Splice.
#002
Kage exudes something quiet, something that makes all the other kids give him a wide birth. They can tell, it’s human instinct. He’s different and everyone knows it, he’s broken and everyone knows it. He’s no longer human, he’s fucking hollow.
"I know what you are," a girl whispers in his ear, Kage turns and raises a brow at the girl, "you’re a monster," she runs away.
It’s not that he does anything different to the other kids, but he likes to keep himself to himself. He just doesn’t see why he has to do anything anyone says, doesn’t see why he has to be nice to people when he doesn’t feel like it, doesn’t see why he shouldn’t tell people when they’re wrong.
~~~
"Son," Kura looks up at his dad in horror, "what are you doing?" His father’s voice reflects his inner turmoil.
Kura completely freezes, he feels his soul shudder and crack as his father continues to ask the same questions with panic rising in his voice. The corpse of the neighbour’s cat falls limply from his hand and thuds upon the ground.
Darkness consumes him.
~~~
His fingers slide over the blade of the knife, the stainless steel gleams and feels cold and hard against his skin. A destructive tool that fits snugly into his palm, he wants to see if the meat splays apart as it does on a cutting board.
~~~
Limbs and gore fly past him and he just stands still, Kura stares deep into the eye of the storm, it moves past him, spares him. The shadows pass him by and suddenly he’s on the street again, feels the asphalt beneath his shins and realises that he’s kneeling.
Everything’s the same, there’s no blood, no gore, just empty streets. The deafening sound of helicopter blades bear down upon him, they lower and the wind causes his clothes to billow around him. Kura doesn’t look up, he already knows what’s going to happen. Even the most horrifying things he’d ever come across have rejected him, how would any human react to him now.
~~~
The roof of the school bus peels away from the frame and Kage can’t see a thing. He just stays seated, gripping the seatbelt tightly. The darkness eventually passes and Kage finds himself alone, the bus is suddenly empty. He feels like something’s gone through his mental office, feels the disarray of files all over the floor of his brain. He doesn’t really feel any different.
~~~
The walls are white, the floors are white, the ceiling is white, his clothes are white, everyone’s clothes are white, the sheets are white, the curtains are white, the furniture is white and it makes Kura sick, it makes his eyes sting.
It’s not the worst part though, six year old Kura feels crippled under the weight of his loneliness. Nobody speaks to him, they speak to each other about him and they speak at him and they stick him with needles and tell him to swallow pills and make him eat his greens.
He hates them all, every single last one of them, he bears his teeth at them. He doesn’t feel human anymore, he’s not sure that he ever did, he’s not sure that he even knows what it means to be human.
~~~
Kura growls and the other boys laugh, but not for long. And it’s not long before he’s alone again, before he can breathe again. the rushing of blood in his ear dies down and he can hear the adults talking through the door.
"He’s perfect for the trial, don’t you agree Dr. Carter?" A flighty female voice penetrates his consciousness.
"He certainly fits the parameters," a gruff male voice rattles through his bones.
All Kura wants to do is see the sky.
~~~
Kage moves to shields his eyes from the blinding light with an outstretched hand, but it won’t move, not even a twitch. He’s not sure that he’s blinking, his face feels wet and there’s a tube down his throat.
The light burns his eyes, he can’t move a thing. A shadow moves in front of the light and everything goes black.
~~~
The simple white mattress on the white cement floor, Kura wonders if he would always come back to this room no matter how many times he escaped it. The electric heater buzzed and crackled in the corner, the dim light coming from visibly throbbing with the random surges of energy.
This time is definitely the worst so far, there’s a dull ache in his chest etched out by a viscous deep lick of loneliness. He’s been alone before, for days on end, but it never felt like an ice pick had been run through the place at the bottom of his ribs, right between his lungs.
~~~
The sun beats down upon them and the sunflowers smile down at them, that stupid sunny smile beams at him from inches away. Kura can hardly stand the brightness.
"I’ve never seen sunflowers before," Kage announces.
"Really?" Kura raises a brow, "not even when you were a kid?" He says with laughter in his voice.
"Nope," Kage shakes his head lightly.
"Did you ever go outside?" Kura smirks lip curved humorously.
"Not really," Kage admits as he looks toward the sky.
"That’s just another sad thing to add to the list," Kura sighs.
"Well, we’ll just have to change all the bad things into good things," Kage shrugs.
"Do you think that’s really possible?" Kura’s brows come to together. "After everything we’ve been through, do you really think we can go back to normal?" Kura’s breath comes fast. "I don’t even know what normal is, how the fuck are we supposed to undo years, over a decade of bullshit!" He sits up leaning on his palms, his arms quiver.
Kage just stares up at him, eyes squinting against the sunlight.
"You gonna black the fuck out again?"
~~~
He watches Kage dip his fingers into the smoothly flowing stream, the other boy smiles devilishly and flicks water up at Kura. He just blinks down at the other and wipes his face.
"It’s cold," Kage smiles like he’s never seen a stream like this before, Kura guesses that he probably hasn’t.
"It’s pretty," Kura shrugs and pulls out his flask from his backpack, he fills it to the brim and takes a large gulp. Kura watches the soft late afternoon sunlight filter through the wide leaves of the tall red trees and brighten up Kage’s auburn locks.
~~~
Kage wiggles and dips his toes into the sand, the surf laps at his feet. He can’t suppress the gleeful smile, he can’t quite believe his eyes.
"It’s amazing, isn’t it?" He says as he turns back to Kura.
Kura can’t even see the beach, can’t even register the feeling of the sand beneath his feet. He knows there’s a beautiful sight behind the boy in front of him, but he’s just so overwhelmed by the emotions bubbling up inside him.
Finally, he has someone to share these moments with.
"I know what you are," a girl whispers in his ear, Kage turns and raises a brow at the girl, "you’re a monster," she runs away.
It’s not that he does anything different to the other kids, but he likes to keep himself to himself. He just doesn’t see why he has to do anything anyone says, doesn’t see why he has to be nice to people when he doesn’t feel like it, doesn’t see why he shouldn’t tell people when they’re wrong.
~~~
"Son," Kura looks up at his dad in horror, "what are you doing?" His father’s voice reflects his inner turmoil.
Kura completely freezes, he feels his soul shudder and crack as his father continues to ask the same questions with panic rising in his voice. The corpse of the neighbour’s cat falls limply from his hand and thuds upon the ground.
Darkness consumes him.
~~~
His fingers slide over the blade of the knife, the stainless steel gleams and feels cold and hard against his skin. A destructive tool that fits snugly into his palm, he wants to see if the meat splays apart as it does on a cutting board.
~~~
Limbs and gore fly past him and he just stands still, Kura stares deep into the eye of the storm, it moves past him, spares him. The shadows pass him by and suddenly he’s on the street again, feels the asphalt beneath his shins and realises that he’s kneeling.
Everything’s the same, there’s no blood, no gore, just empty streets. The deafening sound of helicopter blades bear down upon him, they lower and the wind causes his clothes to billow around him. Kura doesn’t look up, he already knows what’s going to happen. Even the most horrifying things he’d ever come across have rejected him, how would any human react to him now.
~~~
The roof of the school bus peels away from the frame and Kage can’t see a thing. He just stays seated, gripping the seatbelt tightly. The darkness eventually passes and Kage finds himself alone, the bus is suddenly empty. He feels like something’s gone through his mental office, feels the disarray of files all over the floor of his brain. He doesn’t really feel any different.
~~~
The walls are white, the floors are white, the ceiling is white, his clothes are white, everyone’s clothes are white, the sheets are white, the curtains are white, the furniture is white and it makes Kura sick, it makes his eyes sting.
It’s not the worst part though, six year old Kura feels crippled under the weight of his loneliness. Nobody speaks to him, they speak to each other about him and they speak at him and they stick him with needles and tell him to swallow pills and make him eat his greens.
He hates them all, every single last one of them, he bears his teeth at them. He doesn’t feel human anymore, he’s not sure that he ever did, he’s not sure that he even knows what it means to be human.
~~~
Kura growls and the other boys laugh, but not for long. And it’s not long before he’s alone again, before he can breathe again. the rushing of blood in his ear dies down and he can hear the adults talking through the door.
"He’s perfect for the trial, don’t you agree Dr. Carter?" A flighty female voice penetrates his consciousness.
"He certainly fits the parameters," a gruff male voice rattles through his bones.
All Kura wants to do is see the sky.
~~~
Kage moves to shields his eyes from the blinding light with an outstretched hand, but it won’t move, not even a twitch. He’s not sure that he’s blinking, his face feels wet and there’s a tube down his throat.
The light burns his eyes, he can’t move a thing. A shadow moves in front of the light and everything goes black.
~~~
The simple white mattress on the white cement floor, Kura wonders if he would always come back to this room no matter how many times he escaped it. The electric heater buzzed and crackled in the corner, the dim light coming from visibly throbbing with the random surges of energy.
This time is definitely the worst so far, there’s a dull ache in his chest etched out by a viscous deep lick of loneliness. He’s been alone before, for days on end, but it never felt like an ice pick had been run through the place at the bottom of his ribs, right between his lungs.
~~~
The sun beats down upon them and the sunflowers smile down at them, that stupid sunny smile beams at him from inches away. Kura can hardly stand the brightness.
"I’ve never seen sunflowers before," Kage announces.
"Really?" Kura raises a brow, "not even when you were a kid?" He says with laughter in his voice.
"Nope," Kage shakes his head lightly.
"Did you ever go outside?" Kura smirks lip curved humorously.
"Not really," Kage admits as he looks toward the sky.
"That’s just another sad thing to add to the list," Kura sighs.
"Well, we’ll just have to change all the bad things into good things," Kage shrugs.
"Do you think that’s really possible?" Kura’s brows come to together. "After everything we’ve been through, do you really think we can go back to normal?" Kura’s breath comes fast. "I don’t even know what normal is, how the fuck are we supposed to undo years, over a decade of bullshit!" He sits up leaning on his palms, his arms quiver.
Kage just stares up at him, eyes squinting against the sunlight.
"You gonna black the fuck out again?"
~~~
He watches Kage dip his fingers into the smoothly flowing stream, the other boy smiles devilishly and flicks water up at Kura. He just blinks down at the other and wipes his face.
"It’s cold," Kage smiles like he’s never seen a stream like this before, Kura guesses that he probably hasn’t.
"It’s pretty," Kura shrugs and pulls out his flask from his backpack, he fills it to the brim and takes a large gulp. Kura watches the soft late afternoon sunlight filter through the wide leaves of the tall red trees and brighten up Kage’s auburn locks.
~~~
Kage wiggles and dips his toes into the sand, the surf laps at his feet. He can’t suppress the gleeful smile, he can’t quite believe his eyes.
"It’s amazing, isn’t it?" He says as he turns back to Kura.
Kura can’t even see the beach, can’t even register the feeling of the sand beneath his feet. He knows there’s a beautiful sight behind the boy in front of him, but he’s just so overwhelmed by the emotions bubbling up inside him.
Finally, he has someone to share these moments with.