On a moonless night deep underground, Cinder was twisting and turning in his bed, unable to find any comfort; it seemed the past was trying to catch up to him and drag him back down within their deeps of despair, but why were these repressed memories coming back? Maybe something or someone was orchestrating this to help further along his takeover.
Within these memories was a six-year-old boy protecting two babies barely one year old from two full-grown adults beating him senseless, blood already staining the once elegant carpet; these two adults seemed to enjoy beating this boy, but why? What did this boy do to deserve such an outcome?
Both adults started getting winded and had to take a break. After leaving the room, the boy finally got up slowly, covered in blood and bruises. He checked both babies to make sure they weren't hurt in any way; besides crying and slightly malnourished, they were perfectly fine.
Feeling relieved, he started to limp over to the kitchen to get some baby food for his little brother and sister falling over once before reaching his destination; quickly getting out of the kitchen with some food, the boy started to feed his siblings with shaking hands. There was a mirror in this spacious, luxurious room; reflected in this mirror was a boy with brown hair and green eyes; if one ignored the swollen and bruised face, he would be quite handsome for his age, but no one could appreciate his looks in this beautiful mansion.
We knew this boy very well, for this was Cinder; after making sure both his siblings calmed down in their cribs, Cinder looked out a window to watch the storm outside; the rain seemed to soothe his weary heart and body.
'If you hate us so much, why even have us? Why keep us trapped in this mansion? To beat us?'
Cinder asked himself, knowing there was no logical answer; he never met his biological father, who was already dead, to keep his mouth shut. His mother and stepfather had to keep up their image, not as it mattered, for both of them cheated on each other again, and again, and again. Cinder and his siblings shared no actual blood ties, but who would find out? Every one-night stand they had would be the last for the other party.
Cinder took beatings every day; why would parents beat their children? Cinder didn't know; maybe God did? But these questions were never answered, for one day, Cinder came home to find his four-year-old sister missing; he tried to ask his "parents," but they would just brush him off half-heartedly with answers like she's with distant relatives, they didn't have any distant relatives. After that day, Cinder decided to run away from home with some stolen money from his parents' safe, making a living after quitting school, where everyone ignored his plights. Cinder started doing odd jobs to keep money flowing for his only family member, but this didn't last long for one year later, Cinder fell asleep only to wake up in a strange place with even stranger people.
But these nightmares didn't end there; Cinder started to relive more recent events where someone else took hold, watching himself kill other subjects in gruesome ways, a voice called out to him.
"Doesn't it feel good?"
"...."
"With power, no one can stand in your way; even that whore and bastard would crumble and beg at your feet."
"...."
"If you had this power back then, Leylin wouldn't have suffered; Grace would still be alive."
"...."
"So why are you hesitating? Do Grace's death and Leylin's suffering mean nothing to you? Tell me does your suffering mean anything?"
"...I want."
"You want what? Tell me, what do you want?"
"Power...power...power, power, power, I NEED POWER! Everything in this world is twisted and filled with filth, so I will become strong enough to cleanse all this filth."
"But, what if the gods stand in your way?"
"Then I will kill the gods that stand or even think of standing in my way."
"....Heh...hehehe-HAHAHA NOW WERE TALKING KILL EVERYONE IN OUR WAY TO ACHIEVE MORE POWER! TO ACHIEVE THE PEACE WE SO RIGHTFULLY DESERVE, IF THE WORLD STANDS IN OUR WAY, WE'LL DESTROY THE VERY HEAVENS THEMSELVES; NO GOD SHALL IMPEDE OUR ADVANCE!"
Cinder sprung up from his bed with glowing blood-red eyes, a smile that would charm any woman, but this smile didn't last long before becoming distorted turning sinister in nature.
".....Heh..he..hehehe, what was I hesitating for? All I need is power."
***
"Yes, now this is our true Adam, humanity's savior whether he likes it or not, hehehehe, oh it seems his laugh might be contagious."
***
Cinder started to work out and train his hand-to-hand combat instead of waiting for his next opponent. A fire was lit in Cinder, not just to survive but an insatiable lust for power. Before long, Jess came in with his breakfast, but she noticed something was different about Cinder; she couldn't tell precisely what, so she just chalked it up to her imagination. Since Cinder wasn't asking any questions like usual, Jess didn't stay for long before leaving; she would usually tease Cinder, but today she couldn't bring herself to do it and couldn't understand why.
After Jess left and Cinder finished his breakfast and morning routine, he was once again called in for today's test, but unlike before, there was a beautiful smile plastered on Cinder's face. If one paid enough attention to Cinder's smile, they would notice this smile wasn't friendly; there was an eeriness to it that made one's skin crawl.
Once again, standing in front of his fellow subjects in a sealed room with no exit, Cinder couldn't stop laughing. There seemed to be a sadistic joy in Cinder's blood-red eyes before the doctors even said start. The test was already over with five dead bodies at Cinder's feet, unmoving and headless.
(Cinder) "When's the next test, doctor? hehehehehe."
*****
Bonus Chapters
25 power stones = 1 Bonus Chapter
50 power stones = 2 Bonus Chapters
100 power stones = 4 Bonus Chapters
Hope you enjoyed it.
From your author RogueErebus.