13 Years Old...
Kaelem frowned as he left the library. He'd been studying late after school since he didn't understand a few things in his biochemistry class. Most days he found a reason to stay around. It was always better than returning home to the constant fighting of his parents.
He left the building and sighed as he looked into the bright sun and turned his back on it. He walked away from the lustrous neighborhoods and beautiful family houses and walked toward the little neighborhood that had gang signs and graffiti covering almost any area where there was space.
It was hard being raised in such an area, but in no time at all, it seemed, Kaelem learned where he should avoid pretty quickly. He had scars from an unfortunate accident, more like a brutal beating but the police were never wrong, where he'd taken a wrong turn and walked into the middle of a gang war.
Guns lit the darkness and knives cut through soft flesh. They didn't discriminate against him when he had the misfortune to walk into the middle. He was cut, beat, shot in both legs, but there was no permanent damage to his body stopping him from functioning like any other person.
He walked down those dangerous streets and it was already starting to get dark out. School released at 3:45 PM and he stayed until 6:30 PM, long enough for the safety of the sun to disappear. He knew when to cross the road to avoid the people that would be harmful to his health and continued on like this for six miles. Due to all the turns he had to take to avoid crowded streets, it took him nearly five hours to reach his home.
He walked in the rotting door that had pieces fall off when he closed it and heard shouting ahead. This was usual, but the next sound was not.
His heart skipped a beat. His eyes glazed over in red. His breathing stopped.
Two loud gunshots rang true striking his mother in the chest and knocked her against the wall.
It had happened so fast that he didn't have any time to react, nor did she. He watched the light fade from her eyes, her screams of pain and agony muffled by the blood gushing from her mouth. She slid down on to the floor and looked him in his eyes until her body slumped over.
Two Nights Later...
He heard the sound of sirens, the loud sound of foot steps and a door breaking shocked him. He looked up with eyes that held no emotion. He hands were covered in blood and he still sat on the corpse of his long dead father.
They looked at him like a monster, held guns close to him, and made him drop the knife while saying very loud things.
The knife simply fell back into his father's chest again and he heard sounds of shock. He didn't once shed a tear. There was no room for innocence. There was no room for pain or agony. This was the real world. This was his Destiny.
8 Years Later...
He walked out of the "special" classroom with his book bag slung over his shoulder. He'd ignored all the information the teacher uttered. That woman was indeed a waste of oxygen. She was simply repeating simple text knowledge they'd all learned when they were very young in elementary schools.
He had to take learning into his own hands and self teach himself throughout the years.
He entered the cafeteria and found his table, the one in the furthest part of the room that was almost unnoticeable, and placed his bag on the table.
He'd changed a lot since the incident. He'd been placed in psychiatric wards since people knew that he'd never be adopted and they feared what he would do on his own. The Demon Child, they would call him, who had murdered his father in cold blood when he was only thirteen. He knew that they thought that he would never have a place in society.
They were all wrong about him though, he knew what he was worth. He worked harder than any others and studied hard to make up for his lack of natural intelligence that was gifted upon so many other fortunate people. The truly "special" and "gifted" people... It made him sick to his stomach to think of them.
He'd once known them all, been best buds with half of them, and even helped study with all of them on more than one occasion. Now he was the outcast.
He was forced to where a uniform, black jeans with a plain white t-shirt and white shoes, forced into many "special" institutes where they could monitor his mental health and deem him "worthy" of being ingrained into society once more.
He didn't know what kind of technological advancements had been made in the past few years as he was only allowed a black and white television for fifteen minutes once every four days. They thought that too much television would corrupt the minds of patients and give them ideas of violence and hinder their rehabilitation process, not that any patients ever got better.
All "patients" that checked in knew that they were most likely never getting out. Only two in the three hundred years the facility had been around ever made it out. Kaelem was determined to make it out. He wanted to see the world as he'd never seen it before and experience the life that others had the pleasure to live. He wanted to see what kind of things he'd missed out on.
He got up to get food and stood in line behind the rest of the "special" people that were kept here. Many were violent and therefore had electronic constrictions to reduce their threat level, and if that didn't work then they were forced to take "special medicine". Never once had he swallowed the medicine they'd given him because they thought he had violent tendencies, but he had always acted as kind and orderly as he possibly could.
He was very strict on himself about following the rules that governed over this Hell of Earth. He was angry all the time, but he never once showed it. The false smiles could never be seen through unless you honestly knew him, and there was nobody left alive that did.
He grabbed the food that was supposedly edible and went back to sit at his stuff. Another person sat three seats down from him on the other side of the table. He noticed that the person had long dark hair that was curled and went down to her back. She had tanned skin and was probably two or three inches shorter than he was. Her looks were astonishingly beautiful.
He set his tray down carefully, the metal tinkling against the stone table, as to not startle or alert the girl.
She looked up and her eyes got wide. He was astonishing when it came to looks, but he never cared to tame or style his hair so it rested down to his shoulders, and he had tattoos that went to his wrists. His eyes watched her like a predator watches its prey or a child watches its new toy.
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She looked away with red blossoming on her cheeks. He could only speculate what had caused her to do so. He pulled out the text book he was currently reading over bio-engineering and human trials over physical enhancement. It was simply a hobby, he had no test in trying it out on himself.
He had earned special privileges throughout the years of kind behavior and advanced reports from his tests, physical exams, and intellectual exams.
He hated everything about this place, how it looked so much like a prison, the terrible food, everything. He moved in front of the girl. "I haven't seen you around here before." He said it with little emotion in his voice. Just a simple fact. He tried to make it sound friendly, but he'd forgot the feeling and the sound of true friendship.
She looked up to face him from a chart she'd been writing on. "I'm just visiting."
"Visiting? You must be someone pretty special to get to visit such a delightful place as this." He said flatly, stretching out his hands to gesture to the cafeteria that was made mostly of polished steel, with the floors of solid concrete.
"I work for the Clinic of Safety and Health." She shrugged like it was no big deal. "You don't seem to fit the standards of patients that we see here." She tapped the pen against her lips and then held it in her mouth.
He looked straight into her eyes and she shuddered. He was unique, only enhancing his image as the "Demon Child", having been born with beautiful eyes that grabbed attention wherever he went. The iris' was gold and it slowly faded away to a beautiful silver on the outer part of his eyes.
She shuddered once more as she felt those eyes peering into her, looking into all of her secrets, taking her apart brick by brick to find out what made her tick and what made her moan sweet nothings.
He smiled, "I'm sorry to have been so rude, I never introduced myself." He had perked up once he'd heard what she was here for. "I'm Kaelem Solich, wild Demon Child. Nobody would dare be seen with me, so I never really get the opportunity to have nice conversations like this. Sometimes I forget there's a world out there." His eyes wandered off to stare behind her, imagining the world outside.
"I'm Maddeline Williams." She paused, "It's amazing out there." She said, although Kaelem now looked as though he'd been chewing on lemons.
"I've always dreamed what it would be like outside." He said under his breath.
"There's been many advancements lately. About six years ago a game that revolutionized the world came out called Royal Road. It's been active up until today. They're shutting it down and the company, Unicorn Corp, is releasing a new and improved game." She said excitedly. Her eye twinkled like stars.
He found it quite interesting that so much could change in so little time. "What's it like?" he asked with complete interest. There was no need to fake it with her."
"It's really great! Royal Road was the best game ever and now they're releasing a newer game." She sighed. "I can't wait. It comes out in two weeks." She bit her bottom lip and looked away.
Kaelem raised an eyebrow at this. "Is everything alright?"
She stood up and walked next to him. "You don't seem anything like any other person I've seen here." She bit her lip again. "If you make me a promise, I'll release you from the facility." She watched him uncertainly.
He looked her dead in the eyes and his mask of friendliness disappeared and his face was blank of emotions, but he was feeling a pounding in his chest. He felt a small feeling that began to grow as she spoke, and it beat even harder. The feeling he felt...
It was hope...
"What is it that you'd have me promise to?" He asked seriously.
She looked taken aback but continued on. "Don't worry, it's nothing too serious. I just get really bored in the game by myself and would like a fun companion to travel with." She shrugged and smiled at him.
He almost kissed her out of joy. Jackpot.
His eyes lightened up and he reached his hand out. When she touched it, he pulled her into him and gave her a big hug.
She embraced him, although feeling awkward, and waited just a little longer before stepping back. She took out another form and starting reading through and signing in various places. She handed the paper out to him and smiled once more.
He looked at the paper and she had signed it where there was a label: "Authorized Personnel and/or Guardian Signature".
"Of course I'll play with you, but I have a problem." He said sadly.
She seemed to have thought ahead of him and shook her head happily. "You'll come stay with me for as long as it takes you to get on your feet. There's been a lot of changes and I can't just let you go out there all alone in this crazy world of ours."
She's living alone? She looks much younger than I am, maybe eighteen at the most.
He scratched his head and looked away, "Are you sure that's okay?" He definitely didn't like taking charity or being unable to pay someone else favor back.
"Yep," she poked his nose. "and you're only payment is to enjoy the game by my side."
She sighed, so this was how it was gonna be. Well, his situation was now the best it had ever been and she definitely was attractive. He sighed... Again... Then shrugged. Why not? It can't be too bad.
She handed him the pen, "All that's left is that you sign."
He took the pen quickly like it was a pot of gold and signed the release form.
"Thank you so much for all you've done and are going to do for me. I couldn't have asked for anything better." He knelt before her in respect and gratitude. "I'm forever in your favor." He said with a serious demeanor.
In eight years... He'd forgot what it was like. He felt emotion, he smiled, and he believed that he had real hope. She had given him his free ticket out.
He followed her to the front office where they went through the process of checking him out. For the last time, he was tested physically, psychologically, and intellectually before being buzzed through the gates and allowed to leave. He smiled happily. In two weeks he would be playing a game with her, but until then, he was gonna enjoy life to it's fullest... Or so he thought.
He smiled, "Now, to begin my true Destiny."