Project Twelve

Chapter Seven

   Salem stood still as Malachi opened the door to a new place. He entered the house and it smelled like warm food. It was late in the evening and dinner must've been cooking on the stove. "Malachi, who's this?" A blonde woman stepped into the room wearing an apron. "This is Salem, I found him at that pizza shop Jeremy hangs out at." "How many times have I told you to leave your brother alone. After what you did, you shouldn't even live here." The woman said, going back to the kitchen. "She's just a bitch. Come on, i'll show you my room." Malachi dragged him upstairs and into a dark room. "This is it! Look, you can sleep here." Malachi said, patting the bed. Salem looked around the room, examining the posters and other things on the walls. He didn't think they were something he should be seeing. "Hey, what's wrong with you? You've been like, silent." Malachi interrupted his thoughts. Was he always this obnoxious? "Can you count these?" Salem put his stolen coins down on the bed. "You can't count?" Malachi asked, sitting on the bed. "No. I was never taught to read or write. Daddy told me that it wasn't important for my physical body to learn human activity. "Are you like, okay?" Malachi asked him as he started counting the coins. "Yes, i'm perfectly fine. Salem said, watching closely. "Jasper is a surgeon, he can check you out. But only that weird shit on your back." Malachi told him, setting down each coin as he counted it. "I don't want to. How many coins are there?" Salem asked, picking them each back up. "You've got a lot of pennies, some dimes, and only a few nickels and quarters." Malachi told him, handing back the rest of the coins. "Next time go for the green stuff." "Green stuff? No, I only want these." Salem said. "That works too. Here, get changed." Malachi dumped the bag of clothes out onto the bed and chose him an outfit. A light blue dress shirt and some pants. Salem changed into the outfit, struggling with the buttons. Malachi got frustrated and finally did it for him. "There, looking good. Much better than that old thing you were wearing." Salem went over to the mirror and looked at himself. He stared into his own eyes with disgust. He hated his body. "You okay?" Malachi asked him, going over and placing a hand on his shoulder. "I'll be honest, I wish I was taller." He said, smiling for the first time in probably years. "You're warming up to me, eh? Come on. I wanna show you something." Malachi told him, leading him into the bathroom.

   "Alright, sit on in there." Malachi said, pointing to the bathtub. Salem did as he told him, a confused look on his face. "Why do I have to sit in here?" He asked. "To catch the blood." Malachi said as he turned to face Salem. He stepped into the tub and unfolded his pocket knife. Salem let out a gasp in fear, covering his throat in terror. "Please, no!" He screamed. But then everything went silent. Malachi dropped the knife as he fell, blood splattering everywhere. Salem watched in horror as the only person he ever came to "love" bled out in front of him. He screamed, placing his small hand over Malachi's throat in a vain attempt to stop the bleeding. He stayed with him until he was pried away from his body. "Hey, your names Salem? I'm Jasper. Im gonna help you." A man with longer brown hair brought him into his arms. "Release me, asshole." Salem said, clawing at his arms. "Hey, I know what just happened was a lot, but you don't have to cuss." Jasper told him, slightly squeezing to stop the fighting. "I'm going to take you to the police." Salem went still, refusing to look away from the scene. Jasper took him away from the bathroom as he watched the paramedics fill the room.