Open Wide (Story)

“Birde, get up! It’s time for your breakfast!” A voice rang up from downstairs, the sudden sound breaking the silence of a quiet atmosphere.
The day was warm; it was June after all, and a nice cool breeze was traveling through the open window of the small bedroom, making the curtains over the window move.
A bed was placed at the top right corner of the room, and in it was a figure that was buried under blankets, which didn’t move after the call.
“Birde! I won’t say it again!”
Movement came from under the covers, followed by a muffled yawn.
The sheets rose when someone sat up then dropped down, revealing a boy with ruffled hair that was sticking up every which way. “Huh?” He yawned a big yawn, stretching his arms above his head. The oversized nightshirt he was wearing slipped down one of his shoulders when he lowered his arms again. The shirt was a hand me down, so of course it didn’t fit him. He was…Short, to put it politely, for his age.
Birde got out of bed after kicking the covers off him, pulling his clothes on (which consisted of: Paint splattered jeans and a sports jersey despite the fact that he didn't watch sports), and throwing his pjamas aside then heading straight to his mirror to check how he looked.
He looked the same as he did when he went to bed; Plain feathery brown hair, brown eyes and a freckled face. He really wasn’t that special, he was quite boring in appearance, to be honest. Well, besides his hair that was always messy. Truth be told, he felt kind of self conscious about his hair.
Then, he opened his mouth.
Once he did, he pulled his bottom lip down to take a look at his teeth along the side of his mouth. His teeth looked normal, except for the fact that they all ended in slight points.
Birde felt perfectly happy with his teeth being how they were; but his father wasn’t. His father was a dentist who was obsessed with perfect teeth, so of course, this was like the worlds biggest tragedy to him that his son had pointy teeth.
It wasn’t like they were noticeably pointed – You actually had to really look to see the points. However, his father was set on sawing his teeth down to be even level once he was old enough.
The boy couldn’t really figure out why he was so upset at his teeth, considering he wasn’t even his real father. When Birde was about 12, he was told by his father that he was adopted. The story about his adoption was that his father wanted a child, so he went to the local orphanage that had been open at the time (it closed down when he was around 4). They informed him about a baby that had been dropped off only just the night before, and was only left with a little name tag that had said his name, his age and birthday - His name had been Birde MacAuley, he was 11 months old, and his birthday was November the 12th. Of course, when he was adopted, his last name was changed to ‘Williams’ like his fathers, so he was now Birde Williams. Personally, he thought his last name was stupid but he never said anything.
“Birde!”
“Coming!” Birde called back. He grabbed a brush from his dresser and combed it through his hair, then ran downstairs. Going straight to the kitchen, he found his father standing there dishing up pancakes with hashbrowns onto two plates along with strips of bacon.
“Hey there, birthday boy.” He said with a smile. “Did you sleep okay?”
Birthday boy? Oh – Right! Today was his birthday; He was turning 15.
“I slept alright.” Birde replied and sat himself at the kitchen table.
His father nodded and joined him at the table, sitting across from him. “So, since you're older now, I was thinking that you could help me with my dental work.” He said.
“What? Really?” The boy grinned in excitement, sitting up straighter. He had always bugged his father about working as his dental assistant, but he always told him 'when you're older'. They were a type of 'home dentistry' system, and had the dental office at the front of their house, while the back was their actual house.“I'm old enough now?”
“Old enough where you can at least hand me tools and observe.” His father replied with a chuckle.
Birde deflated at this and pouted, then sighed. “But when will I be old enough to actually work on peoples teeth?” He asked.
“It'll still be a bit; You're only 14.”
“15.” Birde corrected quickly. “And that means I'm almost 16!”
His father sighed and shook his head with a smile. “Yes, yes. One step at a time.”
Birde sighed to himself then put his cheek on his hand, giving up for now.
“Eat your breakfast before it gets cold.” His father said, already half done his own plate.
The brunette looked around the kitchen then started to eat his food, but just as he lifted the fork towards his mouth, the door bell rang.
His father paused and stood up. “You finish your breakfast and I'll be right back.” He said, then exited the kitchen. Once he left, there was a light rapping on the door and Birde looked up towards the back door, getting up and opening the door.
On the other side, was his friend of 10 years, Daniel. He always liked to tease him and call him 'Danielle' because he knew it bugged him. He was taller than him, obviously, a year older and he always wore a hat despite the weather being rain or shine. The kid was wearing this hat since he met him in grade one. Of course, at the time, the hat was too big for Daniel but he grew into it. Oddly enough, his friend had depression that had been diagnosed when he was only 12. But despite this, he was the happiest person Birde had ever seen. In fact, HE got more down than Daniel most of the time and HE would have to be the one to cheer him up.
“Hey,” He greeted with a smile. “I knew your dad probably was going to try to kidnap you today since it's your birthday, so I did the whole 'ding dong ditch' thing.” He said. “Wanna come hang out?”
“Oh, yeah!” Birde said with a grin. “Sure!”
He got out of his seat and raced outside with him, shutting the door behind them as quietly as he could without his dad hearing. The two boys made their way to the park and proceeded to sit on the swings beside each other, Birde swinging a bit and Daniel remaining still.
“How's your birthday so far?” Daniel asked. “You get any presents yet? Cause if you have, you gotta share them with me. We're friends so it's not optional.”
Birde laughed and stuck his tongue out at him. “No, silly. I haven't gotten any presents yet. I just woke up!”
“Dang, I was hoping you got something cool.” Daniel said with a sigh.
Birde swung a little higher, humming a cheery tune. After about an hour of talking about pointless things, the two started to head back down the sidewalk.
“I hope my dad isn't too peeved at me for not telling him I left.” Birde said with an awkward laugh.
“Awe come on, your dads like the best ever, I doubt that he'd get mad at you over that.” Daniel replied.
“Eheh...You don't know my dad.” Birde mumbled.
Daniel sighed and put his hands in his pockets, looking at the ground.
The brunette looked over at his friend with a concerned gaze held in his chocolate brown eyes. Lately, his friend had told him that his parents had been fighting more and more often, until all he heard at his house was yelling. Of course, this had been getting him worried.
“Well, my parents finally said they're getting a divorce, so that's happening.” Daniel said with a small shrug, putting his hands in his pockets.
Birde's eyebrows drew together in concern. “Really? Gee, I'm really sorry, Daniel.” He mumbled.
His friend shook his head and waved his hand to dismiss him. “It's alright, really...It's just a pain to sit there and see what stuff they're splitting in the house and who goes to who. Apparently I gotta decide which parent I want to see more. Denise already chose mom but I'm having a more tough time.” Denise was Daniel's older sister; Birde was never really fond of her, since all she did was nag and yell at the two since he first met her when he was 8.
Birde frowned at the mention of this and reached over, patting his taller friend's shoulder. “You know, if you ever wanna, you can just come over if you're feeling too stressed or something. I'm sure my dad won't mind.”
Daniel smiled a bit and shook his head. “I think I'll be okay; I don't want to bug you guys. But thanks for the offer, I'll keep it in mind.”
The two crossed the busy road of his neighborhood – Well, it wasn't busy NOW. It was still early in the morning, so no traffic was there. But during the afternoon, it was a surprisingly busy road and had a lot of cars.
Once on the other side, Birde suddenly heard a loud voice close to them. “THERE you two are!”
He cringed slightly at the voice. Oh great...Daniel's sister.
Denise, a girl who was THREE years older than Daniel (but still shorter than him), stood behind us with her arms crossed over her chest. “Daniel, mom wants you home, she said we're having guests over for dinner so you need to clean your room!”
“Come on, Denise, you don't gotta get on his case. I was the one who kept him out long, it wasn't his fault!” Birde protested, earning a glare from the girl.
“I wasn't talking to you, pip squeak!”
Birde pouted and crossed his arms with a huff.
Daniel sighed and looked at his sister. “I'll head home now, just leave Birde out of it.” He told her, then turned to his shorter friend. “Sorry dude, but I gotta get going.”
Birde nodded and gave him a hug. “Alright, I'll see you around!” He chimed with a smile.
Denise dragged her brother away down the opposite end of the sidewalk, and the boy waved.
“Bye Denise! Nice seeing you too!” He called teasingly, smiling innocently when the girl gave a groan of anger.
Birde turned around and went to walk, but suddenly he bumped into someone by accident, stumbling back a step and looking up at the person. The boy he had bumped into stared back at him with an almost grumpy expression, hood up over his head and hands in his pockets. He was tall and had bronze coloured skin. His eyes were dark and his hair was...Blue? He couldn't see the style too well, but the messy strands were sticking out from under the hood and getting in his face.
Birde tilted his head, staring at him and squinting a bit. Obviously, he had forgotten that staring was bad manners.
The guy gave a heavy, annoyed sigh and brushed past him, continuing on his way.
“Oh – Sorry!” Birde called after him, but the boy never stopped to even acknowledge that he had spoke.
He watched the strange boy walk away, then turned and continued his way down the sidewalk to go back home. He didn't know why, but he got a weird feeling off him. He looked over his shoulder and blinked when he saw a shadow seemed to be standing near the boy.
Birde quickened his pace and faced forward, quickly heading back home.
Once he got through the back door, he could hear drilling somewhere at the front of the house, so he knew that his dad was working on a client.
He slipped his sneakers off and walked to the front of the house, reaching a door to one of the rooms where the dental work was done and opening it, peeking in. The back of the dental chair was facing the door and he could see the figure of his father working some sort of drill tool, blood covering the floor. The person's arm was hanging limply over one of the arm rests, blood covering it.
“Hey, dad.” Birde said after a moment, stepping in and shutting the door behind him then going over to the chair and standing on the other side of it.
His father was wearing a surgical mask on and rubber gloves were on his hands, blood coated over them. Judging by how much blood there was, he had been going at it for awhile.
“Hm? Oh, hello Birde.” His father replied, only briefly glancing up from his work. “What do you think? Isn't it beautiful? She came to me with complaints about a painful cavity, so I gave her a nice filling and cleaned her teeth.”
Birde looked down at the woman in the chair. Her jaw had been broken to make more room for work, and her gums seemed to have been scraped clean off to reveal the bones of the teeth underneath. Despite the blood in her entire mouth, that had spread down her chin and onto her shirt in a thick stream, her teeth seemed pearly white. Judging by how her head was tilted to the side and her eyes werent blinking, she was dead.
“Yeah, dad, it's great.” Birde replied. “Listen, I'm sorry about wandering off this morning but Daniel wanted to hang out, and he's going through a really rough time so I wanted to cheer him up.” He explained.
“Hmm, it's alright son, just tell me next time. I nearly called the police looking for you.” His father said with a chuckle, raising a hand and patting his shoulder.
Birde glanced at his bloody shoulder and laughed a bit. “Daaad, you got blood on me.” He said.
“Oh, sorry about that. You might want to wash that off.” His father replied, then turned back to his 'work'. “I'll be done in a few minutes.”
“Okay.” Birde exited the room and shut the door, then went upstairs to his bedroom. He flopped onto his bed with a sigh and laid there for a moment, then got to his feet.
He went to pull his shirt off, but he happened to glance out the window, his gaze landing on a hooded figure that was running down the sidewalk.
Wait – Wasn't that the boy he saw from before? Where was he going?
Birde watched him run until he was out of view of his window, then shrugged his shoulders.

The silence of the night time had been broken by a loud ring, waking Birde from sleep.
He slowly sat up in his bed and rubbed his eyes, looking at the window. What time was it? It was still dark, so he guessed it was early.
Pushing the covers back, he trudged downstairs and picked up the phone. “Hello?” He said sleepily.
“Hey,” Daniel's voice said on the other end.
“Daniel?” Birde mumbled, his eyes squinted in the dark. “Why are you calling me? It's like...” He trailed off to rub his face.
“Three in the morning,” Daniel answered. “I know. But I just wanted to talk to you.”
“Talk to me? About what?” Birde asked.
“Why does there have to be a reason? Can't I talk with my best friend?” Daniel said. His voice seemed oddly cheery for the time of day it was.
“Uh – Yeah, yeah, you can...I'm just sleepy is all.” Birde mumbled and yawned.
“Oh.”
“What are you doing up this time of day?”
“Well, I was just thinking is all. And I figured that this whole divorce thing isn't as bad as it seems. I won't hear mom and dad fight anymore, and sis won't be annoyed by me anymore if she's with mom and I'm not.”
Birde blinked and leaned a bit against the wall. “Really?” He said and smiled. “I'm glad that you're looking on the bright side of things, then.”
“Yeah.” Daniel paused on the other line for a moment. “I gotta go, I think my parents are up. Goodbye Birde.” He said.
Birde tilted his head to the side in confusion. “Goodbye? Why not just 'goodnight'?” He said with a small laugh.
“Oh – Yeah...Goodnight Birde.”
“Goodnight Danielle.” Birde giggled. The line on the other end went flat and he hung up his own phone, stretching his arms with a yawn as he headed back upstairs to go to bed. “That Daniel's always doing weird things.” He said to himself.

It had been a few days past, and Birde hadn't seen any sign of his friend. He hadn't dropped by as usual, and hadn't even called. He had tried to call HIS house a few times, but nobody picked up.
'I guess this fight really took a toll on his folks...' The boy thought as he hung up the phone with a sigh.
“Dad, I'm going out!” He called. When there was no reply, he sighed and grabbed a note pad from the table, writing down that he would be gone.
The weather outside was strangely cold for June, and the sky was grey and cloudy like it was going to rain, so he wore a jacket.
He exited his house and walked down the sidewalk, heading for the park to go hang out. He didn't really like people, because they always thought he was a little kid when he went to stores, and the old people always wanted to give him candy and pinch his cheeks. Well, he guessed getting candy wasn't SO bad, but the cheek pinching he could do without.
As he was nearing the busy traffic area, his gaze caught someone standing on the cross walk. Right away he saw the hat, and realized it was his best friend.
Daniel didn't appear to notice him, but as he started to get closer, he could see that his appeared to be crying (or so it seemed).
Birde blinked his brown eyes and frowned in concern. “Danielle?” He called, hoping to get his attention with the nick name.
He started to get worried when he didn't reply. He was sure that he had yelled loud enough.
“Daniel?” He called again, this time using his name.
His friend turned his head and looked at him, tears on his cheeks and the only way to describe the look on his face was...Broken.
Daniel mumbled something that was barely heard over the traffic, then faced forward again and lifted his leg.
Birde started to quicken his pace, now running towards his friend, but he felt his heart stop at the words that were mumbled; “I'm sorry.”
His brown eyes widened when his friend suddenly stepped off the curb into traffic.
“DANIEL!” He screamed.
The echo of his voice was muffled by the loud screeching of tires, honking of horns and the sound of something hard hitting the car.
Daniel's body was hit by a speeding car that hadn't slowed down or even stopped after the hit, his head having smashed into the wind shield and cracking the glass with fractures spreading across the windshield.
His body flew back from the impact and skidded across the ground before tumbling to a stop in the middle of the road. There was a huge splatter of blood on the front of the cars window, and a trail of the red liquid had spread across the road that led up to the boys body, a puddle of it already forming under his head.
Birde was frozen in place on the sidewalk, only able to stare at the entire thing. His body was shaking violently and the wetness of tears glazed over his wide eyes, escaping his eyes and streaming down his cheeks.
“D-D..an..ielle...?” He said shakily, voice barely above a whisper. He rose a hand as if to reach for his friend, who was lying motionless on the ground. “D-D...” His choked on his crying and quickly ran over to his friend, dropping to his knees beside him.
“D-Danielle, c-come on. G-Get up.” Birde said, shaking him, tears still going down his face. “H-Ha ha, you got me, y-you probably are m-mad at me because of the nick name, r-right?”
Daniel wasn't responding to his shakes, his body limp and eyes closed. The hat on his head was bloody, and it had gotten on his face. There were gashes on his arms and his clothes were also stained with the crimson liquid.
Birde frowned slightly when he didn't reply. “C-Come on, I'm s-serious.” He stopped shaking him and stared at him for a moment then teared up more, if that was even possible, shoulders shaking.
“D-DANIEL!” He cried.
He lifted his friends body up and hugged him tight, getting blood on him in the process. He rocked both of them, face buried in the bloody shoulder that muffled his crying.

Daniel's funeral had been a formal one, his family had all been there and even both his mom and dad in the same room. For once, Denise wasn't giving Birde glares. In fact, he was the one she hugged when she broke down crying.
Birde watched the dirt being piled on the casket, his father putting a gentle hand on his shoulder.
“You ready to go, son?” He asked in a gentle tone.
Birde frowned, his saddened eyes unmoving from the casket before him. “...Yeah.” He mumbled.
He turned to leave with his father, but he was stopped by Daniel's father.
“Birde...” He started. “I...Daniel would have...Wanted you to have this.” He held up the hat to the smaller boy, tears in his eyes but not escaping them. He looked tired.
Birde looked down at the hat. For something that had once been bloody, it was perfectly clean and it was as if it never happened.
The brunette reached up and took the hat from him. “Thanks...” He mumbled.
Daniel's father gave his shoulder a firm but gentle pat, taking a deep breath and walking over to join his family.
Birde's father led him to the car, opening the door for him then shutting it once he was inside.
The freckled face boy looked down at the hat he was holding, then pulled it onto his head, sitting back in his seat and looking out the window.

It had been about a month after the funeral, and during that time, Birde had fallen into a great spell of depression. After all, seeing your closest friend die wasn't exactly a good thing.
During this time, his father suggested he find an activity to do to distract himself from his thoughts, so Birde decided to make a mask out of paper mache. It wasn't anything special; It was a plain white mask with large black eyes and a huge, cheshire-like smile with a mouth full of jagged sharp teeth.
He had it sitting on his desk and would sometimes wear it, but he didn't really have a use for it. In addition, he had also made two hand held objects. One looked like a large dental probe tool (but instead of having a thin hook it had a garden scythe blade. The other appeared to be modeled after a tooth carving tool, with the blade of a garden machete.
He always wore Daniel's hat, since it was the closest thing he had left of him. Also, it helped hide his messy, feathery hair.
The brunette either spent his time in his room, helping his dad, or staying at the park for hours on end.
Birde made his way to the park, gaze on the ground and face neutral expressioned.
Once near the park, he began to hear a conversation that went on, and looked towards the voices.
“Hey girly boy, what are you doing?”
“Looks like he's reading his stupid book on freaks like him.”
He could see that someone in a hoodie was sitting on the climber, book in his hands. He recognized the blue hair sticking out immediately, and knew it was the boy he saw from before.
There were four people there, three boys and one girl.
“Why don't you hang out with your twin and your mom? Oh right, they left your girly ass!” One laughed.
Birde frowned at what they were saying, now just walking into the park.
The girl sat beside Jack and put her arm around his shoulders. “Oh c'mon guys. He's not that girly,
I would date him...If I was gay!” She laughed.
The four of them laughed, and the boy they were picking on just sat there and took it.
This seemed to anger Birde more than anything else. Why wasn't the boy standing up for himself? How could he just take that sitting down – Literally?
In the next second, they pulled the boy off the climber and began to hit and kick him.
Birde quickly ran over and pushed them away. “HEY!” He yelled. “Knock it off!”
“Who the hell are you?” One boy said annoyed, straightening his shirt.
“Oh look, another girly boy!” Another laughed. “How old are you? Like 12? What are you gonna do, tell your MOMMY on us?” He sneered.
“For your INFORMATION, pencil dick, I don't HAVE a mom!” Birde snapped and he suddenly kicked his heel hard into the boys crotch, sending him falling down with a yelp.
“Why you little shit!” Another boy growled. He went to grab Birde, but he ducked out of his way due to his height advantage and punched him hard in the gut then kicked him in the side, using the toe of his sneaker to throw him over to the ground.
He looked up with an angry gaze to the remaining three, and the two boys backed up.
“Oh shit, we don't want any trouble.” One said quickly and ran out of the park. The second boy quickly pulled the other two who were lying on the ground to their feet and dragged them out of the park, the girl quickly following along behind them.
“And don't come back, you idiots!” Birde yelled after them.
He turned to look at the boy, who was now sitting up on the ground, looking at Birde.
“Hey again,” Birde said with a small laugh. “Fancy meeting you here! Need a hand?” He asked, holding his hand out to him.
The boy looked at his hand for a moment, then took it and got to his feet.
“You okay? They were real jerks.” Birde said, looking up at the tall boy.
The blue haired male simply nodded his head, then took his place back on the climber, opening his book to read again.
Birde climbed onto the climber beside him and looked over at him. “Watcha reading?” He asked.
The boy looked at him from the corner of his eye, then moved the book over slightly so he could see.
“Oh, that's neat.” Bride said, tilting his head to see better. “I think I've seen those guys before, but they give me the creeps.” He laughed a little and sat on the climber.
After a moment of silence and watching the other boy read, Birde kicked his feet a bit, lightly banging them on the climber. He had a habit of having difficulty sitting still.
“What's your name?” He asked. When he got no reply, he leaned towards the other male. “Come ooooon~” He said playfully. “I'll tell you mine if you tell me yours. Your name can't be as worse as mine.”
“...Jack.” The boy mumbled after a minute, not looking up from his book.
“Jack? Cool name! Mine's Birde. Yeah, like a bird, but spelt with an 'e' at the end.” Birde said. “My parents named me weird.”
Jack seemed to muffle a slight laugh and Birde blushed. “Don't laugh at me!” He whined.
His laughter died down, and Birde sighed in relief. The two sat in silence for a moment, then Birde reached up and pulled his hat off, feathery hair exposed.
“...Pffft,”
The brunette froze and looked over at Jack, his face turning a bright red when he saw that he was laughing at him. “W-What?” He stammered.
Jack rose his hand and pointed at his hair, other hand over his mouth.
Birde groaned and pulled his hat on again so it covered his face and head. “I can't control my hair!” He complained.
He stood up on the climber and climbed a little farther up, looking down at the other boy. Judging by the silence, he wasn't much of talker, or maybe even used to dealing with people.
Not noticing Jack glance at him from the corner of his eye, he hung upside down on the climber.
“Hey, wanna be friends?” He asked with a smile.
The blue haired male looked at him like he had grown two heads, then quickly looked back at his book, muttering a begrudging 'sure'.
Birde grinned and pulled himself up. “Great! You don't mind if we share the park from now on do ya? I won't bug you while you're reading, I'll go play somewhere else.” He said, not realizing that he was already disturbing him while he was reading.
Once Jack nodded again, he smiled and slid from the climber. “Say no more!” He said then stretched his arms. “I gotta get home or my dad will be worried, he doesn't want me out of his sight for too long. See ya!” He waved then ran out of the park, heading back to his house.
During over the course of a month, the two met up in the park to hang out, or even went outside the park and did things together. Of course, Birde had to drag Jack around, but he noticed that after awhile the taller boy would talk more often and seem to smile. For the first time in awhile, he had forgotten about Daniel and if he did remember him, he wasn't really that sad anymore since all he remembered were the good times with him.
But for some reason, recently Jack hadn't shown up for the past week at the park. Had he done something that made him upset? He didn't THINK he did.
Birde sighed to himself as he sat on the climber at 8:00 at night where he had been waiting all day, elbows on his knees and chin in his hands, waiting for his friend to come. He had been getting worried since the last time he hadn't heard from a friend in awhile, they ended up getting hit by a car.
He slid off the climber and put his hands in his pockets, walking back to his house.
Once there, he heard the all familiar sound of the drill of his fathers dentist tool. But for some reason, he heard...Screaming?
The boy made his way down the hall and into the front of the house where his father was, opening the door. “Dad?” The room was completely clean, so that must have meant that he was about to start.
His father paused and looked up from what he was about to do. “Oh, hello son.”
“Why are they yelling?” Birde asked.
“Well, I haven't really done anything yet or put them under.” His father replied.
Birde walked into the room and over to the chair. “Well-” He froze dead when he realized who it was.
There in the chair was Denise, staring at him with wide and teary eyes, face already soaked with tears, a cheek compressor in her mouth to keep her mouth open.
“Dad!” Birde cried. “What are you doing with Denise?!”
“Well, she signed up for a late appointment-” His father started.
“Dad, NO!” Birde exclaimed, waving his arms. “We can't just do this with Daniel's sister! Even though she can be a jerk, she's their only kid left!”
“But I can't let her go now, she'll run off and tell everyone.” His father huffed and crossed his arms.
“Daaad, please?” Birde begged, grabbing his father's arm and looking up at him. “I promise she won't go and tell anyone!”
After a moment of thinking, the man sighed. “Alright, if you're sure she won't.”
Birde nodded quickly. “She won't! Right Denise?” He looked at her.
The sniffling girl nodded her head rapidly, a string of muffled noises coming from her.
His father took the compressor out of her mouth then undid the straps on the chair, Denise jumping to her feet and quickly running out of the door, the sound of the front door opening then shutting.
Birde sighed and shook his head, looking at his dad. “I'm gonna go to bed, I'm pretty tired.” He said.
“Where were you all day, anyway?” His father asked. “You've been gone since 12 this afternoon.”
“Nothing, I was just waiting for someone.” Birde replied and quickly ran upstairs, ignoring his fathers yelling at him to stop.
“Sorry dad, can't hear you!” He called from upstairs, shutting his door.

Everything was black and completely silent, till a flash of red and blue lights broke through the blackness. Birde's eyes slowly opened and he sat up, squinting at the light and holding a hand over his face. What was with those police lights? He was trying to – Police lights?!
He quickly threw his covers back and got out of bed, running to the window and looking out between his blinds. In the driveway was at least five police cars, and men in uniform were getting out of their cars.
“Crap!” Birde whispered. Denise must have told the cops when they let her go.
He quickly slipped on a green and red hoodie (a hand me down from his older and much heftier cousin), and pulled on ripped skinny jeans, hopping across his floor and nearly falling over.
The boy ran down the hall to his dads room and pounded on the door. “Dad!” He yelled. “Dad, get up!”
The door opened and his father looked at him tiredly. “What is it?” He asked.
“The police are outside!” Birde cried. “Denise must have told them!”
The statement seemed to wake his father up and he disappeared into his room thenquickly stepped out into the hall despite being only in a t-shirt and pants for sleeping. “Stay upstairs.” He ordered, going down the stairs.
“But – Dad!” Birde frowned and ran to the rail, looking over it. He heard his father go to the door, but he couldn't really see what was going on.
He quickly but quietly snuck down the stairs and stopped at the corner, hiding in the dark and peeking around the corner.
His father opened the door and stepped outside, saying something but it was cut off with two loud bangs that made Birde flinch.
He fell back inside and quickly shut the door, holding his leg and hissing in pain.
“Dad!” Birde quickly ran to his side and knelt beside him. “What happened?!” His gaze landed on his fathers leg that had blood on his knee, hole in the material of his pants and his chest was also bloody.
He frowned and quickly got up and locked the door, greatful that their doors didn't have windows, so it could hold the police back for a bit if they tried to get in that way.
“Birde, come help me up.” His father said, barely heard over the police shouting outside, banging coming from the door behind them. “OPEN UP!” A voice bellowed.
Birde quickly went over to his dad and grabbed him under the arms, grunting as he pulled him to his feet and put his arm around his shoulders. The two went to the back of the house and Birde let go of his father so he could rest against the wall on the floor.
“What do we do?!” He looked up at his father in panic.
His father held his chest and sighed. “I suppose the only thing left is to let them take me in.” He mumbled. “All I did was help people, do I really deserve to be taken in for that reason?”
Birde frowned and knelt in front of him. “No way am I letting that happen! I won't let them take you away.” He said, though he was starting to become more panicked as he heard the repeated bangs against the door from the attempts to kick it down.
The boy's father was silent for a moment, then sighed. “You're right-” He paused at the pain in his chest. “They can't take me this way.”
Birde was looking towards the bangs that were coming from the end of the house and when he looked back at his father, he froze when he saw him holding a gun out towards him.
“Here.”
“Wh..What do you want me to do with that?” Birde said nervously, standing up.
“I can't let them take me to jail. Your old man wouldn't survive in that place.” His father smiled painfully and held it out more with his bloody hand. “Please Birde, you need to do this for me.”
“Are you saying you want me to...” Birde trailed off, eyes starting to get misty with tears. “D-Dad, we can hide! I-It doesn't have-”
“Yes, it does. I wish there was another way...Y-You can cover your eyes if you need to, son.” His father reached out slowly and grabbed his small hand, putting the gun in it and placing his other hand over it so both of his hands were holding onto the handle. “I'd rather...B-Be saved by my own son..Than be taken away by them.” He stated, lowering his arms.
Birde's eyes welled with tears and he breathed shakily, end of the gun aimed at his father.
His father offered him a smile, one hand clasped over his bloody chest. “Y-You can do it.”
Birde was nearly sobbing uncontrollably though he tried to hold it back. “D-Dad...” He whined, but didn't lower the gun. “I-I...” He squeezed his eyes shut in an attempt to force his tears back, but once he opened them again more tears just spilled out his brown eyes and down his cheeks.
“W-We..H-Had a good run, d-dad..” He said with a smile through his crying.
His father chuckled, though it sounded more like a small wheeze, his body half sunk down the wall.
“W-We did...I love you, son.”
“...I-I L-Love you too, dad...”
A loud bang erupted through the air, temporarily silencing the banging from the door.
Birde watched as his fathers body slide onto the floor, leaving a splatter of blood on the wall behind him, a hole now in the center of his forehead.
His arms kept the gun raised as if he was still aiming at something, then they shook more and more violently until he dropped the gun.
The boy fell back onto his bottom, choking on his crying and wiping his sleeve over his eyes.
He looked up at the sound of the banging that had resumed from outside and he frowned, quickly getting to his feet and running up the stairs to his room.
Birde grabbed a bag and quickly started to pack clothes inside, planning to run away before he could get taken away, himself. He got to his desk and paused, gaze landing on the mask he had made along with the weapons.
Suddenly, a feeling of rage began to fill him, his eyes slowly growing darker and angrier as the tears stopped falling.
Why was HE running?
THEY were the one's who had hurt his father. THEY were the one's who were going to ruin their lives.
Why should HE be the one to pay for this?
Why couldn't they.

The front door burst open, and three men ran inside with their guns drawn.
“Alright, find the kid and the dad!” One barked. “Take the father straight to holding and we'll figure out what to do with the boy!”
“Uh, sir? That's going to be a problem.” Another officer said.
“What? Why?” The first one hissed, following the sound of his voice. He walked into the back of the house and stopped, seeing the mans dead body on the ground. “Shit...” He breathed. “Don't tell me he killed himself!”
“Where's the kid?”
“Probably hiding. Go search the house!”
“Right.” Two went up the stairs, keeping their guns drawn, listening for any sounds.
There was a small scurrying sound and they quickly looked opposite directions.
“What was that-” The first officer started, looking at his partner. Right as he looked at him, his throat was suddenly slit nearly in half, blood gushing from the cut and splattering onto his face.
“HOLY SHIT-” He nearly dropped his gun but quickly whipped the flashlight on his belt out, turning it on and shining it in front of him.
In front of him stood a small figure in a green hoodie, mask over their face and hat on their head. The mask they had on nearly sent shivers down his spine; It was a pure white colour, with pitch black eyes and a wide grin filled with jagged teeth. In their hands were two weapons, one with a hook and the other with a blade.
Was this the 'kid' that his chief had mentioned?
“Kid, put the weapons down.” He said quickly. “I'm not going to hurt you, so just put them down and we'll talk, okay?”
The next moment seemed to happen quickly and suddenly the kid was in front of him, his hand that was holding the gun getting sliced clean off. He screamed in pain but was taken off guard when his throat was suddenly slit, cutting his crying short and his body was pushed over the railing.
The chief was moving his flashlight around to see in the dark, trying to find a light switch of some sort but also trying to find the missing kid that was hiding. He passed under the stairs but jumped when suddenly there was a thud from behind him. Quickly spinning around, his flash light beam landed on the body of one of the officers, whose throat was slit clean in half and his hand was cut off.
“Lord Jes-” He heard another noise up above and shone his flashlight up, spotting a masked figure up above who was looking over the railing. “HEY!” He yelled.
The figure ducked away from the beam, their footsteps heard running above him.
The chief quickly ran up the stairs and once up there, drew his gun again. “COME OUT WITH YOUR HANDS UP!” He barked, but of course got no answer.
Slowly, he began to go down the hall, following the sound of rustling to a room at the end of the hall. He nudged the door open with his arm and quickly stepped in, gun pointed forwards and looking around the room. It was...Empty.
The door slowly creaked behind him and he spun around, gaze landing on the masked figure from before. He quickly shot his gun, but the person had nearly incredible reflexes and moved out of the way. In the next second he felt something hard it the back of his head, which sent his mind spinning and made him fall forward.
The masked figure stood above him with one of their weapons raised by the handle end, which they had used to hit him with, black eyes staring down at him. They kicked his gun away that he had dropped.
The chief moved fast and grabbed their leg, yanking them down to the floor and pinning them down.
The figure squirmed under him with a growl then suddenly fell still.
The chief watched them cautiously and went to reach for his gun. Just as his hand closed around his gun, sharp pain suddenly burst through his hand and he yelped.
Looking at his hand, he saw that it had been stabbed clean through and there was now a large hole in his palm, blood streaming down.
He drew his gun to himself and shot at where the figure had been under him, only to find that they weren't even there anymore.
The chief quickly turned his head, only to have ended up getting a blade lodged into his eye and back into his skull. His body slid back and landed on the floor, motionless.
Birde looked down at the body of the chief, hands bloody as well as a little bit of his mask.
He just stared at him for a moment then turned and headed out of his room, cutting into the kitchen once downstairs and going out the back door.
Once outside he took off in a sprint, racing through his backyard, heading to the only safe place he knew; the forest.
After awhile of running he finally got to the forest, and continued to run until he was God knows how deep into it.
Birde stopped at a tree and put his hand on it, catching his breath. He reached up and slid his mask onto his head to get more air.
After a moment, his eyes welled with tears again and he fell to his knees on the ground, starting to cry all over again.
His best friend was dead, his dad was dead, his new friend was nowhere to be seen and probably dead too. He was all alone.
A firm but light hand fell on his shoulder and Birde choked down his crying a bit, sniffling and slowly looking over his shoulder and up at the figure standing over him.
Jack was watching him with a blank expression, but his eyes seemed to hold worry, as if not knowing what to do when he was crying.
“J-..J-Jack...” Birde cried, wiping his bloody hands on his cheeks to wipe tears away, smearing blood across his skin.
Jack sighed then frowned and pulled Birde to his feet.
Birde suddenly hugged him tight, face buried and crying muffled by his chest.
Jack froze when he hugged him, looking around awkwardly then patting his back.
“S-Sorry, I-I just...I-I thought something happened to you t-too.” The boy said, letting him go and sniffling.
Jack looked at him then reached out and grabbed his hand. “Come.” He said simply, pulling him after him.
Birde followed at the tug, looking around them as the forest got darker the deeper they were heading. He frowned and tightened his grip on Jack's hand, not liking the dark, looking at Jack's shadowed figure.
“W-Where are we going?”
“You'll see.”
“I-Is it scary?”
“Donno.”
“W-What? B-But what if-”
“Shhh.”
“But-”
“Trust me.”
“...Okay.”
The two continued into the forest, their silhouettes slowly becoming consumed by the dark and soon there was just silence. The stars shone brightly in the sky, and the sound of night time bugs and animals could be heard through out the forest.
It was almost odd that that night could have been that peaceful.