The Blue Eyes

[1980]

"Are you sure of what you are doing, Jos?"

"Of course. Why are you so afraid, Selena? We're doing it together, and it's for the better and stronger world."

The young Selena wasn't convinced by her boyfriend, who was currently holding her thin hands.

They were in Joseph's house. Joseph was an orphan, and he lived alone there. He won a lot of international science competitions with a huge prize, and he used the money to buy a house for himself.

They were still so young. Their ages were still under twenty, but their genius brains were acknowledged by many people, including the government. That's why they were hired as a professional scientist under Orka Research Center at such young age.

Selena sighed heavily as she kept staring at her boyfriend. "But, the government is against your idea, Jos. Injecting a modification of a wolf's DNA into a human's body is too dangerous. We can't guess what will happen next."

They were still green, but they had created so many formulas at such young age. The latest formula that was created by them was the one that was made from wolves ' DNA.

"How can it be dangerous, Selena? We just try to make humans stronger by giving them the modified wolf DNA. Humans will be stronger, they will run faster, and it can increase their immunity as well. What's so dangerous about that?"

Selena gazed at her boyfriend gloomily. She slowly pulled her hand away and clenched them on her lap.

"What if it turns out bad, Jos?" The girl asked again.

Joseph, who was sitting beside her, sighed weakly at his girlfriend's question. "It won't," he answered confidently. "I'll be responsible if anything bad happens."

Selena was still not sure about her boyfriend's idea. It was too risky. They couldn't play with humans like that.

"My men will come with the boy soon. We better get ready."

Joseph was about to get up from the couch, but Selena quickly held his arm.

"Why did you choose him, Jos? There are so many people in the city, but why did you choose him?"

Joseph furrowed his eyebrows at his girlfriend's question. "You know the reason, Sel," he answered. "I hate the Allabands, and I want to use an Allaband to be our research object."

Selena was silent. He knew that her boyfriend hated the Allaband family so much. He had a childhood trauma when he was sent back to the orphanage by the Allaband family.

Joseph was a happy and cheerful kid when he was adopted by the family, then the family heartlessly sent him back to the orphanage. Joseph's heart was hurt painfully, and Selena knew so well about that. That's why she was willing to stay beside Joseph. She felt bad for Joseph's sad past.

"You don't have to worry, Sel," Joseph spoke again. "It's not like the formula will kill the kid. He surely will get stronger after I inject the formula into him."

Selena was about to say something, but then they heard the sound of the house's bell ringing. They simultaneously turned their heads to the door.

Selena was about to get up and headed to the door, but Joseph motioned her to stop. He was the one who finally got up and walked over to the door.

The beautiful girl still got up, though. She peered at the door when her boyfriend opened the wooden door. Her eyes bulged when she saw two grown men dragged a teenager into the house.

Joseph closed the door again and laughed happily.

"You guys did a great job," the man spoke to the two men who were dragging the teenager boy. "I'll transfer your payment later. Now you may leave."

The two grown men nodded their heads before they walked over to the door and left the house immediately.

Selena recognized the men. They were Joseph's underlings. Joseph was still so young, but he could hire some men because he had money.

The girl then shifted her eyes to the teenager who was dragged by the men earlier. He was so thin. His hands were tied up, and his mouth was shut by black ducktape. Selena felt a pinch in her heart when she saw the boy's condition.

The expression was different from Joseph's. The young man coldly snatched away the ducktape from the teenager's mouth, freeing the boy's mouth so he could speak again.

"Who are you?" The teenager asked the two of them. He stayed on guard when he looked up at the two adults before him.

"You don't recognize me?" Joseph asked, pretending to be hurt by the boy's question. "I'm your brother, but you don't recognize me?"

Selena was still silent when Joseph talked with the innocent teenager. She didn't have the heart to imagine what would Joseph do to the poor teenager.

"My brother?" The teenager asked again. "I only have one brother, and I don't know you. You kidnap me, so you must be a bad person!"

Joseph raised an eyebrow when he heard the poor boy's accusation. He then stretched out his hand and lifted the boy's chin.

"Mike Allaband..." he whispered in front of the boy's face. "You dare to call me a bad person when your parents are much worse than me?"

The atmosphere was getting tense, and Selena didn't dare to interfere. She silently watched how her boyfriend intimidated the poor kid.

"What did my parents do to you?"

The boy, Mike, was so brave to ask another question again.

Joseph laughed as he released his grip from Mike's chin.

"You have no clue about that, huh? Okay, I'll tell you everything."

Joseph then started his narrative. He recounted the story starting from when he was adopted by the Allaband family until he was sent back to the orphanage by them after Mike's older brother was born.

Joseph's face looked dark and morose when he retold the story, and Selena could understand her boyfriend's feelings.

"Now you know that your parents are much worse than me, right?"

Mike's face turned pale after he heard the whole story. Mike was still so young, even younger than Joseph and Selena. Even so, the boy looked mature for boys his age.

"That's my parents' sin, but why did you kidnap me? If you have a grudge toward my parents, you can meet them and settle the matter with them. They will apologize to you for sure."

Joseph was quiet for a moment, but then he laughed loudly.

"Do you think an apology is enough for me?" He asked sarcastically. "After they sent me back to the orphanage, the other kids mocked me and bullied me. Even the caretakers of the orphanage hated me because I once again became a burden to them. Do you think a mere apology is enough to mend my broken heart?"

It was an old story, but the pain was still so fresh in Joseph's heart. Selena knew how Joseph lived before he was accepted for his genius brain. 

Joseph lived as a weak and quiet kid that often get bullied by his peers. They mocked him as a child who was thrown away by his foster parents like garbage. They even called him a monster for no reason.

Selena could understand that the scar in Joseph's heart remained the same even after many years had passed.

"But..." Mike suddenly broke the silence again. "What do you want from me now? Why do you kidnap me? Do you want to ask for ransom from my parents? You want to blackmail them?"

The boy was so innocent, and his clueless personality made Joseph laugh again.

"Do you think I need a ransom now? Even without your sinful parents, I still have a lot of money. I have a stable job, and my future will be bright for sure. I don't need any penny from your family."

Mike's face turned darker after hearing Joseph's words. "Then, what do you want from me?"

Joseph smirked when he heard the boy's question. "I don't want anything from you, Mike. Opposite to that, I want to give you something special," he said coldly.

Mike frowned at Joseph's words. It was apparent that he couldn't guess what's on the older man's mind.

Joseph, without a sound, signaled Selena to hold the boy's body. Selena had no other choice than to comply with her boyfriend's order. She, with a heavy heart, started holding Mike's shoulder so he would stay still.

Joseph opened a suitcase on the table, and then took out a bottle of liquid formula from inside the suitcase. He immediately filled up a syringe with the red formula.

After that, he walked over to Mike again with a syringe in his right hand. Mike started panicking when he saw the syringe. He tried to free himself from Selena's grip, but he couldn't do much since his hands were still tied up, and Selena's body was bigger and stronger than him.

In the end, he could only surrender when Joseph injected the formula into his body.