Chapter Text
The child’s cries echo through the orphanage’s halls.
“Reflect on what you've done”, the Headmaster moves towards the door, but stops when the screaming and sobbing turns into crazed laughter. He slowly turns and stares at the small boy writhing on the floor.
The sobs and laughs, hiccups and wheezes, grips his foot and slams his little fist on the ground. “Urgh- aha- argh- HA!” The child gulps and hiccups again. After what feels like an eternity of this onslaught of disturbing sounds, the child takes a deep breath. He opens his eyes wide and his mouth wider. “Ah, ah, it worked! Ueda, it WORKED!”
“What?,” the Headmaster mumbles.
This makes the boy snap his head in his direction. His pupils shrink as they zero in on the older man. “Headmaster!,” he yells, exhilarated.
The Headmaster doesn’t know how to react. No child has ever sounded so… happy when calling out for him. No, happy probably isn’t the right word. The child’s voice is delighted. But not only that, his eyes, the child’s eyes, they’re-
“Headmaster!,” the boy yells, tears rolling down his cheeks like two waterfalls, his smile so big, it shows off his teeth.
For a moment there, the Headmaster is afraid. Afraid that those teeth would rip him apart.
“I-,” the small child gets interrupted by an involuntary sob. He covers his mouth with the back of his hand and gulps. His position must be uncomfortable for him. He edges his fingers under the nail’s head and rips it out. Blood splatters on the ground and on his clothes. With the bloody nail gripped tightly in his fist, he stands up, not letting the Headmaster out of his sight. “I finally-,” he starts crying, “I finally understand! I finally know what you meant! I finally know why I was born!” He starts laughing. The laugh isn’t silent, nor superficial. No, it’s coming from the deepest depths of the child’s body and soul. He leans forward abruptly. "I’msorry I’msorry I’msorry I’msorry I’msorry I’msorry I’msorry I’msorry I’msorry I’msorry I’msorry I’msorry I’msorry I’msorry I’msorry- I FINALLY KNOW WHAT I’M MEANT TO DO!!!” He takes a step towards the man. “But I won’t be able to be what you wanted me to be.”
The Headmaster takes a step back. “You-”
But he can’t finish his sentence. He won’t be able to say anything now, forever. All he can do is watch in horror as the child jumps in the air, higher than any child his size should be able to and, staring into his very soul, brings his clenched fist down, burrying the nail into his skull. A disgusting sound bounces off the walls and echoes across the room as the bone cracks and breaks apart. “I’msorry I’msorry I’msorry I’msorry I’msorry I’msorry I’msorry I’msorry I’msorry I’msorry I’msorry I’msorry I’msorry I’msorry I’msorry-,” the boy keeps crying.
He falls on top of the body and rolls off onto the ground, still holding onto the nail as if it was the only real thing to him. Slowly, the child stands up and looks down. The Headmaster’s face is caved in. Blood keeps pouring out of the wound. He can even see a bit of the brain. Maybe he overdid it with his strength. The question now is-
W̷̼̓̌́͘ḥ̶̨̢̙͉̪̖̟̠͍̩̗̲̘̾̔̓̑̓̀͂̉̕͝a̸̛̙̒̓̄̆̇̓́͌͌̎t̸̡̥̟̣̰̣̲̝͈̻̝̗͖̖͊́̈́̌̊̅͛̌̄̄̐ͅ ̸̛͍̗͚͓͎̊̑̂̈̂̂n̷̰̮͕̲͉̖̖͛̽̈́̿̂͗̇̔̽͆̃̑͘o̷̠̟̬̪̼̺̺̻͂ͅw̶̡̢͓͇̼̥͔͚̱̯̯̎̊͆̐̈̄̈́͝?̶̝̦̩͍̻̹͛̈͑̚ Į̷͔̱̻̹͉̑͒͒͋̄́́̑͜͝s̶̨͇̦̯̹̳͐̾̓̔̈́̃͛̕ ̶̯̲̮͓̻̥̳̝͙̦̍͑̑̈̃͐̎̆̔͝ţ̴̡̺̻͓̻̞̠͇̜̮̬͍̈́̑̀̎̔̑̔̀̽̚̚͝͝ͅḫ̷̭̂̉̑͠į̷͕͇̗̝͍͙͎̯̺̰̜͕̟̓̽̃ͅš̷̠͍̱.̴̛̪̭͇̼̬̭̫͕̗͖͇̘̞͊́̈́̃́͛͋̒̒̔̐̉͜͝.̸̥͖͈̗̰̫̙͕̼͠.̷̡̤̝̮̰̥̺̺̩̗̙̐̓́͐̄ ̶̧̗͚͈̟͎͉̳̟͈͂̓̔̇̆̏̐̔́̈́́̚͠ͅe̵͇̟̎̇̄͛n̶̙͎̚o̴̧̧̨̼͈̲̭̰̣͚̗͇͎͆̒̇͗̏́̔ü̵̼̦̬͇͖͍͙͋ͅg̴̜̔͂́̓̅̌h̶͓̱̹̫̙̐̽̈́̄̎̀͆͋̒̔̃̅͘͝͝?̷͔͗̀́͜
He looks back at the place he was sitting at before. His own blood is still bright and red. It mixes with a bit of the Headmaster’s blood where the two puddles meet.
The sight of it, the smell, the texture, the redred red- makes him throw up.
Someone knocks on the door. “Headmaster? I heard-” Miss Yoko opens the door and freezes. She stares at the child, panting and wiping the vomit away and screams bloody murder at the sight of the dead headmaster.
The scream pierces through the child’s brain like a bunch of spears.
S̶̮̿͗̃̂́͒̃̄̓́͌͒͠h̶̢̋̓̆̾̀̔̈́͊ͅu̴̻̥̬̽͗̓͑̏́̌͆̔͠t̶̛͚͔̮͖͍͕͉̱̜͚̓̎̌̓͘ ̷̨͓͖̱̺̏̈̌̍̀͒̍̓͒͜ứ̵̡̧̧̨̟͍̙̯͔͖̭̞̊̄̈́̿̔͌̋͠͝p̶̢̟̺̹̖̣̐͒͛.̴͎͉̘͍̾̋̓̑̕ͅ ̷̡̧̛̻͙̰̟̿̈́͒̎̈͗̃͝ͅŞ̶͓͓̭̦̯͕̝̫̯̤̟̟̞͍͆̄ḩ̶͉̜͙̖̺̲͔̰̳̎̓̒̉̏ų̵͕̪̥͈̹̰̇́͋͊̒̂ͅṱ̷̡̣̭̟̝̅̂̃̓̉̈͑̒͝ ̴̛̫̼̬̟͓͔̣̩͚̦̑̃̇͊͊͠u̵̖̎̋p̷̛͕̾̈́̅͂̚͜.̴̦̯͐̃͊̋̏͛̑͆̽̊̀̚̕͝ ̶̘͋̀̓̿S̸̡̬̻̯̫͙̩̹̱̐̒̍̓͛̊H̴̡̢͍̝̣̤͖̗̞͔̥͇̠̝̽͋̆̂̍̂̔̈̈́̚͝U̶̺̹͈̥̣̇̔͒̊̓̓̓̍̏̚̕͘T̷̜̻̩̂̏̿̇̈́͗̍͑͗̊̒̎̔͜͝͠ ̴̝̱͈͊́͋͋̀̐́͘͜͝ͅÙ̸̩̳̥͇̖͇̋̂̆͋͑̈̉ͅP̵͓͖̰̳̥̮̥̞̆̈̓̍͑̋͌́̊̕͘͠ͅͅ!̷̨̛̛͈̤͚̮̪̺̭̻̄͑͛̓̂̆̿̋͑͗̕̚͜͝
He leaps and silences her by repeatedly stabbing her in the throat. Silence. Finally. He gets up and stumbles down the hallway, hearing them . Smelling them . Tasting them.
With ease, he kicks open the double doors to the room. The other orphans are still there. They look at him, frightened, frozen, no one speaks as he slowly steps over to the crushed candy on the floor. He looks at the shiny pieces of caramel and the dirty plastic wrapping. With his free hand, he picks up as many pieces as he can.
“Where are they? ,” he asks Tomi, one of his dorm mates, a boy with short, black hair, the one who saw him steal the candy out of the pantry .
“W-w-w-what?!,” he stutters.
The boy tilts his head ever so slightly. “The other monsters,” he says innocently.
Tomi pales and falls to the ground. “I-”
“Outside,” Sendoo, his other dorm mate, steps between them. Her whole body is shaking.
The boy nods absentmindedly and turns away, not looking back as he leaves the room.