'Human…. anatomy?'
The title had created a pictured look on the small child's face.
The hard cover the boy held in his small hands casted a dwarfing shadow over his face as he read the picture book.
Vital Organs, Functions, Positions, simple basics of the human body. Basic adult knowledge.
His 10 year old brain was having trouble trying to comprehend anything, luckily decrypting pictures was a strong suit of his.
He smiled warmly as his fingertips flipped through the book, scanning over any pictures his eyes met.
"Shinji! Come here, breakfast is ready!"
A feminine voice rang out through the small house as he sat up.
Shuffle
The straw underneath his covers moves around as he sits up, and the cold wipe falls off his red face.
"Coming, Mom!"
Shinji's legs easily reach the ground, as he hops down from his supposed "mattress" that's lifted by cardboard boxes.
As he enters the kitchen his gaze observes his dad, working through the heat of the rising sun. The black haired boy took his seat at the round table, and ate his breakfast in silence.
He smacks his lips as Shinji finishes the last of his oatmeal. The young boy's glance adverts from his empty wooden bowl to his mother, who was washing dishes.
He admires his mother's long black hair, and tall stature, as it reminds him of his older sister, who he hasn't seen in 2 years.
Shinji begins scheming to himself for a second, as he lets out a smile and rubs his fingers on his chin like a diabolical villain in a comic.
"Hmmmmm."
Shinji quickly and quietly leaves the table and heads towards the back door. As he is trying his best to open the door quietly, his head peaks over the small hall to see a 'picture-like frame' of his mom doing dishes and his dad working hard as the sun shines down on them. He thinks to himself for a quick moment.
'If only Ella were here, it would really be perfect.'
The heartwarming scene was enough for him at the time, as he emits a warm smile, and shuts the door leaving behind only a small creek.
"Hm?"
His mom's confused face turns towards the door but sees nothing as Shinji has already left. She goes back to washing dishes thinking nothing of it.
*
Shinji makes his way to the river by the backside of the house. His house was plotted at the very back of the small Village like neighborhood. Out of the 30-40 houses, Shinji's family was closest to the river.
The river which divided his village, and the mainland of Cufan, was about a mile wide, and was a spot he and his friends would play at.
When he arrived at the river after about 5 minutes of running, Shinji's eyes spotted two of his older friends, Jack and Emelia. They were resting on the shore of the lake near the bridge which was located in the middle of the divided lands.
"Ah, Shinji hey! What are you doing over here? You're sick aren't you?"
It seemed as if Jack heard Shinji running up behind them before he had even gathered his thoughts.
"I was bored."
A short and simple reply.
Jack waves his hand and signals Shinji to come sit down between the two of them. Shinji took his seat on the sand filled shore, and dipped his foot into the shallow water that moved back and forth, leaving Shinji's simple eyes mesmerized.
Before Shinji had time to enjoy the back and forth of the water, Emelia, a short blonde girl, sprung a question.
"What do you think of moving to the city, Shinji?"
He answered the question with a turn of his head, tilting it to the right and exuding a puzzled expression.
"Hm?"
Even though he seemed confused by the thought, he understood why they would ask such a question. It made sense for Emelia and Jack to be thinking such things, after all they are both 13 and 14 respectively, an age where you start thinking about your future. As for Shinji, he couldn't have a care in the world.
He opened his mouth while keeping the same position with his head tilted and his arms supporting his body as he sat up right.
"I don't really have any opinion on something so stupid, after all I like living here, with you guys and my parents. I don't like thinking about things that put me in a bad mood anyway."
Word after word came out of Shinji's mouth to the point where it was him subconsciously speaking. He didn't even know if what he was spouting made sense to them. It was just how Shinji felt about the opinion, because unlike what he had told Jack and Emelia, he had put much thought into the topic.
A quick silence emerged as their faces became puzzled.
'Did I say something too heartfelt?'
"Sheesh."
Jack opened his mouth and let out a little chuckle as he stood up.
"For being so young you are quite in tune with your feelings. I envy that about you."
He turned his direction towards Jack as his face became straight like a board, as if I totally understood what he meant.
'In tune? Envy? What the hell does that mean?'
Shinji's straight face was nothing but a cool front.
"Seriously though Shinji, start to think about these things. Affiliations, rankers, Jinpaws, even simple things like modern civilization. So many things this tiny village can't provide us with."
Jack pointed towards the large overlooking city building that looked smaller than the bridge from so far away.
'Huh?'
Even for a gifted child in academics like Shinji, no one at his age would understand what Jack was talking about, it just left him confused.
**
Jack and Emelia both went off to the village after about an hour as I waited a while, looking at the vast city with a memorized look, pondering what they said.
After another 30 minutes I decided to head home as I beganto feel tired and wanted to rest.
On the way, I look down from the hill over the top of the village. 20, no 30 houses within a confined island space that can be compared to small cottages.
I snuck through the back door as mom and dad both weren't in sight. I layed down and took the human anatomy book from underneath my bed. I began to doze off as I began reading on my side.
My vision blurs as the last good sight I get is through my small window, of multiple houses spread throughout. My focus goes in and out until I finally shut my eyes of my own will, satisfied with the last look of the village before I take a short nap.
My eyes close as I'm enveloped by darkness. I have a thoughtless sleep and get some quality shut eye.
*
Crash
Bang
Screams come from the shattered window frame. Shinji sits up before opening his eyes and looks outside still in a daze.
Terror. Destruction. Blood.
The unholy sight which would be blurred in a movie was unbelievable to Shinji's 10 year old pure eyes. He began to rub them over and over again until he awoke from his daze, still in bed.
His last sight before he woke up, up until now, was like a slideshow. In what he would think could only be a 5 hour difference at most, was shown as three scenes to Shinji.
A peaceful village. One Shinji had felt comfortable enough to fall asleep at the sight of.
Black. A pitch black sight that anyone would see while sleeping.
Blood. The gory scene of massacre, destruction, death. Something that couldn't be described with a child's philosophy or vocabulary.
The three scenes repeated like a low frame animation over and over again until he snapped out of his shock and confusion
'What's… what's happening."
The smell of blood rushed through his nose, something that he most certainly wouldn't forget.
Slam
Shinji's door slams open.
It was Shinji's mother with a look he had never seen on her. To be more precise, it was like a combination of expressions he never expected to see.
Despair. Sorrow. Fe- no terror, terror fits it better.
"Shinji come here!"
She screams the sentence with a rash voice.
He had headed to her with no thought as she grasped him tightly and guided him to the basement.
The basement. Shinji hadn't noticed the fact that there was a terrible cataclysm falling upon the village, instead, his mind was thinking how mother and father never let me in the basement before. Of course he had been, that's where all the books were, but he had to keep it a secret to himself and Jack included.
Shinji's Dad rushed down the stairs, appearing out of nowhere, telling Shinji and his mother to go to the back room, while he held a spear in one hand and his other grasped the ceiling over the staircase, sweating and shaking.
His mother quickly pushed the bookshelf where he had taken countless books from. It flipped and did a 180 degree turn. A small room, no larger than 6 feet by 6 feet was revealed. Nothing in it but a piece of stone that resembled a shrine, with cobwebs forming and a few scratched off symbols and graffiti.
His mom held him tight as her tears began falling down Shinji's cheek. Her sense of fear drove him to an even greater length of terror, as he began to ball his eyes out without knowledge of the situation.
His mom puts a finger over his mouth that signals him to shush, so he wipes his eyes and starts panting uncontrollably.
**
Nearly 20 min have passed since I last saw dad. Mom told me when he's done he'll come to our "secret hiding place where no one can hurt us."
Throughout the time my immature brain formalized a situation that was happening outside, which didn't help my stress levels.
'Is dad alright? What about Jack and Emelia? What's even happening outside? Was what I saw real?.'
Screams, crashes and more ominous sounds came from outside, until they eventually got closer and closer to our house.
**
'Shit.'
'I can't protect my friends, my village?!? From what??? They're underlings?!'
Jeremiah Leblanc, the father of Shinji Leblanc, was at a loss for words, palming his head with both hands as tears rolled down his face.
His main priority was his family, as far as he was concerned. His goal was to see off his son and daughter at least one last time.
He watched, listened and smelled the distant death nearing his house. One by one, each house in the village pummeled by a group of 5 or so cloaked men with masks, with them about 20 enraged *biars, who go on a rampage by themselves after the men give them a go ahead.
It was like a roll call. Person by person, interrogated, and killed.
'All because of me? Me and Crystal's goals were at fault?!?! No, we did the right thing, even if it was at the cost of everyone I loved and cared for. On their behalf, it would be meaningful if we can get through this."
Jeremiah's thoughts were going at 100mph. Fault, death, organization, we're all words going transitioning in and out of his head.
Tap
A finger. Frail and Bony tapped Jerimiah on the head. Changing his view from the tear-soiled dirt to the masked man. Heart sank, his blood turned cold.
'It seems it's my turn.'
Jerimiah had a sense of pride that forced him to say this to himself even while facing this dire situation.
The man took Jerimiahs wrist quickly and without reaction. He put his two fingers on the veins coming from his palm and lifted his lips.
"Are you…
the Leblanc family?"
The short sentence started calm, but his demeanor changed as soon as he got to the point. The words that were filled with such ill intent and blood lust shook Jerimiah, giving the questioner his confirmation.
"Too bad. If you had lived further down the land, you could have already been dead."
"Don't think it would've gotten your neighbors out of anything though."
His words were all felt with different emotion like he didn't take any of this seriously, or simply didn't care enough.
Jerimiah understood what was about to happen as soon as he felt the man's touch.
But he also knew what his role was.
Main character?
'No.'
Antagonist?
'No.'
What about the spark of the story? The ones that influence it all. They don't get enough credit, at least that's what Jerimiah thought. Although it could be a based claim, Jerimiah had heavily thought of himself as,
The Ignition.
"Ignite."
Simple words flew from Jerimiahs cold mouth, which didn't seem to phase the masked man.
The spear Jerimiah had picked up ignited, as the tip was engulfed in a small flame.
**
It's been a few minutes since the most recent blood filled screams. It made me feel relieved, as if it was all over. But even I knew that this was just wishful thinking.
Crash
Grunt
The house shook, all the way to its core, including the basement. Mom's grip tightened on me as we backed up to the small stone shrine to be as far away from the ceiling cracks as possible.
Grunts of pain echoed through the floor. As the building kept shaking you could feel the stability lessening. Me and Mom kept moving around the room till there were cracks everywhere and we ended back where we started in the middle.
"Just relax Shinji, it will all turn out fine."
Mothers words weren't relaxing as they were filled with doubt.
Crack
The cracks spread until…
Crash
The ceiling which was our last line of defense had come crashing down. My reflexes were slow, I was frightened as well which resulted in my stun. I stood there watching as the half a foot thick concrete fell around me.
I lay on the ground, head covered with my arms as I waited for it to stop.
Soon, I'm covered by rock and can barely move. Bruises are most certainly everywhere with blood gushing from my forehead which was a result of before I took cover.
I am slumped up against the shrine, covered in rocks while sitting up. I'm able to see out of a few small holes filled with light.
When my eyes adjust I see mom, lying on top of the rocks no more than three feet away from me.
Her head crushed, almost replaced by a rock the same size. Unable to avert my gaze due to my pinned down body, I closed my eyes.
More fighting sounds emitted from above as an open hole was shining down with light and the smell of blood.
I open my eyes to glance up at the situation to see dad, pinned against the wall facing me. His body was hanging over the 6 by 6 foot hole that was made. A smile grew from his face as he met my gaze through the hole.
'No. Why? Why why why why why?'
'Why are my parents dead, killed in front of me, so helplessly?'
A cackle came from the opposite side of dad. I couldn't see him as he was on the side of the hole that couldn't reach my gaze, but his voice is an unforgettable one.
"Ignite? Is that your way to 'power up'?" He says mockingly, ending with a laugh at the end.
Dad ignores him and reverts his gaze to the man so as to not give me away. He looks at his wife's, Crystal, dead body lying there. His smile disappears momentarily but pops back up as he stares the man down with glee.
"At least I saw one."
A satisfied expression grew over him. The flaming spear that pinned him to the wall burned out.
"Are you trying to mock me with your last words, old man? Who got the last laugh? Me someone who's alive, or you, a dead man who just lost it all because of his bad decisions."
Another cackle comes from the voice.
*
At this time, Shinji's mind had entered a thoughtless faze. Often when being put into a stressful situation, one feels despair, even more so when they can't do anything about it. They repulse the end result of the despair, whether it be debt, injury, or most commonly among these situations, death. "I don't want to die." Common last words. They are driven by the fear and terror coming from the in escapable situation they face.
Through his blank mind, a thought, no, a request flickered across Shinji's brain.
'I don't want to die.'
'I don't want to die.'
'I don't want to die.'
Back and forth his mind went with no tone or emotion in the words he repeated to himself. He was scared. Scared of death. Scared to feel the physical and mental pain he just watched his mom and dad feel. Scared to lose everything. Although that has already been checked off, for the most part.
Shinji's back aches as it was being dug into the shrine. Through the pain he kept repeating, and even murmuring the phrase.
'I don't want to die.'
His mind went blank once again, this time allowing him to relax. He passed out with minimal room to breathe with dead corpses all around.
The thought never ended. Just as the nightmare went on, his salvation kept giving me hope even through my dreams.
"To not die."
Shinji murmured.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Biars*- Bird Bear hybrids, betas with the beak and talons of a bird
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~