The Boy with the Black Dog Tags

Two little mistakes can change your whole world around. Two little mistakes he sensed from within chains and straps are what bought the boy his escape. All it took was a drop of blood from a surgical cut with poor metal stitching to escape his imprisonment. An idiot security guard who messed up on the first day of his job and who solemnly awarded the synthetic weapon his freedom. It was their job to keep him contained, to make sure he could never escape and walk this earth. They failed miserably. The boy they were meant to watch wasn't sane. He was created to perform and act truly like a weapon. His prime purpose was to kill and protect the user, but at this current moment he had no user. He went wild like a gun with its trigger held back.

"G-get-get away!" The second security guard pushed his legs back and bumped up against the wall. He had nowhere to run. Nowhere to hide. He was dead where he sat.

The weapon was of human form. He had arms and legs with toes and fingers to go with them, but he had no human sense of mind. Slaughter, murder, and locate new targets were his perspectives. Those were his duties which he carried out until the very end. He wore nothing but blue jeans and black colored dog tags with a thick metal helmet on his head. The purpose of the metal helmet was so he couldn't see anything or hear for that matter. If he could see his victims, the slaughtering would be nauseating and disturbing.

The dog tags jingled around his neck when he dropped down from his broken straps and chains. He took a moment and immersed himself in the feeling of being strapless. He straightened his back and felt the coolness of his dog tags brush against his bare chest. He took a deep breath and the drops of blood from the dead security guard began to ascend, as if gravity was no longer a factor. They rose to his shoulders and began to change its form. The blood drops thinned out into perfect spikes. They swirled around him before they stopped and fell to the floor. Their sharp points stabbing the ground to prove that blood can harden.

"No-no-no, please!" The security guard begged. "I-I-I-I-I h-have family!"

It was no use. The weapon couldn't hear him, but even if he could he wouldn't show mercy. No gun or sword illustrates clemency for the meat they slaughter. Why should he? He pictured in his mind how the blood spikes stabbed through the man like needles through skin, only deeper and came out his other end. He frowned when it didn't bring him the ecstasy like it did when he could actually see it. He sensed the blood burst through his victim. He sensed the blood staining the walls and floor. The spikes purposely punctured places where the most blood could rupture. Two of the spikes stabbed through the guard's neck and multiply times in his heart and stomach.

The boy could only sense blood and the possibilities of making new ways to use them. He loved to come up with new shapes and forms for it. It was like art to him. It was the only thing he could make in this world, but nobody appreciated it. They feared it instead. He raised his hands and the blood responded. This was his ability, his God given gift. The power to manipulate blood to any shape or form. One would think what a useless talent, but he had a wild imagination. He used his gift in many ways possible.

Fourteen years he's been in here. He hated it. He wanted his freedom. He was born human and feared of dying as a monster. He vaguely remembers his family, his home, and the whole spectrum of human emotion. He had to forget these things to become what he is today. How he wanted to remember and revert back to the way he was, but he could hardly remember those days. He could only move forward and live with what he is now. He took one last breath and opened his mind to more possibilities of killing people with only a single drop of blood.

He smiled as he started to draw more blood out of the murder men. The blood took the shape of spikes once again only this time were longer and thicker. They spun around him and harden to the point that not even diamonds could scratch them. The two giant spikes stopped and quickly thrust forward. They destroyed the two metal hinges of the vault door. The door that was meant to keep him in and the human world out, was in seconds no longer a barrier. The door fell forward and was so heavy that even the floor under it cracked.

The boy turned slightly and took his first step. His bare feet felt the cool tile floor and after fourteen years of being off the floor, the feeling was too great for him. It was his first step and his first fall to the ground. It was strange and weird for him, to walk and use his knees to bend. He rises back to his feet and had no idea the red lights on the ceiling were flashing brightly. Everybody in the whole building knew of his escape and was rushing down to put him back in his holding vault. He walked slowly, talking in the new feeling of walking. The blood circled around him like a coiled snake. As he walked in the hallways he sensed more hearts beating from inside other vaults. They were more of his kind, but he could do nothing for them. He couldn't do anything because he himself wasn't if sure he'll make it out of here alive. He stopped as he sensed four-no-seven new hearts beating quickly. They were rushing down the nearby hallway to get to him. When in reality, they were rushing to their deaths.

More guards with guns turned into the hallway and for a short glance saw the boy before they were turned into sliced meat. The boy with the black dog tags quickly changed the blood snake into seven sharp blood razors and immediately sent them out for the bodies to be cut. The boy walked by the small indecent body parts of the murder men on the floor and could only smile from within his helmet. He drew up more blood from the cut up bodies before another coiling snake wrapped around him, only this one was continued on like this for the next couple of hallways. He didn't see their faces, their souls or anything. So he felt not regret or remorse. He forgot how one was supposed to feel when death was presented in front of you. He forgot how to feel, just like how he forgotten his name and his family. All of those things are just a blur but blood and its color are forever burned in his head.

Three giant blood snakes swirled around him like a protective shield. He stopped walking as he reached the final vault to his escape. The door that would lead him out of the prison holding facility and into the normal part of the building. Where normal workers reside and have no part in his life. Innocent people who have no idea what he was capable of. How he wanted to kill them all. They were the reason why he's here. They thought he wasn't fitted to be in society so they brought him here instead. To rot and forget how to be human and become a weapon for some government plan.

The snakes combined together and thinned out like paper. The blood slithered up the wall of the vault and slipped through the cracks of the hinges. The boy raised his hand before he closed it into a fist. The blood inside expanded and expanded to the point the hinges couldn't take it anymore. The vault door moaned and turned so weak that when the boy touched it with just the tips of his fingers, it fell forward. The valut door created a loud and hunting sound as it hit the ground, but of course he couldn't hear that.

The blood responded to his mental call and returned to him. It coiled around him as if seeking warmth. He walked over on the stone vault door and stopped in the middle of it as he sensed a whole bunch of hearts pumping blood. There was so many of them, all together that it was hard for him to count. He turned his head slightly as he no idea what he has gotten himself into. Even the blood snake lost its shape and turned into nothing but a flat line that circled around him.

It was a long line of soldiers each holding an automatic weapon in their hands and had them pointed at the boy. Their captain was behind them and the reason why they didn't shoot him on sight was because the captain didn't give them that order. He wanted to make sure the weapon wasn't completely rouged. Believe it or not but the boy was still a valuable piece of weaponry and finding a unique piece like him would be trying to the find aliens on Mars.

"Listen boy, you and I both know you don't want to go out there." He pointed with his thumb behind him, where freedom lay. The captain had a dark aura around him. Maybe it was because he wore dark colored clothes but his hair was of lively color. It was a bright indigo. He scoffed as he tossed back some of his hair.

"Be a good boy and head back into your cell and dinner will be served." The captain flashed a sunning smile.

"You idiot, he can't hear you." A blond man said wearing a coffee colored overcoat. He stood off in the distance away from everybody else. He was a man that preferred to be alone.

"Alaude, sweetie, why don't you just stand there and be quiet? I like you better that way." The captain turned back to him.

"I'll kill you." Alaude growled.

"And I love you too." The captain flashed him a smile. He looked back to the boy and continued on with his rant.

"Do you really think you can fit in with normal people? Did you see what you did to those men? Their blood is literally floating around you like some living creature. Do you really think that's normal-that you can really fit in with society?"

The boy tightened his fist as the blood around him boiled.

"I think you pissed him off." Alaude commented.

"Good, it just proves my point that he can hear me." The captain smirked over to his partner once again. Alaude scoffed.

"Captain! He's doing something strange!" One of the soldiers in front called out. The captain looked back and didn't know what to make of it. He wasn't scared; he just didn't know how to fight a creature that can manoeuvre blood. The boy pointed his finger to the group and the blood quickly transformed into razors. Seconds later of transforming, they went spinning over to soldiers with the intent to kill. The blades were just a few feet away from them when they burst like fireworks. Splattered blood fell everywhere in front of the group of men. The boy stumbled on his feet when he realized no hearts stopped beating. He was sure he sent those razors to slice them all up. What kind of force could have stopped them? Not a human one, that is.

"Alaude, sometimes you really like to bust my chomps, don't you?" The captain wiped away some blood from his face. He then looked to his partner who had his hand raised. The hand that stopped those razors from slaughtering up those men. He was the type of man not to interfere, but he thought of this as a onetime deal. Besides, he really did like busting the captain's chomps.

"Let's see who has a short temper." Alaude said as he passed through the line of men and onto the front life. "Daemon, after this you owe me. I like French cuisine for my evening dinner and wine."

Daemon smirked. "It's a date, then?"

"When pigs fly." The blond shot back.

"I can arrange that."

"Real pigs, not illusions." Alaude fired back.

The boy thinned out the rest of blood he had left and made tiny but multiples of needles. He raised both his hands and sent the tiny needles out. They grew with speed and headed to the direction of the men. Alaude scoffed at such childish games. He raised his hands and stopped the blood needles halfway across the room. He made them lose their shape and revert back to its liquid state before spilling to the floor.

"Is that all?" Alaude called out feeling as if he won this little fight. The boy had no more blood left to manipulate but he didn't lose his cool. He had more tricks up his sleeve. He jumped down from the broken stone vault and his dog tags jingled again. He straightened his back and paused for a slight second. He had to remember. He couldn't see. He couldn't hear. He was literally in his own darkness.

"I didn't know Alaude-sama was one of them…" One of the soldiers said.

"Don't compare him to the likes of that boy over there." Daemon raised his voice. "You see that boy was born with that kind of power. He's the monster. Alaude was given his power through research and the hard work of talented scientists."

"That's nice. Talk about me behind my back…" Alaude murmured to himself.

"The boy has nothing else to fight with. Let's take him down, captain." One of the aggressive soldiers snapped the magazine into the back of the gun and readied his weapon. Silence overwhelmed everybody as the boy held up hands high over his head. He held them up with his wrists together as if asking to be handcuffed and be brought back to his cell. The boy waited, thinking if someone had the courage to walk over to him and take him but after a long wait he couldn't take it. He started to walk over to them, slowly and steadily. They could fire at him at any moment and he has nothing to protect himself with. He wasn't ready to die.

"Captain…what do we do…?" That same soldier from before asked.

"Nothing." Alaude answered for Daemon. "Don't move and don't do anything rash. He still has the power to manoeuvre the blood inside you. He could make you burst up like an overfilled balloon."

"If he can do that then we shouldn't just stand here waiting!" The soldier yelled out and the boy stopped. Everybody tensed up and thought they angered him or if any way, hurt him. Alaude bit his tongue and scolded himself. Why did he put himself out in the open in like this? He was in the range where the boy could easily make him exploded. Call it cowardly if you want, but Alaude couldn't care less for these men. He cared for himself.

The boy fell to his knees and raised his joined hands higher. He lowered his head and remained there for a good clean minute.

Nobody had the courage or the strength to approach him. The boy was feared for many good reasons. The boy killed thousands of people in the fourteen years he's been held here. He escaped in less than fifteen minutes, killed over twenty men and now he just easily wants to hand himself in? Something wasn't right. Alaude wanted to call the boy's bluff, but he himself had no courage to advance to the boy.

The boy raised his head back up and turned it slightly. What was taking them so long? He could sense their heart beating so hard and loud. He could tell they were nervous and he took joy in that. He lowered his head again and allowed himself to feel a slight emotion. The emotion of regret. He wished he could at least make it out to the front door to see the sunlight he so long forgotten.

"Very well," Daemon cleared his throat and walked by his men. "I'll be the one to do it."

He expected someone to stop him, but nobody even reacted to that he said. He hesitated a bit as walked over to the boy. He bended down to him and that was his mistake. The boy pushed his joined hands on Daemon's chest and not a second later he coughed up a large amount of blood. The soldiers wanted to raise their gun and fire, but couldn't because they couldn't move, neither could Alaude. He felt foolish and arrogant. He even said it himself. The boy had the power to manipulate blood even inside people. If it was possible to stop the blood inside your veins to the point you can't even move, the boy proved t just now that he can make it possible.

Daemon gasped as the boy lowered his hands away from his chest. He fell to knees as he tried to recover his state of mind. The boy didn't do anything bad to him, just made him cough up the blood in his lungs. He hurt him but it wouldn't kill him. It was mercy. The boy rose back to his feet and walked over to Alaude.

He walked straight up to him and touched his forehead with just his thumb. Alaude flinched in pain as this huge headache formed in his head. The boy wanted to make him exploded, cut him in pieces or anything else worst known to man. He was the man that had the power to stop his blood so in other words the man was the only force on the planet that could stop him.

The boy pulled his finger away. He allowed him to live, but the men behind him weren't so lucky. They all exploded. The blood was everywhere and small little hints of bones and destroyed organs lay everywhere on the floor. The boy looked to the ceiling and could sense more blood there, stained and ruined. He had no idea that Daemon came running towards him, a black scythe drawn. A black scythe he created with his own power, the power to make any type of illusion to his sick and dark dreams. He made it so real that one could be forever lost in those illusions. He too was another sad experiment like Alaude, only they survived the side effects.

"Daemon, don't!" Alaude yelled out when he realized he was slowly recovering feeling in parts of his body.

The blood responded and quickly protected their master. The boy looked back and seened the blade of the scythe deep within the pudding type blood. He allowed his finger tips to dip into the blood. The blood understood and quickly slithered around Daemon. It returned back into its liquid state and in a matter of seconds, Daemon was drowning in it. He was drowning in a ball of blood that defied gravity. The boy walked up to the blood ball and pretended as if he could see. As if he could watch him die.

"Please! Don't!" Alaude shouted.

The boy looked to the blond man and didn't know what to feel. Why would the blond man call out this other man's name? Did he want him to live? The boy looked back to the man drowning in the blood and turned his head all the way to side. He could sense the blood filling the man's lungs with his heart slowly losing its power to pump. The boy didn't understand this.

He didn't understand!

Daemon gasped and coughed for air when the blood lost its shape and fell to the floor before him. He couldn't be happier to feel air in his chest as he lay there on the floor, glad he was alive. Alaude rushed to him and held his head up with his arms. He didn't want to believe he was dead. He didn't even want to think of it but when Daemon opened his eyes, he released a sigh of relief.

The boy stood there, lost as to what happened. Two hearts were rushing just right in front of him. They pumped hard, not in fear, not in anxiety, but for something else. The boy looked away and sensed the path where he must take to his escape. He turned slightly and continued on his walk. He didn't want to waste time with them because he couldn't understand them. They were like a puzzle the boy had no knowledge on solving.

"Alaude…he's getting away…" Daemon turned his head slightly to him.

"Like I don't see that." Alaude shook his head. "I rather much take care of you then go after him."

Daemon frowned as he looked to the ceiling. "You really…like to go against me."

At the door the boy commanded the blood to slip through the cracks and bust it open. This was how he entered the working area where no weapon like himself, has ever entered before. He sensed no hearts. They evacuated the whole building and the boy tightened his fists. He wanted to kill them all. He wanted to sense their blood splattered on the walls. He wanted them to die.

He released his anger and could only walk forward. Before he knew it, he was walking out the front door. He sensed countless heart outside waiting for him. This was the only way out and probably had to face an army to get off the island. He took a deep breath and the doors parted by themselves. He took his first step on dirt. He pulled his foot back and couldn't believe how wonderful it felt. It felt dusty and rocky at the same time. Better than feeling cold tile floor all the time. He took another step and dug his toes into the dirty. This moment could be better if he could take this stupid helmet off. He sensed the hearts up ahead stirring and he looked to them. They were in the way of his freedom. He had no choice but to kill them all.

"You are not permitted to go any further. Take one more step and you will be shot on the spot!" They shouted into microphones but he could only hear a distant murmur. The boy pulled the blood in the front of him and hardened it before they started shooting at him. Bullets came from automatic weapons and turrets from the back of warheads. This was an army parked out in front just for him.

The shield of blood was astonishing strong and not a single bullet even cracked it. The boy stood there protected. He wished he could continue to walk forward but they created a barricade. If he had to stand here 'til they ran out of bullets, then he will. He had nothing else to do. Nowhere else he had to be. He took a deep breath at finally the bullets stopped.

The blood shield quickly took the form of bullets and went shooting into those men who stood on the ground. All it took was one blood bullet in the head and they were done. The boy quickly called the blood back but it wasn't fast enough. The turrets on the warheads returned fire and the boy, for a split second thought he was dead. It was too close for comfort. One bullet stopped just inches before the front of his helmet. There was only person he met that had that kind of ability. The boy quickly turned behind him as he sensed a familiar heart.

"You must be pretty damn bold to think you can take on the Japanese military defence force." Alaude said as he held up his hand and the bullets from the turrets continued to stop mid way. Before they could even reach him and the boy. The boy turned his head slightly and didn't understand this act of kindness.

"Kid, I know what you're thinking, but I need to return the favor." Alaude walked over to him and placed his other hand on the front of the helmet. "Make sure you take a good look at the sun…it's just hanging over the horizon."

The boy closed his eyes and the helmet split in two. He heard, he finally heard, the sound of the helmet hit the ground. The wind in his face made everything seem heavenly. He opened his eyes and blinked a couple of times. He took a nose deep breath and smelled everything earthly. He could smell plants, dirt, and even a small hint of flowers. He looked down and could see the brown dirt he was feeling with his toes earlier. He looked back up to the blond man and smiled to him. In a way to say thanks.

"Go on, kid…go and live life." Alaude said as he rested his hand on the top of the boy's brown spiky hair. Spiky hair that's all over his face and reached down to the top of his eyebrows. It was very messy but the boy had no idea how his hair was. He could feel it blowing with the morning air, but s'til, he wished he could see it. The boy looked to the left and saw the sun just above the horizon. It was a brilliant summer morning and the boy thought he was literally in heaven. That he really did die and went to heaven, even when he thought he could never enter such a holy place. He doesn't deserve to live in paradise after death.

Alaude closed his eyes and swished his arm. In response the warheads were lifted up from the ground. Alaude slowly opened his eyes as threw the warheads off the cliff and into to sea. The boy quickly ran over to the cliff and saw them sank. He turned his head slightly and smiled. The hearts of the men inside them were slowly sinking until they disappeared completely.

The boy looked back to the blond man who was walking over to him. He smiled to him and the man petted the top of his head. He liked the boy's brown eyes because they turned completely golden under the sun's light. Alaude looked down and read the boy's number on his dog tags. He looked back up to him and the boy pointed to his neck.

"Huh? Oh you wish to see mine?" Alaude pulled his own dog tags from under his coat and the boy held them in his hands. They weren't black like the boy's been but were the regular shiny silver. The boy traced his fingers over the printed number and letter before he looked back up to the men.

"X-01-A, was my name back then." Alaude looked over to the horizon and sighed. "You better go before more come."

The boy dropped the dog tags and stepped back 'til he stood over to the edge. Alaude watched as the boy dropped back and fell into the ocean. He completely reached freedom and Alaude wished he could have the same escape, but he had someone to take care off. He looked back to the building and frowned. He was only going back in there because of Daemon, because of him.

"Take care of yourself," He said as he looked over the cliff and saw nothing but the tame blue waters. He looked up to the sky and saw nothing but orange. What a colorful world he lives in, only he wished it was colorful all the time.

A digital alarm clock sat perfectly on the bed side table and was just waiting to go off. It was set to go off at seven in the morning and just by a minute it was going to. When it did go off, an arm pulled out of the blankets and hit the top of its snooze button. A man grumbled under his blankets before he tossed in his sleep. The alarm clock waited for another four minutes before going off again. That same arm came out of the blankets and pulled the cord of the alarm clock out of the wall.

"I'm up…" A blond man rose from his bed. He got up and slipped his feet into blue bunny slippers. He yawned as he walked out of his room and saw beer cans and food all over the stairs. He groaned as he remembered the college party he and his friends had last night. It was a party he never wanted to have because he knew shit like this would happen. He walked down the stairs kicking cans as he did. He ended up in the living room of the beach house and saw somebody sleeping on the couch. He walked over to him and slapped his cheek.

"Dude, wake up. You don't live here." The blond said as he took the beer bottle out of his hands. He shook his head as he watched the stranger leave. He looked inside the beer bottle and saw there was a bit left. It would be a waste so he drank it down. He sneered and stuck his tongue out in disgust. It was one of those light beers that tasted like water with salt. It was a sissy beer. He shook his head as he headed into the kitchen.

It was a mess even in there and he had enough of these parties. He wanted to fling the bottle up against the wall but instead he threw it in the sink. He walked out and headed back to his room. He changed out of his pajamas and into fresher clothes. The house was literally on the beach so he changed into some brown shorts and a white t-shirt. Clothes perfect for the summer air of Namimori, Japan. He walked out of his room and back into the living room. He found his best friend picking up the newspaper from the front porch. He crossed his arms in front of him as he waited for the redhead to turn to him.

"Oh?...morning." The redhead said when he realized his best friend was watching him.

"That's all you have to say to me?" The blond snapped.

"Dude…don't yell. I got a wicked headache." The redhead held up his hand.

The blond turned his head slightly. "I'm going out and when I come back this whole house better be clean to the point I can eat off the floor!"

"Giotto, stop yelling!" The redhead roared and he tossed the newspaper on the coffee table. "Listen I know you're Mr. Good-grades but you really need to break loose and have some fun, like you did last night. The you last night was smiling and having fun and the you now is totally on his man period."

"G, I love you like a brother but don't ever say the words 'man period' ever again to me." Giotto found his keys and headed out the door. He didn't like fighting so usually he runs away. It was cowardly and he knew it but this was how he was. Giotto was a first year in college but he was out of school and spending the summer in Japan. Why did he travel out of Europe to spend the summer here? It was all his best friend's doing. It's all G's fault but even so Giotto thanked him for bringing him here. He loved it here.

It was something in the air. The way the sun comes up and goes down around here that just wasn't the same in Italy. He took his shoes off as he stepped off the porch and into the pale white sand. He only had two months to enjoy this place and he didn't want to miss a second of it. He loved this beach. He loved the tame blue waters and a sky to match with it. He loved it all.

He was only twenty-one with the idea of finding someone special in this special place. He had many girls in his life he dated, but only because he thought they were cute and later on, it turned out into girls started dating him. What girl wouldn't want a tall blond-blue eyed-Italian? What he had with the girls he dated wasn't love, and that what he wants. He wants to find it in these two months that he has with this special place. Even if he couldn't find it, he'll come back and continue his search.

Giotto yawned as he walked down the beach even further. He was thinking of having breakfast in a café somewhere deep inside the town. That sounded like a good idea for his stomach but he didn't want to leave the beach. He stopped as he found a broken seashell. He picked it up and threw it out to the sea. He only wanted perfect things on his beach.

He looked ahead and dropped his shoes out of fright. He stumbled where he stood as he saw a person lying on sand close to the shore line. Seaweed litter all over their body and Giotto couldn't stand anymore. He rushed to the person and pulled the seaweed out of their brown damp hair. Giotto paused as he realized it was just a boy. A boy no less than fourteen years old. A boy wearing nothing but damp wet jeans.

A boy with black dog tags.