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Beyond had turned nineteen to the tune of Addie’s Linkin Park CD playing through the stereo, and now he was repeatedly smashing that stereo on the ground. He didn’t care who heard. He just needed to destroy something in his bedroom room.
Hair dye clung to his hair, curled up in the crevices of his ears, staining his forehead and cheeks and hands. His blond curls certainly hadn’t needed as much dye as he’d applied but once he’d started playing with the red dye, he couldn’t stop.
It was all over the room too, hand print after hand print on the walls. Beyond giggled, swaying as he stood over the remains of the stereo.
Beyond was going to go for something darker, a black or brown, but standing in the aisles, he’d decided instead the red would be a good start for his escape, and then he could redye it later. He was gonna do it. He was leaving Wammy’s House, cause fuck em!
Certainly this level of destruction would tip off everyone that was wrong, but whatever. Fuck this, fuck that, he should be allowed to be mad.
He’d packed his bag before this. All he had to do was go wash off the loose dye, dress up (he’d picked out one of Addie’s dresses, if they did come looking for him, they’d think he was so unconfident that he would never briefly step back into the closest, and they'd keep looking for an obvious man), and then walk out the front door. Gone in the cover of night.
Beyond’s stomach lurched, and he swallowed down the vomit that tried to join the party. Step 1, escape Wammy’s House; Step 2, escape the country; Step 3, get an abortion. Or hopefully something resembling that order.
He was about to turn for the door to the on-suite when there was the tiniest, cute knock on the bedroom door. Beyond sighed, and heaved as he stalked to the door and wrenched it open to find-
“Hi.” The children matched the knock, the freaky little identical twins. Near was more off the side, while his sister Trivia was front and center. Same too white blond hair, same creepy grey eyes, but absolutely different demeanors. Probably while Near had been selected as a successor candidate while his sister hadn’t been.
Beyond couldn’t deny he felt anything for them. Maybe it was affection, but it was definitely fascination. Who couldn’t be fascinated with identical twins who even shared a similar set of numbers above their head? Nate River and Elise River. Names erased by this damn institute. Erased by L.
“Hey,” Beyond kept his tone neutral, and then titled his head to the side, assessing them, “Elise, Nate.”
The two had never really questioned how he knew their real names. Probably thought he’d broken into a file cabinet one day or something. Near had even gotten him alone one day, and said ‘It’s Nate, now’ , because he had no idea Beyond had noticed the name change in real time.
Only Addie had ever known. Something else settled in his stomach. God he really was alone now, wasn’t he?
“Are you okay?” Trivia asked, and either she was proving why she wasn’t selected to be the world’s best detective, or waiting for an explanation for all the red and the room and the noise. Right. The twins' bedroom was pretty close by.
“Fine and fucking dandy, how about you two?”
“You were being loud, so I wanted to check.” Trivia stood up straighter. “Near was already awake and accompanied me.”
Trivia was always to the point. Probably why she was Addie’s favourite child. Beyond scoffed to himself. He could honor that one last time by not traumatizing the twins’
“Dying my hair, decided to paint too.” Beyond wigged his fingers in front of them for emphasis.
“Why red?” Near finally broke his silence.
Beyond shrugged. “Why not?”
Near hummed, and while his face remained blank, his numbers twitched. The boy’s mind was racing a mile a minute. He really was a worthy successor.
He couldn’t save him.
Beyond reached over and cupped Near’s face. “Promise me you won’t let them break you.”
Near slow blinked, slowly moving his own hand to remove Beyond from him. It did very little. Just the barest traces of red remained on his face. Beyond’s final gift to him.
A nod. An understanding.
There was nothing more Beyond could do.