008 - Out
Kairo was seated in front of his computer, playing games with complete gamer equipment. He was talking, laughing, and screaming into the microphone without a care for anything.
Upon seeing the word "DEFEAT" shown on the screen, indicating his loss of the game, he slammed the keyboard hard. While clutching a handful of hair in his fists, he let out an exasperated groan.
The groans, yells, and hits from his teammates persisted even after he removed his headphones. Everyone on the squad feels the same way.
Throwing himself back on the chair after a brief rest on his bed, he glances at the clock mounted on the wall above his computer screen. It is already 9 pm.
“Bro, we should’ve won that game if Adam didn’t go AFK all of a sudden.” he said into his headphone’s microphone. Remain composed in the face of impending chaos.
“Relax, Kyle. It’s not like you’ve never done it before.” Kairo replied with a scoff.
They laughed in unison.
The sudden thud startled Kairo, and he leaped out of his chair in panic. His attention strayed from their conversation as a result because he was sure to hear a resounding crash from within the house.
He shifted his gaze towards the door. Pay no attention to his friends while they bicker over girls.
‘Did someone break in?’
He waited for a long time to hear his brother's footsteps, but he never heard his door even open. Barring the fact that he was the one making the sound.
He hates that his insatiable curiosity has always been a weakness of his. Although he planned to disregard it, he could not help but worry that someone would break in.
He removed his headphones and walked slowly to his door without waiting for his friends to respond. He made sure not to make excessive noise to not alert anyone if there really is an intruder.
He delicately twists and pulls on the handle before checking the corridor. There is nothing. The absence of their mother has left the house in complete darkness, as she was the one who typically ensured that at least one light was kept on.
There was a loud thud, and he was sure of it. After he had argued with himself several times about not going, he finally made his way to Leithe's room.
In contrast to his, he saw that his brother's door was wide open. That’s strange.
He hurried inside the room, bracing himself for the worst, only to be astonished to see Leithe was lying unconscious on the floor.
His previous uncertainty quickly faded as he dashed to his brother. His hands tremble as he shook him to consciousness and yelled out his brother’s name several times. But he still lay limp.
Anxiety was settling in. What if, following their argument, Leithe drinks something illegal? What if he actually saw something awful in Kairo that made him so upset? The boy was sure he was not doing anything wrong aside from the fact that he had a girlfriend.
He shrugged off the mounting terror. As far as he is concerned, it is not helping with the situation.
He glanced over and noticed a water bottle resting on the table. He grabs it without any more thought and splashes it on Leithe’s face.
Fortunately, his coughing fits begin. An overwhelming sense of relief washed over Kairo the moment Leithe reacted and quickly helped him sit up. “Thank goodness, Leithe.”
With a sense of relief, the boy went and embraced Leithe, even though he was not normally one to embrace his brother.
“Are you okay?” Kairo, whose anxiety is over the roof, asked.
“I’m fine, I’m fine. Geez, you’re so loud.”
However, Leithe's appearance has not improved, even if he’s now awake with an attitude. As he continued to breathe rapidly with his head still lowered, the younger grabbed the water bottle that he previously put down, planning to splash it into his face again.
He took a handful of his brother’s hair and yanked it down so he was facing up. Kairo gasped. He nearly dropped the bottle as a result.
“What?” The look of horror on his little brother’s face causes Leithe to feel anxious as well.
“Your eyes…”
Leithe’s iris glows golden with somewhat reddish whites. He appeared to shed a few tears.
He need not have continued for Leithe to discern its trajectory. To avoid his brother's gaze, he swiftly threw his head to the side.
“I’m just tired. I wanna-”
“Leithe, it’s not normal.”
“I never am, Kai.”
"No, what I mean is—" A heavy sigh escaped the lad. "Listen, what’s considered abnormal to me is a norm to you. Look at this; this is your outlier.”
Leithe took a glimpse of himself in the mirror and confirmed that, even for him, it is not normal. Even though he kept blinking, the hue of his eyes remained abnormally bright, as if he were scanning, something he was not doing at the moment.
“What’s happening to me?”
“You tell me! You were already unconscious when I came here.” The boy’s worry appears to be unending as his brother's breaths quicken and groan in agony.
“Leithe!”
“I’m f-fine. Leave me.” Just like his brother, Leithe freaked out, but he had no intention of dragging him along.
Unfortunately, before he could shoo him, he grimaces again as he finishes that statement and curls up into a ball, holding his head.
“Bullshit, Leithe! You don’t look-” He cupped his brother’s cheeks. “Hey, you’re scaring me. Leithe! Leithe!”
That was the last thing that Leithe heard before the world fell silent.
Leithe’s POV
Where am I?
Alone, I stand in a white room. Not a soul or even a door is in sight as I aimlessly roam the room—or is it the white space, I’m not sure.
My gaze lands on my hands and it hits me: I’m wearing a different set of clothes. A white gown adorned with a neat pattern of dots. It appears to be a hospital gown.
“Kairo?” In whatever direction I was walking, I yelled out constantly.
Am I dreaming or is this actually happening?
Neither the way in nor out of the chamber is marked with any kind of visible directions. Plus, it’s quiet. Am I stranded here?
“Hey, kid.” An ominous voice emerged from behind me.
I don’t know why, but I remain completely unfazed when I hear a voice that belonged to the man I accidentally bumped into earlier in the evening. I suffered from a severe headache all day long from that one scan of his corrupted mind.
“Did you not see where you’re going?” He continued to express his fury in the same manner as before.
This motherfucker. Has he not yet subdued his rage? Is a little tap on the shoulder enough to make him resent me for that much?
“No, in fact, I didn’t see you there, sir.”
"Look who the pretty boy has become—a fighter, huh?"
"I have other options for dealing with a jerk like you besides fighting."
A menacing chuckle is all that comes out of my threat. “Oh, absolutely. You’re also quite the comic. You crack me up so much that I can't help but want to kill you.”
Before I could even react, the man whipped out the revolver I had seen in his memory and aimed it directly at me. "and have you amuse the folks six feet under."
It’s my turn to chuckle. "Yours truly”, proceeded to step forward until my forehead touched the muzzle. "It's an honour."
Neither my eyes nor my speech betrayed me. They remained resolute as I braced for the blow.
The man pulls the trigger.
*Clack* No ammo.
“Very ambitious.” His words were dripping with mirth.
The evil grin on his face does not fade as he reloads his weapon. At that moment, I saw a tiny hand with pink ombre nails moving across the man's waist, beginning at the rear and ending at the front of his belly.
“Bella?”
She grinned as she playfully twirled her hair using her index finger. “Leithe.”
“You know him?” She shifted her attention to him in response to my inquiry. Gently running her fingers across the man's bearded area.
“He’s quite attractive.” They resemble a father and daughter more than anything else. There is absolutely no chance that she has romantic feelings.
Her hands won’t stop snaking on the man’s body, going as far as to his groin and then back up. In spite of my reluctance to acknowledge it, those touches certainly appear sexual. Ew.
“Would love to see him in action.” She cocked her head to meet my gaze. “Since you didn’t wanna help me clear my bucket list.” Growling towards the end of her line.
“But he’s dangerous, Bel-”
Now that he is paying attention to Bella, she bites her bottom lip and gives the man a yearning, flirty look. He snaked his rough hand, starting from her exposed belly and working his way up to her neck; he choked her.
The act eerily doesn’t trigger her at all. She seems rather… like it.
Their lips were touching, yet nothing happened. Nothing more than exchanging ardent glances.
It’s none of my concern if Bella desires him. Perhaps it’s best if I give them some room-
*Shoot*
That guy… He shot Bella.
Blood splattered all over my face and clothing, painting the room with a rich red liquid. Based on the gun's orientation, the man shot her on the chin.
“More! Please, shoot me mor-”
The prior shot still had my breath choppy, yet more shots were released. The shots continued so frequently that I lost count after four. As a result of my utter shock, I did nothing but witness him cruelly punishing my classmate until she went completely limp in his grasp, still choking her.
A mountain of evidence of the brutality covered every surface. Red, all over.
Even after he threw her to the ground, her pleas for a shot reverberated. Her begs portray someone who enjoys the ordeal, though she already lost more than half of her face.
“Behold, the scenario you’ve been wanting to witness. You should be honored. I recreated this specially for you." The man whispered.
“I don’t.”
“Come on now. Don’t be such a spoiled brat. It’s not nice.”
“No one was interested besides you. Looking into your vulgar past was the last thing on my mind.”
With a chuckle, he wipes his bloodstained gun on his shirt, which is similarly coated in blood. “But still, you’ve seen it.”
“Are you deaf? It’s unintentional.”
“You know I can’t leave an eyewitness behind. Or in your case, memory witness.” He lifted his gun and aimed it at my head. “Gotta tie loose ends.”
*Shoot*
The sound of the gunshot still echoes in my ears while dwelling on the pain in my head. My entire body hurts, and I’m sweating despite the cold.
Did I die?
“You’re not. You’re just sleeping.”
Beside me, I heard a soft, soothing voice. It diverges from the big guy with the gun and is too low for it to be Kairo.
I slowly flutter my eyes open, blinking a few times to get my vision clearer. It’s the same ceiling I’ve been waking up to. Being in my room is a relief, at least.
“Kai?”
“He’s downstairs. Crying.” So I turned to face the speaker, and there was my next-door neighbor.
“You’re, hm…” Ah, why’s every cell of my body betraying me now? His name slipped my mind.
He twists a tiny towel out of the water in a little basin, chuckling. “Hunter. I’m your neighbour.”
“Oh, yup. Hunter, my neighbour.”
My head was spinning so much that I could barely manage to rest my head on my elbow when I tried to sit up. I went back to lie on the bed.
“What hap…” Should I ask? I remember Kairo calling out for me when I was about to pass out. There’s no way what happened just now is real but is it a memory or just a dream?
Sighing, I ruffle my damp hair from either water or sweat. It’s just frustrating when I can’t distinguish between memories and reality. I can't even ask him about it. He would call me crazy right off the bat.
“Does your head still hurt?”
“No, I just…” Sigh. “I don’t know either, Hunter. I’m just extremely tired. That’s all.”
“I can tell but you can continue sleeping after you talk to your brother. It was a futile effort on my part to reassure him that you’re okay. You don’t look too good so he freaked out and has been the same since three hours ago.”
“Three hours?”
“Yes, you were out for a little over three hours and your bro had been wailing as if you’re dead. Yet, for whatever reason, he’s adamant about avoiding the ER. I mean, your face was pale, your breathing’s a little shallow, and you kinda freaked us out, twitching in your sleep but I guess he knows you the best. At least you look better now.”
That kid. He said he doesn’t care about me. Well, guess who cried his ass off.
”I chuckled. “What’s he doing?”
“I ordered some pizza and forced him to eat. I came just to wet the towel. I didn’t know you were going to wake up. I would’ve called Kairo instead.”
Then he placed the wet cloth over my forehead. “You have a little fever.”
“Thanks, Hunter. For taking care of both me and Kairo.”
“Don’t mention it.”
As much as I want to ask him, I can’t. I don’t know what Kairo told him when he asked for aid so I don’t want to get our information mixed up. Raising Hunter’s suspicion is the last thing I want.
Reading his memories comes in handy in this situation, but I believe it’s not a wise decision to do so. Right now, I’m still shaky, and I’m scared I’ll pass out again.
“Get some rest while I get your brother.” Then walked out.