Red-Blooded

Embri spit at the foot of the person in front of him, flashing his most challenging smile despite the brutal taste of metallic left on his tongue. The chains that pulled his arms back and strained his shoulders were harsh against his wrists. Had he not been forced to his knees with the blunt ends of the guards’ swords, there would have been no way in hell he’d look up to the Asterian in front of him.

“I always knew that mutts were stubborn creatures,” the dark-haired man commented casually, as if he hadn’t spent the last hour beating Embri within an inch of his life, “but you are particularly hard to break.”

The laugh that Embri wanted to release came out in the form of a cough as he tried to focus on taking deep breaths. While Asterians were known for their brutality and utilitarianism, seeing the blaze of enjoyment burning in his tormentor’s eyes was still disturbing.

“Maybe,” Embri huffed with short breaths, “you just suck at people skills.”

The slight twinge of a smile that appeared on the Asterian’s face only lasted for a moment before he was sending a kick straight into Embri’s stomach. The air left him and he hunched over as much as he could without dislocating one of his already-tenuous shoulders.

“Look at that people, he’s got jokes.” The Asterian’s comment seemed as if it had been meant for a broadcast, but, there was only him, a stoic guard, and Embri, who was busy trying to manage the raging headache that was making itself known. “You’re funny kid, but I don’t care to entertain you much longer. Where is the heart?”

Ah, the heart, Embri thought in bitter amusement.

Embri knew why he was being tortured and at the same time had no clue. Asterians were known to believe that they were somehow of higher importance than everyone else. Hell, they had called themselves Asterians because they thought they were just one step closer to God and the heavens. When humanity was infected by skios, a demon disease that corrupted the genetic code of mankind, there were those who clung to the idea of “pure humans.” Despite the fact that within three months, humanity was no longer mankind and resembled the creatures we had imagined in fantasies, Asterians struggled to reverse the effects of skios. So much so that they kidnapped, experimented, and even cleansed (as they called it) thousands of people.

However, aside from Embri’s basic understanding of the Asterian people, he could not understand why they had to take him. His grandfather had told him the stories of the “Heart of Mankind,” a silver heart-shaped locket that supposedly held within it the last drop of uncorrupted human DNA. As a kid, he’d dreamed about finding the locket and using it to save humanity. However, growing up in a world that was turned on its head irreversibly meant abandoning childhood dreams to survive. Embri didn’t believe in the locket. Moreover, he didn’t care if the “Heart of Mankind” was real. All that mattered was that he had food on the table and a roof over his head.

At least, that is all that mattered until he stumbled upon the cursed item in an undeserved stroke of bad luck.

“I won’t ask again,” the Asterian snapped, his anger beginning to simmer as Embri actively ignored him. “Where. Is. The. Heart?”

Embri sighed. Hundreds of thousands had died because of the heart. Asterians, crazed scientists, religious groups: everyone thought that maybe--just maybe--the heart could create their version of utopia. Purity, perfect anatomy, righteousness and salvation: everyone had some reason to chase the heart. However, in their grapple for utopia, sacrifices had to be made. War, battle, and conflict were the necessary evil that had to be exchanged for a chance at holding the heart.

So many people were categorized as expendable just for Embri to acquire it by chance.

“If you think that I won’t--”

“Tell me, do you have any actual plans to save the world, or are you all so obsessed with self-hatred that you can’t accept that you’re just like everyone else?” Embri interrupted, feeling both annoyed and enraged at the Asterian’s obsession with a piece of jewelry. Rather than a simple response, a backhand to the cheek was what Embri got in return.

“You would never understand!” The tormentor exclaimed in what felt like desperation. “We continue to reject the demon curse because we are the chosen holy ones. We are the ones that will save mankind from this disgusting diseased existence.” As much as the man tried to sound confident, Embri knew the sound of hopelessness when he heard it.

“And murdering innocent people is your way of holiness? What did they do besides exist?!” The painful rage within Embri’s heart boiled in his lungs and scratched at his throat as his voice croaked in anger.

The Asterian sniffed. “Their sin was accepting skios as nature.”

Thoughts of family and friends that had died because of the desperate attempt for perfection by different groups flashing through Embri’s mind. It felt as if his sanity was on the brink of breaking as a bitter laugh left his lips. His eyes widened in amusement and he stared at the Asterian with a resentment burrowed so deep in his body that it embraced his soul.

“Right. Learning to live with the circumstances we are born in is a sin. A vile one that means we should die. I get it now. That’s why you people killed my two year-old sister. How dare she have the audacity to breathe while infected, right?”

Before the Asterian could attempt a pompous response, Embri jerked his head towards the jacket that was strewn haphazardly onto the floor just feet away.

“You want the locket? It’s in the right inside pocket. I looked inside already. Why don’t you take a look at the precious heart you worship so much.”

At Embri’s words, the Asterian scrambled to the jacket and practically ripped it apart trying to find the necklace. Emrbi allowed his head to hang down as he couldn’t stop the fed up laugh that forced itself out of his lungs. The tears that burned his eyes contradicted the sounds echoing in the room, but there was nothing else he could do. There was nothing left; nothing for him to fight for, nothing for him to protect.

The soft click of the locket was followed by a shocked silence. The necklace was dropped to the floor and the Asterian began to mutter.

“I… I don’t understand… what… what is this…”

There was nothing left for Embri, and there was nothing in the locket.