The Black Fox [Gakuen Alice Fanfiction]

Prologue: The Awakening

Prologue:

The Awakening

“Why can’t you play such an easy piece properly!?” My mother’s hysterical sobs resounded around the room, haunting my ears. My father just stood in the corner, disappointment plain in his blue eyes.

“Are you listening to me? You’re a genius. So why can’t you play this? Do you want to bring shame to us?” Her cries were now unbearable.

“No, mother,” was my conditioned response.

“Take a break. Practise again once you’ve cooled your head,” my father finally spoke up, but here was no warmth in his voice, though. Just cold calculation and expectation.

“Yes, Father.” I traipsed to my room, closing the door careful not to make a sound. I felt rising anger in my chest as I considered his words. ‘After you’ve cooled your head,’ he had said. I didn’t need to cool my head. My mother did.

I was hailed a child prodigy at a young age by those around me, and my parents tried to keep up the appearances. I was never allowed to have freedom. When I saw children play from my window, I would be practising musical instruments and doing paperwork the whole day.

It was when I was 8, I realised I truly wouldn’t have any freedom; I was bound by the chains that came along with the labels ‘genius’ and ‘child prodigy’.  

“I’m so sick of this!” I heard my mother yell from downstairs, snapping me out of my thoughts. Curiosity piqued, I opened the door a crack to hear clearly. But little did I know that this would be the act that would cause my world to crumble.

“Why can’t he do anything correctly? I’m sick of having to put up with this! I treated him like the genius he is, but all he gave us was despair! We should have never had him!” I heard her yell to Father.

“Calm down! What if the neighbours hear us? Our reputation would plummet,” he hissed to Mother.

I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. I didn’t choose to be different. I wanted to play in the mud like all the other children my age. I felt my anger rise once again.

‘We should have never had him!’ Those were the words that clung to my mind the most, like barbs I couldn’t get rid of. Clenching my hand into fists, I let my rage consume me. I didn’t want to bottle it up anymore. I let my anger take form and do whatever it wanted.

“Does he even appreciate what we do for him? That ungrateful-“her words were cut off with a gurgle. She screamed.

Something was wrong. Mother’s screams sounded like it was muffled by water.

Flinging open my door, I raced downstairs, were my parents were. To my shock, I saw two bubbles of water, one enclosing their heads each, cutting of their air supply. To my right, my mother was clawing wildly at the water encasing her head, leaving nasty gashes where nails came in contact with skin. To my left, my father had his eyes closed, resignation set in his face.

A good one and a half minutes had passed, and I knew they weren't going to last much longer. Is this my fault? Was this caused by me? Out of the corner of my eye I caught Father's lips move.

"I'm sorry." Reading the movements of his lips, I made out the words.

‘I wasn't able to fulfil the role of a father to you.’

Each word he shaped seemed to require a great amount of effort, but he kept going.

'Whatever happens, I don't blame you.'

My lips began to tremble with every word I made out.

‘I love you, my son.’

"...I love you, too...dad." I answered, my eyes burning with the effort of keeping tears at bay.

His eyes widened and I caught a glimpse of a smile appear on his lips before the last lights of life disappeared from his eyes. Hot tears threatened to spill from my eyes as I watched my dad's last moments.

I turned to my mother, who was still thrashing wildly, her face torn and a bloody mess. Her eyes bulged, giving me a furious look before she screamed something incoherent. Finally, her body went limp.

Any remaining anger I had at that point was turned to grief as I finally processed what had happened; my parents were no longer in this world. As if following my emotions, the water around their heads lost their formation and poured on the floor, like a cruel mockery of blood.

I finally realised that this was entirely my fault. I did this to them. I killed my parents. I didn’t know how I did it, but I had managed to murder them.

You killed them, you murderer, my mind taunted me. I couldn’t take anymore.

Let the water wash it away. Let it wash everything away.

As if heeding my command, torrents of water came crashing into the house, conjured from thin air. Within seconds, the house was flooded up to the roof, and that was the last thing I saw before my vision turned black.