Taciturn Sadist Chapter III

Taciturn Sadist Chapter III

Chapter III

The brat (the name which I had dubbed the child in my mind) and I wandered through the wooded surroundings in dreaded silence, except for the few hiccups and quiet sobs that emitted from her. But I paid no attention to the brat, locked away from reality by my own troubling thoughts. The only other sounds in the forest were woodland creatures welcoming the dawn that was slowly growing brighter and brighter. It seemed that I had completely lost all sense of time. I glanced behind me at the brat who was now starting to lag behind and thought it best if we rested. I was beginning to get tired as well.

So we continued on before we arrived at a large oak tree and decided we would rest here. I left the girl by the tree to go and gather some wood, the morning was proving to be rather chilly. After taking several trips, getting lost a few times, and suffering through the backbreaking labour while afflicted with weariness (ooh! I sound so smart!) I finally set to starting the fire. I rummaged through my pockets for my lighter after arranging the pieces of wood in front of the tree, a good distance away so the tree wouldn't catch on fire. Now I don't smoke (I do have some morals believe it or not) but I bought the lighter because I thought it looked cool.

After much trial and error I finally got the fire started (I never said I was a boy scout or anything like that). Like I mentioned previously I'd lived in Elgaia my entire life so I never went camping or anything. Plus, what kind of loser would go camping alone? And now you're probably thinking, 'Well, Vincent you sexy beast you, even if you could've gone camping couldn't you have just gone with some friends?' But in the line of business I worked in I couldn't make friends since it could easily be them that I kill the next day. Not to mention, I'm kind of a prick (shocking, I know) so with my people skills I'm kind of lacking in the 'making friends' department.

... What was I talking about again...? Oh right!

I glanced at the unwanted child huddled against the large oak who was staring at the grass. Truly, I was quite surprised she hadn't run off while I had collected firewood. But I didn't think much about it (other than the fact that I thought that she was a stupid kid) and laid down near the inviting warmth of the fire. I gazed at her now and then across the fire as her new focus was the small flames that danced lazily.

She looked scared but that was to be expected. But she still had a look upon her face that I'm sure no child should ever possess. But as I said, what did I know about children? I'd tried so hard to block out my own childhood, sometimes it almost felt as if that period of my life had never existed. But no matter how hard I tried to completely forget the past I could still recall the memories of the orphanage. My parents weren't the only ones who couldn't stand the sight of my eyes. The children that lived in that orphanage were cruel.

I could only imagine what they would have thought of my 'special abilities' when I was hiding it but once they found out, they exploited my powers. I suppose I should have been a little thankful, my parents probably would've just executed me. But those kids were the reason I became an assassin (they hadn't liked a few of the caretakers) and so the death of my first victim had been when I was fourteen...

Somehow, I survived to an age where I could live on my own and left to make my living with the only talent I had to work with. Then after that, my life became a basic cycle that I strangely appreciated and then came to love. And that's how I got here, covered in my own vomit, blood, and Liberis sewage-water staring at this equally sewage-covered brat holding a dirty teddy bear.

And that brat was my niece.

My niece... What a spec-fucking-tacular uncle I am. I thought to myself with a mental chuckle, staring dully across the flames. She looked like her mother. Well, her hair and her eyes resembled her mother's. However, her eyes were softer and much less cold and distant than Valentina's eyes. But her general manner seemed to be more like Leon's. She didn't look like she'd grow up to be a bitch like my sister did. Perhaps I should say something to her since this feels all awkward-y and all. Let's see... what's a good ice breaker...?

“I just thought I should let you know I'm not going to kill you or hurt you.” I'm sure that was some good news to hear. “I didn't really even mean to take you away from your home. But I guess there's nothing we can do about that now.” I stated with a nonchalant shrug after her eyes darted to me suddenly as soon as I spoke. I couldn't quite place what the emotions in her eyes were as she stared at me. It was almost as if she was studying me with hate, fear, anger, sadness, and very,very slight curiosity, but even that curiosity was tainted with animosity. I thought I might as well address these of emotions that I couldn't say I was entirely interested in. I was still just thinking about myself (as usual) “Look, I think we should try to get along on as long as we're together since it seems we're gonna be going on a little bit of a trip. You can think of it like a vacation.” I smiled at her but something told me she probably took this as me mocking her. Which I probably was. But I was actually trying to be kind... What? I swear I'm not lying.

She tightened her grip on her teddy bear and made her tiny child's glare a little more obvious. I sighed and sat up, rolling my eyes. “Ugh! What do you want from me? I really trying to get you to at least speak to me.”

With an unwavering gaze that hid fear she finally spoke to me in her innocent and tear-stained voice, “I want Mommy and Daddy back.” I just stared at her. I watched with a barely hidden shocked expression as she laid down, turning her back to face me, and go to sleep. She said those six words so simply, so clearly. Those simple words expressed to me exactly what she felt. Every emotion she held in her small body seemed to hit me fully, lodging itself very deeply in my mind. I frowned as I felt my heart ache strangely. It physically hurt and I couldn't for the life of me understand why, not at that time. Now I do though, I'm not as stupid as I was back then. That was my first reunion after a very long time with the feeling known as guilt. But as I said, I didn't know what it was so I just shrugged it off and went to sleep as well.

~~~~~~~Taciturn Sadist ~~~~~~~

Later, once evening arrived I awoke, cold with a sore body. The fire was mere embers dying and once my eyes adjusted to the shadowy darkness of the forest I could see a small body shivering for warmth across from me. I lay there idly, watching the sleeping form of the shaking child and my mind played with the idea of just leaving the brat there so she wouldn't be extra weight for me to drag along. It was quite tempting I assure you.

It appeared that she had been having a restless sleep and turned once again to face me. And through the night's shade I could see a small frown on her porcelain-like face. The child seemed to glow and radiate in the darkness, even though her lacy white clothes were stained and dirty. But it wasn't just her clothes or her pale skin (which was also slightly stained from the nastiness of the sewers) that seemed to cause her to radiate as she did. It was her obvious innocence (despite her current situation).

That feeling, that small pain in my heart from that morning returned as I gazed at the girl. I felt angry with myself as I got up because I knew what I was going to do. I wasn't going to just leave her there, no, I was taking her with me. Looking back now, it's amusing to think that I could control other people and yet I couldn't control my own actions. Irony just seemed to be closing in around me on all sides.

I was freely taking this child along and I may not have wanted to admit it to myself then but I think I was doing it to protect her. I couldn't just ignore the relentless pangs of guilt that assaulted my heart and even then though I didn't know what it was, I knew that whatever it was she was the cause of it. Leaving her to die or killing her myself would not rid myself of the foreign emotion, I could tell that much. I wanted to protect her despite the fact that I was the merciless, dangerous murderer who had freely killed her mother and unintentionally helped her father in an assisted suicide.

Wow... actually writing it down and reading it makes it seem much worse than I thought it was.

Anyway, I just assumed that the disgusting smell from the sewer had gone to my head or maybe it was a lingering hangover from the past few weeks but I guess my mind thought she was safer with me.

So I picked her up carefully. I'm surprised I knew how (or that I had the strength to pick her up), I had never been careful with a human being before and yet I was. I didn't want to wake her, maybe because I didn't want her to glare at me or maybe it was because I actually wanted the child to be rested. Either way for the first time in my life I carried a child and she felt so warm in my arms. And I wasn't entirely sure but I could have sworn that she snuggled closer to the warmth of my body. She stopped shivering and the frown disappeared, she looked like she actually looked safe in MY arms.

I walked through the forest that moved with life around us and I felt stiff and awkward, carrying the child like I was some sort of robot. I became painfully aware of my breathing, every move, and sound I made. Now that I wasn't running from the entire police force of Elgaia I now had time to register just how close the child was in my 'personal Vincent space'. I wasn't a friendly person or one for physical contact. So this was something I wasn't very comfortable with. And to make matters worse I didn't even really know where I was heading.

Where could I run? I was now a fugitive of Elgaia. And since I killed the Lady I was also a fugitive of Liberis. I couldn't think of anywhere to go. But then it hit me. Altino! Since we now had a pact with the country it would be easy to sneak into and perhaps they would not persecute me for the millions of crimes I have committed. Well, maybe not millions exactly but I'm just that good that they should be counted as millions. Who knew Valentina's pact would actually be useful to me? Again the irony was not lost on me.

Problem was, I didn't have the faintest clue as to what direction I should head in to get to Altino. I sighed quietly and kept walking, already feeling the fatigue of carrying the kid. But she just seemed to keep sleeping like she was in a coma or something. Luckily, after some more minutes I heard something. Something that sounded foreign yet ever-so-slightly familiar. It sounded almost like a faucet had been turned on, only the sound was very, very, very amplified. I was curious to see what could possibly be making a sound, especially out in the middle of a forest so I followed to sound.

Then I saw it. A large rushing line of water in a crevice in the earth. Yes, a river. Shut up! I know that you're probably laughing at my ignorance to something that you probably find something so obvious (unless you live in Elgaia as well). You see, in Elgaia there were no rivers so I didn't know what one was like exactly. I had only learned of them briefly in my poor education in the orphanage. And sure I had gone through the sewers the day previous but that water was NOT clean.

But looking at the river I was... I don't know... amazed? Elgaia was so metallic and suffocated by technology. It didn't compare at all with the beautifully organic and natural sight before me. I haven't ever really been much of a nature lover but the pleasant change of scenery was nice. I had never seen that side of Liberis before. I stood there for a few moments before my arms reminded me that they were quite ready to just let the kid fall to the ground.

I walked cautiously closer to the river and looked down into water as it ran past at an almost lazy pace. I looked at my clothes, the child's clothes, and all the gunk that covered us both and decided that it'd probably be best if we cleaned ourselves up in the river. I didn't want us to both stink for the entirety of our journey. So I carefully placed the child on the grass, I would help her clean herself up once she woke up.

But for the time, I decided I would clean myself. First I took my sunglasses off and cleaned them in the water as best as I could before I laid them on the grass. Casting the child a quick glance to make sure she was asleep, I took off my shirt, pants, and socks, placing my dirty shoes beside my sunglasses. I jumped into the stream and my skin became surprised with the coolness of the water. But I didn't have much other choice since I wasn't about to take off my underwear to clean in front of the little girl. The last thing I want to be accused of is being a pedophile. I mean, I know my morals are lacking but there are just some things that even I find to be horribly wrong and disgusting.

I looked at my hands and tried to wash them as clean as I could so I could avoid infection. They had very minor scarring but enough that had caused them to bleed slightly before. There was a slight stinging sensation caused while trying to clean the wounds but I had to ignore it. Physical pain was not something that I had been used to anymore. Not when I knew how to use my powers so well.

Anyway, despite the cold water I washed my clothes silently and the left the water shivering when I found the night air to be not much warmed than the river. But I quickly cleaned the outside of my shoes and then I looked down at my clothes at a loss. Now what the hell am I supposed to do? I guess I hadn't thought it through well enough since now I had no source to dry my clothing and I was not about to start another fire and go looking for firewood while wearing next to nothing. I sighed and just decided to try and ring out as much water as possible from my clothing. There was a good chance I'd probably catch a cold now but it's not like that would kill me.

So after I sat there for a while, sufficiently bored out of my pretty little skull, in cold clothes waiting for the brat to wake up. I looked at her wondering exactly why I had taken her. I mean, I was going to leave the city and it's not like I'd be easy to find. If anything I would have escaped easier. But my mind was panicked and I hadn't panicked in a while. I notice now that whenever I encounter a strange emotion that I'm not familiar with such as love or fear or guilt, I totally lose it or I completely zone out of reality. In the case of kidnapping Mercedes Svargas, all my rational thinking went completely out the window. I've never been really good with emotions, including my own. Guess that makes me lucky that I'm not a sensitive guy.

About half an hour later the little tyke woke up in a groggy fashion. “About time you woke up. I've been waiting here forever, you stupid brat.” I greeted, my impatience making me the slightest bit cranky. Not the most welcoming thing to wake up to for a child I imagine. She looked up at me silently. If I hadn't already caused her greater pain I'm sure the words would have stung a little but at the moment it seemed like she didn't even care that much. Just something she already expected. “Now, c'mon. We have to get you clean. I don't want to travel with a brat who stinks.”

Now, this is where I became a bit awkward. What was I supposed to know about bathing a child? And I knew she wouldn't be able to do it herself without drowning herself. At any other time that wouldn't have been a problem for me if I still hadn't held that feeling of not wanting to harm her. “Um...” I started off so very decisively. She looked just as confused as I did about what to do. “Uh...” I kept up these sounds of obvious intelligence for a while until I found no other way to bath her. “Ah! I screw it!” I exclaimed in exasperation. “Listen, here's the plan. I'll close my eyes and you take off you clothes. Then once you're ready I'll lower in the in water and make sure you don't drown. Then once you're done washing yourself I'll pull you back out and ring out your clothes. Okay?”

She didn't seem exactly thrilled with this plan but nodded anyway. So I closed my eyes and heard the rustle of her clothing, once she was done I heard a meek, “Okay, I'm ready.” She stepped between me and the river and then I picked her up underneath her armpits and lowered her into the water. I chose to ignore the faint blush that was most likely on my face and just concentrated on not dropping her. I heard the splashing of water as she cleaned herself and hoped she would not take too long, since although I didn't want to drop her that did not mean I had the strength to hold her.

Luckily, however she soon confirmed that she had finished the bathing process. “Okay, now just stay behind me while I dry your clothes so I don't see you.” I ordered her, still keeping my eyes clothes.

“Like we're playing hide-and-seek?” She questioned innocently.

“Yeah, sure. Whatever keeps you out of my sight.” I told her, and I'm sure if my eyes were open I would have rolled them.

“I'm hiding!” She told me and I opened my eyes, quickly drying them as much as I could. Just like I said I didn't want to travel with a child that smelled bad I had equally the want to not travel with an ill one either. So I rung her dress (a difficult task since it had so much lace and frills), her stockings, and I cleaned her shoes too. When I came to her tiny panties I couldn't help but blush again. The small figures of the main character of some children's show seemed to be laughing at me as I tried to dry the article of clothing as quickly as possible.

But I finished and closed my eyes again. “'Kay, now get dressed.” The sooner she was dressed the sooner the awkward situation would be done and over with. So she got dressed quickly. Once she told me she was done I got up and said, “All right. Now let's go.”

“What about Angelo?” She piped up suddenly. I looked around confused. There was no one but us around. There were animals but none close enough to us for her to mention them. I looked back down at her and blinked in confusion.

“Who?” I finally asked at a complete loss. Maybe she's talking about some imaginary friend or something...

But she held up her angel teddy with the pink ribbon around his neck. “Angelo.” She repeated, looking directly at me.

“Your teddy bear?” I replied for clarification. She nodded and her gaze remained unwavering and insistent. I shrugged. “It's just a teddy bear. You can leave it behind.” I began to walk but she just turned around to face the location I had moved to.

“No. I can't leave him here all alone!” She exclaimed. This took me a little by surprise so I stopped and turned around to face her.

“What's the big deal? It's just a toy.” I said in that unfeeling manner of mine.

I could tell she wanted to press the stuffed toy close to her body in an embrace but didn't want to have to go through the same awkward situation again. “Please.” She pleaded simply. She didn't give any explanation as to what was so spectacular about the damn thing. But it seemed that she would not move if I didn't let her. So I sighed in exasperation and said, “Fine.”

She smiled a little at me before she went over to the river and proceeded to clean the bear. She smiled at me! I didn't understand how a little girl who should hate me more than anything could smile at me. It didn't make any sense at all. Didn't she hate me? Didn't she wish I had died instead of her parents? I simply stared at her in confusion. I couldn't even begin to comprehend the innocence of the child before me. She spoke to Angelo happily and I didn't even seem to mind, still wrapped up in my thoughts a bit. But she was soon done.

“Okay, we can go now.” She announced standing before me.

I just nodded and led the way. Where? I have no idea. I just walked. I figured we'd eventually get somewhere. If we ended up at the Hyrdaphon then we knew we went the wrong way. We needed to get to the 'fourth wall'; the name given to the large cliff that separated Liberis from Altino. Everywhere else, Liberis was surrounded by the Hydraphon Ocean.

So we continued through the forest in silence once again. We really had nothing to say to one another. We probably had nothing in common other than by being related and I had killed her parents. Two people could not have a pleasant conversation with that hanging over their head I'm sure. I mean I could've probably rambled on about how amazing I am but somehow I don't think she would have appreciated that too greatly.

~~~~~~Taciturn Sadist~~~~~~

Eventually the forest cleared up and we were out in the open in a large field, which was to be expected. So now we had no where to hide. And we had to be wary of the towns and cities in Liberis namely, DeTerra and Osekai since they were the other two large cities in Liberis (next to the capital city, Elgaia of course).

“Great, now we'll probably be caught because of you wearing all that stupid white and caring that bear around.” I complained as I headed toward what I hoped was the International Magnetic Railway System or the IMRS as most call it. And yes, it is exactly what it sounds like. A magnetic train system running throughout the entire continent of Ormon. Since the pact, I thought it should now be in use again. Though we didn't have money so we'd probably have to sneak onto it.

“Don't blame Angelo!” She defended, caring more about the inanimate object than herself. “What about your hair?” She countered. True, my sexy gravity defying red hair probably didn't help us stay incognito either but I wasn't about to let her get away with that.

“At least my hair isn't a beacon of light.” We were almost at the mini train station. It really wasn't a station. Just a simple platform in the middle of nowhere in case a traveller wished to catch it there. Though no was where there to catch so I hoped that someone was getting off there, like a farmer or something.

“It's not my fault you took me from home.” She retorted. “And it's not Angelo's either.” We were quite close to the platform now.

I sighed in annoyance and ripped the bear from her grasp. “Stop talking about this stupid bear like it's alive! It's just a goddamn toy!” And then I threw it on the rail. For a weak guy like me I was quite proud that I had managed to throw it as far as I did.

Mercedes however felt very differently. Her eyes widened and I could see her panic. “Angelo! Mommy and daddy gave him to me for my birthday!” She exclaimed before she took off, leaving tear drops in the air as she ran.

“They got you that for your birthday?” I asked aloud though she probably couldn't hear and even if she could she probably would've ignored me. “Jeez, what cheap parents.” That or that was just one of many. I didn't take into consideration that the toy was all she had left of her parents and what was soon to be her old life. I strolled at a casual pace as I walked after her.

“Angelo! Angelo!” She cried frantically as if the toy was just gonna up and run away. I noted that the kid could actually run pretty fast when she wanted to. I guess that would come in handy if we were ever caught. I watched with some amusement, still my cruel old self. I may have been feeling some foreign emotions but I wasn't about to give myself up completely. At least not at that time.

Then I heard something. Something, coming closer and fast. I didn't know what I looked around and saw the train in the distance. And there Mercedes was directly on the track, picking up Angelo. Oblivious to the train due to her own panic and shouting. 'Get out of the way kid.' I warned her telepathically. But she decided to be an idiot and just looked around confused.

I growled slightly and ran after her, pushing her (and her stuffed animal) out of the way of the train, and we landed beside the platform. I panted a bit, thinking to myself, What the hell did I do that for? I could've just controlled her. But looking back now, she probably would've somehow found a reason to hate me more even if I saved her life. If I had controlled her, I doubt she would want to be saved by the same method that had killed her parents.

We were still laying in the grass when she looked up at me with frightened eyes and then back at the train that had been about to run her over then back to me. I looked back up at the train and I was about to get up when the little girl's voice stopped me. “Thank you.” She murmured quietly with genuine gratitude. And then she hugged me. It wasn't a long hug. Just a quick embrace but I still felt stunned at the small show of affection. I felt a little sick but my heart felt like it was swelling a little. I didn't understand the feeling that my heart felt again but the sickness I understood. I was never one to enjoy any display of affection especially when directed towards myself.

But she quickly got up, holding the bear close to her. “Guess we're catching the train, right?” She asked as I looked up at her. I nodded and got up, not saying a word. The girl was being decidedly strange and I didn't entirely know how to act in such a presence. But without really realizing it myself, I took her hand in mine and led her up the platform and into the train with me.