Xero's mother had completed the clean up. Xero sat on the only bed in the room. They were poor and as such shared a single bed. They could barely eat as food was for the rich.
Xero stared at the lady his mother had stabbed. Her face beamed with radiating beauty. Her green hair matched up with her soft face. Xero was tempted to touch her face but restrained himself.
He had never been with an opposite sex before. His mother had not allowed him proper socialisation with his own gender in the first place. All these made him seem different.
He felt a different air in the room as he sat beside the lady. His mind skipped twice as his mother turned to catch him stealing a glances at the lady.
"Mother." He called out trying to divert her thoughts. She looked at him still thinking of what to do with the lady. She had acted rashly and she also knew that was not an excuse as to what she had done.
"Why did you attack her?" The question struck her like a thunder bolt. She had anticipated that he would ask this question but she had not yet found a suitable excuse for her actions.
"Just a reflex action. I was nervous." his mother muttered.
"Reflex action? You picked a damn knife and walked to the door and then you stab blindly and you call that reflex action? What happened to the fact that you opened the door and saw who you stabbed?" Xero asked. His mother looked away as tears streaked down her cheek.
"I didn't do it intentionally. Trust me." his mother said. Xero smiled.
"No one is arguing over your innocence here. My question is simple. Why did you attack her?" Xero asked again.
His mother stared at him in shock. Her son was becoming too bold. Bolder than he should have. She could agree that his eighteenth birthday was coming up in a few days but she did not expect an additional year in his life to change him this much.
Her hands quivered as she thought of what she had done. They trembled even more as she realised that her son had grown to be bold. She could no longer protect him. He was becoming a man of his own to follow his own rules.
"Damn. This is happening too fast. Has it already begun? How the fuck do I deal with this? The transition has already began. Why now?" his mother thought as she looked at him.
"Are you going to answer my question or not?" Xero asked again. His mother smiled and looked at him.
"I was just nervous. Just nervous. You know what? Forget about all these." his mother said calmly.
"You don't seem understand my question. I said... there was something you had in mind before you attacked the lady. What was that?" Xero asked calmly. His mother looked away.
Xero smiled faintly and stared at the poor lady who was a victim of his mother's rash actions. He smiled again at her. Something told him that this was going to be an interesting journey.
He got up from the bed and walked to the door. He turned back to look at his mother who stared at him in shock.
"Where are you going to? Don't leave here." Xero's mum asked but Xero kept mute. He slid his hands around the lock of the door and swiftly grabbed unto the key of the door.
"I'm going to see outside. You have locked me up too long to be spared. I need to have a good sight of what is outside." Xero muttered to himself. His mother stared at him in shock.
"You are kidding right? Don't you dare step an inch out of here. Out there is dangerous. There are demons out there." his mother said trying to buy off the idea from his head but he had made up his mind.
He swung the door open and just as she rushed to the door, he slammed it against her face. Then he slid the key in and locked the door. His mother banged against the door severally but he paid no attention to that.
All he wanted was to see the outside world, she had kept him from. After seeing how beautiful the lady was, he expected that there was more outside this Safe Zone and within. His mother had been too over protective with him and he still could not place in why.
He walked slowly along the pathway. Most faces glanced at him or should we say, glared at him. He was never seen outside his room except on rare occasions and with his mother.
The fact that he was walking through the pathway all alone was something they could not understand. He didn't care about their glares and thoughts. All he wanted was to find true happiness.
They did not know how it felt to be locked up in a room for more than seventeen years. They did not know how valuable even the air outside the Safe Zone was. If only they knew, they would not be stealing such glares at him. He smiled lightly and walked on. Just then...
"Every human!!! Out here to protect us!!!!! You have your weapons. Put them to good use!!!!"
The thick voice of Henry waved into the Safe Zone. Everyone stopped to listen to his words. Usually he made second announcements when they had cleared the demon gate but now it was different.
"The damn bastard wants us to get on the battle field!?'' someone retorted in anger.
"Why the hell do they take damn taxes from us. They signed up to do this for humanity and this should be their work. They must be nuts to involve us in their mess." another man said in anger.
Xero stared around and noticed that no single human had moved in response to Henry's call for help. He stared around in shock.
A soldier had called upon them for help and they sat here blabbing their mouth over their taxes?! How cruel this world was. The soldiers were also humans and not a special kind. They could also need help. He clenched his fists tightly.
He then walked to the first man who spoke. He grabbed him on the collar and slammed him against the wall. Everyone stared at him in shock and surprise.
"Do you really think that the soldiers are artificial beings? They are humans just like us who decided to put their lives on risk for our safety. How many of your bloody damn sons can do that? Even if you are a coward, why should you pollute the minds of others who would have loved to help dying warriors?" Xero muttered as his breath brushed against the man's face.
The man tried to fight free but he couldn't move a limb in Xero's grip. He stared at Xero in shock. Xero grinned widely.
Suddenly, Xero could feel an energy coming in his direction. And it happened like he had paused time itself. He took two simple steps away and left the man behind.
When time weaved back to normal, the bullet shot the man and he collapsed on the ground instantly. Xero turned to see the attacker.– another one who had spoken ill of the Super Military.
The man pulled the trigger the second time but Xero's limbs did the magic. He propelled towards the man and shifted his gun to point right in the man's private part before the bullet fired.
"Arghh!!'' the man screamed in pain. Xero smiled at him. But the onlookers stared at him in shock.
"I guess you could have been extremely useful in the battlefield. Such a pity, you shot yourself." Xero said and slid his hands to collect the gun.
The man stared at the blood on the ground. He held his main section tight in pain but the pain that rocketed through his body shifted him off balance. He fell on the ground and slowly he was dying.
Xero turned immediately and made his move towards the Big door of the Safe Zone. He was not bothered about the deaths.
After all, they had killed themselves. He was not the killer. But his mind raced as to how he had walked through time. How was that possible?