The Edge

Zacky:

"Fucking let go of me! I'm not some rabid animal! Let go!"

Screaming was coming from outside my door, making me curiously lift my head off of the thin white mattress. I hadn't seen any of my friends, well, Cheryl, in a long while, and I thought it might be her yelling, but the voice wasn't that of a girl. I sat up, sweeping my hair from my face as the heavy door was opened and a small boy, just a little taller than me, was thrown into the room.

The guard who'd been holding him scoffed, mumbling, "You two can kill each other off. Say hello to Zachary, Jonathan. He's your new roomate."

With that, the burly man slammed the door closed on us. The kid, Jonathan or whatever, picked himself up, dusting off the hospital gown he was in, glaring at me.

"Who are you?" He asked me roughly, his voice tainted with ruddy experience of unthinkable things, "What'd you do to get in here?"

He sure was just bursting with questions. Before I answered him, I studied him. He had short blonde hair with black streaks in it, and it was gelled up. He was short, but as I'd noticed before, he was a bit taller than me. He looked older, too, and sported a pair of muddy brown eyes. They weren't as gorgeous as Brian's, they didn't have that inner ring of underlying darkness that I was so fond of in Brian's eyes, but they were pretty, hints of green here and there in them. He also had tattoos snaking up his arms, only confirming my suspicion that he was older than me, and a nose ring piercing his right nostril. He reminded me of Brian in the sense that he seemed totally undaunted by the opinions of others, and he freely marked his body.

I decided then and there when I was out of here I'd get myself some tattoos and some piercings. I'd be bold like they were, I'd make a statement. I'd be myself. Well, minus the psycho killer soul reaping half.

I sighed softly, gesturing to the bed if he wanted to sit down, "I'm Zacky. Thirteen years old, I killed my guardian."

Rather than looking frightened, Jonathan nodded respectfully, as though that was some noble deed I'd performed. He went over to the bed, sitting down on the thin mattress next to me.

"Cool. I'm Johnny. Johnny Seward." He gave me a look like I should know exactly who Johnny Seward was.

When I didn't say anything, he sighed, his shoulders slumping slightly and some of his vigor lost, "Er, Are you new here? Most people know me.. I've been in and out of here since, hell, since I was old enough to talk. My parents are the real loons, they'd try and dump me in here any chance they get, saying that I'm mentally unstable because I don't have a lot of friends or something.. This time, though, they found out I was sort of obsessed with this kid... "

He broke off, shifting nervously in place. I grinned, "Hey, no sweat man, I'm obsessed with my sort-of-boyfriend, Brian. He's so gorgeous."

Johnny laughed lightly, shaking his head and relaxing a little at my words, "Ah. Yeah, you're gay?"

"Mhm. Well, I mean, I've never been attracted to a woman, so I guess. Wait, so they threw you into an insane asylum for being into someone?" I asked curiously.

"Well uh.." Johnny looked away awkwardly, "Not just... er, into him... More of, uh, I worshiped him kind of?"

He ended the sentence with an upward inflection, like it was a question. It occurred to me he was probably nervous about sharing his love of whoever it was he was in love with, I would be, too, in his place.

"So what's his name?" I inquired brightly, biting on my lip a bit. Johnny shuffled his feet, staring down at them for a while. In the mean time, letting him work up the courage to tell me to fuck off or to reveal to me his secret love, I reached over and poked at one of the tattoos on his arm, tracing the different colors with interest.

He gave me an odd look, "Uh, what are you doing...?"

"I dunno. I wanted to know if they feel different than normal skin does, ya know? I was thinking about getting tattoos, my Brian has some and you have some. Does it hurt to get them, though?" I asked. He seemed more than grateful for the tactful change of subject, glancing at me a moment and smiling.

"Well," Johnny gave a small yawn, sitting up a little straighter, "It's mildly painful, it really depends on your tolerance for pain, I suppose. It was never a huge problem for me. Aren't you a little young to be thinking about inking your skin up?"

I laughed, "I suppose so. But look at you, you aren't much older than me, are you?"

"Hey! I'm fucking fifteen, stupid kid, shut your mouth." He growled, suddenly flaring up at me. It occurred to me he was probably sensitive about his height.

Nevertheless, I am not a nice person, "Coulda fooled me."

Johnny glared at me for a long moment before he sighed, "Alright, alright, yeah, I'm short. Sorry for snapping at you, it's just not my favorite thing because everyone references it. I mean, it's all good fun until the midget gets carted off to an insane asylum. Then you've got a crazy midget."

"Not everyone here is crazy. I'm not crazy, you aren't crazy just because you have an... extensive fondness for that kid." I explained lightly, laying back on the bed.

Johnny just nodded, mulling over what I'd said before getting off the bed and looking around the room a bit. Once he'd settled down, he clambered up into the bunk above mine, telling me he was going to sleep, and leaving me to practice my skills quietly.

When I'd called Brian, I'd used a basic form of mind control to influence Ann into allowing me her cell phone. Brian's cell phone number, however, had just come to me at random, a series of digits floating through my mind that I had dialed in hopes for the best.

And, obviously, the best had come.
I liked to thing that Brian liked me enough to go after me and help me get out of here, but his main concern for now was getting in to see me without alerting his mother. Nevertheless, when the time came for me to inform him of my less-than-human condition, I knew he'd understand.

I hoped he'd understand...