soon got to his room. He stepped over the pieces of wood from the broken door, and sat him down. He sighed when he looked at the door again.

He knew that, judging from how Stein could just break through the doors, Spirit was in danger. He did not know what they could do about it, but he knew it was definitely an issue. After he walked out to their living room, he sat down on their couch. He wanted to wait for them to wake up, that way he could make sure Stein did not just start all over again.

He sat there, and after about thirty minutes, he began to fall asleep. He kept dozing off, and every now and then his head would snap back up or he would jerk awake. Eventually he was out, and stayed out. As he began to snore, he fell over on their couch into a lying position. In his sleep, he picked his feet off the ground and curled up on their couch, turning so he was facing away from the room.

In another half hour, Spirit woke up in his room. He sat up, looking towards his door. He remembered what had happened, and remembered that Mr. Collins was supposed to be coming. He got up and walked out of his room, going over to see Stein still sleeping in his bed. After he shut the boy's door, he went out to see Mr. Collins on the couch, curled up and asleep as well.

"Mr. Collins," Spirit said this as he poked the man in the arm a few times. Spirit stepped back as he began to turn over. He turned too far, and ended up falling onto the floor on his back. He sat up, seeing Spirit standing in front of him.

"Oh, Spirit."

"How did Stein-"

"Same way as you. When I got here, you were unconscious in front of him. He tried to attack me, but I ended it fairly quickly."

"How did you manage to deal with him quickly? I want details." Mr. Collins got off the floor and sat back on the couch.

"Well, when he went after me he tried to shoot his wavelength into me. I grabbed onto his other arm and twisted it behind his back. Using my other arm I pushed him to the ground, grabbed one of his needles, and injected him with it. After that, I moved both of you to your beds. There really isn't anything else to it."

"Oh, I wouldn't have figured it would have been that easy."

"I really didn't either. But hey, I'm not complaining."

"Yeah... And how exactly did you end up asleep?"

"I was just trying to wait here for you guys to get up, and I ended up dozing off... Listen, Spirit, as you probably already know from today, there is not much stopping Stein from getting to you. I don't know what we are going to do about it, but it puts you in danger since he basically has the ability to get to you whenever."

"I know. He breaks through those doors like it's nothing."

"It is nothing to him, and that's a problem."

"And there is also the fact that I don't always know how he is. The first time he tried to get me, he said that he was feeling fine and looked like he always did. He saw his scalpel and said that he should clean it off. When he went to clean, he went behind me and got ahold of me."

"So he tricked you... We'll have to be careful about that."

"Yeah, we definitely will. And it looks like I am going to need a new door; there's nothing to even slow him down without one."

"If you want I can run out to get one, or you could go and I'll stay here with Stein. Whichever you'd prefer."

"Considering the trouble I was having before and the way you handled him, it would probably be best if you stayed here."

"Alright, you're probably right in saying that." As Mr. Collins said this, Spirit went back and got his wallet from his room. He stepped back over the pile of wood, and went to the living room.

"I think it would help if the pieces of door weren't back there; they're getting in the way."

"Yeah, I'll take care of that while you're out."

"Thanks, I appreciate you helping. I'll be back soon."

"It's no problem. And okay, see you later."

Spirit walked out of the house and started down the road, sighing to himself while doing so. Almost right after he left, Stein began to wake up. He saw that he was now in his bed again, and remembered why he was. He was furious with Mr. Collins for the fact that he had been so close; he had Spirit lying at his feet, not able to do a single thing to stop him.

He heard Mr. Collins get up and go back to Spirit's room, and could tell that he began to pick up the pieces of broken wood. Something else he could hear was him getting a garbage bag to put it all in. He used his soul perception, and saw that Spirit was not there anymore. He sat up in bed, and leaned against the wall, bringing his knees up to his chest. Then he began to hear the noise in the back of his head grow louder and louder, reaching an almost painful volume. He turned the screw a few times hoping it would go away, but that time it did nothing.

As he brought his hand down, he tilted his head back so it was against the wall. He looked up at the ceiling, and just stared for a few minutes. When he brought his head back down, he looked to his left, only to see something charging at him. It had no definite shape, but it was black and had an ominous look to it. A loud, indescribable noise came out of it as it raced up beside Stein. The boy jerked his head to his right and looked back seeing that it was gone. A single giggle came out.

He looked at the wall that was directly in front of him, and a wolf began to take form and slowly come out from inside the wall. It stood and watched Stein, while he watched it with a blank gaze. The wolf put one of its front paws up, planted it down firmly, backed up slightly, and sprung forward. It jumped into the air, and Stein watched, as it got right in front of his face growling. It was gone in a second, and Stein started laughing quietly at seeing this.

All of the sudden, hundreds of centipedes came crawling from under his bed. He could hear them crawl across the floor, and start to come up the legs of his bed. He felt something start to come up his back and onto his shoulder. It quickly crawled across his neck, and he brushed it off seeing it fall to the end of his bed. After this, all of the other centipedes began to climb up on his bed as well. They began running toward Stein, sometimes stepping over each other in the process.

The noises from them walking started combining with the noise in his head, amplifying both at the same time. He brought his hands up to his ears, but quickly took them off when multiple of them began to climb up his legs. He started trying to brush them off, but more just kept coming onto him and some were beginning to creep up his back. He wanted to scream, but instead laughter came out.

They began going up his arms, and no matter how much he brushed them off it did not do him any good. He felt one climbing on his skin, and saw that one had gotten under his lab coat and was working its way up his arm. He jumped off his bed, and threw his coat off. He started violently sweeping them off himself, and he could start to feel them crawl up the top of his neck and onto his head. He quickly ran his fingers through his hair, feeling the centipede attach to his hand as he did so. He shook his hand and the bug flew off.

Mr. Collins had just came in from taking the bag of wood pieces out to the trash can, and as he shut the door he could hear faint laughter. He knew Stein was awake now, so he started back the hall to see what he was doing. When he walked in he saw Stein's coat on the floor, and the boy standing there brushing himself off. He knew that he was just hallucinating and that he could not do anything about it, but he still wanted to try something. He walked in front of Stein.

"Hey, Stein," Mr. Collins said to the boy, seeing how wide his eyes were. Stein did not seem to notice him in the slightest. He began to back up, and hit the wall when he had gone as far as he could. Mr. Collins just got up to him again.

"Hey, what are you doing?" He thought that maybe if he could get Stein to tell him what was going on, he would be able to tell him otherwise and get him to realize that it, whatever it was, was not real.

"Centipedes... They're everywhere!" Stein yelled as he brushed one from off his face.

"Stein, there are no centipedes," he said this, using as calm a tone as he possibly could.

"Yes, there are!" Stein began to move forward, so the older of the two stepped off to the side. The younger one walked backwards, inching towards the door until he felt himself hit something. He froze, and then turned around to see his father with a scalpel. He stepped back, feeling the little bugs crawl all over him. He still brushed them off, but not as fast now that he was distracted.

"Why haven't you done it yet? You can take him down easily; I know you are capable of it. It's time you start doing what you want to do, not what they want you to do." Stein began to laugh again, but this time it sounded more hysterical, almost panicked.

"Take him down. Get your scalpel. Cut into him. Watch his blood spill out." Stein dropped to the floor, crawling over to where he would be next to his bed. His arms went over his head, and he was practically in a ball on the floor. Mr. Collins walked over and crouched down next to Stein.

"Hey, Stein. What's wrong?" He placed a hand on Stein's arm.

"No!" He jerked away, feeling the centipedes continue to scrabble over him, one going over his ear. He brushed it off, and heard it hit not the ground, but instead other surrounding bugs.

"Hey, listen-"

"No!" Mr. Collins pulled Stein's arms off his head, and held onto him.

"Listen. There are no centipedes. Concentrate. There are no centipedes. Just imagine them going away; they'll leave you alone." After he said this, Stein started trying to focus on the thought of them not being there. They were not crawling on him anymore, and he lifted his head.

"See." Mr. Collins smiled at him. Stein did not want to look at him, so his eyes started wondering to everywhere else. Mr. Collins could see this.

"I know that this is really hard on you. You just have to hold on. I know you can get past this; you're a very strong kid. I just need you to promise me that you will try your best not to hurt anyone, no matter how badly you want to. Do you think you can do that?" After he finished asking this, Stein looked at him in the eye.

"Yeah."

Mr. Collins kept smiling, and it was almost comforting in a way to Stein.

"Can I just ask something else of you?"

"What is it?" he asked in a low voice.

"What did you run into earlier? It really seemed to have freaked you out."

"It was my father," he said this, looking away after.

"What was he doing?" Stein did not answer for a bit, but then he looked back up at Mr. Collins and answered.

"He told me to kill you," he said this in a voice that showed he hated his father's influence on him. Mr. Collins waited a few seconds before responding.

"Is he who told you to kill Spirit earlier?"

"Yeah, he did. He said that I just had to trick him, and then it would be very easy to get to him."

"Don't act as if it was entirely my fault. You know you could have stopped yourself," Stein could hear his father say in the back of his mind. He could almost start to feel his father's blade, so his eyes began to widen slightly. Mr. Collins saw this, so he grabbed onto Stein so that he was hugging him.

"You're strong." He let go of Stein, got up, and went out to the living room. Spirit had just come home, so he was going out to help him with everything.

"How is he?" Spirit asked as he handed everything to the man.

"He was having a little bit of trouble, but I think he is fine now." He started back down the hall to Spirit's room, and sat down the new door. Spirit went over to see Stein, but saw him just sitting, and sadness rushed over him briefly.

"Do you guys happen to have any tools?" Mr. Collins asked from down the hall.

"Yeah, they're just in the closet," Spirit said this, walking over to where Mr. Collins was.

"Good. I didn't want to have to get mine." He went around through the living room to the closet, and got everything that he would need. After he got back down, he took out the hinges that were there before for the old door. He looked back, seeing Spirit watch him.

"You can go do something if you want. You don't need to feel like you have to stay to keep me company, you know."

"Alright. It's getting late enough that maybe I could go make dinner... Stein usually does it, so I guess I'll have to just try."

"Have at it," Mr. Collins said this, finishing with taking off the last of the hinges.

"Just don't blame me if you end up with food poisoning." He walked off down the hall and toward the kitchen. He got out a cookbook, and looked for something basic considering it was his first time ever cooking.

After searching through the drawers, he finally had everything he would need to use to put the stuff in. Now he just had to get the actual ingredients out. He sighed to himself over the realization that he had no clue what he was doing, and was not patient enough to read through directions. He could already tell this would be torture.

Stein sat at the foot of his bed, and stared at the ground. He did not make any sounds, and he barely moved an inch. As he sat there, these things formed. They looked almost like eyes with legs and feet, and were multicolored. They just kept scrabbling across the floor, moving around in front of the boy. He watched them, and his eyes moved around to follow the thing.

Spirit was about to spray a pan, but right before he did he felt the can slide out of his hand, and another one was placed in it. He turned around to see Mr. Collins holding the can Spirit had just a second ago.

"Spirit, this is furniture polish," he said this, and then pointed at the other can as he said the next part. "That is cooking spray."

"Oh, thanks..." Spirit started spraying the pan, and quickly had the whole thing covered; then sat the can down on the counter top.

"What are you making?" he asked as he leaned into the counter.

"Macaroni and cheese. It had to be something basic, so I figured this would work."

"Now that you aren't going to poison us, yeah that will do just fine." Spirit blushed very slightly at almost poisoning them, but tried to hide it by shooting a light glare at the man.

"Hey, I was just trying to help," Mr. Collins said this as he began to back up, holding his arms out in a defensive manner to Spirit.

While he finished with the door, Spirit made dinner. Soon both of them were done, and Spirit was sitting everything on the table. He went back the hall to bring some to Stein.

"Hey, Stein, I brought you some food." He sat it on his desk, and Stein did not even look up at him. His eyes just kept going back and forth wherever the thing went. Spirit stood and watched him for a minute, feeling extremely bad. He walked out, and sat down near Mr. Collins.

"Get anything from him?" the man asked as he looked up at the redhead.

"Nope, nothing. He didn't even look up."

"Everything will be fine eventually; you just have to be patient."

"Yeah, I know."

They finished eating, and Mr. Collins helped Spirit with washing the dishes. After they had everything cleaned up, Spirit thanked Mr. Collins for everything he had done to help, and he went home. Spirit walked to Stein's room, and stood at the doorway. He saw how Stein was still just sitting there, doing nothing.

Stepping back from the doorway, he took a couple steps and sat down, leaning against the wall to the boy's room. He did not want to go off into his room, because he was honestly worried about him. That was the first time he had really gotten to sit down and do nothing, except for being unconscious, of course. His muscles began to relax, and he just sat for the rest of the evening, enjoying how quiet and peaceful it was, while Stein continued to sit and watch the thing scrabble around.

It was getting late, so he got up and went into his partner's room.

"Do you want this?" He picked up the plate of food, and held it out to Stein. Yet again, he did not take any notice of him. Spirit took that as a no, and brought it out to the kitchen. He cleaned off the plate, washed it and the fork, dried them off and put them away. Walking over to the sink, he drained the water out of it. When sitting outside the boy's room, he had begun to get tired; and combined with everything he had done today, he was pretty exhausted.

Before going to his room, he went to Stein's. He peaked his head in real quick.

"Goodnight, Stein. Don't stay up too late. I'll see you in the morning." He went over to his room, and climbed into bed after changing into lounge pants and a loose T-shirt. After he plopped down, he slipped his covers over himself and felt his muscles relax once again. He laid looking at the ceiling, and could start to feel his eyelids start to get heavy, and soon he was asleep.

After a while when it was close to 2:30 A.M., Stein's father appeared on the bed above him. He sat with his legs crossed, his arms resting on his knees, and chin supported by his hands.

"Stein," he whispered as he leaned down towards the boy. Stein stiffened, and sat up slightly, looking over his shoulders seeing his father.

"What do you want?" Stein asked in a low voice.

"What do you think I want?"

"He is my partner; I can't hurt him."

"Why not? It's what you want. He is asleep, so he wouldn't even have to know you cut into him. Just ensure that he won't wake up with one of those nifty needles that you have over there," he said this, pointing to the dissection table at the end. Stein got up, and walked over to the table. He picked up one of the needles, and used both hands to hold it and turn it over slightly. As he stared down at it, he could feel his father looking over his shoulders.

"You're debating it, aren't you?" he asked this with a sly tone to his voice and a slight smirk on his face. Stein continued to look down at the needle.

"With those chemicals coursing through his body, you're free to cut him up all you want. He's stupid enough that he wouldn't notice anyway."

"He's not stupid," Stein shot at him.

"Now I don't know about that."

"Just shut up." He went to look to his left to see his father, but he was not there; now he was to the right and almost in front of him.

"Think of all the blood you'll get to see, and everything that will be exposed for examination." Instantly, images began to flood Stein's mind. He grinned, and his father did directly after him. After picking up his still bloody scalpel, he wiped it off on his pants. As he started at the sharp blade of it, he began to crave the feeling of it sliding across skin. He began to get all anxious inside, and started trembling a bit. The grin grew.

"I'll do it." He sat the scalpel down and traded it for the needle.

"Good, Franken." This time he called him by his first name, which caused Stein to look at his father.

"Go."

He started out of his room, and had to grab onto the doorway as more images flooded his mind. Some brief laughter came out, but he quickly quieted himself as to make sure he did not wake Spirit. After standing up straight, he continued to the boy's room.

When he walked in, he saw Spirit lying half-tangled in his covers, his arm slung over his face. Stein walked up to Spirit, and turned his wrist over, injecting the anesthetic. He picked the boy up, and threw him over his shoulder, his arms dangling and swinging back and forth as he carried him back to his room. He sat him down on the table, and slid his shirt off, letting it drop to the ground after. Next, he strapped down his wrists and ankles; and then turned on the bright overhead lights.

He grabbed his scalpel, and brought it down on his side. He began to bring it down, and could see the blood start to come out where he had made the incisions. He pressed down harder on the spot it was at now, and more blood began to seep out. This excited him, enthralled him, and quiet laughter began to come out.

The blade kept going down, and he could start to see tissue. He sat his scalpel down, and picked up some forceps. He peeled back his skin slightly, and then grabbed another pair. Holding the skin back with the right pair, he used the left to lift up some muscle. He loved the way he had to pull up from it still being attached. He released the muscle, and it fell back down. Blood was beginning to go onto the table slightly, and every now and then, he could hear it drop down. He stuck a finger in the blood, and held it up to look at. He loved the way it glistened. After he was done, he wiped it off on the table.

"Stein! What are you doing?" Mr. Collins said from the boy's doorway.

"What I want to do," Stein said this, his voice dissolving into laughter at the end. Mr. Collins ran over to the boy, so Stein threatened him.

"You take another step, and I shove this through his skull," Stein said this with a large grin on his face, the scalpel placed over his head. Mr. Collins held his arms out in front of himself.

"Look, Stein. I'll stay back."

Stein began laughing, and he brought the scalpel to the middle of the upper part of his chest, carving a line down to the bottom of his abdomen. Everything was open, exposed, and Stein stared down at the boy, taking in the sight of it all. He began poking at his small intestines.

"Stein, you need to stop right now. Put the scalpel down, and step away from Spirit," he said this in a calm yet stern voice, making sure to not trigger the boy, for he knew this could result in the death of Spirit.

Stein did not pay any attention to him, but instead touched the boy's heart. He happened to touch it when it beat, and this sent pleasant chills down his spine.

"Stein, I said for you to get away from him," Mr. Collins said this as Stein began to cut into his spleen. He just laughed, and kept slicing away. Mr. Collins stepped forward to take the scalpel from him, but Stein just drove the knife through Spirit's heart, and blood came gushing out just like his laughter.

Mr. Collins could not believe what had just happened, and was beyond furious about it. Blood poured all over the table, and some began to run over and drip onto the ground. The boy's chest stopped rising as Stein gasped for air. Mr. Collins ran at Stein, and shoved him into the wall.

When Stein felt his back hit the wall, he opened his eyes to see Spirit lying on the table. All he had was a single incision on his side that had already been sewn. Stein stopped leaning into the wall, and sauntered over to Spirit. He sat his head down on the edge of the table as he shook with complete terror, and panted trying to keep his breathing a little steadier.

He did not know how long he had taken, so as soon as he could, he unstrapped the boy and put his shirt back on him. He picked him up more carefully this time, and brought him back into his room. Once he had him in his bed, he pulled his covers back over him and left.

He got to his room and dropped to his knees. His hands slid over his face, and then sobs began to escape the boy. As he continued to cry, his father came and bent down so he was in his face. He began to laugh.

"I guess you really are like me, Franken." After he said this, more laughter came out.

Oh yeah, did you like my excuse for killing someone without having to loose the character and totally ruin the rest of the story?

I forgot to change "{LINE BREAK}" to actual line breaks, so if you saw that that's why.