A scream echoed off the walls of my room as I sat up quickly in my bed. Little did I realize that it was my own. I looked around me. It was only a dream. I don’t start assassin training for another month. I quickly got out of bed. My entire bed was soaked in sweat. I opened my door and walked to get a drink. I cannot imagine how bad it would be to be emotionless I thought to myself as I went to the cabinet and got a cup. I walked to the sink and stuck my head into the lukewarm stream. Imagine watching your parents murdered in front of you. Sweat trickled off of my face or were those tears. I couldn’t tell. My parents are dead, they died in a car accident. My name is Rin Okomoru, I was adopted by a Japanese family seventeen years ago. I didn’t know my parents, as they died shortly after I was born. I took the cup outside and sat on the porch. The moon, the stars, they were beautiful. My life was beautiful. Loving parents, loving siblings, nice school. What could be better, but yet, I felt as if this life wasn’t mine. I felt as if I was in memory. I felt as if I was in a dream. All of a sudden I felt an enormous burst of pain in my forehead. I screamed and grabbed my head. Lighting burst around my eyes and my vision blurred red. What was happening? Where am I? Who am I? Slowly the pain subsided and the night sky became clear again. Only, everything around me was bright. This was the middle of the night was it not?
My adoption parents rushed out. “Rin? What is wrong?!” I groaned and they quickly ran to my side. “Yuki! Call an ambulance!”
Fear surged through me for some reason. “No!” I shouted. Yuki paused. Why am I scared? “I am ok, I just felt dizzy for a moment and fell.” Yes, that must be what happened. I felt dizzy and fell, but why is everything so bright? It's almost as if I can see in the dark.
“Rin, let me help you come inside.” Quickly, Ukima picked up my arm and led me to the doorway.
“What is going on?” A small head peeked around the corner. Ozaki, my brother stumbled into the dark kitchen.
“Ozaki, go fetch some warm water and a towel” Ozaki looked puzzled but ran off to find a bowl. Ukima set me down on the couch muttering to himself. “Damn kid needs to stop sleepwalk…” Ukima examined my head and frowned. "Going to need stitches alright."
I groaned. “Dad, I can barely feel it,” This was a lie, it hurt extremely bad. “Anyways, I fall all the time, I will heal.”
Ukima looked skeptical. “Son, you have a five-inch slash across the back of your head. I have never seen anything so bloody. It looks like you fell and hit your head on something sharp.” I looked at him quizzically. I ran back through what happened.
“But, Dad, I never fell.”
He squinted at me. “Son, you told us you felt dizzy and fell.” I reflected on what happened and shook my head at him.
“I don’t know what I told you, but I definitely didn’t…” Ozaki ran into the room with the water, almost spilling it.
“Ok, I got the water and a towel.” Ukima walked over to him and grabbed the towel and dipped it into the water. He walked over to me and applied it over the cut while I winced.
“I’m going to let it sit here and I’m going to call the doctor.” I laid back my head and closed my eyes. I went back over what happened in my mind and focused to see if I had missed anything. Everything was so dark, but I do remember right before everything lit up, I thought I saw faint white skin duck around the corner. I quickly opened my eyes and sat up quickly. Pain radiates through my head. I slowly got up and walked outside.
“Rin. Are you ok?” I turned around.
“Yeah, Ozaki, I’m fine. Go tell dad that I am going to check something real fast.” He turned around and ran back into the house. I walked down the steps and checked for a sharp corner that I must have fallen on. Nothing was sharp where I landed. I walked towards the side of the house where I thought I saw a figure. No footprints, nothing. I was about to turn around when I saw something fall to the ground. A red drop in front of me. I bent down, again pain radiated in my head. I touched whatever fell, it was slimy. I smelled it, it smelled faintly of blood. I thought it was mine but realized that my cut is in the back of my head and this drop fell in front of me. I peered around the corner, but to no avail. My father's head peeked outside of the doorway.
“Rin? What are you doing outside? Come back inside and rest.” I got up and looked around, nothing. I finally took one last glance up for good measure. All I saw were two large black eyes staring down at me. A featureless face stood out above the rain gauge and I peered into it’s creepy, but somewhat soothing eyes.
“Rin? What are you looking at?” All of a sudden a shriek pierced the night and the figure jumped off the roof onto me. I quickly ducked, but nothing hit me. I looked back up onto the roof, but the figure was gone. Ukima looked concerned. “Son come in right now, I do not want you to fall again and get a bigger cut.” I peered around the corner again and walked back inside. All of this happened so fast and I hadn’t had the time to process it yet. The dream, the figure. Is it possible that I fell and now I am hallucinating? A darker, more sinister thought entered my head. What if that creature is what scraped my head? A quick knock on the door brought me out of my thoughts.
“Ukima! It is me, Cody! Can you let me in?” Ukima opened the door and the doctor walked in quickly. “Son, let me look at your head.” I sat down on the couch and allowed Cody to examine the cut. “Son, you have quite the cut. Have you felt light-headed at all?” I looked past him and my eyes would not focus. “Son?” He waved his hand in front of my eyes and I squinted.
“I don’t think I have seen anything? I feel fine.” The doctor looked back at Ukima and he nodded.
"Son, I never asked if you were hallucinating..." The doctor pulled out a suitcase and opened it. It contained alcohol, needles, and sewing materials. He quickly dabbed the needle in alcohol and tied the string to it. “Rin, I am going to need you to hold still, you might feel a tiny prick, but that is all.” He quickly took a syringe from the suitcase and slowly inserted it into my head. I felt a rush of cool and all the pain slowly melted away. I tried to argue that I didn’t need medicine, but I couldn’t talk. Instead, I just sat there staring out the window. How strange, I can see in the dark. When did this happen? I looked back at Cody, but all that was left was a white face with two large black eyes. I couldn’t concentrate on its subtle features. I almost felt sorry for whatever it was. I reached out my arm and touched its face. A sound came out of it without it moving. A small shrieking noise filled the room. A high-pitched raspy noise escaped the creature,
“Hello, Theodestrian...I am your Afflictor…” I quickly removed my hand, but it was too late. The creature had disappeared. Cody’s face morphed and returned to normal.
“Ukima, call the paramedics, now!” He turned back to me and gave me a quick tap on the cheek. I opened my eyes. “Son, I’m going to need you to focus on my face.” I could see blood on his hands and on his clothes. I looked at his face. Slick brown hair, a constantly wrinkled forehead from worrying, passionate eyes, a subtle nose, dark and ashy cheeks. I saw lights out of the window and turned to them. A couple of people rushed into the house and lifted me into a bed. Has it been that long already? It felt like only a few seconds but the paramedics are already here? Slowly darkness clouded my vision as I was whizzed past the yard and into the back of a truck. I saw my mom, my brother, my dad all running next to me as I was rolled. My mom was crying, my dad was yelling, my brother grabbed my hand. The last thing I saw before I was wheeled into the truck was two black eyes staring at me from the window, “Azareith...makes...me...watch” the creature managed to mumble. In the truck, I fought to stay awake. People were crowding around me. Lights were flashing around me. My thoughts blurred, my mind crumbled and I was quickly lulled into a deep sleep.
I woke up my vision hazy and doubled. I looked at the ground and the dirt in between my fingers. I looked at the blood surrounding me. I must have drunk or something because my thoughts were so confusing. I looked up and saw a huddle of students standing around me.
“Hey, he's awake!” Thousands of students crowded around me cramming to see. I slowly stood and Sty helped me stand. I stood up wobbly and patted his shoulder.
“Damn Sty looks like I got a fan club.” I looked around and grabbed my head. “Can anyone of you fine people tell me what the hell just happened?” All the students just looked at each other with a confused expression. Sty looked at me surprised.
“You are telling me you have no clue what happened?” I slapped the back of his head.
“No stupid, I just asked so I can hear it from your harmonious voice.”
He grinned at me with a stupid grin. “You killed it, man, you just killed that creepy ass marshmallow.” I looked around and slowly the gates began to open. A large man with a long white beard came walking through the gate.
“Students clear the way immediately!” The man walked quickly toward me and pushed the students out of his way. He glared at me and grabbed me by the shirt, lifting me a couple feet off the ground. I grabbed his hands and kicked my legs.
The man whispered in my face. “Who the hell are you?” I looked at him and couldn’t focus on his face.
“Damn, who pissed in your cheerios today?” Everyone was silent. The large man looked enraged.
“Kid, you just killed our initiation.”
I interrupted him. “No, what I did is save a girls life.” He scoffed and then dropped me. I hit the ground with a dull thud that certainly didn't do favors for my headache. He glared at me and then motioned for me to follow him as he walked away. I cursed under my breath and brushed the dirt off me. Students looked on with silent amusement. Sty grabbed me by the shoulder and helped me up. I winced and spit blood on the ground. "I feel like the creature killed me." He laughed and patted my head. I winced again.
"Nah man, nothing can touch you." I sarcastically laughed back and rubbed my head.
"Apparently you can." My best friend Sty. Always there for me when I need him. I don't deserve a friend like this. Sty is too good for me. Just another black and white in life. A good guy stuck with a stupid little shit like me. Life couldn't get more fair.
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