Chapter Text
“Mother, look!” a child with a smile as bright as the sun beamed at his mother with glee.
Red lips curled into a pleasant grin. “Oh Leo,” the woman ruffled her son’s blond hair, “they’re lovely.” In her hands she took the assortment of flowers that her 5-year-old son had brought her. The air smelled pleasantly sweet, like the world was gushing at the innocents that her son held. She laughed to herself, fixing her long golden ponytail. “Leo, you are too sweet. Tomorrow is your birthday, I should be the one giving you presents soon, not the other way around.”
Blushing a little, Leo looked away from his mother. “I’m not a little kid! I don’t need presents!”
Chuckling, the woman laid a warm hand on Leo’s head. “Of course you aren’t, my dear. You are a big strong grown up, smart and handsome.” A refreshing breeze blew, tussling their golden hair. The sun was burning brightly, causing the world to sparkle in all its honesty. Luckily, the shade of the tall tree atop the hill provided some relief from the relentless light.
“You’re patronizing me,” Leo puffed his cheeks out.
Honey coloured eyes widening, the woman ruffled Leo’s hair once more. “Sometimes I wonder how you know such words, you have barely started school!”
“It’s because I’m not a little kid.”
Picking up Leo from the ground into her arms, the woman spun Leo around, laughing to herself. “Of course you aren’t, my almost 6 year old son.” She hugged him tightly and Leo tried his hardest to put on a displeased face, but it wasn’t working as well as he wanted it to.
-
“Happy birthd- LEO!” Leo’s father opened the door to Leo’s room the next morning abruptly. Dashing to his son’s side, he frantically scanned over his child. Small plump cheeks were as red as tomatoes and the small child took in each heavy breath with a shudder. Coughing, Leo tasted blood in his mouth and it began to dribble down his chin. “LEO!” the male voice called louder. Eyes heavy, Leo tried desperately to open them, like opening a door that refused to budge.
“It hurts.” Leo croaked out, coughing at the use of his voice.
Leo’s father got up instantly and ran to call an ambulance. Hearing the fuss, Leo’s mother ran into Leo’s room as Leo’s father exited. Pressing a slender finger to Leo’s forehead, Leo’s mother burst into tears. “Oh my poor boy, you are burning up! You are coughing up blood!”
To Leo, it all sounded like a cloudy fizzy nose that made the throbbing in his head that much louder. Drenched in sweat, Leo shivered. “C-cold.”
Leo’s mother ran into the bathroom, grabbing a thermometer from the medicine cabinet. As she ran back, she heard the sound of a glass shattering. Leo must have been reaching for his water, his shaky hands too weak to hold it up. Desperation growing, Leo’s mother attempted to check his temperature.
104ºF.
The world spun to Leo, his head pounded, his skin pricked with cold. It was loud. It was messy. “Mommy,” Leo buried his head closer to his mother who sat on the edge of his bed. It hurt. Tears began to gather at Leo’s eyes, but even that began to sting. His mother would help him; his mother would be there for him. Surely, his mother would protect him from whatever pain the world was bringing to Leo.
“My child,” Leo’s mother ran a hand through Leo’s hair.
Soon the ambulance arrived and Leo was ushered to the hospital.
On the edge of their feet, Leo’s parents waited for the doctors to tell them what was wrong with their son. A fever that high was abnormal. What kind of virus was this? A child this young would have trouble fighting such an ailment.
“We currently are not sure what is wrong with him. We’ve given him an oxygen mask for now and are trying to find some anti biotic to help him, but we need to know what is wrong first. We are doing all we can.” The doctor said. She looked sympathetically to Leo’s parents, both who were in tears, but remained professional. “To sooth his pain we have given him pain medication.”
A tear cascaded down Leo’s mother’s face. “Happy birthday my son,” she tried to smile to herself. What had she done wrong in life to deserve this?
It wasn’t until the next morning that that doctors knew anything. The atmosphere was thick in the room, as though the air had somehow grown to weigh more when the doctors entered. Standing tall and firm, the doctor cleared her throat. “I regret to inform you…”
The world stopped at that moment and Leo’s parents could feel their heart sinking into a deep abyss.
“We regret to informed you that you son is a Bewitched.”
“NO!” Leo’s father exclaims. Leo’s mother covered her mouth in shock. The bullet had been fired.
“We understand that his is hard for you to believe, but we are certain. He is a Bewitched, a powerful one, to show at this young age.” The doctor looked revolted.
“It can’t be…” tears fell freely from Leo’s mother’s eyes as she buried her face into her husband’s shoulder.
Squeezing his wife’s hand, Leo’s father spoke, “That thing is not our son.”
“Disgusting. I can’t believe I gave birth to that thing!” Leo’s mother pulled her hair in disgust. “To think I loved him, to think that he loves me, how, how, repulsive. I feel so disgraced.”
“I’m glad you understand,” the doctor looked to the door behind her, where Leo rested on the hospital bed, barely conscious. “Do you require proof?”
Both parents, ex-parents rather, nod. The doctor opens the door. On the pristine white hospital bed, Leo laid, each breath labored and ragged. Moving almost robotically, the doctor reached for a vile left on the counter. She lifted Leo’s mask and forced the liquid down his throat.
“If he is a Bewitched, there should be some kind of reaction,” the doctor states.
Within seconds an invisible powerful force blasts through the room, causing everyone to fall over. Standing up and dusting her lab coat, the doctor motions to Leo. “Such a strong reaction, he is without a doubt, a Bewitched.”
“You know what must happen,” the doctor looked both parents in the eyes.
“Certainly,” Leo’s father nods, his fists shaking, “that thing is a danger to the world and should never have been brought into it in the first place. I am disgusted at the thought that I had a part in creating that!”
“Please destroy him,” Leo’s mother requests. “We mustn’t anger the gods any further. Pray for forgiveness, dear husband of mine, we have sinned.”
“M-othe...r” Leo’s voice shakes. “F-fa…” he tries to speak. Each breath was fire, but more than anything, the little boy wanted his parents.
Leo’s father walked up to Leo and looked upon him with eyes colder than ice. “Son, it’s time for you to go.”
“G-go…?”
“Yes. Go and don’t come back.”
Leo’s mother walked to the other side of Leo’s bed and ran a hand through Leo’s hair. “Goodbye, Leo.” A laugh bubbles in her throat. “I’m sorry you were born.”
“No,” Leo’s father shakes his head at his wife’s words.
“You are right,” Leo’s mother laughs, “Leo should be sorry that he was born, not I sorry for him. I shouldn’t feel sorry for something like him, a Bewitched.” The words are spoken with fanatic venom.
“Goodbye,” they both waved to Leo as they exited the room.
Mommy? Daddy? Where are you going? What things were you saying? Leo closed his eyes, a tear escaping the sides. I should be sorry? I don’t understand. Did I do something wrong?
“Where am I going?” Leo manages to speak a full sentence.
“Hm,” the doctor ties her hair back, “to death. You see, a Bewitched is that which defies natural order. A Bewitched is something that is a threat to humanity, an insult to our Great God. We must eliminate you. The Great Dragon God commands it. Today is your last day alive, congratulations.”
Nothing made sense to Leo. He was a Bewitched? A Dragon God didn’t want him alive? The world seemed to move choppily to Leo as he tried to register all that was happening to him. This was a dream, was it not? In a few moments, Leo would wake up and his father would hug him and say happy birthday. His mother would give him a present, that surprise present that she had been talking about all week. One day Leo would grow up and he would make his parents proud. They would tell Leo that he was so smart and that they loved him.
I’m going to die? Death… what is it exactly? Leo’s heart began to pick up speed. Mom, dad, I’m scared, come back.
“A man is going to come in and put you to sleep forever in a few hours. Enjoy your last hours, mutant.” The doctor leaves the room with no remorse.
Now hot tears pour from Leo’s eyes as though their dam had just been released. His head still pounded like a hammer was hitting him from the inside and the bright lights of the room made him want to vomit. Somehow, none of that mattered. Instead the words that he heard, could barley hear, from his parents when outside the room echoed in his heart. It didn’t make sense! Leo didn’t understand at all.
How long went by, Leo didn’t know, but it should have been an hour when a man walked into the room. “Leo Veles, the Bewitched.” A syringe was in his hand. Leo close his eyes tightly, not knowing exactly what was in the needle, but knowing it must not be good and that it was going to bring death to him. Leo was too weak to fight back. “Today is your lucky day.”
Nothing about today seemed lucky.
“Rather than be put to death, I’m going to get you out of here alive. We, of the organization, think that killing Bewitched is a waste. To further the power of humanity, I will save you and take you elsewhere, with other Bewitched. You will never be able to return to this life.” The words seemed to go right passed Leo, but Leo understood that somehow this meant that he would live. Whether that was a stroke of luck, or a curse of misfortune would be for Leo to decide years from now.
The man brought the needle down to Leo’s neck. The world faded to black, like the colour draining from a photograph.
Eyes fluttered open, head still throbbing and burning, but Leo was alive. The room he was in now unfamiliar and dark.
“Welcome,” an old gruff voice greeted. “Welcome to the research facility, Nohr.”