Heir of Chaos: Blade of Death

Chapter 2 - Injected Again

Rime lay on the bed frozen until he was able to move by the help of some unseen gods. He opened his eyes and slowly sat up. Rime was a very skinny young boy… someone we can all describe as 'all bone and no skin'...

And as for the financial situation of his mother, he had to say, she's only earning meager wages that couldn't provide the daily supplements and nutrients for a growing young man. 

Every morning, he would only survive on moldy bread and water… in school, he waits for an opportunity to present itself, for example… an opportunity where he had to run errands and get a few dollars as reward. And it is not every time one can say he gets such luck. 

It is only at night that he has the opportunity to get a decent meal to eat with a bit of protein in it… and it was really making him lack. Rime used to be smart but he started to slack because his brain was lacking the necessary nutrients…

He leaned against the bed, listening to his steady beating heart…

Badum tump

Badum tump

Badum tump…

He seemed to have been given a special pill… or so he thought. So Rime stood up… who knows when the heart seeker would take effect again, but before that he had to at least find a decent after school job so that he would be able to afford the special pills.

He would have left the hospital ward if not for the doctor and the principal entering the room at the same time. 

Rime's eyes widened.

"You're awake Mr Havan. How do you feel?" Principal Tade Alonzo asked and Rime breathed in and out…not noticing anything out of the ordinary. Then he sighed;

"Is it a work of one of these special medicines? How much is it?"

Principal Tade blinked, but then he laughed along with the doctor…

"Hahaha… he thinks it's a pill…how ignorant." 

Rime wanted to ask what was funny but he knew not to ask that impolite question or he might face the consequences… 

Seeing his serious expression and that questioning look in his eyes, Principal Tade cleared his throat as he pushed his glasses against the bridge of his nose.

"There's a good explanation for the reason why you are no longer dying…" 

Rime's eyes widened again.

"I'm no longer dying?" 

"Young man, do not interrupt me." 

Rime pressed his lips into a thin line, but he obediently stayed silent and let the principal finish.

"There is no special pill to improve your health for a period of time. You have been miraculously healed from what dried you up from the inside."

There was a stretch before the doctor spoke.

"Two reasons… One; you've awakened like one of those special few destined to become deities. And two, your heart was replaced."

Rime was stunned.

"Is that possible? To replace one's heart?" 

Principal Tade sat on the bed and said. "It is possible. Once every decade, a sick person is granted good health by the gods. It's a tradition and has never stopped happening. Today just completed a decade. So I don't know what happened. Your heart could have been healed or replaced with another… or you have awakened something special."

Then a small smile appeared on principal Tade's face and he said… 

"Don't worry, I will send someone to you. If you've actually awakened, he will let you know what it is and he will also teach you how to use it."

Rime narrowed his eyes slightly, knowing that those with special abilities were treated very differently from normal humans. He remembered that previously, this man did not even spare him a glance, didn't care that he was the smartest in his class or his grades were dropping. When the principal heard that a student who wasn't special is being bullied, he didn't care. But now, what's with the special treatment?

Rime decided to get something straight.

"So there's a chance that I might have awakened or not… and it will be decided if I meet this person you're talking about?"

Principal Tade nodded.

Rime sighed. 

What was the point? 

What if he was only being healed by the gods? Because by right, today is supposed to be another decade and he might have been lucky enough to get his heart cured from the clutches of the 'heart seeker' Rime didn't care though. His only concern was this particular set of bullies. 

He had always known that they wanted to know where he lives and sometimes trails behind him whenever school is over. But a smart child will always maneuver or shake them off or even deceive them.

But today when he was discharged from the school hospital and sent home, he was shocked to see the same bullies at his doorstep. No… that was not all. They surrounded his poor mother while she knelt down before them pleading for them to leave him, Rime, alone.

Rime would have hidden almost immediately, but it seemed like their perception caught a wind of his presence that he couldn't take any action before being caught.

"Oh… here comes our little Me Me."

Rime counted three of them. They used to be seven when harassing him, what happened to the remaining four?

"Did you hurt my mother?" Rime asked, his eyes dancing nervously between the three big guys. 

"We could have but your appearance saved her… aren't we generous?"

Anthony immediately put Rime at a chokehold, though he didn't tighten his grip before turning to Mrs Ada Havan. "We will go play with him for a while and we'll release him."

And the three walked out, leaving the trembling woman behind…

"Hey Damien… Gideon. Put a call through to the others that we have Rime now."

Anthony stared at Rime's strangely clear face and healthy body. 

"How are you feeling? Can you breathe properly? We still have a few newly created infections to inject into you."

Rime's body ran cold with dread at the thought of being injected with another sickness. Let's just say, Rime had turned out fine as a test subject. They didn't expect him to survive the heart seeker for long so… now that he had been found, they won't easily let go of him.

Immediately Rime struggled to break off Anthony's chokehold and he took a step back. He succeeded, surprising the three.

"No!"

Anthony was stunned. 

"No?" 

Rime sighed. "Can't we just continue the way it used to be rather than using me for obscene purposes? I am not your lab rat, I could die."

Damien immediately growled.

"And who do you think that you are to go against us? Have you forgotten the difference between us? Now that we all know your house, even your poor mother wouldn't be spared. It is either you take it or watch her die."

Rime was frustrated.

What kind of life is this? 

'Why me of all persons? And why include my mother in this? What has she done to deserve this?'

Anthony chuckled softly and roughly put his hands on Rime's neck in a chokehold and this time, he tightened his grip causing Rime's warning bells to go off… 

"No one refuses me Me Me, so how dare you say no to me, huh? Face the consequences. Gideon, bring the second sickness and inject him."

Rime panicked in an instant.

"Wait… wait, no…" 

What if… what if I am not special like the principal thinks? What if it were just the effect of the 'one decade healing' effect? I could truly die if that is the case… No! I mustn't die… I wouldn't die!!!

Rime started to struggle. 

"Please… I am sorry… please forgive me."

Anthony ruthlessly tightened his grip and that was when the needle pierced his skin, squirted red liquids into his bloodstream.

A split second later, his consciousness collapsed and he dropped to the ground.

Anthony smiled. "Damien… take him to his mother. Don't hurt her… I feel like he will survive this again. I have this hope."

Damien moved…

#

Rime opened his eyes feeling strangely healthy… No, in fact, he had a lot more energy than yesterday.

At first, it didn't register that he was injected. Not until he had prepared himself for school did everything sink in.

'Wait…'

He immediately rushed to the mirror and stared at his complexion. Surprisingly, he didn't look that skinny. His body was starting to come out and the dark spots on his skin seemed to have vanished without a trace.

'This is strange.'

"Rime! Honey, please come downstairs for a moment, someone is here to see you."

Hearing his mother call him that someone was here, his heart sank, thinking that it was the bullies again…

He didn't want to go, but his mom was there so he had to see what they wanted again. They had injected him with the second sickness, but surprisingly it helped to improve his health.

'I guess it was the opposite of what they wanted to happen to me…'

One could only guess.

Rime took his time until he got downstairs. Fortunately, it wasn't anyone he knew… not the bullies. 

He sighed in relief.

"Yes mister, how might I help you?"

The person was a young guy… he should be older than Rime by at least two or three years and yet, he had this cold expression on his face.

"Principal Tade sent me."

Rime's eyes widened.

"Oh…" 

Now he had an idea of what was happening. 

"Let me grab my breakfast, I'll be with you shortly."

He turned to his mother and pulled her to a corner.

"Mom, the principal thinks I've awakened… like a deity." 

The woman's eyes widened.

Who didn't know the benefits that come with having a special someone in the family… their status might likely be elevated in the future and she didn't have to eat from hand to mouth again.

Mrs Ada was very excited.

"Are you sure? Is he sure?"

Rime sighed.

"I don't know… even he doesn't know. But I just hope that it is true."

Rime grabbed a small sachet of bread and bottled water. Then he left with the guy sent to pick him up.

Rime had a lot of questions. But this guy was proving to be very difficult to talk to.

His answers were either short or not satisfactory…

"Do you think I've awakened?"

He didn't answer.

"How will you make me awaken to become a deity?" 

"Awakening is not by choice!"

Rime found that answer to be true. 

"How will you know that I've awakened?"

He did not answer.

Rime "..."

"Okay, how about my special aspect? How does one determine its potency?"

He did not answer… completely ignoring Rime.

'Ah… it's no use asking. I might not have awakened. Look at how he's ignoring me. Sheesh. Typical deities. Worst case scenario, Anthony's disease had worked opposite of what it should do. And probably, it's just the decade of healing…'

Rime did not expect that this guy would initiate a conversation… but he did.

"Who were those guys and why were they on you like you're their prey?"

Rime's eyes narrowed.

"Which guys?"

He scoffed. 

"Don't play dumb… those guys from yesterday. They made your mother kneel and they injected you with something."

Rime immediately flared up in an instant.

"You were there? And you watched them inject me?"

"I could have stepped in but I didn't… if you have truly awakened, then a mundane poison wouldn't harm you. So how are you feeling today?"

This question created a spark and a realization dawned on Rime. He remembered the fireball of energy he felt this morning and the endless stamina.