Monster

3 | A Sliver Of Hope

- TENKO -

A heavy thud woke me up.

I blinked a few times, lifting my head to see Zu laying on the floor, presumably unconscious. His skin was littered with red patches, dried tear stains visible on his face. He looked like he had been in pain, and I hated it.

Overhaul watched him for a moment. Just watching. It angered me that he was just watching my brother suffer. It angered me that he did these things to us with no remorse. It angered me that he was just watching.

I took the chance. "What did you do to him?" My throat was hoarse, my voice coming out sort of scratchy.

He didn't look up. "I gave him a new quirk. I didn't want him to turn out useless, after all."

My blood boiled. "He's not useless."

"Not anymore."

With that, he slammed the door shut, leaving us alone in the darkness. Slowly, I crawled over to Zu, patting the floor in front of me. If I touched any part of him, that meant he was in front of me. That was good.

I searched for a long time, each time just feeling the cold hard floor of the room. I was worried for Zu. He looked like he was in pain. I hated that. I hated it so much.

I wished the heroes would save us from this hellhole soon. We didn't belong here. Zu didn't belong here. Why hadn't they found us already? Did they give up on us?

Soon, I found Zu, my hand touching his matted hair. It had been curly before, but it seemed dry now, the curls sticking together. It had been like this for a long time. My hair was worse, the strands brushing against fresh cuts on my back.

Carefully, I picked Zu up into my arms, his head resting against my chest. He was asleep, his quiet snores now audible. He was breathing, his pattern regular. That was also good.

Good was enough.

I shuffled backwards towards the back wall, Zu in my arms. He would likely be like this for a long time, if the red patches were anything to go by. It looked like the quirk Overhaul injected had hurt him. Badly. Now I wondered what that quirk was.

He shuffled around in my arms, gripping onto my shirt tightly. I couldn't see him, but I guessed he was having a nightmare. He usually never woke up this early after an experimentation session.

"Shh," I caressed his hair, a method used to calm him down. "It's okay. You're okay. We're okay. You'll be alright."

He started to move around a lot less, relaxing in my hold. I continued caressing his hair, the movement calming him down from whatever he was watching in his mind.

He used to have night terrors a lot, most of them old memories from the lab. Sometimes, he'd have ones where he'd have to watch Overhaul experiment on me, the nightmares always painful to experience.

Most times, it's too painful for him to talk about.

I leaned back, my head hitting the wall. I hoped the heroes hadn't given up on us. I hoped they were still trying to find us. I hoped they'd find us soon.

The way things are going though, I doubt Overhaul would do anything like this without some sort of security system. He's always careful with this. A few years ago, we had to change bases for a year (I think) to throw the heroes off the trail.

I still hate him for that.

I hate myself for not fighting back.

I hate myself for not trying to get help.