When I approached the second demigod, he was sitting in the parking lot littered with debris from the explosion. He was still as stone, a mere speck in a sea of concrete. A paralyzing sadness spread throughout my body. Tears formed at the corner of my eyes as he sat there, his back to me, a hurricane of black curly hair blowing in the cold wind. I couldn’t bring myself to him. I couldn’t.
Yen Chong glanced at me with his empty eyes, but still stood by my side. A rush of cold wind turned our breath into smoke, and made our clothes flap violently. I hugged my arms to my side. Yen Chong hardly flinched. Then he moved forward.
I counted his steps towards the boy.
1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7...
With his long legs, it took about 35. I stood still, taking in the image of two boys, a giant looking down at a dwarf, in a desert of destruction The giant stared at the boy for a long time, then sat down next to him. My breath misted, and finally, I moved.
1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7...
The 40th step revealed his face.
He wasn’t Chinese. He was a Westerner, about 5 years old with pale, pale skin. I could see tiny blue veins on his still hands. His head was ducked, but only the blind would miss the look in his widened green eyes.
The pupils in his eyes were dilated, his face, devoid of expression. He did not blink. There was no movement his eyes.
Haunted. Petrified. Dead. Were the words that came to my mind when I saw his face. I swallowed.
“Hello.” I started, sitting down.
No answer, no eye movement. A cold wind blew over us. I tried again. “Hello. Can you speak English?”
Nothing.
“Please. What happened? I can help you.” I pleaded, and put my hand on his.
There was no reply. Yen Chong looked at me, then bent down and whispered to the boy in Mandarin. The wind blew in a strong gust, throwing the boy’s curls in the air. I tore my eyes away from him, and took in the building that was blown to bits by gods know what. What was left of the apartment complex was a hollow box of blackened concrete, iron bars stuck out the top like teeth biting into a pale blue sky. Large pieces of rubble lay as much as five hundred feet away, but most of it was confined to the base of the building...where there was evidence of crushed mortals. I turned my head when my eye caught sight of a bloodied hand.
“Dead.”
My head swiveled at the chilling voice. “What was that?”
It was the second demigod; he spoke. His smalls hands clenched against his knees. “Dead. Haha, dead. My daddies are dead.” He smiled. “Haha, hahahaha!” He started rocking back and forth, and was pulling at his hair. “Dead! Dead dead dead!”
Yen Chong gave me look of alarm, and reached out to touch him.
The child swatted his hand away. “DON’T TOUCH ME!” He yelled. “DON’T TOUCH ME DON’T TOUCH ME DON’T TOUCH ME. I’LL KILL YOU.”
The winds howled from the north and roared in our ears. My coat blew over my head, and I felt a slap of cold on my back. I struggled to push my coat down, but the winds were persistent. All I could hear over the flapping fabric and screaming wind was the child.
“I’LL KILL YOU! I WILL I WILL I WILL! I’LL KILL EVERYBODY!”
I threw my coat out of my face, and my mouth dropped. The kid was standing with his palms outstretched, winds blowing like hell behind him. It almost looked as if....well... as if he were the one who was controlling the winds.
“THE ANGELS KILLED MY DADDIES NOW I WILL KILL YOU! I WILL KILL YOU!”
The sky’s light blue was fading into a gray. The child stood up with the same dead look in his eyes, but his mouth was twisted into an eerie smile. The winds from behind him blew his hair into his face, making his green eyes hidden, than revealed.
I ran over to Yen Chong, who looked at me, and muttered something that sounded like ‘hun di haizu.’ I gave him my usual, ‘what?’ and he shook his head.
“Hun.” Squinting his eyes to avoid the dust, he pointed to the kid.
The winds were getting stronger, and the sky darker. Tons of dust and debris were picked up in the frenzy, I had to squint like Chong had to avoid getting my eyes coated with concrete dust. I could hardly see the child.
“Where did he go?” I asked Yen Chong.
“Shin mo?” He asked. I assumed that also meant ‘what?’.
I blinked, and scanned the area. A powerful scent wafted through the air. I shook my head. This was defiantly the demigod I was looking for. I still hadn’t lost his scent, even in all the chaos. He smelled almost as powerful as Yen Chong had. I blinked the dust out of my eyes.
“CHILD. COME WITH US.” I yelled over the wind. “I KNOW A SAFE PLACE FOR YOU.”
The dust had gotten so bad that hardly anything was visible. We were stuck in a black sandstrom. I turned to Yen Chong, who (from what I could see) had ripped a piece of his shirt off and had it tied around his eyes. I coughed.
“Please.” I coughed. “I can get you to safety. Nothing like this will ever happen to you again.” I motioned to where I thought the decimated building was. “Please. I want to help you! The world is a dangerous place for you, child. I can take you away from here. You’ll be where you belong...” I coughed violently. It felt like sawdust had coated my esophagus. I waited for a response.
Nothing, except the roaring of the wind.
I thought of all the child had been through, and the ‘angels’ that killed his parents. The ‘angels’ that set off his shell shock and made him go off the deep end. I felt sick. He had witnessed it, didn’t he? His parents death. “Your fathers would have wanted you to be safe...” I said, closing my eyes.
Then, everything stopped as suddenly as it had began.
But the roaring winds had been replaced by a looming cold that was just as bad. I shivered and opened my eyes just a crack, and saw flecks of white dancing across my vision. Ah, a trick of the light. The dust must’ve done some damage to my retinas. Because we were in Shantou, where the lowest temperature reached around 50 degrees fahrenheit. It didn’t, no, it couldn’t snow here.
Yen Chong glanced at me with his empty eyes, but still stood by my side. A rush of cold wind turned our breath into smoke, and made our clothes flap violently. I hugged my arms to my side. Yen Chong hardly flinched. Then he moved forward.
I counted his steps towards the boy.
1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7...
With his long legs, it took about 35. I stood still, taking in the image of two boys, a giant looking down at a dwarf, in a desert of destruction The giant stared at the boy for a long time, then sat down next to him. My breath misted, and finally, I moved.
1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7...
The 40th step revealed his face.
He wasn’t Chinese. He was a Westerner, about 5 years old with pale, pale skin. I could see tiny blue veins on his still hands. His head was ducked, but only the blind would miss the look in his widened green eyes.
The pupils in his eyes were dilated, his face, devoid of expression. He did not blink. There was no movement his eyes.
Haunted. Petrified. Dead. Were the words that came to my mind when I saw his face. I swallowed.
“Hello.” I started, sitting down.
No answer, no eye movement. A cold wind blew over us.
I tried again. “Hello. Can you speak English?”
Nothing.
“Please. What happened? I can help you.” I pleaded, and put my hand on his.
There was no reply. Yen Chong looked at me, then bent down and whispered to the boy in Mandarin. The wind blew in a strong gust, throwing the boy’s curls in the air. I tore my eyes away from him, and took in the building that was blown to bits by gods know what. What was left of the apartment complex was a hollow box of blackened concrete, iron bars stuck out the top like teeth biting into a pale blue sky. Large pieces of rubble lay as much as five hundred feet away, but most of it was confined to the base of the building...where there was evidence of crushed mortals. I turned my head when my eye caught sight of a bloodied hand.
“Dead.”
My head swiveled at the chilling voice. “What was that?”
It was the second demigod; he spoke. His smalls hands clenched against his knees. “Dead. Haha, dead. My daddies are dead.” He smiled. “Haha, hahahaha!” He started rocking back and forth, and was pulling at his hair. “Dead! Dead dead dead!”
Yen Chong gave me look of alarm, and reached out to touch him.
The child swatted his hand away. “DON’T TOUCH ME!” He yelled. “DON’T TOUCH ME DON’T TOUCH ME DON’T TOUCH ME. I’LL KILL YOU.”
The winds howled from the north and roared in our ears. My coat blew over my head, and I felt a slap of cold on my back. I struggled to push my coat down, but the winds were persistent. All I could hear over the flapping fabric and screaming wind was the child.
“I’LL KILL YOU! I WILL I WILL I WILL! I’LL KILL EVERYBODY!”
I threw my coat out of my face, and my mouth dropped. The kid was standing with his palms outstretched, winds blowing like hell behind him. It almost looked as if....well... as if he were the one who was controlling the winds.
“THE ANGELS KILLED MY DADDIES NOW I WILL KILL YOU! I WILL KILL YOU!”
The sky’s light blue was fading into a gray. The child stood up with the same dead look in his eyes, but his mouth was twisted into an eerie smile. The winds from behind him blew his hair into his face, making his green eyes hidden, than revealed.
I ran over to Yen Chong, who looked at me, and muttered something that sounded like ‘hun di haizu.’ I gave him my usual, ‘what?’ and he shook his head.
“Hun.” Squinting his eyes to avoid the dust, he pointed to the kid.
The winds were getting stronger, and the sky darker. Tons of dust and debris were picked up in the frenzy, I had to squint like Chong had to avoid getting my eyes coated with concrete dust. I could hardly see the child.
“Where did he go?” I asked Yen Chong.
“Shin mo?” He asked. I assumed that also meant ‘what?’.
I blinked, and scanned the area. A powerful scent wafted through the air. I shook my head. This was defiantly the demigod I was looking for. I still hadn’t lost his scent, even in all the chaos. He smelled almost as powerful as Yen Chong had. I blinked the dust out of my eyes.
“CHILD. COME WITH US.” I yelled over the wind. “I KNOW A SAFE PLACE FOR YOU.”
The dust had gotten so bad that hardly anything was visible. We were stuck in a black sandstrom. I turned to Yen Chong, who (from what I could see) had ripped a piece of his shirt off and had it tied around his eyes. I coughed.
“Please.” I coughed. “I can get you to safety. Nothing like this will ever happen to you again.” I motioned to where I thought the decimated building was. “Please. I want to help you! The world is a dangerous place for you, child. I can take you away from here. You’ll be where you belong...” I coughed violently. It felt like sawdust had coated my esophagus. I waited for a response.
Nothing, except the roaring of the wind.
I thought of all the child had been through, and the ‘angels’ that killed his parents. The ‘angels’ that set off his shell shock and made him go off the deep end. I felt sick. He had witnessed it, didn’t he? His parents death. “Your fathers would have wanted you to be safe...” I said, closing my eyes.
Then, everything stopped as suddenly as it had began.
But the roaring winds had been replaced by a looming cold that was just as bad. I shivered and opened my eyes just a crack, and saw flecks of white dancing across my vision. Ah, a trick of the light. The dust must’ve done some damage to my retinas. Because we were in Shantou, where the lowest temperature reached around 50 degrees fahrenheit. It didn’t, no, it couldn’t snow here.
“Shenme ta ma da...?” I heard Yen Chong say.
Oh my gods. It was snowing.