Gary sat in the small truck, his hands tightly wrapped around the steering wheel. His eye was wide with panic, his heart was bouncing around in his chest, all of his senses were focused on the mountain. He was truly in the midst of a panic attack. He pushed the door of the truck open and fell to the ground, heaving; he was holding his chest. That was the closest he'd ever been to a Valahi since they bought him from the market. He still remembered the joy that overcame his parents when he was sold.
He took a deep breath and rolled over onto his back, looking out into the sky. The canvas of darkness wrapped itself around the planet with little beads of light bursting through the murky black. He was still afraid, terrified even but for some unknown reason, he felt he could put his trust in Arthur, that he'd both take care of the problem and return safely. If what he'd said was true, he couldn't be hurt as he had fallen into that desert from orbit, he'd also ripped the metal door off the battery which was just unnatural. The more he thought about it, the more questions formed in his mind. Where had he come from? What had happened to him to make his body that way? Was it just some form of invulnerability or was immortality at play too. Just who was Arthur?
He sat up and looked around him, taking in the breeze that fluttered through the fields as if a weight had been taken off his shoulders. He watched as a small bug with four wings that flapped independently landed on a sunflower. From the old pictures from imported magazines he'd read, the people put a lot of effort into terraforming it into something warm, before it was just mountainous, with sparse tree and grass. While the horizon was still tarnished with reminders, it was now cozy, fields of dried grass and flowers, dying as the winter season crept forward.
A tinge of regret began to form in his heart, he wish he'd been more involved in the making of this planet into something to be proud of. He didn't necessarily blame himself, he had closed himself off to protect himself from the environment he'd been forcibly thrust into but he still wished he'd been more open. He'd locked himself to his ship and willingly became a slave to another government, while better, it was still an entity that feigned some form of empathy to push its agenda. While he had been one of the more extreme cases as he had tried to escape more than once, everyone here had been unconsensually in one form or another.
Maybe Arthur was right.
Just as that final thought formed in his mind, he witnessed a man soaked in blood and organic matter climb over the horizon, escaping the immense shadow of the mountain; he was holding something wrapped in brown, soft fur.
He hastily pulled himself off the ground and yelled.
"Arthur!"
Arthur looked up and a smile formed on his face.
"Hello Gary, I hope you didn't wait long."
...
They sat in the kitchen of Gary's humble little abode, wooden floors patterned into stars, plastered walls peeling to reveal the dirty brick beneath. Bottles lined the kitchen cabinets, all of various shapes and sizes, all suited for one purpose. A fireplace flickered in the corner, allowing lights to naturally dance around the room. Gary sat in a small chair opposite Arthur, who'd 'borrowed' someone's chair off their porch. The small, green little baby was fast asleep on Gary's mattress. Gary looked at Arthur with nothing short of disgust smeared on his face.
"Why did you bring it here?"
Arthur matched Gary's gaze and spoke softly.
"I have two reasons my friend. The first one is an experiment, nature versus nurture."
Gary's eye widened.
"You want to use my hospitality to run a science experiment? What the hell is wrong with you, you fucking psychopath!"
The baby stirred and Arthur stood up, walking over to the small thing. He lightly ran his hand over its head and picked it up, holding the fragile thing delicately, cradling it in his arms. He mockingly said:
"Honey, please don't wake the baby."
Gary's eye narrowed and his upper lip curled back into a snarl.
"I am really not in the mood for your humor... so what could possibly be the other reason. It had better be an improvement over your last 'suggestion'."
Arthur looked at him, a sad look covering his face.
"The other reason is I'd like to give you an opportunity to exact revenge."
Gary leaned back in his chair and looked at his hands. Arthur continued:
"I'd like to help you get over your lifetime of trauma-"
Gary looked up at him, the beginnings of realization setting in.
"That isn't your problem."
Arthur smiled slightly, the sad look didn't leave his eyes.
"I know buddy. I saw how you froze up when the shoemaker mentioned the Valahi name. I understand that fear and as your friend, or at least close acquaintance, I'd like to help you overcome that. So I offer you two choices, kill the baby and completely extinguish any semblance of the Valahi species from all of existence."
Gary looked at him with anger.
"Or?"
Arthur continued:
"Or raise the baby, destroy the Valahi legacy, change it into something your captors would despise. While I would prefer you choose the latter-"
Arthur walked towards the front door, placing his hand on the knob.
"I truly don't care either way, whichever you choose I can only hope it bring you peace."
Gary watched as the tall man stepped out of his home, quietly closing the door behind him. He was astonished, what a cruel thing to push onto him, why did he have to decide the fate of a species, why did he want him to raise the child?
He looked over at the bed with the small baby resting on it, blood was smeared on the furs wrapped around it. He stood up and walked over to the cabinet and rummaged around for a moment before turning back towards the bed, knife in hand. He slowly walked back over to the bed, standing ominously above the mattress, the shadows covered his face, revealing only his eye.
'Why would Arthur think he'd choose anything other than this, did he just not want the blood of a child on his hands? After what they've done to me, to so many others, maybe its a gift to be able to kill the despised, vile offspring of the nightmarish beings that tortured and mutated me.'
He slowly reached down and pulled the blankets off the baby, revealing its green skin to the room. The fireplace was roaring, breaking the uneven silence of the rooms, snapping and crackling. The lights in the room danced as he placed a hand on the babies chest, his other hand raising the knife above his head inch by inch. A cold bead of sweat dripped down his face, his single eye wide, his brain and muscles tensing up, preparing for the murder he was about to commit.
At the exact moment he was about to bring the knife down on the child, it reached up and wrapped its hand around his index finger, squeezing his finger with all his tiny might.
It too, just wanted to live.
Gary froze, tears welling up in his eyes, he threw the knife away and fell to his knees, his hands coming up to his eye.
'What was I about to do, I don't want to be a murderer. What the fuck was I about to do.'
He broke down, sobbing uncontrollably at the mere thought of harming that innocent child, he knew that by doing that he'd be no better than them. The baby began to cry and Gary crawled into bed next to it, holding it close to his chest.
"It's okay I'm not going to hurt you, I choose nurture. I choose nurture."
After some time the crying stopped and Arthur stood up, he'd been listening on the porch. He walked over to the window and peered in, taking in the room. He saw Gary passed out in the bed, holding the baby close to him.
He slowly opened the door and walked to the sink in the middle of the left wall. He filled up one of the empty bottles with water and walked over to the fireplace, pouring the water out onto the flames, silencing them, he set the bottle down and grabbed a blanket at the foot of the bed, pulling it over Gary and the baby.
He began walking to the door, turned back to take in the wonderful picture one last time and then stepped out into the cool autumn morning. He didn't know where he was going yet, but he knew he had to find a job. He wanted to stay here awhile and help Gary raise his newfound infant. While walking down the road he came across a young woman who had just stepped out of her house, her skin was a light brown, her hair was a deep coffee-colored swirl of curls. She had a cute nose and her warm, mahogany eyes radiated nothing but kindness. She looked at him confused and he couldn't help but look down, realizing he was still soaked in dried blood and shirtless.
"It's not what it looks like, I swear."
She smiled, almost laughing.
"How am I supposed to believe that? You look absolutely insane!"
He smiled as well.
"Well I realize that now, I wouldn't have knowingly left the house looking like this."
She stopped and turned, pointing at her front door.
"Would you like to come in and get cleaned up?"
He stopped and slightly turned his head to the side questioningly.
"Are you sure, while that is incredibly kind, I could be a murderer or something. This is blood on my skin."
She too turned her head, her smile growing larger.
"I don't think a murderer would call himself out, plus you didn't run when I saw you. Besides I too could be a murderer."
A smile was replaced with a devilish grin.