"The land of freedom, opportunity, and love" was the popular description for the nation Liberta.
These concepts, however, seemed more than vague and unreachable for the boy dashing through the freezing, rainy night. His heart pondered with each step he took, while puddles of water splashed beneath his feet, kicking up cold water that wetted his thin clothing.
He ran down the empty lane, driven not by strength but deep disappointment and desperation.
Just five minutes ago, he had lost everything.
◆ ◆ ◆
For a middle school student in a public school, Edwin had quite a complex background. One can tell so by the half-oriental face and the pitch, black hair of his. Being the son of a Libertanian father and an immigrant mother, his background differed from most of his classmates.
Nobody knew whether his unique origin was the reason he was isolated by his peers, but his introverted personality was a solid matter-of-fact. Existing no more obvious than a thin shadow, he drifted between classmates while walking in the hall as if he was invisible. Being the least attention-seeking person around, nobody humans ever tried getting or ever got close to him.
Fortunately for Edwin, humans were not the only thing around him.
Like every other afternoon, Edwin lifted a white plastic strip, which was decorated with flowers drawn out of thin lines, and placed it between the withered yellow pages of a book. This was the third book he read this week. Without anyone disturbing him, Edwin laid back on the creaking chair of the library and basked in the warm afternoon sunlight streaming in from the windows. Books were what he loved the most – no need for purposely looking for attention, nor was there any need to worry about others being unhappy about your conduct.
What was more, the bookmark wasn't just any plastic strip to Edwin. Every time he held it, he could feel the comforting smile of the person he loved the most.
◆ ◆ ◆
"Mom, I'm home!" shouted Edwin, running down the corridors of the house.
It didn't take long for him to navigate through the small wooden house and reach the kitchen. There, his mother was busy preparing the meal. She glanced over her shoulder and smiled at her son.
"How's your day at school, dear?"
"…Great as usual, mom," responded Edwin, but the stuttering betrayed him.
"Let me guess: you didn't talk to anyone again, right?" His mother gave him a piercing look.
"Um…yeah." Edwin gave up lying.
The middle-aged lady sighed and dumped the last plate of carrots into the boiling stew. She covered the pot and walked towards Edwin. Then, she sat next to the dining table and signaled Edwin to sit next to her.
"Look, darling, you must know that this world isn't as awful as you think," she said softly as Edwin sat next to her.
"I know, I know…it's just that I'm scared," Edwin confessed, "…scared of people turning on you and all…"
"What makes you think that?"
"You know…with dad…" His voice diminished to an inaudible murmur at the end of the phrase. His eyes unconsciously moved towards the wall across the room, where a medium-sized photo hanged. On it, a Libertanian man with black hair dressed in brown military uniform stared out of the frame confidently.
Edwin's mother sighed deeply and closed her eyes.
"Edwin, we don't talk about your father's past."
"But why not? You love him so much!" exclaimed Edwin, "I see you staring at his photos all the time! When I mentioned about him coming home in a few days, I saw your face brighten for a second…"
He stopped when he realized his mother being in a solemn mood. Indeed, she did love his father very much – ever since Edwin began remembering things, he was bathed in her mother's stories about his father: about how he met her, how he joined the army, and how he was fighting in the front against Ledyanayan troops with the newest aid of Liberta – espers. As soon as the war came to an end, so did their joyfulness. The end of the conflict came with the heavy price of the espers showing their "true nature" to the public through their horrendous acts of atrocities.
Worst of all, Edwin's father was deeply traumatized by those events. He was among the soldiers that treated espers like brothers and sisters, but had their ideals completely betrayed by what used to be their comrades. Despite all the beautiful and brave tales of from his mother, the fact that Edwin's first time seeing his father in person was him shouting behind the glass of an asylum made the boy feel doubtful about whether to call this man father or not.
That was the sole reason Edwin was scared to make connections with others.
"Yes, dear, your father is the love of my life…" His mother finally spoke. "His past was tragic, but it is no reason for you to be scared to live. The world isn't made up solely of those demons, you know. Look, if anyone out there betrayed your trust or treated you badly, come to me – you trust mom, don't you?"
Edwin smiled as the rough hands gently patted his own, delivering a stream of warmness that relaxed his worrying mind.
"That bookmark I gave you was a reminder that you can rely on me," said his mother, eyeing at the plastic strip sticking out of Edwin's bag, "if so, you can also rely on others."
"Maybe father coming home tomorrow won't be a worrying thing at all," thought Edwin.
◆ ◆ ◆
"Today is the absolute worst," thought Edwin, taking in deep breaths while lying against the back of the library bench.
The dreadful pain in his head grew and weakened periodically. Like a blinding sun rising and setting in mere seconds, Edwin felt his mind constantly switching on and off. He closed his eyes, leaving only the ringing in his head and the scent of yellow paper in his world.
When the pain suddenly stopped, he slowly opened his eyes and saw himself lying on the wooden floor. Luckily, nobody was around at the time, which saved himself the need to explain what had happened, and then be sent to the useless school nurse. Edwin shook his head and packed his books. Outside, the clouds thickened and blocked out the afternoon sun, drowning the town in gloomy shadows.
He was not going to let this random headache affect the homecoming of his father.
After a few seconds of hesitation, Edwin twisted the doorknob and entered the house. The creaking door smelt of moist wood as always, except there were no stew cooking, nor was the television on. It was dead silent. Edwin turned around the corner, and saw the man he dreamed about for years. His father sank in the couch, his head slightly tilted, as if most life had been sucked out of him. He seemed a lot thinner than he looked on the photos. Edwin's mother sat right next to his husband and held his hand in hers. Though a light smile was on the face of Edwin's father, his eyes did not beam with happiness.
"I'm…I'm home," murmured Edwin.
Both adults lifted their heads up. The man stood up slowly, while the other watched with tearful eyes.
"Edwin…is that you? My son?" The man spoke in a quivering voice. His thin legs trembled as he stumbled towards the boy.
Edwin stepped back a little, still having difficulty recognizing the man as his father.
"C'mon, dear, it's alright," encouraged his mother.
With a deep breath, Edwin began walking forward into the man's arms. When the bony arms encircle around him, he actually felt some warmth and safeness. Edwin lifted his arms slowly around his father – the family was finally going to be complete again.
"Dad…I missed you-"
Edwin could not finish the phrase as the sharp pain suddenly made its return. The headache exploded in his head like a flash grenade, filling his mind with intolerable ringing. He was forced to step backward and shut his eyes strenuously. His brain was heating up, as if mountainous of information was flooding into his head, which could explode at any time. Edwin could vaguely recognize the worried voice of his parents before they were drowned out completely by the ringing, which suddenly turned into a deafening roar.
"Ahhh!"
With a loud yell, Edwin reopened his eyes. Interestingly, as if being scared away by the yell, the headache was driven away like a frightened sparrow.
He did not see the familiar living room. Instead, a puzzling new world was presented in front of him – a world filled with abstract geometrical shapes, which turned inside and out of itself like shapes in a kaleidoscope. Curious and scared, he waved his arm towards a shape-shifting prism next to him. However, he did not feel the supporting push from it, but a smooth resistance as his hand cut through the shape like dough. Finally, Edwin couldn't bear it any longer and shut his eyes again. When he reopened them, the living room had finally came back to him.
While gasping, the frightened boy looked around. His parents have retreated into the corner of the room, leaving a clear space around Edwin. Looking down at his hand, Edwin saw his limbs glowing a dim blue color, before returning to normal. Beneath his arm, the television lied on the ground – cleanly split in half. It only occurred to Edwin later that this metal chunk was that prism he saw.
The baffled boy looked up at his parents, who gasped upon looking at Edwin in the eyes. Only then did Edwin realize that his eyes were glowing blue as well.
"Edwin…?" her mother called in a quivering voice.
"What…what was that…" Edwin said in a fearful tone, staring at his hands.
"No…" came a frightened bellow, "not them again…NOT THEM AGAIN!"
The sudden roar from Edwin's father shook the house, as the other boy and his mother watched in horror. The man shot up from the chair, his face pale, twisted in fear and anger.
"Darling?" Edwin's mother tried reaching out for the angered man, but was pushed aside violently.
"I've seen enough blood spilled by you demons on the frontline…I will not let you kill this time! NOT THIS TIME!"
In less than a second, the man had grabbed the fork lying on the dinner table and faced Edwin, who watched in disbelief. The man that hugged him in his arms a minute ago was running towards him with a knife.
"Die, you damned esper! Pay for your horrors!!!"
As soon as the sharp blade reached near the boy's heart, the time seemed to have slowed down for him. Everything was bolted in their place – his mother leaping up while screaming, his father's twisted face in front of him…everything stayed in place.
"Stay away from me!" yelled Edwin, before closing his eyes.
He could feel the headache making its return again. This time, however, Edwin could restrain it to a moderate level. The world of shape-shifting objects returned to his eyes – that was the first time he managed to control his ability, the ability of accessing the fourth dimension. In a hurry, Edwin swinged his arm in an attempt to deflect the incoming knife, when his hand touched something wet and warm, which seemed to be entangled with his hand. Shocked, he forcefully pulled his hand away, taking the warm object with it.
Judging by the loud thump, something heavy seemed to fell to the ground.
Edwin's sight came back to normal, as he stared at the horrendous thing he held in his hand – a bloody heart, completely intact and still pulsing.
In front of him, his father knelt in a dark red puddle. Before he fell dead on the ground, his eyes beamed with fear and hatred. "You cursed demons…you damned espers!" they seemed to say.
The storm began roaring outside, accompanied by pouring rain. Like gigantic drums, lightning boomed in the clouds, dramatically announcing the tragic end of a family.
A scream sharp enough to rip apart reality itself came from Edwin's mother.
"God…my God!" she cried, tears flowing out uncontrollably.
Edwin didn't know what to do at all. He looked at the expanding puddle of blood beneath the corpse, then back up at the screaming woman. Helpless, he stumbled backward and sat in the corner of the wall.
"Mom…" he called.
The woman suddenly glared at him.
"Leave…" she growled, the suddenly yelling at the top of her lungs, as if trying to rip her throat apart with her own voice, "LEAVE ME! You killed him! You bloody demon!"
Edwin went speechless, his body numb. He could not recognize the mad woman in front of him.
"Get away from me, you demon!!!"
That was the last phrase Edwin ever heard from his mother.
In Edwin's pocket, the delicate, white bookmark from his mother now has an extra dash of dark-red on it.