Game of Survival [Book One]

7

FIVE MONTHS AGO

The sun had set hours ago, but Night and Vortex couldn't stop running. Not far behind them were three humans who had discovered they were mutants while they were eating dinner. Both of their lungs were burning. Their bodies aching as they continued to run.

Night suddenly tripped over his feet, his body slamming against the ground hard enough to knock the wind out of him. Vortex slid through the dirt as he tried to come to a quick stop. As he rushed over to Night to help him up, he almost fell and crawled the rest of the way.

"Get up," he whispered through heavy breathing.

Once Night was off the ground, the two of them started running again. They jumped over fallen branches and tried their best to avoid the thorns that were cutting small wounds into their arms and legs. Vortex pulled Night along as Night took a quick look behind them.

That was when he saw them.

Three humans were close behind, their flashlight beams just inches away from catching them. Horror crossed over Nights face when he realized just how screwed they both were. He knew there was no way they were going to get away without a fight.

"Vortex, they're right behind us," Night said in a whisper that Vortex could barely hear. All he could make out was behind us. That made him move faster. He stopped avoiding the trees and bushes that they ran past. He no longer cared if his body was attacked by them, it was better than the humans catching them.

Ahead of them was an opening to a field. When Vortex saw the opening he ran even faster, dragging Night along. The moment they reached the opening Night went hurling forward from the blow of one of the humans running and kicking his foot into his back. Thought Night was in excruciating pain, he tried his hardest to get up.

The human wasn't having it.

"Stay down!" one of the humans yelled as he got on top of him and pinned him to the grass, burying his face into the dirt.

"Let him go!" Vortex screamed as he charged at the human. Vortex's body collided with the human and they both went flying. When they hit the ground, they struggled for a moment before the human had him pinned. Vortex's arm was behind his back, his hand being yanked towards his shoulder blades. He fought through the pain to look for Night who was nowhere to be seen.

Just as Vortex found him, a human did as well. The large man walked over to him and hurled his fist at his face. Night went falling back against the grass. Blood started flowing from his broken nose. Instead of trying to stop the bleeding he started to crawl backwards, hoping he'd get away.

Night knew that if he fought the man, he would have no chance. He stared up at the six-foot-five man with wide eyes. With a smile, the human crouched beside Night, grabbed a hold of his shirt, and punched him again.

Vortex looked away. No part of him wanted to see what was happening to his best friend. They had spent most of their lives together, acting more like brothers than friends. If it weren't for the one, the other would be lost. And now? Now, he was hearing a human beat the shit out of him just because they were mutants.

"Oh no, you're going to watch!" The man pinning him yelled as he pushed his knee into Vortex's back, grabbed his head into his hands, and forced him to look at Night.

Night was now lying flat in the grass, his face completely bloody from the repeated blows. For a moment he struggling to breath past the blood that was starting to pool up in his mouth. Tears began to build up in Vortex's eyes as he started to hate himself for not being able to help Night.

"This is what you get for running," the man with his knee in his back said. "You get to watch you friend die."

That's when Vortex noticed it. The burly man who had been beating the shit out of Night stood up and pulled a knife out of a holster that was strapped to his belt. A smile pulled at the man's lips when he knelt beside Night, his chest moving rapidly, and he breathed heavily.

When he grabbed Night's hair and lifted his head, Vortex tried to look away. He didn't want to see what he was about to do to him. He didn't want to watch his best friend die. However, the human on top of him forced him to look back. Vortex tightly closed his eyes, but the man forced them open with his fingers. Even though he tried to look away, he couldn't avoid what was happening just six feet away from him.

With the knife in his hand, and his other hand holding Night's head up by his hair, the man placed the silver blade against his throat. Night's eyes met Vortex's. They were filled with pain. Tears started falling passed Vortex's lashes as he watched the man slide the blade across Night's neck.

"No!" Vortex screamed. It was a sound he had never heard himself make before. As he screamed his heart felt like it had been ripped from his chest. He struggled underneath the human, trying his hardest to break free. Every fiber in his being wanted to run to Night and save his life.

But it was too late.

Night's eyes glazed over as his head dropped into the grass. Through tears and screams of pain, and anger, he kept struggling. Though he felt his arm break, he kept fighting. It wasn't until the burly man said, "Good, the bastards dead," that Vortex stopped struggling.

He stopped fighting.

There was no part of him that could fight anymore. Not with Night dead. Night was the only reason he had kept on fighting for so long. If Night wasn't alive, there was no reason for him to be.

The knee in Vortex's back disappeared, but he continued to lay there. A glimpse of the silver blade passed by his eyes as he gave up completely. He felt a hand slip into his hair and pull his head off the ground. It was in that moment that he called out Night's name, just moments before the blade pressed against his own throat.

Then... darkness.

FIFTEEN YEARS AGO

Reaper wondered through the halls of the asylum. Windows lined the hallway he was walking through. Each window led to a room. As he walked past room after room, he peaked in, wondering what kind of person was inside. As he got to the end of the hallway, he stopped in front of a door that had the name Kwon Jiyong posted next to it. With a smile, Reaper broke the doorknob and walked in.

"Who are you?" The boy asked as he looked at Reaper in a panic. Out of habit he started to move towards the corner of the room.

"The name's Reaper. I'm here for somebody."

"W... W... Who?" The boy asked with a shaky voice.

With a large smile, Reaper said, "You, of course."

The boy moved completely into the corner, terrified of Reaper. "I don't know you."

"Not yet. However, you'll be happy I'm here. Those little fits of fire you go through, they aren't your imagination."

Suddenly, the boy perked up, wondering how the strange man had known about why he was in the asylum. "How..."

"Did I know that you can shoot fire out of your hands?" Because I'm just like you. Reaper said inside of his head.

A smile gently pulled at the corners of the boy's mouth as he walked towards Reaper. The fear he had before was gone, replaced by excitement. "Are you breaking me out?"

"Yes and no. I'm giving you freedom, sure, but I'm going to take you somewhere where you will have to follow some rules."

"Where?"

"Don't worry about it just yet. What you should be worried about is coming with me before someone realizes that your gone."

For ten minutes, Reaper and the boy ran through the asylum, turning corners and running down flight after flight of stairs as they tried to make it out safely. When the two of them made it out of an emergency exit door, Reaper spotted a police car that was driving by. Instinctively, he shoved the boy to the ground. Once the cop was gone, he helped him up.

"So, tell me boy, what would you like me to call you?"

"Anything!" he said with excitement.

"Anything?" Reaper couldn't help but laugh at the childish name.

"Yes."

"Is it because you can't think of a name or..."

"Yeah."

"Really?" Reaper asked with a raised eyebrow. It was then that Reaper had decided that he'd stick around just a little while longer.