Out of One Prison and Into Another

The apple rested in his hand. Long fingers curled around it, just brushing the fruit's smooth surface. They barely touched it as though it was made of glass and would break with too much handling.

Atsushi stared at the apple hungrily. It looked clean, cleaner than anything he'd laid eyes on in a long time. He couldn't remember the last time he'd eaten fruit that wasn't riddled with wormholes or rotting patches. How long had it been since he'd eaten something that wasn't in the form of mush in general? A week? More than that? He had a hard time remembering that far back.

"You can take it," the man offering the food to him said as he stretched a bandaged arm a little further between the cell's bars. "You look half starved."

Atsushi stumbled off the bench in the back of his prison and staggered forward before snatching the apple from the man and biting into it. The juice filled his dry mouth, the crunch delightful between his teeth. It felt like ages since he'd eaten anything he could actually enjoy. The man who'd handed him the apple stood there silently, watching him. "Th-thank you," Atsushi said, wiping apple juice from his chin, leaving a sticky layer on his skin.

"Do you know why you're here, boy?" He asked. His voice wasn't quite gentle, but it also wasn't harsh. He had bandages winding up his arms and neck, and some covered one of his eyes.

Atsushi swallowed before responding. "No."

"Really?" He said, although he didn't sound surprised in the slightest. "You don't remember anything of when you were transformed?"

"Transformed?" Atsushi tilted his head. "What do you mean?"

The man wordlessly pulled out his phone, flipped it open, and held it up so Atsushi could see the screen. The boy stared at the phone, watching a video of a white tiger ripping apart cars and mauling men with guns. He remembered the threat of the tiger in the orphanage and how it had decimated the food supplies and land. "The tiger..." Atsushi murmured more to himself than the man before him.

"Shh! Shh!" The man shushed him quickly, pressing a finger to his lips. "This is the best part." Atsushi squinted at the small screen, straining to see what was happening. He could make out a man, the one that stood in front of him actually, walking calmly up to the big cat. Atsushi held his breath as he watched. A flash of blue light took over the screen and Atsushi blinked from the light the phone gave off. When the light cleared, the tiger was gone and a boy laid unconscious on the floor. "Recognize this person?" The man asked.

Atsushi shook his head, having a hard time seeing the picture clearly. The image was zoomed in. And the boy nearly stumbled backward as he recognized the choppy, uneven bangs, grayish white hair, and ragged clothes. "Th-that... That's--"

"Yeah, it's you," the man said with an amused tone, though his smile didn't reach his uncovered eye.

"Wha-- How?" Atsushi raked his fingers through his hair, hiding his face behind his forearms. He trembled, trying to piece everything together. "No, that can't-- No," he muttered, trying to deny it, but the tight feeling in his chest seemed to confirm his worst fear.

"So," the man continued as though the child before him wasn't hyperventilating. "Now you're in prison for that little stunt." Atsushi flinched, lowering his arms. "The city's deemed you a major threat. If you had any control over it, you'd be semi-protected, but that's not the case here." His eye glimmered."You're scheduled to be executed in," He paused to glance at the time on his phone. "Fifteen minutes." His voice was cold, but not cruel, just... detached.

Atsushi gazed up at him with terrified, wide eyes. He opened his mouth to say something, but the words didn't reach the air, they remained in his throat, suffocating him. He choked on them, coughing up bile and whatever little filled his stomach.