Hybrids: Chapter Three

Yagi sat in a hallway chair for hours as he waited to be able to see Sako. He sat with Nurse who kept him busy and telling him not to worry and that Sako would be okay.

He looked at her. “But what if he’s not okay, Nurse? What if he’s getting worse? He just recovered from his past episode and now he went crazy and needed surgery?”

She put a comforting hand on his shoulder, “He’ll be okay. Doctor is with him and is caring for him in anyway Sako needs him too. He’s in good hands and will be back to his normal self before you know it.”

Yagi wished he could fully believe her. What if Sako really had gone insane? What if he wasn’t really getting better? Had he lost his best friend?

Yagi watched more people walk back and forth through the maze of hallways. Men and women hurried around the building each holding a clipboard in their hands or some kind of information. None of them looked at Yagi as if it was normal for him to be out of his room. He sat there trying to think of what to do while he waited, but all he could do was sit patiently and try to control the anxious bouncing of his leg. Every second felt like an eternity.

Finally, after almost another two hours Yagi was called to come see Sako. His friend wasn’t fully there. He was still waking up. He was in a patient’s gown in a cot with another drip connected to him and a heart machine beeping steadily next to him. He also had a tube blowing oxygen into his nose. He had to get surgery done to his arm. There was so much glass that they had to go further to get it out which now left his hurt arm in a sling.

Yagi took his hand in his, “Hey, are you okay?” After no reply he looked at Nurse, “What’s wrong with him?”

She walked over and looked at a clipboard next to Sako’s bed. “He’s still coming too. They had to put him under, you know. Just give him a few more moments.”

“What’s happening to him?” Yagi asked. He frowned when she didn’t reply to his question.

Yagi watched as she continued to flip through the several pages on the clipboard and then went to examine Sako’s arm and breathing. While she did, Doctor entered the room. “Yagi, follow me please.”

Yagi nodded and left the room with Doctor. He didn’t say a word to Yagi as they walked through several hallways and then came to a flight of stairs. Doctor took a few steps down and then paused when he noticed Yagi wasn’t following him.

Yagi chuckled nervously. He held onto the stairwell as he slowly made his way down. “I’ve never gone on stairs before. Right behind you.”

“No, I’m sorry, Yagi, but we’re under a time crunch. We’ll take the elevator instead.” Doctor told him as he walked back up and past Yagi.

Yagi breathed a sigh of relief as the image of him falling down the stairs vanished from his mind. But he had never used an elevator either. Time for new experiences, he thought.

When they got to the elevator Doctor used his keycard to activate the machine. They waited a moment before the doors opened and they walked inside. Doctor waited for the doors to close before pressing a button on the board. The room began to move, and Yagi stumbled back holding onto the rail behind him. Doctor laughed, “Sorry I should have told you about that part.”

As soon as the door opened Yagi hurried out. He did not like the elevator. It didn’t seem very safe to him by the way it made the strange noises and moved under their feet.

After walking through even more hallways, they stopped at the dark oak door with name on the door Yagi didn’t catch. Doctor opened it and held it open for him, allowing Yagi to walk in first. Yagi looked around and was shocked by how many books lined the walls as well as several folders as well. His eyes moved over to the desks and chairs in the rooms all with paper on them with several scribbled notes on every piece. Doctor cleared his throat as he closed the door and cleared the paper from a seat across from his desk. He gestured for Yagi to have a seat and sat in his own. Doctor took his glasses off and set them on the white desk as he watched Yagi sit down. He ran his hands down his face. “Yagi, I…I haven’t been truthful to you. I feel like you should know what’s really happening here.”

Yagi’s eyes still examined the room, finding now two statues of wolves decorated the room. “What do you mean?” he asked bringing his gaze back to Doctor’s.

He sighed again and folded his hands on top of the table. “Sakuro isn’t doing well. We’ve given him bandage after bandage to help him but he’s not getting better. Eventually we’ll run out of bandages.”

Yagi looked at him with confusion. “I don’t understand.”

He hesitated and cleared his throat before saying, “Sakuro isn’t going to make it.”

Yagi stared at him and sat back. The words hurt. Yagi couldn't say anything at first, but when he did his voice shook with emotion, “So… he’s going to…to die?’

Doctor nodded solemnly. “Yes. But not because of natural causes. Eventually he will become more dangerous here -there’s too many triggers for him- and Leader will have him put down.”

“Like an animal?” Yagi asked. Doctor’s silence was his answer. Yagi stood up, “You can’t kill Sakuro! You can’t!” He yelled. “He’ll get better, I promise! He just needs some time.”

If only Yagi could believe his own promise.

Doctor gestured for him to sit and didn’t continue until he had. “Yagi, listen. I don’t want to have to put him to sleep. Which is why I need to get you two out of here before that happens.”

Yagi froze, “What?”

Doctor stood up and went to a metal door in his office that had the words “KEEP OUT” on it. He gestured to Yagi to follow him, and he obeyed. He placed his hand on a screen the door opened allowing entrance to the two. Yagi followed behind Doctor and looked around as they walked down the hallway. When they entered the main room the first thing Yagi noticed was the multiple computers on desks littered with papers and yellow sticky notes, but attention was quickly drawn to the end of the room there was a wall covered with pinned up photos.

Doctor stood to the side and watched as Yagi went over and looked the wall. Yagi noticed the photos where all pictures of kids around him age. He narrowed his eyes when he found his and Sako’s photos among the rest. He turned to Doctor and gestured to the wall. “What is this?”

Doctor straightened his posture “A failing program.”

Yagi was confused. He looked back at the wall and then at Doctor shaking his head, “I don’t understand. What do you mean?”

Doctor sighed seeming to hesitate on whether he should explain to not. “Yashagami, you’re part of a program. A program that has been crumbling because you and Sakuro’s kind -with everything we do to help you- keep dying. Sakuro is suffering from the program.”

“Program?”

“Yes. It is a government program that makes you not fully human. You’re either half angel or demon as we refer to it. The tests we’ve run show Sakuro is a half demon.”

Yagi didn’t know how to react. He still didn’t fully understand. Was this a joke? But the look on Doctor’s face told him it wasn’t. Yagi narrowed his eyes and looked at Sako’s photo. “But how do you know what Sako is, but you don’t know what I am?”

“Because you haven’t changed yet. Sakuro is sick because he’s a half demon and he’s going through fast, violent changes that is putting his body in distress. We are trying to control that part of him because he can’t yet, but while we are doing all we can for him, his body is rejecting everything we do to help him. His anger this evening didn’t start with Leader’s punishment. It was because the demon part of Sakuro has matured and awakened from dormancy and wants to get out. His demon, as we call it, will be fueled by anything. Especially emotions. As I was saying before, there are too many triggers here for Sakuro and that has led to his violent outburst.”

Yagi’s eyes searched aimlessly as he thought. He looked up at Doctor, “So, what happened to Sakuro will happen to me at some point?”

He shrugged and looked at the pictures staring back at them. “Maybe. We’re not sure. Demon’s have black blood. Angel’s have red.” His blue eyes looked back at Yagi “Depending on which you are will determine how you change.”

“But Sako has red blood.”

Doctor shook his head, “Not anymore. When the demon part of him awoke, his blood cells changed. We have no idea why this happens to half demons. But with you, your blood is still red. We don’t know anything else that tells us if an angel is an angel or if a demon is a demon other than the color of their blood.”

Yagi swallowed nervously, “Is there a deadline?”

He nodded. “Yes. By the end of this month, if you haven’t had an episode like Sako, it means you are a half angel. Angels don’t have such violent changes as you’ve seen with Sakuro, and the color of your blood will confirm it.”

Yagi couldn’t believe what he was hearing, “So you’re telling me that everyone in this building is either half demon and half angel and no matter what happens you just end up killing us anyway if you can’t control us?”

Doctor looked over to the photos and pulled a couple down that had x’s crossed over them, discarding them into a trash bin with a solemn look on his face. “We exterminate the uncontrollable ones, yes. Imagine if an uncontrolled demon got out into the world, there would be chaos. The FBI would take you all away and kill you themselves. At least with us it doesn’t hurt. The only thing you feel is a needle and you fall asleep.”

Yagi was getting mad. “And what? Now you’re going to tell me that you guys experiment on us too? What about parents? Do we have families?”

He looked at Yagi and then the photos once more. “We experiment when you are younger so that you live longer. Demons and angels used to only live until they were thirteen. Now sixteen is the minimum life expectancy.”

“What’s the oldest age to live?” he asked.

“Twenty-two.” He answered, “The oldest to live made it to twenty-two years of age and then he died by natural causes three years ago. We didn’t kill him.” He clarified. “After him, we started to change the genetics and soon others died in their early twenties and when we saw that pattern of a growing lifespan we started a new program-your program- where we try to extend your lifespan beyond twenty completely.”

“What’s an average of angel and demon life spans?”

“As I’ve said the minimum is sixteen years old, however half demons die sooner than angels. If the change to their bodies isn’t controlled or moderated, their body attacks themselves and they die. The man I told you about is the only half demon recorded here to live as long as they did. I’m afraid Sakuro is already being torn apart by that demon part of him. Unless something changes, he won’t make it to even nineteen.”

The words hurt as Yagu processed all the information. His best friend had a less than a two year death sentence, and he didn’t even know about it. “And parents? Do we have parents?” he asked again.

Doctor frowned, “That’s classified.”

“Classified as we do have parents, or we don’t because you had what you needed in a lab?”

Again, Doctor’s silence answered his question.

Yagi backed away till his back was against the wall and shook his head, “Every year, we’re told you send kids back to their families when we don’t have one. But instead you’re actually are killing them, aren’t you?”

He nodded sadly, his eyes unable to meet Yagi’s. “Yes, we are. It’s like they go insane, and they end up even hurting themselves. It’s for the best that we put them to sleep now before these changes happen even though no one here wants it to happen.”

Yagi couldn’t speak. He wanted to. He wanted to scream, call the man a monster, and fall to his knees. He wanted to die. All those years hoping to get picked at the end of the year to get freedom sooner, and all this time it was just a death sentence. There was no freedom, only death.

But Yagi couldn’t move. He was frozen as he tried to process everything that he was told.

“I know not all of this makes sense to you, Yagi. But this is why you and Sako are so important.” Doctor went on to say, he went to put a reassuring hand on Yagi’s shoulder, but Yagi smacked his hand away and backed away. Doctor sighed and continued, “Whether it’s a natural death or decision made, almost no angels or demons make it to the end of their teenage years. You and Sakuro, your entire section, are the only ones to live this long besides the half demon who died three years ago. You two can be the key to finding out how to save so many more lives of those like you. With your help, we can make future half demon and angels-

“‘Survive a little longer’?” Yagi interrupted, “And by the way, there is no ‘we’. What’s the point of this anyway? What do you plan on doing with us? What kind of government program are we forced into?”

Doctor put his hands into his pockets. “The world is crumbling. We need our nation to stay strong. We can’t fight by ourselves. We need more forces to keep the threats away.”

Yagi gave a choked scoff. “So, we’re weapons.”

“Yes. But here’s something incredible about you two. Angels and demons have always ended up fighting each other- even to the brink of death. But you and Sako never fight. Your entire section does not fight one another. You aren’t aggressive towards each other in any way. Instead, you protect each other.”

There was an entire section he and Sako had? “How many of us are there in our section?”

“Five, not including you and Sako.”

Yagi narrowed his eyes, knowing there was more to this. “How many were there?”

Doctor wouldn’t look at Yagi. “Ten in total.” He said quietly, “Three died of diseases or illness. When you play with genetics, sometimes things are unpreventable.”

“How many sections are there here in the facility?”

He sighed, “At one point there were twelve. Now there are three, including yours. While tweaking your genes made you live longer, it also caused many complications. Every section has different tweaks here and there. For whatever reason it’s only the last three sections such as yours that made it this far.””

Yagi blinked in shock. That meant that this place at one time had over 100 angels and demons.

“But that’s why I wanted to talk to you, Yagi.” Doctor said, “Your section is the most critical because of how far you guys have come and I know what Leader has in store for you. I can’t stand here and let it happen to you or other future sections. I’m going to get you guys out. Not only will it help you and the others, but it means Sakuro will live. Keeping him here will kill him no matter what we try to do. There are people in this building who don’t want your section to live.”

“What’s the point of leaving if we are all just going to die?!” Yagi yelled, “You said it yourself. The lifespan now is sixteen. We’re all beyond that point now. We could all die tomorrow!”

“But you might not die! But if you stay here, you will! Wouldn’t you rather die with freedom by your side and a whole world to explore instead of being in a cell for the rest of your life? Once you hit eighteen, we experiment again. With Leader in charge there's no telling what he might do!”

Yagi didn’t say anything further for a minute. Freedom was the only word that screamed in his mind. Doctor was providing them a way to get out, whether they died tomorrow or not.

Doctor put his hands on Yagi’s shoulders and looked at him with tears in his eyes, “Please, Yagi. Let’s just try. I can’t watch you all die.”

Yagi looked him in the eye. These tears were genuine. Doctor really did care.

“Okay.” Yagi said.

*****

Yagi hesitated before knocking on Sakuro’s door. He stood there for a moment, his fist hovering in front of the door as he stared at the wood. He had rehearsed what he would say the whole way to the room, but what if Sakuro didn’t want to leave? Yagi dropped his hand to his side. Yagi wanted to leave, but if Sakuro stayed, he couldn’t leave his friend behind, right?

No. He would drag Sakuro out of here if that’s what the situation called for. With a new determination in his eyes, he knocked on the door. As soon as Sako let him in, he started relaying all the information to Sakuro, behind a locked door.

“Wait, Yagi, slow down. Leave?” Sako asked. He coughed hard, “But we can’t leave.”

Yagi grabbed Sako’s forearm closest to him, “Sako, if we stay here, they’ll kill us all. They’ve already started with you. That’s why you aren’t getting better.”

Sako gave him a skeptical look, “Yagi, if they were killing me, I’d be dead years ago.”

Yagi frowned in disappointment, his hand dropping to his side. “I thought you wanted freedom.”

“Of course I do. But, Yagi, we don’t even know what’s out there. We’ve never been outside. This is crazy! Who would even help us get out of here and start over?”

“Doctor.” He answered. He’s going to take us to this place called Bridston County. He’ll help us find homes and get us our freedom. He’ll let us even stay with him if we want to.”

Sako tried to sit up quickly but gave up. He coughed and then asked, “Does that mean we’ll be separated?”

Yagi shook his head. “No. We’ll be with him.”

“What if something goes wrong?”

Yagi gave him an assuring smile. “Nothing will go wrong. He won’t let anything happen.”

Sako defeatedly put his hands over his face, “A demon…I still can’t believe it. I mean, I guess it makes sense but…still.”

“You know, If it helps at all, you’re one of the friendliest demons I know.” Yagi said as he tried to encourage his friend.

Sako dropped his hands and scoffed as he looked at the blanket folded over his legs, “Gee, thanks.”

There was an awkward silence as Sakuro slowly sat up in his cot. Sako cleared his throat and glanced up at Yagi, “Do you think…you’ll be a demon?”

Yagi was wondering the same thing. He didn’t want to be, especially after seeing what a tole it would do to his body as it had to Sako. But he also knew that Sako wanted him to be a demon so that he felt less alone in this. But he didn’t want to be half angel either.

He just wanted to be normal.

Yagi shrugged and looked at the floor as he sat down in a seat next to Sako’s cot. “I have no idea, to be honest.” He knew Sako wanted to ask if he wanted to be. So, he answered one of the unspoken questions between them, “If being an angel means I can’t be around my best friend then I want to be a demon.”

Sako sat straighter making him cough, “Wait, what? You can’t be around me?”

Yagi shrugged, “I don’t know. It depends on what Doctor says. I mean, it would make sense.”

That didn’t seem to make Sako feel any better. “But, Yagi, we’re brothers, right?”

“Yeah of course we are.”

Sako coughed more and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. Yagi watched his eyes grow wide as he hid the hand under the blanket. Yagi stood up, “What’s wrong? Do you need Doctor or Nurse?”

He shook his head. “Nothing. I’m fine.” He mumbled.

Yagi grabbed his wrist and let go like Sako had a disease from the blood that covered the back of his hand. Even though he knew demon blood was black, he didn’t want to believe it.

Until now.

The black blood stained his skin and began to drip down his hand as Sako numbly left the hand in the position Yagi had left it. There wasn’t a trace of red blood anymore.

Sako looked ashamed as pulled his hand close and wiped the blood away before hiding it out of sight under the blanket. “I never asked to be a demon.” Yagi caught the glisten of tears in Sakuro’s eyes. “I’m a freak, Yagi.”

Yagi walked to the door and unlocked it. “You’re not a freak, Sako.” He opened the door called for Doctor and then turned to Sako, “It’s just…fate I guess.” He stood there for a moment unsure of what to say. Sakuro refused to look in his direction and instead kept his eyes down.

Yagi grew impatient. “Doctor should be here by now, where is he?”

“Yagi, I’m fine. I don’t need him.”

“You do. You shouldn’t be coughing up blood, demon or not.”

He began to pace as he waited. He felt his panic rising and focused on calming himself as he walked. What if this blood meant Sako was going to go through another episode?

“Yagi! Stop it! I’m fine! Please, you’re stressing me out. Just sit down.” Sako told him. “I told you I’m fine.”

Yagi shook his head. “You’re not fine until Doctor says so. I’m going to go find out where the hell he is. He should be here by now. I’m not having you die on me.”

Sako went to protest but Yagi paid no mind to it. He put his hand on the handle and went to open it but it was the moment Doctor entered the room, slamming the door into Yagi’s arm. Doctor gave a quick reply and walked past Yagi who now noticed the contact had drawn blood.

“What’s wrong, Sakuro?” Doctor asked.

Sako didn’t look at him. “My blood is completely black now. Am I dying? I’m still coughing up…blood.” Sako closed his eyes and groaned as he pinched the bridge of his nose.

“What’s wrong now?”

“I smell something really strong.” He answered. “It smells like metal but it’s making me really nauseous. I don’t know why or where it’s coming from.”

“Metal?” Doctor asked. “Sakuro, you’re not making sense.”

“Is it your blood causing this?” Yagi asked him. He walked over and Sako started to shake his head quickly as he gagged. He slid off the bed and staggered his way to the bathroom where he got sick.

Doctor rushed in to help him and the two came out, with Doctor helping Sako walk. Sako stopped walking and swallowed hard, “No, stop. I’m nauseous again.”

“But, Sako, it doesn’t make any sense.” Doctor said. He placed his hand on Sakuro’s forehead. “You don’t have a fever. I don’t know why you would feel so sick suddenly.”

Yagi walked forward when Sako put a hand against the bed and threw up onto the ground.

“Damn.” Sako said weakly after he had coughed up the last of it. “I’m sorry.”

Doctor helped him into his bed and called someone to come help clean up the mess. “Don’t worry about apologizing, Sakuro. Just relax and rest, okay?”

Yagi felt a small trickle of blood drip down his arm, and he quickly wiped it away. A thought dawned on him as he looked at the red on his fingers, “Doctor, what if it’s me?”

“That’s ridiculous, Yagi.” Sako said without looking at him. “What, are you saying I’m allergic to you?”

“Not exactly. Maybe your allergic to my blood? I’m the only one who’s bleeding. You said you smell metal, blood can smell metallic, right? The door rammed into my arm. Every time I walk forward, you get sick. It must be me.”

Sakuro still didn’t look at him, “Yagi, there’s no way you’re the reason for this. That’s the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard you say.” He scoffed. “An allergy to blood.”

Doctor looked at the both of them before walking towards Yagi. “Let’s test it.” Doctor said, “Yagi, let's step outside and Sakuro you just sit there and tell us if you feel sick.”

“No. Ther’s no reason for it.” Sako objected. “I probably just ate something that my stomach doesn’t agree with, is all.”

Doctor narrowed his eyes towards Sako. “We should still test it. Just to be on the safe side, Sakuro. What’s the harm in trying?”

We both did and Sako said he felt a little better. Doctor used a small knife and secretly nicked his arm, enough to draw blood, and then walked back in. “Do you still feel better, Sako?” He asked.

He nodded and Doctor walked back out. “Alright now I’m going to walk back in, and you tell me if you feel bad. Close your eyes.”

Sako did and Yagi went in instead of Doctor. Sako closed his eyes tighter and groaned before Yagi could get more than halfway in the room. “It’s back again.” He said as he shook his head.

Yagi frowned. It really was because of him. He went back outside and Sako opened his eyes and looked at them. “It’s Yagi, isn’t it?”

Both nodded.

“I wonder why though.” Doctor said, “Let me bring in another person. I want to test something.”

He left and Sako couldn’t meet Yagi’s eyes. “I guess you really can’t stay here, huh?”

“Maybe I can put something over my arm to cover the blood. Then maybe I won’t bother you?” Yagi asked.

Sako was already shaking his head, “No. I can smell whatever it is over here. I don’t think it’s your blood. You must just be wearing something that has that smell.”

Yagi stayed silent, unsure if he should say anything.

After another moment, Doctor came back and asked Yagi to step aside. Two other young men followed behind Doctor as they all made their way over to Sako’s cot. One boy was taller than the other one and had slightly wavy brown hair and brown eyes. He looked to be around eighteen.

The shorter one had dark skin and hair and piercing brown eyes and looked to be eighteen as well. Once the taller one got as close as twenty feet from Yagi, he put a hand up to his nose. The shorter one didn’t.

Doctor put a hand on the shorter guy’s shoulder, “Branson, go in the next room with Yagi. Victor, come with me. I want you to meet Sakuro.”

Both boys looked super confused. Victor went with Doctor to see Sako as Branson and Yagi went to the other room and sat down at a table. Branson cleared his throat, “So are you an angel?”

Yagi simply shrugged. Honestly, he didn’t want to be talking to someone he didn’t know. He had never met another person other than Sako who was close to his age.

“I haven’t seen you before.”

Again, Yagi shrugged. He didn’t want to talk and wished Branson would stop trying to make a conversation. He was extremely uncomfortable.

“What’s your name?”

“Yashagami.” He answered flatly.

Doctor came back without Victor and asked Branson to follow him. He brought him back and asked him to nick his arm. Then he had both Yagi and Branson come in. Both Victor and Sako felt nauseous. Victor put a hand to his nose, “Ugh. Angel blood. What did you do now, Branson?”

“‘Angel blood’?” Yagi asked

“Branson is half angel.” Doctor explained, “I have a theory you are too. For whatever reason it seems that whenever a half demon’s smell angel blood, it’s overwhelming for them. Victor and Branson are the only ones to experience this, so I didn’t think much of it. But now you and Sako also have that, so it’s possible that we just now discovered a new way to find out if someone is a demon or angel.”

Sako groaned quietly and tried to get out of bed, “You two need to leave. I can’t take it anymore.”

Yagi could tell it wasn’t just that why Sako wanted him to leave because he was nauseous. He was upset that this meant Yagi was probably an angel and not a demon. He was kicking Yagi out.