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Everyone loves backstory

Kent Auric stepped out of the front door to Platinum Wings, a black tie restaurant where he’d been entertaining a sponsor who was currently donating a metric butt load of money to the Combat Sports League, into a dismal rain shower. The limo was already waiting, but something other than the cold rain made the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end. Looking up and down the sidewalk he couldn’t see anyone but he could’ve sworn he was being watched. The chauffeur held open the door with a quizzical look on his face, but Mr. Auric was still glancing around to find the source of this inkling.

Auric learned to trust his instincts when he was young. Acting on hunches had gotten him plenty of first dates, won him a significant amount of money from a lottery ticket, introduced him to the love of his life, and gotten him in on the ground floor of the fastest growing sport in the world. A hunch wasn’t something he let go of easily, and this one was big hunch. The hairs on the back of his neck convinced him not to just jump into his limo to get out of the rain

Moving quickly because of the chill, he took a few steps down the street and peered around the corner into the alley. The sound of footsteps moving away from him vindicated his suspicions. Someone had been watching him and Auric wanted to find out who and why. So he rounded the corner and followed the sound, sidestepping puddles and bits of refuse on the ground.

The shape of a small person became clearer through the sheets of rain, but it was still too indistinct for Mr. Auric to tell who it was. All of the sudden the silhouette slumped up against a wall then, after a moment, toppled onto the rain slicked cement. Looking up at him as he approached was a pale boy who couldn’t have been much older than thirteen years old dressed in a shabby cloth poncho.

“Sir, I must insist we get going. This is no place to loiter,” said the chauffeur approaching from behind. “Oh lord, what is that thing?”

“That thing is a kid, help me get him in the limo. I can’t just let him die out here.”

The trio drove back to the Aurics’ penthouse quickly and laid the boy out on a couch. Tricia Auric bustled into the room and began to to ask questions about the boy, none of which Kent had the answer to. He couldn’t even explain to himself why he had picked up the street urchin, it just felt like the right thing to do. For the time being they’d  let the boy sleep, the questions could come after he awoke.

Mrs. Auric quickly and quietly moved into the the bedroom and then reemerged carrying a bundle of Kent’s old pajamas. with a little bit of struggling, the two of them managed to get the old poncho off and then stopped, aghast at the sight of his chest and stomach. So much of his skin was crisscrossed with scars and burns that the tone of his skin would have been indeterminable had it not been for the fact that his face was untouched. After pulling a shirt over his head and his arms through the sleeves, they both sat down in dread and wondered who or what could have done that to the little boy.

After several tense hours, he sat up, shook his head, and ran his hands through his matted hair. After a moment, he noticed the clothes he was wearing and then opened his eyes to look at his surroundings. He stared at the couple intently watching him with pure terror. He let out a small sharp scream as his eyes widened and turned glassy, then dove under a blanket and started shaking like a leaf.

“There’s nothing to be afraid of, we’re here to help you,” whispered Mrs. Auric but the boy remained cocooned under the blanket. “Can you tell us your name?” Mr. Auric asked, speaking in a soft tone, trying not to spook him.

After falling off the couch and crawling away from the two of them the boy curled up in a corner of their living room and poked his head out of the folds, watching the two of them like prey watches a predator right before the kill. Mr. Auric noticed the boy’s eyes, glassy and fearful as they may be, they were also the brightest shade of emerald, giving the illusion of intelligence, even though he hadn’t even heard the boy talk. When he tried to approach, the child snatched a corner of the blanket and pulled it over his face.

“Come on honey,” Mr. Auric said softly, “Lets get him a little food and give him some time to get acclimated to being here. I refuse to abandon him out there.”

Over the next few days, the couple let the street urchin live in their house, Mrs. Auric left food on a table for him and Mr. Auric sat down once a night to try and ask him questions about who he was or where he was from. Each time, the boy recoiled as though Mr. Auric had come at him brandishing a weapon of some sort. Even away from home, at work, Mr. Auric couldn’t concentrate. He couldn’t stop thinking about the kid his wife and him had taken in. He wanted to know where he’d come from or who had hurt him or even just his name, if he even had one. But, to do that, the boy had to talk first.

Back at the apartment, Mrs. Auric watched the boy at all times. Sometimes he walked around and just touched things, other times he scratched at the door like a like a dog longing to get out, but most of the time he just trembled under the blanket or watched her with a now only mild fear. But, when she tried to interact with him, but he wouldn’t let her get anywhere close to him and the only time it was different was when she had finally fully cleaned and patched up his poncho. She set it down on the table beside her and he came just close enough to grab it before going back to the corner.

After almost two weeks, they began to worry that the child’s psyche had been damaged beyond repair. Mr. Auric decided that taking the boy to a hospital would probably be the best option, but wanted to try one last time to get the boy to open up. He entered the living room and just sat on the couch. At first the boy didn’t move, but after a few minutes he crawled over slowly. Without saying a word, he clambered up onto a chair and began returning the observational stare he was getting from Mr. Auric.

“Can you tell us where you’re from?” Mr. Auric asked quietly.

“The border... I used to live on a farm,” he whispered, looking down at the ground.

“Where are your parents?” Mr. Auric continued after it was obvious the boy wasn’t going to give up anything more without prompting.

“They’re dead.” he said after pausing for a moment They got murdered in a raid.”

“Oh my god!” gasped Mrs. Auric, “Thats terrible. How did you survive?”

The boy began to shudder again, tucked his chin into his collar and covered his face. He remained like that for almost half an hour before looking up. When he appeared to be calm again, Mr. Auric asked one last question.

“Can you tell us your name?”

“My name is Orion Abel, my parents always talked about how I was named after the stars in the sky. They’re up there watching over me right now. I think they’re the reason you found me."