MAD

1- Not in a hundred years

"How old were you when you became a Dread?" she asked me, her voice dragging out the last word as if her mouth had a hard time letting go of it.

"Five," I replied, getting bored as I picked at the dirt under my nails. "Hey," I called out to her. "Do you know if human males cut their nails short? Or do they keep it long like me? I can understand all the inconveniences of having all that gunk underneath it, but nails are like natural weapons that grow back if you break them--"

"Xero! You're getting off topic again!" she shouted, catching my attention and cutting me off short. After a moment's silence, she answered me, "It depends on the Periso. Some Periso males keep their nails about as long as yours; some cut them short. I've never met a Periso male that sharpens them like you, though."

I had forgotten that humans were entitled with the word Periso. Although I never exactly knew why. Maybe it derives from the word "person"...? That's the best explanation that I have been able to come up with. And, yes, I'm not a human; nor was the lady that sat in front of me. As Dreads, we almost look like humans, but that's about as close as we can get. Nearly everything else is different... or so I've heard. It's not like I've ever actually come in contact with one of them; not since I became a Dread myself.

"If you could become a human again, would you?" she asked me, looking at a notepad.

"Hmm..." I tapped my chin, pretending that I needed to think about it. "Nope. Not in a hundred years," I said, smiling. "Being a creature that is called a 'Dread' sounds cool."

"Would you ever want to meet one?" she asked, looking like my answer wouldn't interest her in the slightest.

I sighed and leaned back into my chair. "It's not my decision whether or not I want to meet one, but I will eventually be forced to do so, won't I? After all, I'm turning nineteen in a few days and I'll have to meet one in order to get a job."

The woman merely nodded and scribbled on her clipboard. "We're done here," she said, smiling and setting the board down on the table beside her. "You best do well on graduation or nobody will want to hire you, alright?"

I rolled my eyes, shrugged, and stood up, about to leave. "Right," I affirmed before striding out the doorway, closing it behind me.

I walked down the dusty, white-tiled corridor while fixing the bandaging on my red-stained palms. Since my nails are sharpened, I occasionally pierce myself by accident when forming a fist. Bravo me. I can't feel it anymore and I hardly notice it because it's been a long time since I've felt pain, but I still get annoyed when the blood trickles down my fingers. On the other hand, I might actually feel pain again in three days; my birthday.

I ripped the dirtied gauze away from the rest of the roll which I stuffed into the jacket that was tied around my waist. The wrapping was quick to soak up the warm, red liquid from the cuts of my skin. Hopefully it wouldn't bleed out too much. If it did, then I'd have to wrap it yet again, and that's a waste of time and gauze.

'Three days,' I thought to myself, turning the corner. 'A little less than seventy-two hours until I turn nineteen.' After that happens, I'll have to pair up with a Tampered Periso and do jobs that we get hired for; usually, these jobs will include killing, but who isn't used to that by now?

Today was the first of the four days needed to find a suitable Tampered Periso to work with. Day one is questions, day two is mental attributes, day three is physical attributes, and day four is endurance. Endurance is the day in which you will be tortured for ten hours to see how you heal, how quickly you heal, and how you handle it. Day five, the final day, is used to pair up a Dread and a Tampered Periso.