๏ Collection City ๏

[animalobsessed1]

Section 2: At School

Jaiden held his hand in front of his mouth and yawned loudly.
The teacher whipped around to glare at her unmotivated students, sending her red braids flying around. They hit an unfortunate student, who just happened to be walking past, squarely in the face.
"Ow." He complained, bringing his hand up to his face and holding his cheek.
The whole class burst into laughter. The teacher's face turned red.
"What were you doing and why are you just walking around in the middle of my class!?" Mrs Miller asked, instead of apologizing.
"Um, I was going to throw away my eraser shavings..."
"And why can't that wait until my class is finished?" asked the hot headed teacher, and just as she did so, the bell rang.
The boy grinned.
"But it is finished." He said smugly and continued his journey to the trash can.

Finally! Jaiden packed his books back into his bag and got out his lunch instead. They did sell food in the cafeteria, but he preferred to bring his own. His next lesson would be in the same classroom, so he just left the bag where it was and walked out into the hallway. Making his way to the cafeteria, he reviewed yesterday's events. He'd been really lucky that his mom hadn't noticed him sneak into his room at midnight, or she would have grounded him. She never really seemed to care what he did during the day, but for some strange reason she always insisted that he be back by 10 o’clock.

He sat down at a small, unoccupied table where he had clear view of the other students. At the table across from his, five girls sat together and gossiped about shoes. Out of sheer boredom, Jaiden decided to eavesdrop on them. Once they were done talking about shoes, they moved onto an equally interesting topic: earrings!
Jeez! He rolled his eyes. How can they stand this? Don't they ever get bored?
He got out his cell phone and, hiding it under the table, switched it on. For some strange reason, even though the middle ages were long over, students were still not allowed to use cell phones at school. Of course, everybody still did, and even most teachers had accepted that there was nothing they could do about it. Still, I shouldn't be taking any unnecessary risks. He thought as he took the unnecessary risk. With a swift glance to check that no teachers were around, Jaiden accessed the data bank of his mom's privately owned collection city.
It took him a few moments of thought before remembered the code on Remo's neck, but once he did, he decided to look it up. Those cat-eyes intrigued him. After typing the code into the search bar, he had to wait for the information to load. The first thing he saw was a picture of a six year old with scruffy black hair and catlike yellow eyes. In the picture, the burn mark on it's neck still looked fresh and painful. Underneath the picture, the name 'Remo Arnolds' was written in blue letters.
Wow, that thing actually told me it's real name. Jaiden realized, a little surprised. He clicked on the picture to see what other information the database had to offer.

[animalobsessed1]

Section 3: Remo's Return

Remo was woken by the sound of scratching. It wasn't that he wasn't used to the sound of rats by now, but this was just much more than usual. Still tired, he tried to go back to sleep, but when one rat was impudent enough to crawl over his leg and then bite his toe, he kicked it away and opened his eyes. The sight that greeted him made him sit up with a start.
Thirty or forty rats were gathered in the ally, and were nibbling away at the seven human carcasses that were littered on the floor. Remo choked down the urge to puke.
What the hell happened here!? He wondered, startled. Then he remembered. [censored], and I actually slept here? He was now amazed at himself. He remembered the other boy who had been here, and looked around, feeling a strange sadness overcome him when he noticed that he was once again alone. The boy with the beautiful smile was gone, and it felt like he had taken a part of Remo with him. Remo's thoughts lingered on that smile and he decided that he would try to find it again if he had the time.
But first things first: He had to get out of here. Under no circumstances could he afford to be associated with the murder of seven people, even if they were just thugs themselves.
He peeked out onto the road. When he was sure that nobody was looking his way, he slipped into the crowd and strolled casually down the road, trying not to draw any attention to himself. Apart from a few disgusted glances from strangers, it worked and he remained mostly unnoticed.

When he returned to the wooden hut that he shared with several other kids around his age, most of the children were still asleep. One blonde girl opened the door and yawned, but when she laid her eyes on Remo, they nearly popped out of their sockets in surprise.
“You're alive?” She asked incredulously. “How did you manage that?”
“Thanks for the warm welcome.”
The girl ignored him and turned around, shouting into their one-room home.
“Tim! Konnie! Mert! Guess who's home! It's Remo, and he's actually alive!”
There was a loud noise inside the hut and then three faces poked out the door, all wearing the same incredulous look.
Konnie and Mert slipped out first and ran up to Remo, wrapping him in a tight hug. Tim, the oldest, took a little longer to shed off his stunned expression, but once he did, he and the blonde girl joined their group hug.
“Seriously though, we thought you were a goner when you told us that you wanted to get revenge for your sister.” He said half jokingly after their hug was over.
“Well, it's good to know that you all believe in me.” Remo answered sarcastically, before trotting into his home. The others followed eagerly.
“So...” The blonde girl said cautiously while surveying his wounds, “are you going to tell us what happened or not?”
“Athena, leave him alone.” Scowled Tim. “He's probably exhausted. Let him rest now, and he can tell us what happened tonight.”
And with that, they left Remo alone in the wooden hut, where he spent the afternoon, sleeping away his shock.

[animalobsessed1]

Section 4: After School

After getting off the school bus, Jaiden sat down on the bench. A bunch of pigeons flocked towards the bus stop- they already knew this ritual. Some very brave pigeons landed on his school bag and one even sat down on his shoulder. He opened his bag and took out what was left of his lunch. Then he held out his arms and let the pigeons eat out of his hands.
A while later, another bus arrived at the bus stop, this time from the other direction. As the bus door opened and more people began to step out, the pigeons scattered. Eventually, Jaiden was once again alone at the bus stop, except for a girl with a messy ponytail and striped red-and-white knee socks under her skirt.
“You're feeding the pigeons again?” She greeted him. “Even though you already got chewed out yesterday by some geezer who called them vermin?”
Jaiden got up to face her. “Yeah well, there's nothing else for me to do while I wait for your bus to arrive, Monica.” he replied nonchalantly. “And the old geezers can yap all they want, I wouldn't want to rob them of their lives' purpose now, would I?”
Monica sighed. “Let's just go.”

Side by side, the pair prodded alongside the road. Monica blabbed on and on about all kinds of useless things, so Jaiden just kept quiet, pretending to listen and offering an occasional nod to show her that he was. In this way, she wasn't much different from other people, but sometimes, when she wanted to, Monica could actually say some pretty smart things.
“So how was your day?” The horrible question came out of nowhere, just like it always did. Jaiden searched desperately for something to say, but in the end, he could only come up with the truth.
“Boring.”
“Come on! There must be something you want to talk about...”
“Hmm...” Jaiden tried again. Monica was the closest thing he had to a friend, so he didn't want her to feel like he was distancing himself from her. I was at school, what do you expect? Nothing ever happens there! “Oh right!” he exclaimed, relieved that he'd finally figured out what to say. “Mrs Miller beat up a guy in our class today!”
“Beat up? Your teacher hits you?” Monica asked in disbelief. “I thought our civilization was past that already. You know, if you went to the school management with that, you could probably get her fired.”
Jaiden snickered. “Not like that!” He said, enjoying the confusion on Monica's face. “She always has these incredibly long braids that fly all over the place when she moves to fast, and today they hit someone in the face.”
“Oh. Okay then.” Monica said, looking relieved. “That sounds pretty funny.”
“It was.” Jaiden said, and after that, neither of them knew what to say anymore. They prodded on in silence.
Their estates came into view at the same time, because they lived just across the road from each other.
“Um... there's something else.” Jaiden said hesitantly and stopped walking. He wanted to get this off his chest before they reached their own individual mansions. “Yesterday I...”
Monica stopped too, sensing that Jaiden was about to tell her something important. “What is it?” she asked patiently.
“Well, um. I don't really know how to say this, but...” Jaiden stammered and stopped. This would probably not be a topic that Monica wanted to hear about.
“Just tell me already.” This was obviously something important to Jaiden, and she could accept that. But if it was so important, he didn't have to drag it out so long. He'd had time for this during the whole trek home. But now that her house was already in sight, she really just wanted to get home. “It's not like I'm going to kill you over it, or anything.”
Jaiden winced at the word “kill”, because it was simply so on topic.
Monica noticed and narrowed her eyes at him. She opened her mouth to talk, but Jaiden quickly cut her off. He really didn't need to hear this right now.
“Yesterday afternoon I went to my mom's collection city. You know how I sometimes go there, right? Well, yesterday I think I might have... done something... something bad...”

[animalobsessed1]

Section 5a: I'm not Lying

“You there! Athena!”
The call rose above the chatter of the crowds, loud and unmistakeable. Athena winced. She knew that voice, but she continued walking in a straight line, pretending not to have heard. A hand grabbed her shoulder from behind.
“Stop right there, you little brat. I know you heard me.” Bretta said through gritted teeth.
Athena gave a resigned sigh and turned around to face the thug boss.
“What do you want from me?”
“Right now, I want nothing from you. But I do want something from your buddy, Remo. So, where is he?” The brunette asked.
Athena wondered what to say. Should she lie? It was pretty obvious that, whatever it was that Remo had done, Bretta's gang was not happy with it. If they caught him, it wouldn't end well for her friend. But on the other hand, Athena also didn't want to draw their wrath unto herself... Thinking this, she decided to tell a half truth.
“Remo didn't come home yesterday, so we thought he was with you.” She wasn't lying, since he'd only come back this morning, and they really had thought that the gang had captured him. There was no need to tell her the second part of the story though. If it really came down to it, she could just pretend that he'd come back after she had already left.
“Oh, really?” Bretta crossed her arms and looked at her closely, trying to decide if she was lying or not.
“Yes, really. Why are you looking for him anyway? What happened?” Athena asked, wearing the most innocent expression she could muster.
Bretta raised her hand threateningly.
“That's what I'd like to know, too. We found seven of our guys. They were dead.”
Athena's eyes widened.
“Remo wouldn't have...” She started, but was interrupted by the older girl.
“Then tell me who did!” She snapped. “Because it just so happens that these seven guys are the same seven guys who were supposed to catch him!”
“My friend is not a murderer!” Athena shouted, turned, and ran. Bretta let her go. She knew that the shock on the girl's face had been genuine, so she decided to believe her. She'd just have to find Remo some other way.

[animalobsessed1]

Section 5b: But is He?

Remo was woken by someone frantically crashing through the door. Next thing he knew, he was being shaken awake by the small hands of a girl.
"A-a-a-the-the-na! Wha- ow!" He tried to talk despite the shaking, but ended up biting his own tongue.
"Remo, wake up! I want to know what happened!" Remo heard her say and opened his eyes. She was crying, actually crying. With real tears!
"What happened?" He tried to ask her, but she just shot the question right back at him.
"No, you are going to tell me what happened!" She said, letting go of his shoulders and shuffling a few steps backward. "Did you kill them?"
"What? Who?" Alarmed that his friend would say such a thing, Remo couldn't think of a better response, so he just said the first two words that came to mind. Apparently, it was not what she wanted to hear, as she showed her disapproval by slapping him in the face.
"Ow." He said, his feelings more hurt than his face. "What was that for?"
Athena scowled.
"Answer the question! Did you kill them?"
"I didn't kill anyone! Why would you even think that?" What the hell! Where'd she get that idea?
Athena looked at the floor, unsure of what to believe.
"I met Bretta." She looked at his face, but there was only confusion. "She told me that the guys who were chasing you were dead." She saw his eyes widen, but she couldn't tell if it was because of the news, or because of a fear of getting caught. "It just seems like you're the most likely person to do it. I mean, no one else had a reason to..." Athena flinched away when he tried to put a reassuring hand on her shoulder.
"I get it now." He said. "That's okay, I can understand that people would think I did it." And then fear flashed across his face, and he paled, realizing what he'd just said. Athena stared at him, and his next words established her verdict. "I should have known."
She got up, a hard glare in her eyes. She pointed at the door.
"Get out."

[animalobsessed1]

Section 6: Hero

“Jaiden.” Monica warned, “I've told you before what I think about your little killing sprees. I don't want to hear it!” She turned around and wanted to stomp off, but Jaiden lunged forward and grabbed her arm.
“No, listen to me! It's not about that- well technically it is but- this is different!” Jaiden sputtered desperately.
“What?” Monica scowled and tried to pull her arm free, but his grip was too strong. “Did you kill a little girl this time?”
“No! That's what I'm trying to tell you! It's exactly the opposite!”
“You killed an old man?”
“No!” Jaiden rolled his eyes. “You know there aren't even any old men in our collection city. We're not that careless that we'd let someone live there for so long.”
Monica yanked her arm again, but to no avail. He was getting nervous and his grip was tightening. She decided to try a different approach.
“Ow, you're hurting me.”
He gasped and let go immediately.
“Sorry.” He said, looking at the ground. When he looked back up, she was already running towards her house, trying to get away from him.
But he was faster. Much faster.
Monica didn't get very far before he was standing in front of her again. She tried to dodge but he followed her. There might be something wrong with his brain, but his muscles obviously still worked perfectly. Sometimes she wondered if she should really be afraid of him.
“I saved someone!” Jaiden yelped.
Monica stopped.
“Come again?” She asked stupidly. “You mean, as in, stole your mom's slave?”
“They're not slaves; slaves don't get to run around and do as they please all day. And I didn't steal it.”
Monica looked at her friend in disapproval. She didn't like it when he referred to human beings as `it´, even if they were legally just things.
“There were a few of them, and they had this kid cornered in some alley. They were going to kill it, so I got a little too excited and killed them all, way too fast. But I forgot about Remo- the kid.” Jaiden paused to assess Monica's face. She was still listening. “Remo said I saved him.”
Monica stared at her friend for a long minute, then she jumped forward and hugged him.
“I'm so proud of you, Jaiden. You finally used that strength of yours to do something good!”
Startled, Jaiden widened his eyes and staggered back a few steps.
“Y- you think it's good? But then...”
“Of course it's good, you'll be a hero to that boy!” Monica was very pleased. That is, until she heard Jaiden's next sentence.
“So... should I just kill it then?”

[animalobsessed1]

7a: Annette
Annette was now down on her knees, but she still managed to hold onto the door frame, holding herself upright and managing to block the entrance at the same time. A blond strand of hair hung before her eyes.
“Did you not hear us, you stupid bitch?” The young brunette standing in front of her growled. She reached out and slapped Annette across the face. Three men stood behind her.
Annette could taste the blood welling in her mouth, but she stood her ground. Right back at you! she thought, but refrained from speaking her thoughts out loud.
A young girl's voice piped up behind her.
“Annie?” It asked anxiously.
“Stay back!” Annette hissed and raised her head to the thug leader, intending to give her a reply. But she never did, because her head stopped halfway, looking past the gangsters' legs. Great, now this could either turn into a miracle, or an even greater disaster. She gave a resigned sigh, which made the tall brunette's face glow with victory, thinking that the sigh was directed at her. But Annette ignored it. I'm not too keen on turning my orphanage into a battlefield. This is just too much for me to handle.
Her eyes were focused on a pair of sneakers that were slowly approaching them. There was only one person around who wore such modern shoes. Annette raised her gaze past the khaki shorts and the dark red t-shirt, noting the green backpack, and eventually letting her eyes rest on the gray eyes of a sixteen-year-old boy.
He grinned at her and put his index finger over his lips, signaling for her to stay quiet.
You think this is funny!? Dammit! Exasperated, Annette watched as the boy tapped one of the thugs on the shoulder.
Surprised, the thug jumped a little, barely able to suppress a gasp. The other gangsters noticed and turned around to glare at the intruder.
“Scram.” The word was not spoken by one of the them. Instead, the boy was the one who said it.
Annette face-palmed. I hate you too, Jaiden.
All four gangsters snickered in unison.
“What was that? I think I might have heard you wrongly.” One of them said, raising his fist to deal out a punch.
Jaiden sidestepped easily.
“Oh, I'm pretty sure you heard me right. But if you really want me to, I don't mind saying it again: Scram!” Jaiden smirked at the look on the man's face.
Annette used the distraction to get back up and get out of the way. The chances of the thugs actually backing down were pretty slim, so she could only hope that this wouldn't end with a fatality. Silently, she wished them luck.

[animalobsessed1]

7b: Fight
Annette watched as one of the thugs moved forward, raising his fist to deliver a blow to Jaiden's nose, but before his hand connected with the boy's face, Jaiden had already caught his wrist and twisted his arm behind his back, forcing him to go down.
Jaiden released the man's wrist when he saw another of the thugs charging at him with a roar (whatever that was supposed to accomplish) and ducked underneath his new attacker. Then he raised his own hand and slammed his palm into the the guy's lower jaw. The only injury this caused the man, was that he bit his tongue, but nevertheless, it was enough to make him pause. Jaiden used the opportunity to land a kick in his stomach, causing him to stagger back.
He wanted to follow after him to really get him cowering on the ground, but his forward motion came to a sudden stop. The woman thug had snuck up behind him and attempted to grab him from behind, but because he'd moved forward, she'd only managed to grab his backpack.
“That's cheating!” Jaiden yelled through gritted teeth, flailing his arms. “You can't just hold me by my backpack!”
“It seems I can.” growled the woman as she struggled to get a hold on his still flailing arms.
The first man saw that Jaidens movement was now limited, and tried again to punch him in the face. But again, the boy caught his fist with his right hand, and held it still for a few seconds, glaring at the man.
“No, you don't.” Jaiden rebuked him.
The woman used the opportunity to grab his right arm and force his hand down.
Annette stared dumbly. She hadn't had many opportunities to see Jaiden fight, but she certainly didn't expect him to let himself be caught so easily. Granted, carrying a backpack during a fight probably did slow you down, but still... This just seemed too weak for someone with his supposed fighting experience.
Then she saw him grin at the man standing in front of him, who had now wretched his fist free of Jaiden's grip and was preparing to strike again. Just what on Earth is he thinking, grinning in a situation like this? Oh well, I better just go and run for my life while they're all distracted. I mean, it's not my problem if he dies over something so stupid.. Just as she turned around to walk away inconspicuously, Jaiden spoke up, and she froze.
“Are you sure you want to be doing that?” He said.
Annette turned back to the group of violence addicts, only to see that he wasn't even looking at her. How did he know I was planning to leave if he isn't even looking at me? She watched him, confused. Then she realized that he wasn't talking to her.
As the gangsters stared in bewilderment, Jaiden raised his free arm and, using his middle and index fingers, tapped the side of his neck.

[animalobsessed1]

7c: How Much Longer?

It took the thugs two seconds of bewildered staring before they finally reacted.
The one who'd been about to box Jaiden was the first to back off, falling to his knees only a few meters away. He clamped his hands together as if he was praying, and managed to utter only a few words through his shock:
“P-please forgive me.”
The other two men stared at their companion and then at Jaiden, before finally deciding to follow his lead and kneel on the ground too.
The woman was the last to react because, due to her position behind Jaiden's back, her view was obscured by his backpack. However, after seeing her companions' horrified expressions, she leaned her head to the side and took a closer look at the boy's neck. There was one thing clearly missing there. There was no code written in his neck. She looked at the other side of his neck, hoping that it was simply a mistake and he'd been tattooed on the wrong side, only to discover that there was nothing there either.
A gasp escaped her lips and she let go of the boy, who was now gloating happily at them. I can't believe what just happened! It's just a nightmare, it has to be! The word “nightmare” filled her mind. She didn't want to accept that she had just lead an attack on someone who lacked a tattoo. No, she couldn't accept it, because, if she did, she would have to accept that it was now all over.
“We didn't know...”
“You guys really aren't very good at begging for your lives, are you?” Jaiden laughed. It was a cruel and childish laugh. “But then again, I can't really blame you. You are very strong, so it's probably not a skill you've ever needed before.” He simply loved the looks on their faces. Then he heard someone swallow, and looked up to see Annette staring at him. The look she gave him wasn't something he could understand, but he didn't really want to let that get to him right now. Then a new thought occurred to him. Ah, no...
“Hey, Annette?” She flinched at the sudden mention of her name, and her pity was now replaced by a fear for her own life. He just continued talking casually to her, as if he hadn't even noticed. “Before you start getting any weird ideas, let me just make something clear, okay?”
She swallowed again and nodded to show that she was listening.
“I didn't save you, okay?”
Annette frowned. What is he talking about?
“Hey, did you understand what I just said? Answer me. I didn't save you. I just came here and thought these guys were annoying, so I wanted them to go away. It was nothing more than a coincidence, that they happened to be hurting you, but it has nothing to do with me, right? It's just a coincidence.”
“Erm... Yes, Master.” she answered. What is he blabbing on about? She felt uncomfortable under his intense stare, but weirdly, not threatened anymore. He was frowning, like he'd made some kind of mistake.
“Just a coincidence.” Jaiden repeated. “You acknowledge that, right?”
“Yes... I acknowledge that it was a coincidence?” She responded, confused. She didn't understand what he was trying to get at.
“Good.” He said, and suddenly he was back to being his normal self. Annette sighed, relieved. She was pretty sure he was over his killing mood now.
The thugs picked up on the word “Master” and decided to try it themselves. After all, if it worked for the blonde, it might just work for them, too.
“Master, we're really sorry for what we did. We didn't realize...”
“That's okay.” Jaiden turned back to them, offering them a sweet smile. “I'm not hurt, and I had fun playing with you.”
Playing! The thugs thought. Dammit, cowering in front of someone like this is just humiliating.
“Oh, but what I said earlier still counts. Now scram.”
They lifted their heads and looked up in confusion, unable to believe that they would get off so easily. Jaiden lifted an eyebrow.
“I mean it. It could really lengthen your lifespan if you leave now.”
Hearing the threat, they all jumped up to leave.
“And while we're at it, Annette's mine. When it's time for her to die, I'll be the one to take care of it. So don't you kill her until then!”
They all nodded vigorously in agreement, then scampered off.

When the group of thugs was gone, Annette sighed and glanced at Jaiden.
“Master, you could have just told them to leave me alone altogether, that would have helped me a whole lot more. Now they might still try to come back and attack my children.”
“I'm not here to help `your children´. And I'm not stupid, Annette. I know what I said, and I said that for a reason.” Jaiden replied without even looking at her.
“I'm sorry, Master. I didn't mean to insult you.” Annette eyed the boy warily as he looked up to the sky, and tried to figure out his mood. “But speaking of my death, I don't have much longer, do I?”
At this, Jaiden finally looked at her. Was that a hint of sadness on his face?

[animalobsessed1]

8: Ask Athena

When Tim returned, he found only Athena at home. She was sitting in a corner, hugging her knees, and crying her eyes out.
Tim dropped the things he was carrying and rushed over to comfort her.
“What happened?” He asked, as he hugged her reassuringly.
Through her sobbing, he thought he heard her utter Remo's name.
“Remo? What happened? Did they take him?” Looking around the room, he wondered why there were no signs of a fight. Then he looked back at Athena, and saw that she was shaking her head.
“Then what, where is he?” He asked, confused. Would Remo really be this stupid and just leave again so soon, without even telling them what happened. If Remo knows some kind of move that will even get Bretta's thugs to back off, I want to know too!
“I kicked him out.” Athena sobbed.
At this, Tim released her from his hug and shouted at her instead.
“You what!? Where do you get the right to just kick someone out of my house!? Do you have any idea in how much danger he is now, after what happened yesterday?” When he saw Athena's shrug, he lost his temper and pulled her to her feet forcefully. “I want you-” He dug his fingers into her upper arms, “to go out there, find him, and bring him back!”
Athena shook her head.
“I won't. I don't want to live with a murderer.” she mumbled and continued to sob.
“A what? A murderer?”
“Bretta told me. He killed seven people.” Athena nodded, her resolve strengthening.
“And you actually believe her? Bretta is the murderer, not Remo. Did it not even occur to you that she's just lying, to get at him?” Tim was fuming at his friend's naivete.
Athena shook her head. “But he pretty much admitted it when I asked him.”
“ `pretty much´ sounds a lot like he didn't really. What exactly did he say?” Tim crossed his arms and glowered at Athena dubiously.
“Well, first he said that it doesn't surprise him that she told me, but then he tried to make up excuses. He tried to make me believe that someone else did the killing to save him, but he couldn't even tell me who. He didn't even know the person's code!” Her voice was getting louder and she tried to calm herself. “But come on, realistically speaking, we all know that nobody would do that just to help a random stranger. They don't even help in situations that are a lot less dangerous for them.”
Tim was quiet. He didn't know what to say to that, because actually, he knew that her words made sense. But on the other hand, he also had a hard time believing that his friend, skinny little Remo, would be able to kill seven people, even if he wanted to. And then the question occurred to him. Afraid of the answer, he asked anyway.
“And how does Bretta know about this?”
“Because he killed the people who were chasing him.”