Red Smiler

Ch5 ~ Red Smiler Pt2

"Do you have a reason for doing it? Can you tell me why you did it?" The woman inquired as she scribbled something on her notepad. The child continued to cry while shaking his head. He tried wiping away his tears with his hands, but they just kept falling. "I don't know; I don't know why I did it... I just want to know if my mama and papa are alright. Are they alright?" The child asked as he continued to cry, and the woman observed as the child pleaded with her, asking if he could see his parents and if they were okay.

The woman frowned as she watched the toddler cry and plead. She sighed deeply, rose from her chair, and walked over to where the child was seated, which was at the front of her desk. She crouched down so she could be at the child's level, smiled tenderly at him, gently patted his back, and said calmly, "Don't worry, Thorfrid. Everything will be fine; your folks are now safe. They're in a better place now." When the woman stated that, the child became quiet; he gently turned his head towards her and furrowed his brows slightly. The woman appeared worried yet continued to smile.

Thorfrid had mixed feelings at the moment; he understood what the woman meant when she said his parents were in a better place. He was relieved that they were no longer alive, but he was also... sad. They would never treat him kindly and would always cause him pain. He didn't regret what he'd done to them, but he just felt...

Horrible.

~~~

"Ugh! This sandwich tastes like shit..." Tom groaned as he went through the streets of London. He had just finished training using some of his abilities, which had exhausted him and made him and the voice hungry. He was also sore and could hardly walk because he jumped from building to building; his arms were also sore since he was trying to practice using his strength ability. Let's just say things didn't end well, and he got chased by an angry elderly man. The elderly guy was very quick given his age.

"Hey! The sandwich isn't awful at all; you taste like shit!" Tom arched an eyebrow at what the voice in his head stated in response to his comment, but he didn't respond and instead handed the rest of his sandwich to a stray dog sitting on a cardboard box in an alleyway. The small pug happily ate the food, wagging its tail. The Brit chuckled and stroked the animal's head. He reapplied his mask and resumed his walk. He needed to get back to the academy because classes were about to begin, and he hoped Tord was still asleep. He had to hurry since the Norwegian always woke up before him.

As Tom continued walking, he heard a massive explosion. His eyes widened and he looked around hurriedly. His gaze was drawn to a library a few blocks away; there was smoke, and people were screaming as they ran in different directions. When the noise caught the teenage boy's attention, he took off rushing toward the library.

~~~

"It's not here..." The person muttered while gritting their teeth. They slammed their fist into the wall, leaving a large hole in the wall and a huge tear on their glove. The masked individual gazed at their bleeding hand; they wiped the blood on their camo hoodie and headed down the steps of the now-destroyed library. They had to jump over a few steps because the stairs were damaged.

They were headed towards the library's back exit when they heard someone shout, "Hello? Is anyone else here?" The person froze; their mask's smile expanded as did their eyes. They chuckled as they turned around and pressed a button on their watch.

~~~

"Be quiet, kid!" The heliotrope devil stated this aggressively to Tom, and the youngster just rolled his eyes and apologised quietly as he continued to investigate the library to make sure it was empty. After a few moments, Tom sighed heavily. He didn't see anyone else in the library, which made him happy because it meant everyone had escaped safely. Outside, he heard sirens from police cars. The teenager spotted a group of people outside through a shattered window; some were recording and photographing the demolished building, while officers spoke with some people and entered the library. Tom was ready to leap through another broken window when he felt someone grab his arm and slam him into a wall.

When Tom's head slammed into the wall, he shouted in pain. He quickly adjusted his sunglasses and turned to face the person standing a few feet away. Tom's eyes widened and his breathing became laboured as his heart raced. It was the same masked figure he had seen in the academy when the incident occurred. Tom began to panic as his hands shook uncontrollably. He was terrified as the masked figure approached him carefully. The voice in Tom's head said something, but he didn't appear to hear it because the voice sounded so distant. He didn't know what to do; he was frozen in place as the individual approached him. He was somewhat taller than him, and the eyes and smile on the mask gradually expanded as the person looked down at the short teenager. Tom's hand swiftly balled into a fist and struck the masked figure in the face, sending them flying into a bookshelf and knocking it over so that damaged books tumbled all over the area. "What the-?!" Tom yelled in surprise as he examined his already damaged hand. It was extremely painful, and the black-eyed boy growled in pain as he rubbed the top of his hand. When he heard the policeman start running up the broken stairs, the voice said nothing and only made Tom run. The devil possessing Tom took the lead because the teenager was still shocked by what was going on. The voice made Tom leap from a window and cling to the brick wall of a nearby building. The British boy was taken aback because he had no idea he could stick to things.

The voice quickly directs Tom to climb up the building. While they were climbing, Tom looked to his left and froze when he noticed a man peeking out the window and looking at him. The man's jaw dropped open as the cigar fell from his grasp. The youngster swiftly turned away from the man and resumed climbing.

~~~

Tom leaped through the still-open window of his dorm room. He let out a deep breath and swiftly removed the mask and sunglasses. When he looked over to Tord's bed, his jaw dropped open, and he began to panic since the Norwegian boy wasn't in bed. When he looked over to his own bed, he discovered that he had forgotten to stuff his blanket to pretend he was sleeping, which made him even more stressed. He quickly took off Tord's grey hoodie he was wearing and hid it in his own backpack, along with his sunglasses and mask. He heard the dorm room open just as he slid his backpack back under his bed, which caused him to immediately stand up from the ground and sit on his bed with a nervous expression on his face.

Tord shut and locked the door to the dorm room he shared with Tom. He was going to stroll up to his bed when he noticed the other teenager seated on their own bed, a nervous expression on his face. Tom looked at him and crossed his arms over his chest, saying, "What are you looking at, sunshine lollipops?"

"A Jehovah's Witness who has some talking to do, where were you?" Questioned the younger lad, furrowing his brows as he placed a hand on his hip and cocked his head slightly to the side. Tom scoffed and rolled his eyes at the other boy, saying, "It's none of your business what I do or where I go." Tord looked at Tom blankly and didn't say anything else; he glanced at the open window and back at Tom before returning to his bed and lying back down. There were a few minutes of silence before Tom's stomach rumbled, making the Brit blush with embarrassment. Tord shifted his gaze to Tom, making the short teenager feel even more embarrassed. He squinted his eyes at Tord and spoke strongly, "What?" The other boy said nothing; he simply rose from his bed and walked over to his backpack, which was still near the bathroom door. He opened it, took out a large bag of chips, and tossed it to Tom. The British boy caught the chip bag with a shocked expression; he didn't recall seeing the snack in Tord's bag when he looked through it. He quickly shrugged it off and began eating. Tord merely stood there staring at him, which made the teenage boy feel uneasy.

"You've eaten a lot more than usual..." Tord stated calmly as he returned to his own bed and sat on it. Tom raised an eyebrow and turned to face Tord. The taller boy had a soft expression on his face as he stared at Tom. It was unusual to see the Norwegian in this way, which made Tom feel even more uneasy. Tord had been acting strangely since Tom had left the hospital. He didn't like it at all, so he stuck close to Edd and Matt whenever he could. He was relieved he didn't have any classes with Tord, but he despised having to share a dorm room with him.

"So?" Was that all Tom remarked as he instantly completed the bag of chips. He was still hungry, but he ignored it.

Tord simply remained silent, laying on his bed and covering himself with his blanket. Tom sighed loudly and furrowed his brows in confusion as he murmured something. He had two hours until classes started, so he chose to use that time to rest and prepare for the rest of the day ahead of him.