Sweet Odium - Chapter 29: Chapter 29

[Raven]
Peter Falcon led us through the hospital hall slowly so we wouldn't forget to look at everyone closely.
It felt wrong for me to be here and even if I tried to suppress it... I felt ashamed as the nephew of Inoue group's leader.
This man was not wrong with his assumptions about the gifted families hiding these people away. I had known about it all my life but I never cared about it. Who would pay for the charity work of helping these people? If we had started doing that, at some point not only those in need would want help but also the lazy ones.
Yet it was definitely not something that I was proud of. Something that bothered me even more was the Inoue family being part of the Falcon massacre. Rune had been a little child when it happend and it was our fault that he lost his parents. I was taught that the Falcon group threatened us, killed our leader and refused to cooperate but this man told a different story. So who could I believe? Who did Rune believe? He couldn't possibly trust his uncle...
"I founded Mellontikos even before the Falcon massacre. It was a small group of doctors that took in those gifted ones in need and helped them escape the egoistic intentions of the gifted families but after losing my family I decided to not sit still anymore. We've become such a big community with three underground bases all over the world but we can't even let the patients see the sunlight because of the constant thread out there... it's not even worth living sometimes..."
Cautiously, I scanned my surroundings and noticed everyone around us glaring at me deadly. They must know who I was, justifying the hate in their stares. Why would Peter let me walk around with them in here like presenting the prey before shredding it to pieces? I had a bad feeling about this.
"So, Rune. I need you to help me ending all this suffering. Together we can make project healer work!" The man cheered and I was ignored totally. We had reached the end of the hall and entered a new room. There was another hospital bed in there with a young boy sitting on top of it. His left arm was like glued to the bed and did not move no matter how the boy moved himself.
"We don't even know what project healer is though." Rune answered to his uncle's words from before and his voice sounded sad. Did he fall for this man's story? Did he empathize with him?
I noticed how I wasn't holding his hand anymore but when I was about to grab it he flinched away and ignored me right after.
"R-" I felt the need to say something about this before it was too late but I was held back by a person so I couldn't get closer to Rune and his uncle who were now standing in front of the boy.
"What the fuck is this?" I hissed and turned to the side to see that the person stopping me from moving was none other than Kate. She did not look up at me nor was there any sign of her knowing me.
"So it really was you..." I whispered but made sure she felt the hate in my words. I'd take revenge on her for what she did to Jane one day... and she probably knew that damn well.
"You're pathetic Katheryne. Betrayal is worse than dying." I spat and finally got some kind of reaction when her body shivered for a second.
But her expression stayed blank as she was focused on what was happening in front if us.
[Rune]
I greeted the little boy who smiled at me happily.
"This is the fourth son of the leader of Hwang. He was born with no controll over the weight of his left arm so he is not able to lift it up from the floor on his own." Peter explained and I followed his words closely while still having an eye on Raven behind me.
It was obvious that they were trying to split us apart so in order to play along I pretended as if I was ignoring him. Peter Falcon had to believe that I trusted him or both of us were dead.
"Rune... the reason you are so important in this plan is something that I found out just recently. I came across another survivor and he told me that the secret behind project Healer... lies within you." His eyes sparkled with excitement and I needed a moment to realize what he had said.
"W- what?" This sounded like a bad joke to me. How could I have anything to do with this when I didn't even know that this project had existed until a few weeks ago? And more importantly... who could have been so close to my parents that they knew about project healer and willingly told it to Peter. That was the person I should have visited instead of my uncle. I needed to find out about their whereabouts as soon as possible.
"There are sacred objects in this world Rune. I'm sure you've heard of the cursed dagger that traps the souls of the dead inside of it. Just like this one, many exist and are passed down or hidden where no one is able to find them." He explained and in horror I thought back to the dagger from which I had heard voices when I touched it the first time.
"Following what the survivor told me, your father was in position of a cursed seed from which a fruit grows that once eaten lets you die a painful death. Your parents started experimenting on it after discovering that this fruit took gifted powers from people right in the moment before death. They changed the new seeds biological code before testing them on gifted ones. The person that told me this was a scientist that had helped them. However, it had never worked on anyone and people kept dying so my sister couldn't endure the feeling of having fault for these deaths anymore. I think she decided to test the fruits on herself and before anyone could stop her she had already swallowed the fruit.
But she did not die not did she lose her gifted powers... but the baby that was growing in her womb at that time was affected..."
I sharply sucked in the air and took a step back.
"So what?" I asked with shivering hands and hated how Peter looked at me with those excited eyes. I didn't want to believe it at first but right now it had become obvious that he brought me her for the purpose of using me and not because we were family.
"The doctor told me... you took the gifted abilities from him when you were born. One touch was enough and he could not move fast anymore." Peter stepped closer to bring me back to the hospital bed again.
I took abilities from someone...? By merely touching them?
"I've touched many gifted ones in my life and they all still have their abilities." I stated but Peter did not back down and took my hand to place it on the boys arm. The child himself looked up at me with big eyes.
"They told me you can cure me, Sir." His hopeful voice made me feel a pressure and confusion that blocked all thoughts in my head. I had just woken up an hour ago and here I stood... expected to heal someone with some kind of magic that did not even make sense.
"Picture it in your head." Peter adviced me calmly and proceeded to keep talking to me.
"Close your eyes and picture how the boys power flows to your hand and out of his body."
I did what Peter told me to without thinking about it.
And when I pictured the flow of power a warm orange light filled my view.
Was this what vince was talking about when he said every gifted power had its own color?
I opened my eyes again but the light didn't fade. I could see it emitting from the boys body while Peter's body shone in a light green.
Slowly, I turned to the side to see Raven and Kate both having their eyes wide open as if they were seeing a ghost. Their auras held a light purple while the few other people in the room were shining yellow, sky blue, dark blue and red.
"Rune! Imagine it!" Like from far away I heard my uncle's voice yelling at me and again I focused on guiding the orange light of the boy to myself.
And it worked! Bit by bit it was flowing over to my hand and up my arm where it turned white like the light of a star until every last bit of it was gone...
My eyes were burning and it felt like I hadn't breathed the whole time.
I closed my eyes again and when I opened them all the light was gone and I was facing the ceiling.
"Rune! RUNE!" It was Raven's voice that I heard calling out my name.
"R- raven." I tried answering but it came out as nothing more than a whisper and Raven's yells died down soon.
I tried pushing myself up from the floor to see where he was but there was no sign of him in the room. Kate was gone too.
"Rune, here let me help you." Two arms were supporting me from the back so I was able to stand on two feet again.
Peter's expression was full of joy when he observed the boy who lifted up his arm and moved it around with loud cheering.
"It worked!! Haha it worked!" My uncle also cheered and patted my back a few times but the surprise only lasted shortly for me, partly because I still felt dizzy. He got from me what he wanted so what would happen now? If I said I wanted to leave, would he even let me?
"Where is Raven?" I mumbled and turned around to go to the door but Peter blocked the way and put both of his hands on my shoulders.
"He doesn't matter anymore, Rune. We can now heal all those people out there and make all the gifted families lose their power over us!" His face was distorted into the grin of a mad man. It was different from his collected spirit before... but this was how I imagined he'd actually be.
People who went as far as killing others blinded by their beliefs were not sane...
"Where is Raven?" I asked again and put more confidence in my voice. If I gave him an answer now that only wasted more time so I had to get to the point before I couldn't reach him anymore.
"Rune? Are you not trusting me?" He tilted his head slightly and I slowly regained my energy and balance.
"How could I trust you when you took Raven away from me?" I said back and the forced politeness that I used until now was slowly fading.
I had never trusted this man from the beginning. I understood what he was fighting for but he was still the one that ordered his people to take Ed and Celeste from us. How could someone oversee a murder like that?!
"I'm gonna use him to blackmail the Inoue group. Nothing is gonna happen to him but we can't risk him running away." Peter slowly spoke with that same grin now biting down in anger.
I remembered how the people from Mellontikos that invaded the capture the flag game were also searching for Raven. It was true... he was Inoue's week point.
"Let him go or I won't help you... what's more important to you? Healing these people or blackmailing a gifted family?" I wondered and grinned back with tension and not breaking eye contact.
But opposite of what I expected Peter only laughed at me.
"I don't need to decide my dear nephew... because I have this."
He turned around so one of his underlings that were in the room could hand him a small box. He opened it and took a strangely glowing object out of it.
My eyes narrowed to see what exactly he was holding until the realization hit me.
"The cursed dagger..." I breathed out and cautiously stepped back. The little boy from before had already left the room and apart from Peter and four of his people there was no one here.
"Exactly..." Peter let his hands slide over the azure shining blade and let it flip in his hands a few times while walking closer to me.
"You know how it traps the souls of the ones it murders inside of it? I can hear their voices begging me to feed them more blood." He breathed in and out slowly with his eyes closed.
"Hah it fills me with energy every time I'm holding it." He laughed and my eyes widened when I realized how the veins on Peter's hand that was holding the dagger had turned as blue as the blade itself.
"For how long did you have it...?" I asked to get myself more time.
"For a few days? But that's not what matters. The real question is how many people I have killed with it. You know this cursed device does not only absorb souls but it also absorbs the gifted powers of the ones it kills in case they have some. Every person that I kill with it lets me use part of their powers. That's how this dagger strengthens his wielder." He explained and I visibly saw my chances of getting out of here alive go down when suddenly peter lifted up the hospital bed like it weighted nothing and threw it at the wall where it shatterd with a loud noise. The people guarding the door flinched visibly but I tried my best to stay collected.
I was told that the wielder of this dagger had to pay the price for killing people with it. Peter Falcon was already absorbed in the power but that must have make him go insane. I could not try to make him understand me or feel bad for those that he murdered. The expression on his face said everything... this man had lost any emotion but bloodlust and an undying determination. The fact that I didn't realize this the moment we met was scary. Everything he told us about my parents and their suffering... it had sounded so real as if he actually cared.
"You lied to us all along..." I concluded and observed my surroundings for any way to escape. I needed to find Raven and get out of here as soon as possible.
"Of course I did, haha." He chuckled and let his hand slide through his lose hair.
"When I heard about your existence all the plans I had were suddenly torn apart and you were my one and only goal. You, who my sister had never told me anything about. Do you seriously think I supported her naive little wish to make the world a better place by opening up a hospital? PAHA!"
I felt the blood boiling in my veins when I saw him laughing at my mother like this. How did he dare to speak of his sister like that!!
"Why telling me all this shit in the first place?!" I yelled and clenched my fists. This was far beyond my limit... my thoughts were blinded by rage.
"In case you believed me and decided to join me? I would have preferred not killing you but since this dagger will absorb your power, you are not needed. And now look at your hurt little puppy eyes just because you've been fooled by your uncle. Does it hurt not having mommy and daddy by your side? Life must have lonely, doesn't it?" He belittled me like I was some stupid child.
Ignore him Rune... he only tries to get you to attack him. I closed my eyes for a second to calm my thoughts but it wasn't possible. Slowly, I breathed out.
"Shut up." I stated and fixated my eyes on Peter again.
"Oh, are we confident now? I guess you still don't want to join me?" He sarcasticly raised his eyebrow as if what I said had surprised him.
"If you want to kill me you can try... but the moment you touch me I'll take your gifted powers from you." I brought out finally seeing a chance to win this and took a fighting position.
"Haha, then let's see who's faster." He chuckled and in the blink of an eye he was not standing at the same spot anymore.