Chapter thirty two

Chapter 32
Ares
The mutants had prevailed to landing the broken plane. But their ambush was weak, pathetic. I was genuinely worried about Kichi’s eyes, seeing that she had gone blind. It was easy to fend off the rest of the mutants; my father had some kind of sleep serum that had left all four mutants lying on the ground in beddy-by land. Eva looked guilty, I had a hunch she had spilled her guts, despite that I had warned her to keep quiet. My father took to lighting a fire to the mutant’s fire pit. I stared at his back as he fussed over the embers. His stance was over-confident, and haughty. He had no idea how much I knew, how much I despised him. He controlled me like a puppet, with his threats. But what bugged me was that it wasn’t all threats to hurt my mother, my past mutant friends in the lab, and my darling little Eva, it was also me. It is hard, for loyalty is hard to overcome, and I was weak, I didn’t even try to put up a fight. I was his little marionette, obeying every command at the slightest of notion. And I hated him for it, I hated myself for it.
“Ares, you have been awfully quiet tonight. Anything on your mind that you want to discuss?” My father asked, as if he was truly interested.
“Nah,” I replied “I have just been thinking about Kichi’s eyes.” Untrue, to the very core, I was thinking about Storms fury, Kichi’s sadness, and Adara’s kind eyes (possibly even her soft lips). How I beared to betray them, even to complete the task I was so conveniently programmed to do.
“Ah, well if the guilt is killing you, I could defiantly fix her while the drug is still in all their systems. I mean, before we take them back to the lab.” He replied, as if he cared about me or my guilty conscience. Why had a stooped to doing this man’s biddings? It was okay when I was younger, simply tracking down mutants left and right, because I was a daddy’s little boy. But now, that had grown into daddy’s little worker, daddy’s little henchman, it had driven me to disobey the only real family I had ever had.
“Could you do that? Like right now? And we can take them all back in the morning. But I feel bad, knowing I caused her to…” My voice choked off. I had never meant to hurt anyone. He nodded, his back still to me, so I patted Eva on the head, told her I would be right back, and headed towards where the slumber party was. When I got there, my plan was simple, grab Kichi and leave. But something was wrong, when I bent down over Kichi, one of the mutants breathing skipped a step, getting out of pattern and shortening. oh god I thought someone is waking up. I looked over my shoulder, and Ethan was sitting up, his sharp but bleary eyes piercing mine.
“Why, man? To get what you wanted? What did you gain from ruining our lives?” He asked, you could tell he was attempting to fend off the drug. I opened my mouth to speak, but no words could come out. I picked up an unbroken serum bottle from the ground, to put him back under. But Ethan slipped back on his own. The question whirled in my mind as a carried Kichi back to camp. Why had I done it? I could’ve left it at ditching them, but I continuously brought them back. The answer slapped me hard in the face; I had done it all out of pure, dirty, weak loyalty. I had hoped to gain something from my father, to make me feel like I was special on my own, not just because I had been given powers.
“Back already?” My father asked, he was sitting around a newly blazing fire with Eva at his side. Poor Eva, she was in a worse jam then me. She had grown up not being able to make her own decisions, never learned how to say no. But yet, she was the one sitting peacefully by the fire, not trying to change a thing. I laid Kichi gently down onto the grass beside my father.
“Let’s have a look see.” My father opened one of Kichi’s eyes then laughed.
“Ah son, you were worried for nothing. The blindness was just an after effect of head trauma, and should go away naturally. Now, go drop off your friend and let’s roast some weenies!” I nodded, choked by relief. I headed off towards the camp, still scolding myself for being so used, when it hit me. I turn on my heels, and ran towards the north, cradling Kichi like a baby. I ran so fan I didn’t feel the ground under my feet, only the whirring or the air around me. I ran so hard, for so long when I stopped I was out of breath. The lights of a city twinkled up ahead, I had no idea where I was or how hard I had run, but it was a great distance for my ‘super’ body didn’t get tired easily.
I sank down against the trunk or a pine tree, clutching Kichi close. She was my little sister, we were bound together, and nothing could ever take that away. Us two, we could live out here alone, start a new life. Storm and Adara wouldn’t have to face the troubles of forgiving me. Which turned my attention to Kichi, Would she forgive me? After all the pain I had caused her, would she feel the same bond I did? I swept a lock of her beautiful red hair out of her face. What was I going to do? I laid her down gently and took out a small pocket knife from; you’ll never guess where, my pocket. My head was spinning, with thoughts of my horrible doings. An idea, bloody, dirty, and wrong, pooped into my head. I inspected the shiny surface of the tiny blade. I needed to feel pain, a small part of what I had cause Storm, Adara, Ethan and Fire.
I pressed the small blade to my wrist, pushing it inwards as it pulled it down. A thin, then more constant, trail of blood appeared. But I wasn’t finished. I had to show myself how Storm had hurt. I would do this, every day if I had to, until I had paid back all the pain I had inflicted on the mutants. I let the blood run down my arm, the screaming pain fogging up my head, and drip onto the dirt. The pain blurred my mind by removing other thoughts, but sharpened my senses. It would heal by itself if I left it be, and didn’t get it dirty. My last thoughts, before I surrendered myself to sleep, was I hope there aren’t any bloodthirsty bears around here, and also, damn me, I had forgotten Eva.