Strange || 04

"Thought you would be out longer" Riku said robotically as Vonic sighed.

"Well I'm going back after dinner, I thought I'd just come home to see how you were" Riku looked at his father from across the table as he saw him fixing up his tie and collar while partaking in another mouthful of curry. "Heard from a teacher at your school you climbed quite high in your year grade"

'Not you too' Riku bitterly thought as he finished his plate and went to place his dirty dishes in the dish washer.

"Riku, is there something wrong?" Vonic asked up front, he did his best for Riku as a single parent that had no prior experience with kids much less teenagers. But sometimes conversations were awkward between the two.

"Not particularly." A flash of the young girl came to mind and Riku weighed on whether or not to tell about the earlier strange occurrence. About to leave the kitchen to head through the hallway Riku spoke against better judgment.

"Have there been any missing cases on lost kids?" Vonic hearing Riku stopped his last rush mouthful in thought as he had served himself a plate earlier. He personally wasn't stationed in the department for lost youths but could ask around if it was related to his casework.

"Why you ask?" It was odd for Riku to show such interest in his work, "Did something happen today?"

'As on point as always' Riku thought, there was no way to back out now. If he hesitated even slightly with his next line of words Vonic would pick up on it. 'As you would expect from a top investigator, the same feeling as that day. He truly is a different kind of monster.' Squeezing his fists his face gave nothing away as he eventually released his balled fists.

'I saw a young girl maybe 7 or 8 years old at the bus stop today, I hadn't seen or heard when she had been next to me.'

"Now that I think about it maybe I was just irritated and all with how much work I have to do in regards to being a candidate for class president" although he had no desire to be class president it was the best excuse and most logical especially from Vonic's point of view. After all, Riku knew his flaws well and it worked in his favour.

"Is that so?" Swallowing his last mouthful Vonic's head gears were obviously grinding regardless if Riku could see him or not down the hallway.

'It's probably best if I don't ask any further besides it could have been my medication side affects' looking down at the label on his medication, the label was worn out quite a bit.

{ Riku Spears

Take 3 times a day at least half an hour after food or 2 hours before. }

'Should I stop taking them?' A flash of the silhouette of that woman suddenly appeared in his mind and caused Riku to through the capsule bottle across the room.

'After all these fucken years why? Why is that woman burned into my brain?' Did he long that much for a mother or was it her death that proceeded to haunt him? At this point it was anyones guess as the next day he prepared for school like he normally did.

Making his way down stairs the Ai greeted him with the same line of "good morning master Riku" after trying to get the computer to say just his name this was the 67th attempt this month. It was safe to say that's a defeat and no more attempts were needed as it was obvious that the Ai must of been fully programmed for names of residents in a house.

'Why have an ai growing intelligence if your going to strip away the intelligent part?' Tilting his head back he swallowed his first tablet for the day. 'Set watch in 2 hours to go off' as Riku fiddled with his watch a passing by thought had him somewhat wondering if he'd see that girl again?

***

> Other side of District 5, Manupolis (The average population district, average wealth) <

Sobbing of the grotesque type could be heard down an alleyway as sounds of crunching and tearing echoed along the cramped buildings on either side.

"P-please it was an ac-accident… I was just so hungry…" sobbed a woman in her early 20's as she laid pinned to the ground by an unidentified person.

"You think going around and slaughtering countless in a warehouse is just so desperately hungry?" Their voice was cold and sarcastic; the body quite large in comparison to her petite form as the person's shoe crushed down harder on the side of her face. "Don't fuck with me witch. Your kind only needs a soul per 5 months, you merely hunted those innocents for the thrill of your psychotic ways. You freaks are all the same." It was clear that the individual who had her pinned was a man, as he pulled out a strange device that looked like a crystal shotgun directing it at her.

"NO! PLEASE! I DON'T WANT TO DIE! I HAVE A FAMILY T-TWO KIDS I COULDN'T HELP IT, IT'S IN MY NATURE-" the loud bang sounded like a firework cracker had just hit the atmosphere as the woman cracked like broken glass before bursting into tiny bits and fading away.

"It's always the same excuse." Pulling out a cigarette the unknown man in black puffed out a big smoke bubble before dropping his unfinished cigarette to the ground and stepping on it. "It's for that reason I kill your kind because if you can't control your nature then others will do it for you." Looking down one last time he seemed to pick up a tiny piece of glass from the woman's shattered body before crushing in with his bare hand and moving on.

***

"I am without a body, without a soul, my words cannot reach those unless they are in synch with me-"

"Thank you for reading that page Riku, could you Aeleana pick up were we left off" sitting down Riku looked outside rather than paying attention to the reading session the class, a tedious assignment.

'The soulless, a book about a man who is basically trapped between his reality and the reality around those who cannot see his. It's almost reflecting those poor bastards in mental institutions or even those in my old district…'

"I thought to myself why are humans such hideous creatures? They lie to another to hopefully prosper in due time but fear what they cannot comprehend and lose sight of their morals. Just to survive tough hardships rather than forming meaningful bonds."

'It is a well written book though, the author has clearly experienced both spectrums of the coin to write it like this.' Tapping his pencil to his desk, Riku wondered if he should start writing as he had the knowledge and experience to do so. Besides it was obvious that the new government didn't really consider those in districts outside the wealth as contributors to society but rather pests.

Thinking about it made Riku's blood boil as he snapped his pencil by accident gripping it too hard.

'Sometimes I feel the same way. Humans are disgusting.'