Chapter 44

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The town of Hillfar is a snowy small community in the middle of nowhere with a population of less than a few hundred. Due to being in spacious snowy terrain with trees far from the place, it is comprised of many large buildings and houses that are connected by long roads and walkways. The main roads are lined with shops, restaurants, small hotels, towering church, and other establishments. It is also home to various festivals and celebrations.

To their surprise, no mutants or non-humans are sighted in this peaceful little town, where the locals lead happy lives together as family or friends. All is well, but little did they know that they were going to have a visitor come to their beloved community—a person that isn't human by nature.

Walking through the busy roads with staring gazes around them are three men: Adam, Cain, and lastly, the blue humanoid creature who goes by the name Vesh, resulting in all the spectators specifically looking at the supposed mutant who has entered their home without any notice at all. with the looks of many mixed emotions apparent on their faces.

Adam's companions tried not to mind their long, uneasy stares as they traversed throughout the town while trying their best to ignore their judging expressions, only keeping their focus on reaching their destination in order to find a shop to buy the materials needed for them to fix the ship. Even so, they were also careful with how they acted or moved when outsiders like themselves would appear out of nowhere in their lives and make dangerous assumptions about them.

It is a sad fact that humans are willing to find excuses for hating things they do not understand or are unfamiliar with, which could easily result in discrimination or even murder, such as being labeled a threat for being dangerous without understanding how the individual got themselves into the situation. Life could be very simple if only humans didn't discriminate against each other so easily.

After making several turns around the main roads, crows were flying overhead in the air, causing them to scatter across the skies and the clouds, causing him to look up for a moment, seeing a flock of black birds passing by them in midair. The bystanders wore classic clothing with polished everyday style while observing the local folk's expressions before they would disappear out of his sight.

Some were curious and interested, while others were distrustful or hostile toward allowing outsiders such as themselves, especially non-humans like Vesh, into their community, while few cared about their presence altogether. The latter part is better than nothing because people should mind their own business.

The pain in the ass of being in the middle of a spotlight is something Adam despises the most, not only due to it being bothersome but also because of the constant unwanted attention and hostility because of bringing someone or something that isn't human to begin with. In a world dominated by humans, Adam can feel as if he is wearing a sign on his forehead.

It is irrational to even think about how groups of people view others because they are different, such as them judging Vesh, himself, or Cain, who has become the source of all this hatred in the first place, as something dangerous that is going to bring death and destruction to them all. All the while, he will try to act casually without trying to get on anyone's nerves here.

Wise thought for sure; he doesn't enjoy this sort of atmosphere as much as his companions, but the people here need to understand that they should mind their own fucking business, regardless of who they are. A good portion of this town is so dense that Adam couldn't even find humor in their reactions towards outsiders like themselves.

Passing through some shops at their side, Cain then motioned them towards a peculiar small building with a hanging sign over its door just across the road from them: "Bella & Bloom, it's a goods store run by a lesbian couple; make sure to—" He didn't finish his sentence as Vesh paused him towards it, not even giving them a chance to look at Cain for confirmation before heading inside the said shop, leaving the two behind in the dark.

Cain sighed, "Young folks these days," commenting under his breath before looking back at Adam, "I presume you're tagging along with him?" He asked rhetorically with the most disappointed face Adam has ever seen from him, though the young man shrugged in response to it, "Uh, sure, why not?"

When Adam and Cain reached the entrance, the small building was made of wood just like the rest of the houses in this town, with its roof covered with red tiles and green bushes decorating the area outside it. While they stepped inside, they noticed several potted plants, a bookshelf, and other shelves full of random things or decorative items that they had no idea what to do with.

Standing behind the counter across from them are two women having a conversation with Vesh, seemingly not knowing they have new guests walking into their store and being too invested in a potential customer they had been talking to for the past minute or so. Both women are quite tall and look identical to each other, being twins where it feels weird to even imagine it.

Are they perhaps siblings?

Adam wondered as Cain went to the bookshelf, checking if there was anything interesting or not before putting it back where it was found, looking for something else to check out and explore within this store. The women still weren't noticing the newcomers, even though their presence should have been known by now.

Chestnut, short hair slightly reveals a skinny, radiant face. With big, round green eyes set delicately within their sockets, the clothing these women wore was classical attire. The left is wearing an orange dress with a white apron and red heels, while the right is wearing a red dress with a white apron and black heels.

One of them caught her attention: "Friend of yours?" She asked, pointing out at the young man with the black trench coat, her finger being in between the both of them as if she were asking about Vesh's relationship with the person who simply entered their shop, forcing his companion to explain briefly without overreacting, "Friend?" He scoffed at the question, saying, "It's nothing of that sort."

"He's rather handsome," commented the woman wearing an orange dress, causing her other twin to giggle lightly with her; their shoulders slightly moving up and down from laughing at their own words, but soon stopping when they have their job at hand, "he can come in and speak with us if he wants to." Said the woman wearing a red dress, smiling kindly toward Adam even though she didn't know what to say.

He furrows his brows at their actions, getting exhausted by some people who want to get under his pants because of how he looks—something that doesn't even matter to him in the first place. They cared more about his appearance than the real person himself, and he doesn't like that one bit. Regardless, Adam wants to get this over with and go home just so he can get his daughter back.

"No thanks, he said, closing his eyes before facing down the floor. "I changed my mind about this; I'll see myself out." Adam was about to turn around when the woman in the red dress unexpectably ran up to him from behind. Her following loud steps could be heard until she came close to him and firmly held his arm.

The feeling of being touched by another woman who he doesn't know results in painful memories from his childhood—the times where he was used for sex by his predatory and manipulative mother or beaten up by his abusive father—and all those awful memories flash in his eyes to the point of him gasping in shock.

With haste, he turned and yanked his arm in panic, screaming at her in pure terror, anxiety pouring down over his painful expression, "DON'T TOUCH ME!" Adam yells with an almost broken voice, causing the terrified, confused, and shocked woman to stumble back before looking at him with a worried face.

Gathering his bearings after a few breaths, he looks around and sees everyone staring at him with the same emotions she felt, making the situation much more awkward and uncomfortable, but then again, Adam is too anxious to notice their reactions. "Just forget about me," He mutters with his voice trembling from fright, walking out of the store with a quickened pace.

Looking down at the frosted ground with his hands inside his pockets, the memories of his childhood became more vivid every time he revisited this recent event, giving him unpleasant flashbacks of the trauma he went through, and he would always get disgusted with himself whenever he remembered them.

Adam couldn't understand why these events had to happen to him; what did he do to deserve all this pain and suffering? His heart and soul are already dead, and it only feels heavier each time he thinks about the past. There were moments in his life where he truly thought of killing himself, but something always prevented him from doing so; be it fear, anxiety, guilt, or regret, it doesn't matter what it is.

Anything that reminds him of her gives him extreme paranoia and the urge to commit suicide once again just to escape the nightmare of a life he has been living with since the age of nine. It's hard to describe how he feels towards his mother, if she's someone he wants to hate or even despise, but deep down he knows he can't because he suffers from Stockholm syndrome and needs to accept what she did to him in order to forgive her, yet the guilt he has made it difficult for him to forgive her, making him conflicted and lost.

Forgive her?

She was never a good person or parent to begin with. Her actions and words all speak of evil from the start, showing only a fraction of what she really is like on the inside. In the end, she had only caused him to suffer, physically and mentally, but what is the worst part about this whole thing is that it all happened when he was a child, leaving him to believe that maybe it wasn't her fault but his own, thus he was still a victim to this cruel world after all.

What is he even talking about at this point? Everything is so painful in even associating himself with the likes of this.

Heading to a nearby building, he placed his back on the wooden wall and allowed himself to rest, taking a breather as his body slowly sank to the ground. The people that walk by wouldn't spare a glance at him; even those who live around him and work with him would not think twice about noticing him if they saw him on the streets.

One by one, they ignored him, while others were simply whispering to themselves of his appearance, not caring about the person who was having a bad day at the time, not even considering when someone was in distress and needed help. Such is the way of being human—so ignorant and careless with other people's lives and existence.

However, one man stopped in front of him and reached out to him, asking, "What's wrong?" He said with concern in his voice, showing genuine worry towards Adam's condition and showing him to be the opposite of what Adam was used to seeing from the world around him. With his head looking up at the man, he only responded with annoyance, "go away."

Seeing there was no option, the kind stranger simply nodded with a regretful look plastered on his face before continuing on his merry way. Not long after, Adam took out a cigarette from his pocket and lit it up, starting to smoke without hesitation, feeling like it was his only comfort in this situation he had been forced to endure.

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