Ep 4. THE FORGTTEN

Larry holds the gun firmly to the boy's head. He grips the cloth sack tightly and braces himself for what lies underneath. In a swift motion, the bouncer lifts the bag over Xela’s face. Before his eyes can focus on the beauty before him, his breathing quickens, his brow sweats, and he nearly drops the gun as his palms become sweaty. Luscious lips sit on a soft curved face. Her eyes were closed, but the shape was still flawless.

Without thinking he leans in to smell her breath. He removes the gun from the girl’s temple and lays it on the floor next to them. Larry runs his hand under Xela’s clothes, feeling her warm, enticing skin. He kisses her on the neck. Xela's body flinches, not from the feel of his lips but from a distant memory. A dream of her distant past.

***

The mist of a foggy forest covers the ground while fireflies dance around the branches of the thick trees. A melody of various lifeforms flutters through the air as the moonlight breaks through the gaps between the dew kissed leave. The crisp grass sends a sudden snap when a sand coated deer crushes the stiffen blade under its cloven hoof. Two newborn children rest fastened on the underside of its neck. The creature shambles through the forest with exhaust showing through its body; it looks down at the children.

“Vithen, maybe you are too young to understand what’s happening around you, but your life will be difficult from this point forward. You are unique and very different from the people you will encounter. That’s because you are not a simple being.”  The ethereal stag explain as it traverses through the mystic forest. Blood trickles from the it’s body onto the nuzzled children.

“At this moment, however, I cannot continue with you. Your parents sacrifices gave you a chance at a new life. Into a world under a blue sky.” A red flow of blood falls from the deer's mouth. “Sadly, my wounds prevent me from protecting you any further.”

Bright lights appear at the edge of the tree horizon, and a lively town shines like a beacon guiding the pair forward. At the city entrance, the dusty deer spots a woman unpacking the wares she received that day. After she enters the house, the brown-haired doe places the child on the porch and gallops away. Then, with one child strapped to its neck, it finds its way back into the woods.

Please survive, Vithen. Hopefully, this decoy can buy you time. The doe wishes as it hobbles into the darkness.

Soon after, a woman meets a strange baby on her doorstep. Its face is bound in cloth, with a note written in an unknown language that spoke to her mentally.

“Please protect our child. Unfortunately, we cannot do so ourselves, so we beg you to look after him. We are forever grateful.”

The woman bends down, lifting the child into her arms, and removes the face covering. The child’s beauty overwhelmed the lady. She held him close while carrying him into the house.

***

Xela's eyes open. She feels the weight of Larry on top of her. He is desperately trying to unzip his pants. Xela tussles when she notices her shirt is off, and the smell of his old alcoholic breath stains her flesh. He stares crazily back at her drooling with anticipation. Then, with just one of his hands, he gripes her wrists and stretches them over her head. He presses his body down upon her trying to prevent her from squirming. But Xela's arm became free in his attempt to unfasten his pants. She quickly jabs her finger deep into his eye socket.

The man rises in pain as he can feel his eyeball pop from the pressure. Noticing the gun on the floor to her left. Xela slips from under Larry and kicks him off her. She rushes to the weapon as Larry franticly crawls after her. He grabs her legs turning her and pulling her back under him. Larry leans in, about to taste her skin again, but suddenly feels something hot pierce through his chest, and a gunshot deafens his ears. He looks down to see blood gushing from a hole in his sweater. Shocked to see a one horned boy holding a smoking gun.

“Where is Xela...”

The boy pulls the trigger twice, sending bullets through the man’s mouth. Shots that exited the back of Larry’s head. As Larry falls to the ground, he gripes Xela’s horn.

Xela pries Larry's hand off his head. The boy backs into the corner and rests his head on his knees.

Am I really a monster? Why do people try to hurt me? What am I? As that question fills his head, another memory emerges.

***

The woman lay the child on the couch, propping him up with a pillow. “And what’s your name, handsome.” She says as she squeezes his cheeks. Bright round eyes look up at the woman and coo.

“Xela... I will name you Xela, after my grandma, of course. She died 2 years ago, so I don’t think she would mind you having it. Can you say Ze-La... no well, I didn’t think you could.”

She stares more profoundly into the infant's eyes, “You are so pure.” She speaks.

“Ah, thank you so much for noticing,” A man says, wrapping his arms around the woman. He tilts his head when he sees the baby on the couch.

“Who black baby is this?” he asks.

“It was left on our porch with a note, Hun. So, I’m not sure.”

“A note?”

The woman turns and hands the man the old paper with the strange engravings. He looks up at his wife, dumbfounded, unable to decipher it. “And you could read this?” he asks.

“Well, not really. It just spoke to me.”

“The note spoke to you?” The man peers over the woman's shoulder and sees the baby looking back at him. “It is a beautiful baby, but I think we should let the police know that we found him. Good thing it's black, so we won’t get in trouble.”

“Why can’t we raise him?” the woman said.

“We don’t know anything about the child. For all we know, his real family is looking for him, and he was kidnapped.”

“But the note said....”

“Nothing. There’s nothing on this wadded-up piece of paper.” The man sees that his wife is getting distraught. He reaffirms her with a hug and a kiss. “Sweetie, we should let the police know so we are covered and if no one claims him. Then, we can adopt whenever we can.”

The woman shakes her head in agreement and gently pats her husband's arm, and it unravels from around her neck. He slowly pulls out his phone.

“I need to put up the groceries. Do you want anything out of the kitchen?” She asks getting up and walking towards the counter holding the bags of food.

“No baby, I’m ok.”

He presses the numbers while rubbing the belly of the newborn. Slowly he lowers his phone. He begins to cuff the child in his arms until suddenly, his eyes roll to the back of his head. Blood flies in the air, spewing onto the walls as the woman cleaves into the man’s skull with a butcher’s knife.

“This is my child. This is my son. Nobody will take him.”

She continued to decimate the body until nothing was left of her husband’s head. She pushes his headless corpse onto the floor before cradling her son. She wipes the warm blood off his face and listens to him coo in her arms. While rocking him to sleep, she sings.

"You are special... you are special... A light was given to me... A light was given to me... The king of the world ... the king of the world. You are destiny to be....

***

Xela raises his head. He looks at Larry’s body lying before him. he stands and opens the unlocked door to witness the dance floor carnage. Tramped souls lays dead on the floor. The injured living still craves him and causes him to smile slightly. Then he hears clapping from the dark corner of the Clubhouse and a woman saying,

“Hello, Xela”