Vibrant Eyes

Chapter 21 (Part 1) - Zero

My name is Zero. I am 13 years old. Well, I only ever got to 13 years. I was part of an experiment that involved siblings being able to talk telepathically to each other. I was 7 when me and my brother Raeku were taken from our family to attend this experiment. My brother was nice, and everyone loved him. But some people hated him and chose to take their anger out on me.

"Hey kid!" I looked up from the butterfly on the ground and saw three older kids looking down at me. "What're you doing?" One of them asked. "Uhm... Playing..." I managed to stutter out. They all laughed at me. "Stand up why dontcha?" I did so. I didn't want to get hurt, but I knew it was going to happen anyway. As I stood up, the kids pushed me back down.

"I said stand up! Or can you not do that either?!" The kid laughed at me.

"I would if you would stop pushin' me..." I mumbled. "What?" The kid said to me. I stood up. "Nothing!" I yelled. The kid picked me up by my shirt.

"YELL AT ME AGAIN! I DARE YOU!" He threw me down to the ground. My arm landed on a sharp rock, the rock piercing my skin. Tears fell from my eyes, but not because of the pain I felt... no. They killed the butterfly that I made friends with. I reached my hand out to grab the butterfly, but my hand was stepped on and squashed. "Aww, did I kill your little friend?" They all laughed at me.

I cried. I needed help. I wasn't strong enough to fight these bullies on my own. "HEY! LEAVE MY BROTHER ALONE!" Raeku yelled at them. Liera and Raeku stood in front of me. "I'm sorry man- I didn't mean to hurt him-" Before the kid could finish his sentence, Raeku socked the kid in the face. Some of the people in white coats came and broke up the fight. I crawled to the butterfly and held it gently in my hand. Tears fell slowly down my cheek as I saw the butterfly battered and broken. I suddenly felt a hand on my shoulder.

"Hey, want to give it a proper burial?" Liera asked. I nodded. We went somewhere where no one would find the grave. I cried.

Raeku pet my head and pulled me into a hug.

"I'm gonna kill them next time I see them..." He spoke. I'd never heard my brother speak in that way. Were the days catching up to him? I didn't know, and I was afraid that they were. Me and Raeku shared a room in the building. Every night was the same. Wake up, go into the courtyard, get bullied, get rescued, eat, sleep, repeat. I wanted something to change. I needed something to change.

I woke up suddenly. I felt like I was falling and suddenly had to wake up. My brother wasn't next to me. I looked for him and spotted him sitting on the bed. He had something to his throat. It looked like part of the tiled floor. Maybe a shard? I watched as a tear rolled down his cheek. "Goodbye Zero..." I watched as he pushed the tile shard deep into his neck. "NO!" I held out my hand, but I was too late. Blood dripped onto the white linen, his body falling into my arms. "Raeku..." Tears welled up in my eyes. "RAEKU!"

I woke up screaming, grabbing a hold of my neck. "Zero!" Raeku grabbed me and held me tightly. "NO! LET GO OF ME!" I yelled. "Zero, its ok... it's your brother." Raeku tried calming me down with words, but it didn't work. I kicked and screamed. "NO, NO, NO, LET ME GO!" He sighed. Suddenly, he started to hum a tune. I stopped kicking and screaming. I listened to the tune. It was the song our mother used to sing us. I turned around and finally realized that Raeku was still alive. Was I dreaming? "Raeku..." I wrapped my arms around his neck.

"It's ok... I'm still here. I won't leave you."

We held each other for a while before the doors opened. "Time to go." A man in a lab coat gestured for us to follow him. We did as we were told and as usual, we went to the courtyard. The day went on as usual. Get bullied, get rescued, eat and sleep. On one particular night, me and Raeku played a game. It was called Yes or No. We both had to make each other say yes or no by asking questions. He always won, but it was fun. "Do you like trees?" I asked him. "Of course!" He answered. "Even the really prickly ones?" I asked. "Oh no, those are terrible." I smiled. "GOTCHA!" He laughed. "Ahh, you got me." We both laughed through the night. Suddenly, I saw two kids being carried past our room. "New people?" I asked Raeku. He nodded. "Probably." I saw that one of them had long black hair and tan skin, and there was a girl with long brown hair and blonde streaks.