13. Shiro

13

Shiro

I knew it was stupid of me to leave the apartment, but I couldn’t help myself. Despite that I wasn’t yet fully recovered, I just had to get out there and continue searching for Kuro and Aka. I hadn’t another day to waste. For all I knew, their very lives could be in danger, as the institute was still hunting us down.

After closing the door behind me, I headed over to the elevator, and thank goodness no one was around. I supposed this time of the day was quiet where everyone had already left for work. I understood most who could afford to live here in this building, which housed luxurious and very expensive apartments, had professional, high-paying jobs. Come to think of it, I had never asked Adam what profession he was in. Judging from his stylish and well-groomed appearance, it was probably a lawyer or one of those people who worked in a fancy office. Not to mention his sleek car.

The door of the elevator dinged open on the first floor, and the moment I stepped out into the foyer, I felt this intense gaze on me.

Someone was watching me.

I nervously nudged the tip of the cap a little farther down my head and then adjusted the surgical mask across the lower half of my face. I glanced about, noting the two men in dark suits again. They were watching me intensely as I headed to the door. Surely, they must be guards, right? It was probably their job to patrol the building and its perimeter.

Once outside, I breathed a sigh of relief and then made my way toward the subway station a couple of blocks down the road. Strangely enough, I wasn’t as nervous as I thought I’d be walking in daylight hours and among so many people, of which I had never done before. I had only ever roamed about the backstreets during the day, because well, beastkin just didn’t stroll along with normal humans, especially on the main streets where hundreds of thousands of people mingled.

In the subway station, I went to the kiosk machine and bought myself a train ticket with the money Adam had left me, the money meant for my lunch. But seriously, Adam was very generous. I mean, what man gave a foxkin boy he hardly knew two hundred dollars to buy lunch? Or was it to tide me over until I was healed and could leave?

The thought of leaving Adam suddenly made me feel a little sick in the stomach. I had come to realize now that I was falling for Adam. I had never fallen in love with anyone before, but with Adam…

Adam made me feel like I belonged, a feeling I had yearned for ever since Mom had passed away. He made me feel warm and comforted and…

My heart skipped and then raced, remembering his kisses, both the one he had given me last night and this morning.

The one last night had been passionate and intense and wild, with his tongue inside my mouth. Every time I thought about that, this beautiful, blissful sensation washed over me, and I’d feel dazed, and now was no different. And that light kiss on the forehead he had given me this morning, it was simple and sweet, like the type a loved one would give you just to tell you they cared.

He cares. Adam cares.

I sighed. Fuck, I had better stop thinking about Adam. I turned on my heel and then blended in with everyone else, heading toward the platform.

Five minutes later, keeping my head low, I popped into the train, along with other people, and then I took a lone seat at the back. Twenty minutes later, I got off and walked down the street. That was when I felt that intense gaze on my back.

I felt like I was being watched. Was someone following me? I turned and scanned around, but there were only people going about their business. There was no one that looked suspicious.

Confused, I continued walking, slow at first as my mind raced, and then my pace became faster. As I got closer to the area where there was less of a crowd, I started running.

I ran until I was in the backstreets, and once there, I stopped and checked my surroundings. I didn’t see anyone suspicious and that feeling of being watched was gone, too. The coast was clear.

Half an hour later, I came to the deeper part of the neighborhood where the homeless and beastkins roamed, carrying whatever small belongings they had. Some even had one of those shopping carts to keep their stuff in as they migrated from one spot to another.

I walked up to an elderly beastkin and got down to one knee and asked, “Excuse me. I’m looking for my brothers. Have you seen a foxkin boy with red hair?”

The woman shook her head and waved me away. “I saw no beastkin who looks like that.”

“What about a foxkin boy with black hair and—”

“Go away!” she snapped.

I stood and moved on to the next beastkin, but this one shooed me away, too. I walked along the alleyway, my gaze darting here and there, and I was about to stop and have a chat with another beastkin when I heard one say, “He’s back.”

The man sounded terrified yet pleased and excited at the same time.

“Whose back?” his friend asked.

“Haven’t you heard? It’s all over the neighborhood,” the man said. “The Beautiful Monster is back. He disappeared for six months and now he’s back. Annihilated that bastard Tony and his gang in one fell swoop last night. Half of them were dead and the other half scattered off to other parts of the city. He gave them a warning. ”

“The Beautiful Monster only gives one warning, right?” the other asked.

“Yep,” the man said. “One warning. He told them if they ever step foot in his territory or terrorize us again, he’ll kill the lot of them.”

The other man sighed in relief. “Then we don’t need to worry about Tony and his gang anymore.”

“Mm-hmm.” The other nodded his head.

The Beautiful Monster. I had heard of him from the others, and I knew everyone was afraid of him. I was warned to never cross paths with such a man as he would kill without mercy. Apparently, he owned most of this neighborhood as part of his territory, and he was the leader of a mafia clan.

Mafia clans. I knew there were many of them across the country, and the most powerful ones were in New York, California, and Nevada, more specifically in New York City, Los Angeles, and Las Vegas respectively.

Now that I looked at those around here more closely, they didn’t seem as afraid as before, hiding in their spots and going about their business cautiously. I supposed Tony and his gang had done a great job at fucking up everyone’s minds, me included, terrorizing us simply because there was no one who’d stop him. And now that he had been stopped, I felt this sense of relief sweep through me.

Honestly, I hoped that bastard Tony was either dead or at least half dead. I hoped he had experienced what it felt like to be the one on the ground and being beaten to a pulp because the terror of that would never leave you, or at least it’d take a long time to .

I continued searching for Kuro and Aka, stopping now and again to ask a few questions if anyone happened to see anything, but no one could give me any good leads.

I was walking along the alleyway when, once again, I felt the sense that I was being followed and watched. I turned around and saw a figure standing a little distance away. He was slender, like me, and he wore a black leather jacket and ripped jeans. He had a cap on his head and a mask to cover the lower half of his face. The mask had an illustration of a wolf howling.

We stared at each other for a moment, and I didn’t know why I didn’t run. Then again, I didn’t feel any sort of threat coming from him. It was just like strangers who happen to pass each other and make eye contact.

Suddenly, he sprinted toward me, and before I knew it, I was backed up against the wall and he had his arms around me tightly.

“Huh?” I expressed, my eyes wide.

He squeezed me and even nestled his face against my neck. Then he said something I couldn’t understand, probably because he had his face buried against me and the words were further muffled by his mask.

I said, “Wait! What are you doing? Who are you?”

He finally moved back then and pulled down his mask. We stared at each other, and then I widened my eyes. “Lan?”

He grinned, showing his wolf fangs at me. “Yep, it’s me, Lan.” He hugged me again, tightly, of course. “Oh, man, I missed you so much, Shiro. I’m so glad to finally see you again. ”

I felt my knees go weak and I wrapped my arms around him tightly, too, tears brewing in my eyes. “Me, too. I’ve missed you, too, Lan. I can’t believe it. You’re okay. You’re all right. The institute, you got out.”

Pulling back, Lan nodded his head. “Yep, I did. Ran away two years after they separated us, those fucking bastards.”

“But I heard the black department security is really tough and…”

Lan said, “I got a couple of guys with me, wolfkin, and we busted ourselves out. It took two years, but we got out, and you know what? They ain’t going to get us again, those fucking bastards.” He sighed then and asked, “So, Kuro and Aka?”

“We ran away a year ago,” I said. “Us foxkin, we’re not that strong like you, Lan. We finally got out, but Kuro, Aka, and I got separated six months ago. The institute caught up to us and, well, I’m searching for them now.”

“Then I’ll help,” Lan said. “I still have a job to do, but I’ll ask my boss and see if I can help you and stuff.”

“You’re working?” I asked in pleasant surprise. “How? I mean… is that possible? Will anyone even hire beastkin like us?”

But even as I said that, I knew already how stupid I must sound. I had already seen that beastkin could work a normal job, just like any humans, contrary to what the institute had brainwashed us into thinking. Chase had hired Frances and Janet, and Janet had told me there were other doctors and nurses and scientists working in the clinic, too .

“Of course there are lots of jobs available for beastkin like us,” Lan said. “If you want, I can introduce you to my boss.”

“Really?” I asked. “Would you really do that? I don’t know what type of job it is, but as long as I get to make some money…”

Lan chuckled and wrapped his arm around my shoulders. “No problem. I’ll ask him and see if you could join our team. Hey, I’m starving. You want to get a bite or something?”

I nodded. “Yeah, sure.”

“Cool,” Lan said. “My treat because I have a job and get paid.”

I smiled. “Thanks, Lan.”

Lan took me to a burger restaurant, and the moment we stepped through the door, I felt both nervous and excited at the same time. This would be my first time getting food from a burger joint.

Standing there with caps on our heads and masks covering the lower halves of our faces, I wondered if we looked suspicious to others. I felt a few people eyeing us, and Lan said, “Just ignore them, but if you want to get them off your back, you can do this.” He turned to a bunch of guys sitting around one of the tables and snapped, “What you lot looking at?” Then he pretended to cough loudly. “Hate this fucking flu.”

Those guys returned to eating their meal, and I nearly burst out laughing. Turning back to me, Lan winked. “Works every time.”

“Can you pass that off in the summer though?” I asked .

He shrugged. “Just mention you got back from the lower hemisphere part of the world, I don’t know, like New Zealand? They say winter is really shit down there.”

New Zealand, eh? I had only ever heard of such a place, and I wondered if I’d get to travel there one day. Yeah, well, a beastkin could only dream.

“So, what do you want?” Lan asked, pointing to the series of delicious-looking burger pictures on the kiosk screen.

“That one,” I said, pointing to a set that came with a beef burger, a side of French fries, and a medium size Coke.

“That one, awesome,” Lan said. “And I’ll get this one. Chicken is my favorite.”

“Don’t you love all sorts of meat though?” I asked.

“Yep,” Lan said. “But this week, chicken is my favorite. Next week it’ll be steak, I think.”

I smiled. “You can never make up your mind, can you? When it comes to food.”

“Well, to be honest, all food is too good so there shouldn’t be a favorite, right?” he said, chuckling.

After Lan paid by swiping his credit card, which I wished I’d have one of my own one day, we waited for our order.

After receiving our food, we sat on the side curb of the backstreets and ate our meals. My beef burger tasted great, and as I sank my fangs in, a load of flavor played havoc inside my mouth. I sighed, feeling so much bliss.

“You like that, eh?” Lan asked, a smile on his lips.

I nodded. “First time ever eating a burger.”

“Yeah, well, I can remember my first time, too,” he said. “It was the most awesome thing. My boss bought it for me and it’s one of my best memories. I keep it here.” He patted his left chest. “Sometimes I bring it up, just to remind myself how lucky I am.”

I nodded. “I’m so glad we met again, Lan. Now, I just need to find Aka and Kuro.”

He nodded. “And then the team is back, and again, I’m the odd one out being a wolfkin.”

“What’s wrong with you being a wolfkin?” I said. “You’re the cool and athletic one among us four. When it comes to fighting, you’re the best.”

“You’re not so weak yourself, Shiro,” Lan said.

“But I am weak.” After all, I couldn’t even stand up to the officers when we got beaten up.

“That’s only because they gave you those injections and pills.”

I turned to look at him.

Injections. Pills.

“You don’t realize?” Lan asked. “Those injections and pills are to suppress our beastkin ability. We’re naturally born with really good strength and agility, and fox especially for the agility. You guys can move like water, slick and fast. I lost you a couple of times. It was damn annoying. But as a wolf, I have a great nose.” He wiggled his nose. “I know your smell.”

“It was you who was following me then?” I asked.

He chuckled. “Yep.”

He must have spotted me sometime before and decided to follow me before approaching.

Lan threaded his fingers through my hair, which drew my attention to him, and I asked, “What are you doing? ”

“I’m checking to see if you still have that Medi gadget shit they placed on us,” he said.

“Medi gadget?” I asked.

“Yeah,” Lan said. “I only found out when I met the other wolfkin in the black department, at the mine. The guys there told me they inserted a Medi gadget behind our ears to release this suppressor once every month so even if we managed to escape, we won’t be fully ourselves, if you know what I mean.”

I widened my eyes and asked, “If I have one, then how do I take it out?”

Lan said, “By surgery. You’ll have to get a surgeon to get it out for you.”

The only person who I could think of for that job would be Chase.

I asked, “You know about that clinic with the red cross?”

Lan nodded, still feeling around the back of my head. He said, “I can’t feel anything. Probably have to do an X-ray or something. Anyways, what about that red cross clinic?”

“Have you been there before?” I asked.

“Mm-hmm.” Lan nodded, taking a bite of his burger.

“The guy who works there, Dr. Chase, maybe he can check to see if I have the Medi gadget. He did an X-ray of me yesterday.”

“Did he do the head though?” Lan asked.

I thought for a bit. “I can’t remember. I got too tense and kind of blanked out.”

Lan burst out laughing. “You always get tense so easily. ”

“Yeah,” I said. “Adam mentioned that, too.”

“Oh…” Lan expressed and continued eating.

Why wasn’t Lan asking who Adam was?

Because I didn’t want to leave him out of the loop, I said, “Adam is the guy who helped me and took me in.”

“Oh…” Lan expressed again, taking another bite of his burger.

“Anyway,” I said. “He’s really nice, but I don’t want to burden him so I’m thinking I’ll leave tomorrow.”

Once again, the thought of leaving Adam made my heart ache in that emotional way, but there was no way I could stay and burden the man further. It’d be unfair to him. I mean, him saving me was wonderful enough.

Lan turned to look at me, his eyes wide, as if he was shocked at my revelation. “Leave? Why? What the heck for?”

Huh? Why was Lan so worked up?

He must have seen the surprised look in my expression at his reaction because he cleared his throat and said, more calmly, “And then what would you do?”

“Then you can introduce me to your boss,” I said.

“Yeah, I already agreed to do that, but you know,” he said. “I think it’s best if you stay with… this Adam guy. It sounds like he cares about you. It’s safer for you to stay with him, don’t you think? Besides, you can’t just up and leave the moment you’re better. It’s a bit cold and heartless, in my opinion. Maybe talk to him, tell him what your plan is before doing anything?”

I smiled at Lan’s words, and this sense of relief washed over me. I supposed Lan was right. He was always so logical, wasn’t he? Maybe, just maybe, I didn’t need to leave Adam.

Maybe.

“Mm-hmm.” I nodded my head. “I’ll do that then, talk to Adam.”

“After we eat, we can go search for Kuro and Aka together.”

“Yeah,” I said.