Created

Chapter One
Adam ran. He ran faster than he had ever ran before. They were so close, so close behind. He had always been ahead, always been one step in front of them. Not this time. This time, they had him. Adam closed his eyes tight and let the tears escape, letting his feet, not his eyes direct him. One shaking hand came up and wiped the tears away. He let out a long breath, breaking the pattern of his running pant. Adam opened his eyes and looked over his shoulder, at the men, cloaked in black, following him.

There were five men, each one twice Adam’s size. While Adam was breathing hard, his stalkers were not yet beginning to sweat. Adam was exhausted; every muscle in his body screamed, ready to collapse from fatigue, but they appeared to be running even faster than before. ‘It’s not a wonder,’ Adam thought spitefully to himself. ‘Chasing me is what they were created for.’

What they were created for… Created... Adam bit deeply into his bottom lip and squeezed his eyes shut as he thought about the wasted purpose he had been created for. He flinched slightly as his teeth pierced his lip-and he hurt inside his heart because he tasted no blood from the cut, proving to remind him just that much more about his inhumanity. He hadn’t been born, with two loving parents to raise him. Adam had been created, and nothing could ever diminish the pain of that fact.

Adam tried to banish these thoughts from his head-they caused too much pain-but, of course, the effort was almost entirely unsuccessful. As if to taunt him, a picture of Arta’s pretty, smiling face appeared in the front of his mind, and closing his eyes wouldn’t escape the image, or the hurt. He had tried to tell himself once that it was Arta's fault he felt this pain, it was her fault. But, he couldn't hate her. It was impossible. No matter what he did, he couldn't get her out of his mind, her blonde hair that he loved. He remembered when he begged her not to cut it because it was too pretty. He smiled quietly as he remembered so many things they had done together. What had happened between Adam and Arta would forever scar Adam’s heart.

Adam snapped back to reality when he felt a different kind of pain-physical. It was like a heavy weight that stopped the beating of his heart, and left in its place a sharp, searing burn. He felt the air leave his lungs in one gasp of shock as he jerked to a stop, clutching his chest. Eye’s wide with fear, hunched over in pain, Adam screamed. The pain was too much to bear as it spread through his body. He staggered a few shaking steps and through his haggard breath, he cried, “C-Can’t run… Hurts too… much… gghhhh… GYAAA!” The pain was too much.

Tears of fear, pain, and shame pricked at Adam’s eyes, and not for the first time that night. He had to find help, he had to keep going! Help! A person walking, someone in their house, anyone! Adam took in as much air as he could through the agony of the pain, and he screamed, staggering on as fast as he could.

“HELP! HELP! Someone, please, HELP ME!!” No answer from the dark town except the pounding footsteps just yards behind him. Adam fell hopelessly to his knees-his legs wouldn’t work, wouldn’t respond anymore. Sobbing, Adam looked towards the stars. The pinpricks of light in the sky became blurry and disoriented as he stared through his tears. The light seemed so hopeful, so full of promise. Still, he could hardly draw strength from them. They were so far away, SO secluded in their own perfect world in the night sky. They, amongst their hope and peace in the heavens knew nothing of Adam’s twisted, broken world. He looked away.

“I’m… I’m going to… die…” he whispered to the stars, though he still refused to look at them. He clenched his teeth and screamed towards the heavens; “I’M GOING TO DIE!!” Adam fell towards the ground, help up only now by his elbows and fists pounding the pavement. “She… She’ll kill me. She will eventually, if her assassins don’t. I… I want them to kill me. They will do it quickly and, if I’m lucky, even painlessly. But she will keep me just barely alive, just on the brink of life and death, so she can study me!” Adams’ fingernails bit into his flesh, and again, no blood. He heard his assailant’s footsteps coming even closer. HE willed them to be kind to him, give him a quick death, quick and painless.

Adam thought he saw a light go on in a little shop across the street. He couldn’t be sure, though. Through the tears, his sight was slowly fading to black. His mind was shutting off. He could hardly process thoughts. The only sound that filled his ears were footsteps-but, wait? This was only one pair of footsteps, only one, coming closer to him. Faintly, in his dying ears, he heard someone cry out. Then, he shut down.