Chapter I - A DAY (UN)LIKE ANY OTHER

A Chapter by Raki

The Freaks

Prophecy Of The Foretold One

freak¹

^n: 1: A thing or occurrence that is markedly unusual or irregular: A freak of nature.

2: An abnormally formed organism, especially a person or animal regarded as a curiosity or monstrosity.

adj:

1: Highly unusual or irregular: a freak accident; a freak storm.

^v:1: To experience frightening hallucinations or feelings of paranoia: To freak.

2: To behave irrationally and uncontrollably.

3: To become greatly excited or upset.

freak²

^n:

1: A person or animal that is markedly unusual or deformed.

Origin Unknown.

---

CHAPTER I

A DAY (UN)LIKE ANY OTHER

"Am I too old for an invisible friend?"

"I don't know. Am I?"

The dull thumps of the basketball echoed as it was dribbled twice, then thrown in a clean neat swish through the goal.

"Why do you ask?"

"I don't know. I've just been thinking about it."

"Let me guess.... since your birthday?"

"Yes."

A light laugh echoed as another goal shot with perfect precision. Face blushing slightly, the other fetched the ball and returned it.

"Seth, you worry too much. Who cares!"

"I can't help it. The older I get the more I'm starting to realise no one around me has this... whatever this is. No one goes to sleep at night and finds themselves meeting their only made-up friend. Everyone has real friends around them. Real flesh ones, ones they talk too and hang out with in the Orphanage. I don't have any of that when I wake up."

"So that's why you think I'm made-up?"

"Well come on Jyro, we've been hanging out for years now and I've never had a single friend but you and you're just here in my dreams."

Jyro jumped and threw the ball. Again it swished through the net with flawless aim and Seth quickly retrieved it.

"You know what my theory is?" Jyro grinned as the ball soared back to his hands. Turning it a few times, he bounced it again. "I think I made you up because I only have Scary No-Face to hang with. It's always been him and me and I hate him, so I reckon my mind made you up to keep me company. But hey," Jyro threw the ball again. Another goal. "I'm not complaining. Even if you are imaginary I'm glad for the company. Even if I did imagine you a year older than me."

Seth couldn't hold back a grin as he watched Jyro shoot perfectly yet again.

"Yeah, me too. And I don't know about you, but living alone with just you and Scary No-Face seems like a better deal than mine. At least you don't have to share your room with fifteen boys who either pretend you don't exist or tease you about everything wrong with you. At least Scary No-Face isn't mean to you. Try living with Ms Stone for a week and I bet you'd be happy to switch back!"

"Ms Stone's nice enough, and at least you have company. You wouldn't like it here after living in an Orphanage your whole life. Here it's... it's quiet."

"Quiet sounds great! No snoring or laughing or stupid unfunny stories and jokes. No more teasing, no more farts and burps! Quiet is my kind of place."

Seth paused as Jyro fell silent. A faraway look crossed his face, his innocent smile fading. The echoing pulses of the bouncing ball stopped as he held it still in his hands, lost in his own moment. The silence hung heavily until finally Jyro spoke again, all humour gone from his voice.

"Seth... I would do anything to hear those things."

Seth watched his only friend and forced himself to smile.

"Well if you're lucky, maybe for your next birthday I'll give you a nice juicy fart and a burp or two."

Jyro's face immediately pulled into a wide grin, the large red scar adorning his face shifting slightly with the movement. His blue eyes shone with excitement as he took the ball, bounced it, then passed to Seth.

"I'm going to hold you to that you know."

---

It was subtle, but the light sound of a click roused Seth from the last of his sleep. His eyes cracked open to bright light, slowly adjusting as he yawned and sat up in bed. A goofy grin spread across his face as clear memories of his dream came to him, of the game he and Jyro played and things they'd spoken about. Glancing around the room, he jolted awake suddenly, realising the others would see his grin and laugh. But it took only moments to realise the other seven bunk beds pressed against the walls of the long room were empty. The other boys had already gone to breakfast, leaving him to miss out and be late for lessons.

Scrambling out of bed, he dropped to his knees, reaching underneath it to pull out his suitcase; the thing that held all his few belongings. Every boy in the Iron House Orphanage had a suitcase under their bunk, storing everything they owned. It saved space since beds were the only furniture that would fit in the bedroom, so each had their own private case. If they were adopted it would mean a quick departure. Seth zipped his case open with gusto, grabbing his clothes, dressing quickly.

Lately his dreams with Jyro were making him wake late, though he wasn't sure why. A grin pulled unwillingly at his face at the memory of it. Ever since he could remember he'd lived two lives, his real life awake as a twelve year old orphan, living at the Iron House Orphanage under the Orphan Mistress Ms Stone, with no friends, and his dream life where he'd meet Jyro and they hung together, sometimes having adventures, sometimes just talking. He knew Jyro wasn't real, but the dreams felt the same as real life and his attachment to Jyro was very deep.

He impressed himself with the way his mind constructed Jyro, even from an early age. He'd grown up with him, as Seth aged Jyro aged and Jyro's life story developed over time to be the exact opposite of Seth's. While Seth lived surrounded by others under the order of a strict woman who raised him since a year old, Jyro lived somewhere dark and secluded with only one other, the person who raised him they called Scary No-Face for the fact Jyro himself claimed to have never seen his face. It was also amusing the way Jyro spoke to him, like Seth was the imaginary friend and Jyro a real person with a real life. It was true over the years both had given advice to the other about their lives, but helping Jyro with his problems made Seth feel useful and wanted, and whether he helped solve non-existent problems or not, he was glad for Jyro's company.

They were opposite in looks too, Seth's jet black hair, unusually pale brown eyes and shortness for his age contrasting against Jyro's bright blonde hair, piercing blue eyes and same height, despite being a year younger. And most distinctly, Jyro bore a scar on the left side of his face. Cut out deliberately, a thick, V-shape sliced out of flesh, ending in a sharp point. He'd had it since they first met, but neither Jyro or Seth had an explanation for it. Jyro merely shrugged and said Scary No-Face said he'd tell him about it when the time was right. But Jyro wasn't the only one with a strange physical attribute. Seth had something strange about him that wasn't noticeable unless you saw it day-in day-out like Ms Stone and the Orphanage boys did. Strange as it was, Seth's jet black hair was perfectly behaved twenty four-seven.

He did nothing to encourage it, but his hair styled itself flawlessly, never a single one out of place. It seemed washed and styled professionally, no matter what was done to it. The other boys ruffled his hair constantly throughout the day, once pinning him down and slapping mud through it, but nothing kept it out of place for long. Seth only had to run his fingers through it and it fell softly back into shape. He'd grown to hate it, the teasing only making things worse as he blushed, and he was a terrible blusher. His face turned red hot, flushing almost to the point of glowing when he was really embarrassed. Those were only two of the reasons Seth was grateful to have a separate dream world. Feeling out of place when awake, being with Jyro made him feel the most comfortable. Imaginary or not, he was in the same position as Seth was. Both were alone, both had strange physical attributes about themselves and both had the same sense of humour.

Fully dressed, Seth quickly closed his suitcase, racing downstairs to the first floor of the three-story house. Reaching the dining room just in time to have the last scraps of breakfast, he and the boys his age then hurried to the school room where Ms Stone herself stood waiting impatiently to begin lessons. Seth weaved through the boys to his usual desk in the back row, a place he sat to distance himself from Ms Stone so she wouldn't ask him questions. It was pointless because she never called on him for anything, but it also kept him invisible to the other boys. Seth watched as she stiffly moved through the desks of boys, handing out papers and pens for them to make notes. Her thin form moved easily through the desks, arms clutching the papers close to her chest protectively. She wore her usual hard expression, one that showed no emotion and told each of the boys not to cross her or the consequences would be severe. Ms Stone was a strong lover of routine and a hater of spontaneity, which made both her and her lessons incredibly dull.

"All right, settle down. This morning I want you to fill your page with your thoughts, feelings and observations on your chosen reading book. I trust by now you have read at least halfway through them and I want you to go into as much details as possible. I want at least two pages."

Ms Stone easily ignored the collective groans emanating from the class. Seth sat in usual silence as Ms Stone reached his desk, and without a glance placed his paper in front of him. She turned quickly, marching to the front of the class, ordering silence for the first half an hour of writing. With that, she sat at her desk to mark the papers of the lessons of the older boys, leaving them to work.

"Uh, Ms Stone?" Seth inwardly scolded himself as he felt his cheeks heat. His hand raised half-heartedly. "Ms Stone?"

All eyes turned to him. He knew he was glowing, he could tell by the smirks on the faces of the other boys. Ms Stone on the other hand looked startled by his call.

"Yes, Knightly?" She hid it well, but both she and Seth both knew how uncomfortable she was speaking to him. Seth didn't know what it was about him that made her so nervous, they had an eleven year history together after all, didn't that mean there should be some connection between them? Anything but the awkwardness she obviously showed.

"You didn't leave me a pen."

"Oh... didn't I?"

"No."

Steadily getting to her feet, her heels marched toward him, pen clutched tightly in thin fingers. She dropped it onto his desk, turning away so quickly Seth double checked the pen was actually there and he didn't imagine the scene. Looking up, she was back at her desk, head down, back to marking papers. She didn't look up at all, not even when clearing her throat loudly to the boys still staring and smirking at Seth instead of writing their assignments. Reluctantly turning away, they began to work, leaving Seth to roll his eyes at both their pathetic behaviour and Ms Stone, who made him wish at least once a day his dream world with Jyro was his only world.

"All right, off to lunch."

Seth snapped out of his daydream instantly, having tuned out most of Ms Stone's lesson, choosing to doodle pictures of himself and Jyro playing basketball on his paper instead. The word lunch however was a definite wake up call.

"I'll collect your papers, leave them on your desks and make your way to the dining room in an orderly fashion. No shoving!" She warned as she weaved through the desks, picking up the papers of the boys who were on their feet in seconds, heading for the door in a less than polite fashion. Only Seth remained, a cold feeling of dread overwhelming him as he realised Ms Stone would see his pictures and know he wasn't paying attention. Quickly he scribbled out the doodles but it was too late; Ms Stone zeroed in on him as soon as the last boy exited the classroom.

"Knightly," She began, following usual routine of calling him by his last name. "I noticed your distraction in my lesson. What's wrong?"

Seth fought the urge to laugh at her uncharacteristic attempt to show concern. If she hadn't used a tone similar to a Drill Sergeant, he would've been touched.

"Nothing." He mumbled instead, trying to spread his hands wide over his page to hide the drawings, but with lightning speed, Ms Stone swiped the paper and inspected it closely. She stared at his pictures, his cheeks glowing hot.

"I'm sorry, I - "

"Is this what's wrong? You want to play basketball with the other boys? Are they not letting you join in afternoon sports?" She demanded, a fiery glint in her eyes that both surprised and confused him. In her own odd, strict way she was trying to look out for him, but only because no one was around to see it.

"I'll make the boys let you play. I don't want exclusions here."

"No, don't do that." Seth quickly got to his feet, running his hand back through his hair, a nervous habit. "I'm fine. I'm just tired. I'm sorry, I'll try to pay more attention."

"Don't lie." Ms Stone pursed her lips, putting her hands on her narrow hips. "I've seen you out there. Everyone plays sports outside except you. I've seen you go and sit under the same tree and watch. I know you want to join in, and if they're not letting you - "

"No, it's fine! I'll play today I swear, just don't say anything!" Seth clumsily backed away, hoping his pleading expression would be enough to stop her. She was hard to read but he hoped she got the message that saying something would make things worse. Backing out of the classroom, he quickly made his way to the dining room for lunch, joining the other boys as they made quick work of their thick soup and buttered rolls.

Seth ate in usual silence, cursing himself for volunteering to play basketball. Every afternoon the Iron House boys went outside for sports and his age-group usually went to the basketball court. He watched occasionally but never played, assuming they wouldn't let him, but he happy to keep himself out of a situation where they had open access to harming him.

The rest of the day passed too fast for Seth's liking. He suddenly found himself with butterflies flipping inside his stomach standing on the edge of the basketball court, waiting to be picked for a team by the three captains. The other boys realised quickly he'd joined them as he stood waiting, which created even teams with the fifteen boys splitting into three. No one commented, for that Seth was grateful. If anyone said a word he was sure his head would turn into a tomato and they'd all laugh. As he predicted he was chosen last, his team sitting off first as the other two played to a score of five goals before rotating the losing team off.

His legs wouldn't stop fidgeting, either out of nerves or excitement he wasn't sure, but the butterflies stopped flipping and now tried to fight their way out of his stomach, pounding against him in almost painful blows. Taking a deep breath, he intoned to himself to calm down before he did something embarrassing. Besides, he'd played basketball just this morning.

The losing team grumbled and blamed one another as they swapped places on the bench with Seth's team, who took to the court. Hands quivering, he took deep breaths, feeling silly for being so nervous about playing a simple game of basketball. Probably because he had a strong feeling Ms Stone was watching.

The game began and Seth watched the ball like a hawk. It bounced and passed hands and came closer, then further away, then in a steal suddenly came soaring right at him. As the hard ball landed in his firm grasp he followed his first instinct - shoot a goal. Twisting toward his goal he jumped, shooting the ball. Just like in his dreams, the ball soared halfway down the court and in a flawless move slipped straight through the net.

Time paused as what happened took a few moments to sink in. Seth felt all eyes on him, but was too elated to blush. Grinning, he decided to ignore them.

"Knightly rocks!" A voice shouted from the sidelines, followed by a loud whoop. "What a shot! Who would've thought the hair-weirdo could play!"

Others joined in and Seth found himself rooted to the spot, eyes wide in surprise at the praise coming from the sidelines and from his own highly impressed team. Grinned proudly, the game continued.

The afternoon wore on and Seth found himself having fun as he spoke for the first time to some of the other boys about his natural ability, teasing the other teams who couldn't beat them with him playing. An unfamiliar warmth spread through him as the other boys gave him a feeling of being part of the team, like he belonged. Jyro wasn't going to believe it.

"Hey Knightly, watch your back, some of the others are annoyed you're so good." One of the boys nudged Seth as he jogged past, pulling his cap up as he spoke. "They're jealous we snagged you on our team!"

Seth didn't want to ruin the moment by pointing out they team didn't choose him, they were stuck with him as the last player. He glanced instead to the benched team who stood, swapping places with the team they'd just beaten. Some looked murderous, while some looked merely grumpy and bothered. No one like to lose all the time, so Seth inwardly decided the smart thing to do was have less involvement to give them a fairer chance of winning.

The game began and Seth's team took possession of the ball, as usual passing to him immediately. Instead of taking his usual perfect shot, he ran further down the court, passing to a teammate standing close to the goal. He shot and scored, giving Seth a spark of hope the others would stop glaring if he continued to play this way.

The other team began play of the ball and Seth took his usual place in the centre of the court. One of the larger boys on the opposite team took possession of the ball and headed toward his goal, running straight at him. Seth prepared himself to meet the larger boy, who showed no signs of stopping, no signs of passing the ball... Seth realised too late he was locked into the boy's sights. It happened in seconds - the boy charged, raised the ball, and hurled it with all his might directly at his face. As the ball hit target perfectly, the boy following seconds behind and body slamming Seth, sending him off his feet backward, crashing down on tough concrete.

Pain seared through the back of his head, a stinging throb in his face making him gasp as stars glittered momentarily before his eyes. Cold liquid slid slowly from his nostrils and over his lips. It took a few moments before he become aware he lay on his back staring up at the sky, loud shouts and arguments raging around him. No one came to him, but he was dimly aware of his teammate's fury over the deliberate injuries. Right now he didn't care, his head throbbed and face felt like it was on fire. His nose both stung and ached, making him aware through the pain he had a blood nose. Slowly lifting a shaking hand he wiped his nose, instinctually looking at his wet fingers. His breath stopped, head still pounding, body sore and bruised, but all injuries forgotten as Seth's mind became suddenly sharply aware of the liquid on his fingers.

It was silver. Pure, thick, shining silver.

His brain felt suddenly switched on full while also feeling dumb and slow. He stared at something not real, something not possible. Had he damaged his eyesight in the fall? What could it be? It poured from his nose, so there was no denying what it was. But it wasn't possible, wasn't normal...

How could he have silver blood?

It suddenly struck him the other boys could look down any second and see it and survival instinct took over. With lightning fast speed, he scrambled off the ground and ran, ran as hard as he could, ran for the only place he could think to be alone. Reaching his favourite tree, wheezing heavily from pain and shock, he collapsed against the thick trunk, hiding from the view of the boys and the Iron House itself. Desperately he hoped Ms Stone hadn't been watching. Right now he needed to be alone, needed to figure out what was going on and why the blood coming out of his nose and the graze on the back of his head were silver. His lungs stung from running, head feeling suddenly light from the blood pouring from both nostrils. His sudden dash made it rush out faster, and he felt the effects of it. Weakly he turned to face the tree, his back to the Iron House fence some metres away.

Panting hard, gripping the tree as best he could with his blood soaked hand, his mind raced. Silver blood... he had silver blood... what was he supposed to do? What was wrong with him? Did he have a disease? Would Ms Stone send him away when she found out? What if he was contagious? The cold, silver liquid continued to pour never endingly from his nose, but he was too scared to touch it and simply let it spill down between his feet.

He had to think fast but his mind wouldn't allow clear thoughts. Fear and panic shook him to the core at his discovery. When he tried to think of a plan he only saw images of men in white coats dragging him away over and over in his mind. Hot tears sprang to his eyes, his hands shaking on the rough bark. He didn't know what to do. He'd never felt so scared and lost in his entire life. A puddle formed between his feet, the sight of the silver pool churning Seth's stomach, making him feel instantly sick, on the verge of puking. Raising his hand to his sore, tender nose, he winced in pain as he squeezed his nostrils shut. Standing hunched, facing the tree, using it for support he stared at the silver pool, unable to look away from its sickening form. Coughing, he choked on blood and its odd metallic taste. In anger he lashed out, foot kicking at the puddle to stop himself looking at it, but to his shock, pain shot through his foot. Automatically releasing his nose, his mouth gaped as he prodded the silver puddle with his shoe. Icy chills washed over him as he tapped a solid silver disk. He stepped on it hard. Not a dent. Stamped on it. Nothing. It wasn't only solid, it was strong.

Dizziness and exhaustion mixed with panic and terror, hitting him like a punch in the gut. His legs stumbled backward out of control, until he hit the black bars of the Iron House fence, panting hard. It was his only support as his body felt like it was shutting down one limb at a time, draining his strength.

"Stop!" The voice beyond the fence sounded faint and was easy to ignore, but the sudden gentle poke in his back snapped Seth out of his exhaustion in a burst of terrified adrenalin. He jolted forward, whirling around with a deep gasp, coming face-to-face with a large, oversized hat. It looked like a policeman's cap but floppy and larger, coloured dull grey. The hat tilted back slightly, revealing a mostly shadowed face but a fully visible mouth illuminated by sunlight. The shorter person looked at him through concealed eyes. Seth was paralysed on the spot, frozen in pure panic. Then, the shorter person smiled.

"Stop!" A woman jogged toward them, grasping hold of the baggy sleeve of the shorter person in a fast swipe as soon as she was in range. "Oh finally... here you are." She panted, taking only seconds to notice the sickly pale form of Seth staring at the shorter hat wearer, unable to look away.

"Oh, hello there." She said cheerfully, smiling as she took a step closer to the fence while keeping her grasp on the baggy sleeve of the person still staring at him. It creeped him out. If he had the ability to move he would've reached through the bars and poked the boy's eyes so he would stop.

"Ms Stone is expecting me and your new housemate here. Would you mind fetching her to open the gate? Thanks a lot." She turned to the hat wearer and began speaking close to where she guessed his ear was, since it was buried under the hat. Paying him no further attention, Seth turned, quickly walking away, past his solid blood puddle, past his tree and through the grounds toward the house, legs subconsciously walking for him.

Seth numbly looked down at himself. Splatters of silver covered his clothes, but he realised his nose stopped bleeding. It still stung like a hundred needles stabbed into it, but stopped pouring out in the great waterfall it had been. He'd lost a lot of blood, more than he thought possible to still be standing, but shakily his legs carried him up the steps to the front door. His plan was to shout to Ms Stone she had company, then disappear upstairs to his room to be alone to think.

Or sleep - his body felt suddenly exhausted as the thought of going to bed crossed his mind, as well as images of seeing Jyro in his dreams so he could sort out his problem. Was he diseased? Would he die from whatever virus turned his blood silver? Was it contagious? Was -

The door came flying at him so fast he barely had time to react, jerking awkwardly out of the way just in time. Seconds later he narrowly avoided colliding into Ms Stone as she briskly marched out of the house. She let out a shriek in surprise, hand clutching her heart as she quickly snapped,

"My goodness watch out! We almost had a situation!" Her eyes widened in surprise behind her glasses at the sight of him, but in seconds her composed mask returned. Straightening her posture, she stuck her nose poshly in the air. "Yes Knightly? Is there something I can help you with?"

"S-someone at the gate for you." Seth mumbled, heart racing a mile a minute under her scrutinising gaze. He lowered his head in case she spotted his red nose or any silver he neglected to wipe from his face. Ms Stone's eyes whipped in a sharp glare toward the locked gate. Glowering hatred steamed from her eyes as her hands tightened to fists.

"Child Services. They only called two minutes ago and they're already here! It's not only good manners but also procedure to give at least two hours notice of any visit, especially when that visit involves a drop off! But," She cleared her throat, as if suddenly remembering Seth was there. She didn't look at him, but Seth noticed her cheeks turn a slight pink from her outburst.

"Should be an interesting addition to the Iron House." She continued calmly, still glaring at the large, white C.S van sitting patiently beyond the tall black fence. "They tell me this boy has been caught and placed by them five times already and has run away from each place in less than two days. I have no doubt he will settle here, but they say his escapes were unconventional and unexpected. And the most curious thing of all," Ms Stone finally looked at him, a small twinkle of excitement in her eyes sharing gossip - for a moment she was unrecognisable. "They said just before they caught him he stole a hotdog stand right from under the vendor's nose! The man turned his back to serve a customer, then turned around and it was gone! Even now no one has any idea where he put the stand or how he managed to take it."

For a split second, warmth spread through his chest, calming his raging terror for a single moment. Seeing her drop her strict, distant facade and look at him without looking past or through him was something Seth hadn't realised he needed so badly from her, especially now. She'd raised him from a one year old, and as much as they pretended they didn't have a history they did, a powerful one. She was the only Mother he had, and as much as his insides squirmed to think of her as that it was true. Tears welled in his eyes and an almost overwhelming urge to wrap his arms around her for comfort, to have her firm voice tell him everything would be all right because she was strong and organised and could fix anything almost took over. Her face dropped at the sudden change in his expression, he quickly turned from her, ashamed, climbing the rest of the steps to enter the house.

He couldn't cry in front of her. She didn't raise a weakling.

"Knightly." The firm voice was back. Seth stopped in the doorway but didn't turn around. "You have the spare bunk bed, don't you? You sleep alone?"

He didn't answer, but he didn't have too.

"Make sure there's room for the newcomer's suitcase under your bed. You'll share with him from now on."

Seth forced himself to nod, then half-jogged through the large entrance hall toward the large stairs. He felt her eyes on him as he climbed to the second floor, each step away from her tripling his fear. By the time he stumbled into his bedroom, tears streamed down his face and he couldn't hold back a sob. Never had he felt so scared, exhausted and alone in his entire life. His gaze fell on his bed and in seconds he was face down on it, tears falling, but the effect of his head touching his pillow was instant - exhaustion had waited for its moment to strike and took advantage.

Even through his heartache, Seth slipped into a deep sleep.

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