Chapter 0: Peculiar child

Azul's eyes fluttered open, the harsh glare of the sun burning away fragmented memories of a fleeting dream as his groggy mind battled against the comforting lull of slumber.

Sitting up, he set his back against the wall and leaned into his senses, pale fingers wrapping around a threadbare blanket sprawled over his lap, allowing his eyes to focus and settle on the approaching figure of an incredibly lean young man clad in cheap clothes and a weathered red scarf. Scattered matte black hair draping slightly over almond brown eyes as he made his way across the alley, a weak smile and shopping bag in tow.

‘list…’

Azul thought, briefly recognizing the figure.

“Hmm, you're up early”

His modulated yet inexplicably grating voice carried through the space filled with blatant sarcasm.

Azul stared at the man for a moment then looked down at his blanket and released a breath through his mouth, the act being the closest thing to a sigh he could perform.

He looked up at the sky, staring directly at the bright yellow ball casually hanging in it’s centre then looked back at the man and nodded seriously.

‘clearly…’

The man, Lister, chuckled wryly.

“Far too early…”

His voice trailing off as he ruffled Azul’s hair, grey and unkempt.

Setting the bag down besides Azul, he sat across him in a cross legged position, his back against the dilapidated wall of the tight but currently brightly lit alley.

Azul pointed at the bag and looked at Lister expectantly,

“Open it.”

Lister said nonchalantly.

Azul kept his gaze for a moment and reached for the bag.

“It’s a gift… from Liam,”

The words practically glided over his head as he pulled out a black rectangular box from the bag, his eyes going wide as an equally wide smile stretched Lister’s lips.

He looked at it incredulously, and quickly turned to Lister, eye’s wide with disbelief.

“Said it would help you communicate, apparently he’s thanking you for keeping me sane… whatever that means.”

Lister said, reaching into a pocket and pulling out a transparent nylon. Within it lay a Nano subscriber identification module which he tossed to Azul who let go of the box and caught the module, eyes going wide again as he remembered the the box’s contents and picked it up, tentatively dropping the module atop the box and placing his hands together, lowering his head in a gratifying bow.

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“No need to thank me really, it’s Liam you should be thanking. Besides…”

Lister trailed off as he turned to face the wall at the far end of the alley.

“...there’s always a catch”

His voice dark as he looked at Azul who stared back at him blankly.

Turning his attention back to the box, the smile that had disappeared found it’s way back as though it never left.

“What are you waiting for then, let’s pop a box bruv.”

***

Azul was… a peculiar child

Born with a genetic defect, Azul lacked the ability to speak. His natural hair and eye colour that could make one question the meaning of the word ‘natural’ never ceased to draw unwanted attention, effectively painting an alluring target for stratification.

His pale skin and frail looking figure seemed sickly against surprisingly ‘average’ height that might prompt one to ask how old he was, a question he wouldn’t be able to answer seeing as he didn’t know that himself.

According to Lister he was anywhere between fifteen and seventeen, psychologically at least, from looks alone(mostly height) he wasn’t even close to his mid-teens. And so remained the mystery that was his age.

Taken care of by Lister for as long as he could recall, one didn’t even need to learn of his disability before knowing to keep their distance and as such his childhood was short-lived, not that one in the outer districts was worth much to begin with.

His brother or perhaps caretaker on the other hand, was of a more conventional nature, although still oddish in his own right.

Lister was a man of few words… and warmth reserved for specific few, only revealing a more talkative side in the company of the grey haired mute. Beneath the almond brown eyes lay the cold calculating logic of a natural born killer, the few scars littering his figure souvenirs from fatal ‘misunderstandings’ and expensive mistakes.

Lister released a stifling yawn as he looked through the messages on his quite frankly, outdated device.

Lil bro: I am done.

You: nice meet me by the street, we’re leaving

Lil bro: Sure, where to?

He sighed and composed a quick reply.

‘I don’t think I taught him this well.’

Although Azul could not speak, Lister had taught him to at least read and write, but now he wondered where the little mute had learnt to text and use punctuations so properly, seeing as the only ones he used himself was an occasional comma. He had entirely expected his screen to be littered with spelling errors, this however was... surprising, to say the least.

You: can’t say, you’ll find out soon enough.

He smirked as he placed a justifying full stop at the end of his reply, hitting ‘send’ only to get a reply less than a second later.

Lil bro: Sure.

Lister sighed and pocketed his phone, leaning against the wall as he stared out at the litter covered streets that lay in front of the alley.

A few moments later Azul was standing in front of him, back against the opposite wall.

He sighed again and placed a hand on his forehead,

‘I’ve got to stop sighing.’

He looked down at Azul who’s head was barely reaching his shoulder and started;

“We’ve been forced to relocate, one of Liam’s men will be escorting us”

Azul’s brows jumped at that, his face full of grim apprehension. Moving his hands in a way you probably wouldn’t find in any book on sign language, he asked

Because of your work?

‘Hmm… no. I have angered quite a few people that way haven’t I, but no. The reason we are leaving… is because of you…”

He paused for a moment and said:

“.…In other words… you’re being hunted.”

END OF CHAPTER ZERO: Peculiar child