Sin: Path of Poison

Chapter 18 (Sin's Past) Part 2

"Do you want to say something?" I asked him in barely a whisper. Sometimes when I spoke it shocked me. Despite being highly educated in nearly everything, we rarely spoke. Only when we were asked to practice something or give answers, never just to converse with someone.

"Do you want anything?" He asked, taking a step even closer. Pulling my hand closer and holding it near his chest, he looked in pain.

"No.. no.. there's nothing I want." I replied feeling odd. What did that even mean? When had we ever gotten what we wanted? His head bowed down slightly as if disappointed that he couldn't fulfill a desire. His fingers tightened around my hand, wrapping them more into his, he brought them up to his cheek. The breath inside me caught and my heart felt like it would explode.

"Stop!" I said suddenly. I didn't want it to stop, but I also didn't know if I would die if this continued. He looked at me, obediently stopping. I pulled at my hand until I was finally free of his grip, his eyes looked sad. I couldn't take it, my entire being was confused. I turned and ran as fast as I could towards the creek down below, where I'd seen Tripping boy go to clean himself every so often.

I jumped into the water and scrubbed at my body, first with my fingers then with the gravel on the creek bed. I laid down in the water, trying to get the dirt out of my hair. Cupping gravel in my hands, I scrubbed at my face until it was red. Removing the dirty clothing I wore, I scrubbed at those as well.

Feeling as if I would never be as clean as him, I stopped. There was a large rock on the bank. I laid the clothing out to dry while I quietly hid in the shadows, waiting. I waited until the sun started going down, eventually grabbing the now dry clothing and putting it back on. Using my fingers I tried my best to get my hair in better condition. The small wound in my hand no longer bled and my body wasn't as red from scrubbing. I walked back, not knowing what to do when I saw Tripping boy.

When I arrived a few adults were standing near the affected adult, who while better than before, still looked dazed. Tripping boy appeared to be back to normal, he ignored my return neither asking where I'd gone or what had happened. I moved towards the parameter, towards our sleeping area, keeping my distance.

"What happened?" Fearless boy asked, surprising me. I hadn't expected him to say anything.

"The adult was acting weird after he (I pointed to Tripping boy) got cut. I cut my hand to see what would happen. I don't understand what happened next, but it's like that." I said pointing to the adult. "I think it has to do with the poison in our bodies." I added.

"The effects?" He asked.

"I wasn't affected, I don't know. Ask him." I pointed back to Tripping boy.

"Come here!" Fearless boy called out to him. Suspicious, he made his way over but avoided coming from my direction.

"What?" He asked.

"What did the blood do?" Fearless boy asked.

"Mine had no effect on the two of us, just the adult. Hers.. " He trailed off. "I guess I wanted to make her smile." He stated before abruptly walking away. Fearless boy burst into laughter, something he did on occasion, not for any reasons we could understand. He typically laughed over morbid things.

"The effects should be different for all of us, we were given different poisons." I mentioned before also walking away.

We turned fourteen by the time these experiments on us came to an end. Using random people from the streets, they'd tell us to poke our finger to draw blood. From far away the adults would observe. Sometimes they'd order us to say certain things to these people, just to see how much control we had and assess how far our victims were willing to go.

In the end, Tripping boy's blood made anyone nearby hallucinate. He could manipulate their minds into seeing something that wasn't there, he could make things in front of them vanish. The effects worked on Fearless boy, but only for a short time, I was immune to it.

Fearless boy's poison caused fear. Whomever came into contact with it would cower and shake. The frailer adults could collapse dead while holding their chest. Some would run away, even if it meant falling from a ledge and dying. While it did cause fear in Tripping boy, he mostly just slumped to the ground in a ball and shivered, the effects didn't last long. As with Tripping boy's poison I was immune.

Whomever was exposed to my blood became my slave. They wanted to make me happy, please me, regardless of what I asked them to do. I could manipulate their minds to believe whatever I wanted. I could tell them to feel any number of feelings and they'd feel them.

The poison worked on both Tripping boy and Fearless boy. While the effects weren't as drastic as the adults with no immunity, they were still strong. Tripping boy's mind wasn't as easily controlled. While he wanted to please me he was aware of what was real and what was not. His control over these matters was dulled though. Fearless boy was still heavily influenced by my poisons, delighting in the temporary bliss he experienced. There was no fear, no pain, or guilt, best of all there was no anger. He only cared about the absolute ecstasy he felt washing over him. The effects didn't last as long as the adults, roughly the same duration as Tripping boy.

The feelings I felt the first time Tripping boy was affected never occurred with any other test subjects. Even when they brought in kids our own age to test on, I felt nothing for them. If they died it was their own fault for being caught. If they were pretty or dirty, I didn't care.

When we had to experiment on each other I got nervous. It took all my nerves to put on a straight face and act the same in front of Tripping boy as I did all the others. The look in his eyes was sad. Betrayed. I wished I could stop it, but I couldn't. When the testing was over and he returned to normal I felt mildly disappointed and relieved at the same time, but couldn't figure out why.