Warning!: Gore content up ahead! I just wanted to point this out so nobody would be surprised. But I don't think it's gory enough though. But anyway, thanks for reading! On to the chapter!

...

Chapter 6

The cold and gentle wind of early Wednesday morning breezed by Paul. The morning gust pushed past his purple locks and sunlight playfully tapped his skin. He was staying on the rooftop of the apartment complex meditating for what it seemed to be more than an hour already. He was wearing a white sleeveless shirt and black shorts.

He decided for himself to do this every morning in attempt to control his curse. He knew better now. All those that adopted him that died were his entire fault. He was an immature crybaby for believing otherwise.

He really was a killing machine. He was living a lie and there was no other way around it than to believe it. And control it if possible.

If only he was able to accept that ugly truth sooner he would have avoided many unfortunate events which only fueled his nightmares.

Things could have been different now.

He now viewed his thirst for family as something trivial and unneeded. He was never going to have such a thing.

Not to a monster that makes killing as easy as counting one to ten. He had to at least control it.

He surely knew better now. Happiness was never something you'd wish for. It's something you'd work hard for. And sometimes people just aren't meant to be happy, but just to be contented. Paul was one of them, to be content with loneliness. For him, seeing the people he cared about in safe hands was all the reason he needed to live.

He made the right choice to leave his foster home. He was only being a burden to Sister Cheryl and her own happiness.

He slowly opened his eyes and stood up.

By his far right, he saw a young plant sapling in a pot placed at the edge of the complex. It basked in raw sunlight. Surprisingly, the more he looked at it the less healthy it seemed to get. Slowly, its leaves went pale and brown and they fell one by one. It wilted as if the soil had absorbed it.

In less than a minute, what was left was an unrecognizable carcass of a sapling.

By the reflection of himself on a water tank in front of him, he could vividly see his own right crimson iris.

He cussed.

Even though it was just his second time seeing his eye red, it still gave him that implausible feeling. He placed a hand over his eye. He was tempted to pull it out and maybe it might remove his curse.

But he knew it wouldn't, for he had tried it already.

Was everything futile?

...

"I need to talk to you." Kenny started.

"Save it." Paul interrupted. "I will be leaving."

The moment Paul saw Kenny by the door, by the hard look of his eyes barring the fear behind it, he immediately knew he wanted him to leave. But he didn't mind. It was logical for him to be afraid, just like everyone else.

They barely spent a second with each other.

He closed back the door and prepared his stuff.

Being pushed away and feared had always been his life. He had grown accustomed to those looks of anxiety and horror peering over him. He had grown accustomed to people walking silently on tiptoes wherever he was around.

And he despised that as much as he despised himself.

His old self would cry, his old self would plead for friendship, his old self would doubt about his existence. But he was now living for himself and for him to survive he have to kill his self, his self that longed for company and acceptance.

He had to cut off the last worn out string he had been holding on to his humanity.

As soon as he finished packing up his things, he went to the bathroom to wash his face.

What greeted him in the mirror as soon as he entered stunned him. He cautiously went near and examined himself. For seventeen long years, he finally saw the right iris of his eyes red.

His heart raced and his breathing deepened. Curiosity, rather than fear, slowly overwhelmed him.

"It really is true.." He muttered.

He wiped and cleared the mirror and took a closer look.

Suddenly his head started aching so bad. He grunted and held the sink for support. Memories started surfacing one by one.

Why am I assigned to this kid? Subject7 is the most dangerous of the seven! He could kill us in an instant!

Shut up! All seven of them are dangerous! Not a single one of them is less favorable than the other! All of them are capable of killing you in a single second. They're far more dangerous than any devils we've encountered. What did you expect of cursed half-bloods of the most powerful devil emperor?

Don't you think it's better this way Sister Cheryl? His presence would just destroy the celebration anyway.

I told you we should have never adopted that child! Look at his right eye! It's red! It's a manifestation of a devil! A monster!

Everyone is scared of me, I get that. Just leave me alone.

B-but, I-I'm a-a m-mons-monster! Mons-monsters do-don't become ha-happy.

He cursed. Every memory came crashing down on him all at once as if they've missed him.

"I really am a monster." He grunted.

He held on the sink tighter. His hands stumbled upon a cold metallic object. With his hazy vision he saw that it was a small pair of silver scissors.

"It's all because of this stupid eye, so maybe..." He huffed. "Just maybe..."

He took it by his hands and pointed it directly at his right eye. His hands shook in horrid anticipation. He glanced at himself in the mirror. The scissors in his hands glinted light like it glinted of hope.

"I'd rather go blind than have this despicable curse!"

He took a deep breath as he plunged the object into the upper part of his eye socket. Pain he never felt before seared like hot coal. He snapped and let out a sharp cry. He chattered his teeth in agony. He fought a scream fighting its way up to his throat and killed it. If there was something else he placed more effort on other than not screaming, it was on how tight he held on the sink for support. His knuckles turned white. Any minute and he felt like he could destroy the thing under his grip.

Blood gushed forth from his eye and made a horrifying mess on the white bathroom tiles. It was like a fountain, dark red viscous fluid spilled on the sink and all over the mirror.

He could feel the steel and coldness of the scissor inside his socket. He didn't like it. As seconds grew into minutes, the foreign object slowly contaminated his socket with its coldness. With his shaky hand, he took hold of the handle once more and sunk the object deeper and levered the ball out. He heard it fall on the sink with a low splash like wet cloth.

Another sharp cry and he threw away the scissors somewhere beside him. His head swayed like it gained weight. He tried to block the injured eye with both of his hands. It was like stopping a running hose. Blood was already everywhere that he didn't need to see just how messy he had made out of himself as well as the whole interior of the room.

Paul consecutively wheezed and puffed. He clawed his hands in intense pain. His eye turned like vacuum sucking in every inch of his strength.

It was unbearable.The pain made him go insane.

His body staggered and he could feel his grip on the sink slowly slipping. His knees buckled under him.

His consciousness barely hung on.

He had loss too much blood and he was still losing blood. Maybe he had stabbed himself deeper than he thought.

He tried opening his shaky left eye but it was all blurry, but nonetheless he could still see how he splashed blood all over the place like it was his one huge canvass.

The world around him spun. Every part of his body seizured.

His grip finally gave way to his weight that he fell on the warm puddle of blood he made on the floor.

His breathing became raspy. He could barely feel his own heartbeat.

The last straw of his consciousness held on to a single question – was he going to die? He didn't know taking out an eye would be enough kill a person. The pain was unbelievable. Paul slowly blacked out no matter how much he didn't want to.

He wanted to see Sister Cheryl again.

The agony got the better of him as his consciousness drifted away.

...

Paul waved off his unwelcomed memory of yesterday and closed back his eyes. He woke up a few hours after that and was surprised to see that his eye was right back in its place. He couldn't believe it, it was as if that gruesome act he pulled was just a dream.

That day, he could still feel his right eye throbbing with pain. Everything was futile indeed. With his body still shaking from pain, he moved slowly and tried cleaning the mess he made the bathroom with.

The wind howled past his ears again. Paul breathed in air to calm his nerves down.

'What kind of a monster am I?'

Whatever this curse he have, it seemed connected to his inner thoughts and emotions. Controlling his emotions and thoughts became his top priority.

'I must overcome this..'

                                                                                                  ...

"Hey Dawn, it really makes me happy you know." Zoey said as they walked along the center quadrangle of the school.

"About what?" She asked.

"That you might be smarter than me at mostly anything, yet you're so helpless without me in Advance Algebra." Zoey laughed.

"Hey, hey! I'll get better at it!" Dawn debated. "You just watch!"

"Oh sure, it's not like I haven't heard you say that before, pffft."

"I really hate you sometime." Dawn sighed. "I sometime question myself if you're really my bestfriend, you know?"

Zoey playfully wrapped her arms around Dawn's waist. "At least I'm giving you my lessons for free. That's how much I love you!"

"Whatever you say." Dawn chuckled.

The dismissal bell rang a few minutes ago. Dawn and Zoey were already making their way toward the school gate.

"Oh Dawn sorry again! I completely forgot that Coach needed me to be at the gym this afternoon!" She recalled and started running back.

"You've been ditching me recently Zoey!" Dawn screamed.

"I'm really sorry! I still love you though! See ya tomorrow!" She turned around for a quick stop before sprinting to the gymnasium.

Dawn chuckled at Zoey's clumsiness and laxness. She found it comforting that they both have something in common.

'A monster, isn't it obvious?'

Dawn paused when she suddenly recalled Paul's statement yesterday, it howled inside her head.

"A monster.." She muttered. She wondered what Paul really meant by 'a monster'. She guessed that he must have meant devil, but she wasn't sure. She wanted to ask him more about it but it was hard trying to bring up that topic without being such a nosy annoying girl.

She looked ahead at the school gates and looked for Kenny. For some odd reason, he was still not around.

"He must still be on his way here." She guessed. "Since I still have time, I wonder if Professor Koga still in the faculty room."

Since it was no longer an option to ask Paul about the subject, she decided to just look for the answer herself.

She hurriedly went back and looked for her history teacher. Dawn ran up a few stairs and ran straight to the faculty room by the end of university's second floor left wing. She straightened herself up and knocked on the door a few times.

"Professor?" She called out a few times. When she didn't get an answer, she slowly opened the door. "Professor Koga? You still in here? There's something I need to ask you."

Dawn checked the time on her wrist watch.

4:50PM

It was still early, yet the faculty room was already empty. Dawn wondered why, it was highly unlikely for teachers to go home this early.

She was about to leave the room when flashing lights caught her attention. She turned her head around the farthest corner and saw an unfamiliar door . It wasn't her first time inside the faculty room but she have never seen that room. Even though it was quite far, Dawn could see red light flashing underneath the door. Her curiosity got the better of her and decided to enter the faculty. She silently closed the door and headed towards the room.

She tiptoed, despite knowing the consequence of her action, she still went on. She could hear faint noises and the nearer she got the noise became more apparent.

It was obvious that something was going on inside, perhaps a presentation or a report was undergoing.

She started getting anxious but her curiosity got the better of her.

She placed one ear on the door and listened. She closed her eyes and concentrated.

But her concentration soon got destroyed when she heard coughing behind her.

She gasped and immediately looked back.

"I'm sorry!" Dawn said in an instant. "I'm so sorry!" She repeatedly bowed her head. "Please forgive me! I will never do it again! I'm sorry!" Words of apology automatically came out of her like running water.

The person in front of her cleared her throat. "Do you know students are forbidden to enter the faculty room at this period of time?" The woman in glasses chastised.

"I'm really sorry!" Dawn looked at her with her most apologetic look. "I really am sorry."

"The dean wouldn't be pleased by this." She sighed with a heavy dejected tone.

"I really am sorry mam." Dawn kept on bowing her head.

"Anyway, what are you doing here? Do you have business here?" She asked right away and pushed her thick framed glasses up. "Are you looking for someone?"

"I was actually looking for Professor Koga." Dawn answered with an insignificant tone of voice.

"Please wait outside and I'll call him for you." She replied.

"Thank you." Dawn answered.

"I'll report you to the dean if this deed is done again." She walked past Dawn and went inside.

"I won't do it again. I'm sorry." Dawn bowed her head one more time and walked back outside the faculty room.

She sat down on one of the waiting benches outside the room. She palmed her face so hard.

"That was a close one. I almost got my self into trouble!" She cried out. "Why did I even do that?"

The door beside her opened and she saw her professor in his casual black khaki pants and polo.

"Miss Berlitz?" Koga cleared his throat. "Karen said you need me for something?"

"Karen?" Dawn asked.

"Karen Blake." Koga smiled. "She's the dean's secretary, you met her just now."

"Oh, miss Blake. She scared the crap out of me.."

"I agree with you. She's one hell of a scary lady." Koga chuckled. "Now, you were looking for me? Sorry you had to look for me, we were having a small meeting at the meeting room at the back."

"Oh, right.." Dawn regained posture. "Uh Professor, do you have any books or references about devils?"

"Oh, so you're interested now." Koga smiled a toothed grin. "Any reason?" Dawn knew she immediately piqued his interest.

"Just nothing.." Dawn darted her eyes away from him. "I'm just interested. I know we didn't have any proper lesson about it yet but I would just like to read about them in advance."

"I know you're the best person to look for."

"Oh really.." Koga gave himself another heartfelt chuckle. "That is good to hear. I do have something here, I'll give you one. Wait here and I'll get it for you."

Dawn smiled back at him and waited. It didn't take too long and Koga was back.

"This.." Koga gave her a thick purple notebook. "Inside this notebook is everything I've written, studied and recorded about devils. I would have given you a book but there are no published books yet about devils. This is yet to be the first one in history."

"Wow Professor. This is so cool!" Dawn looked at the object in her hands in awe. "Are you sure you'd want to give this to me? This seems very important to you."

"It's fine." Koga waved off his hand. "That is just a copy. Everything you need to know about devils is inside that notebook." He added. "I assure you."

"Anything else I could help you with? I need to be back before our meeting ends."

Dawn placed the notebook inside her shoulder bag. "Thank you for this Professor!" She waved at him and hopped down the flight of stairs. When she arrived by the school gates, Kenny was still nowhere to be seen. Dawn guessed that he must felt sick and just stayed at the apartment.

Dawn waited for a while before she decided to just went ahead to the pharmacy.

Dawn's shift went smoothly. There wasn't any problem with the costumers. All of them were very friendly and courteous. It would have been a perfect day if only Kenny visited her.

She found it odd and troubling, though she thought that he must really have gotten sick.

After her shift was done, she immediately raced back to the apartment to check on him. He knocked a few times on his door.

There was no answer.

"Kenny? You there?" Dawn called out. "Are you sick?"

"I'm here!" Kenny answered from the other side of the door. His raspy voice cracked.

"Hey you. You okay there?" Dawn replied worriedly.

"I'm okay Dawn." Dawn could tell that Kenny's voice was filled with weary. He sounded so sick. "Sorry I wasn't able to fetch you at school."

"No, no. It's okay." Dawn answered. "You sure you're okay? Do you feel sick? I can take care of you. Please let me in."

"No. Dawn." Kenny replied. "My cold and cough are terrible right now. I'm badly contagious. I just need a few days rest." Kenny coughed.

Dawn's smile faltered. "Okay.. If you insist. I'm just a text away though." Dawn held the door as if it was him. "Please do call me if you need anything. Okay?"

"Okay." Kenny replied. "Goodnight Dawn."

Dawn forced herself a smile. "Goodnight too Kenny. Hopefully you feel better soon."

Kenny didn't answer and Dawn went to her room at the upper floor.

She turned the knob of her door and went in. As usual, Paul was already asleep on the sofa. She closed back the door softly and took out the notebook Koga gave to her. She dropped her bag on the floor and sat on her study table just across the sofa where Paul slept.

She scanned through the first few pages. She never knew Koga would have such beautiful artistic handwriting, his italicized cursive writings were like from some ancient writings.

Her eyes scanned through a lot of words and sentences, they twirled inside her head and made her dizzy. She had expected it, but she was still speechless beyond belief. She gulped silently.

Devils are malicious creatures that seek human extinction. With superior strength and ability, they can easily kill any human without effort.

"Why am I assigned to this kid? Subject7 is the most dangerous of the seven! He could kill us in an instant!"

"And what's even weirder? No blood, no injuries, their mouths are foaming and their eyes, it's all white. This is too bizarre, like something overwhelmed them to death."

"Thi-this c-can't be... Yo-you ca-can't po-pos-possibly be re-real!"

Devils and humans are physiologically and anatomically alike. Except for one differentiating thing, Devils have hungry red eyes.

I told you we should have never adopted that child! Look at his right eye! It's red! It's a manifestation of a devil! A monster!

She felt fear traverse her body like electricity.

The more words she read on the notebook, the more proof surfaced about Paul's true identity.

"Could it be..."

Dawn looked back at Paul's sleeping figure.

"I.. I knew it. But, but.." She wanted to say it, she wanted to admit it. She was letting a devil, who might be responsible for a lot of casualties already, sleep inside her apartment room. She wanted to say it, but she couldn't find the courage nor the strength to admit it. "But..but."

'Do you really think that my eye is a beautiful?'

'Of course! Your eye is far more beautiful and precious than any gems I've seen. And do you know what makes it prettier than any gems?'

"I don't know.."

"It's because it's alive. And no one can steal it away from you, it's yours alone. They can only gaze at it in jealousy."

Dawn was pretty much sure already of what Paul really was. But the more she thought about it, the more she didn't want to believe it. A part of her didn't want that piece of truth about him and it baffled her just as much. She didn't know why.

Then realization beached over her. She quickly looked back at the notebook and scanned the first few pages of the notebook. "He can't just be a devil..." She flipped through one page after the other, her eyes scanned through as fast as laser sights. "He just can't be.."

"It's not written here. It's not here."

She slumped back on her seat and sighed. She closed back the notebook.

The notebook didn't have anything about devils having a peculiar scent about them.

"If it's not written here, then he might not be a devil."

She let out one lengthy exhale.

"Why do I feel so relieved though?"

Chapter 6 End: The Unwritten Kind