1 Death And Pomegranate.

In the countryside of Kentucky, a young blonde haired American chap about the age of eleven sat at the edge of his bed swinging his feet while eating a strawberry. Looking up through a window that was positioned right over his bed, his eyes caught sight of the full moon shining brightly in the far reaches of space. As he did so, thoughts about what his current life was like clouded his mind.

He simply couldn't stop thinking about what happened earlier today. It was his first time witnessing something like this.

'Why did daddy hit mommy tonight? She didn't do anything wrong, did she? They always argued before but he never hit her. She even cried in my room all night. I wonder if mom would feel better if I try to stop him next time...'

With that, the young boy headed to bed, looking forward to the next night. If he managed to stop his father, maybe he would stop beating the young boy's mother in fits of anger. Maybe they could all be a loving and happy family together again.

[The next night, at the dinner table]

PAH!

"Aghhh, Dave...please....stop!"

"Stop? I'll stop hitting you when you stop fucking up my damn dinner!"

PAH!

The woman flew across the kitchen as a tall rugged man in his late 40's used all his strength to deliver another solid smack to her face.

"You damn bitch! I'll show you!"

As Dave was about to take off his belt to continue on his vicious tirade, a young boy who looked exactly like a younger version of dave jumped in between him and the crying woman.

Dave raised an eyebrow and said in a stern tone, "John my boy, if you don't move out the way by the time I unbuckle this here belt, you'll end up on the ground just like your dang useless mother!"

John twirled the strawberry flavored lollipop in his mouth and stared at his father fearfully as he responded, "Dad, stop hitting her! I wouldn't let you-"

PAH!

Dave finally managed to unbuckle his belt and immediately hit John across the face with no care as to how much strength he used. He then stepped forward, grabbed the woman by her hair and looked at John with a crooked smile.

"Johnny boy, I'll show you how a real man treats his woman! This bitch Martha thinks she can munch off of my hard work and stay at home not doing squat while I get overworked by my boss?! I'll show her how it feels to be trampled like you're nothing!"

Dave threw Martha against the wall while hitting her with his belt, buckle and all, with no remorse. Seeing his mother's tears and battered body, John twirled the lollipop in his mouth as he looked around the kitchen for the nearest weapon.

Even though he was young, he wasn't stupid enough to think that he could do anything of worth to his father with the strength of his small frame.

Spotting a small dirty knife on the table, John slowly edged towards it and picked it up as he kept his gaze looked on his father. He thought about what he was going to do for a bit but hearing his mother's heart wrenching wails caused him to throw those thoughts to the side.

It was now or never.

John ran up behind his father with the knife extended in front of him and was about to stab him when suddenly...

PAH!

Dave turned around and wacked John across the face with his belt buckle, causing the boy to stagger back holding one of his eyes as tears slowly started to run down his face.

'Tears...? What is this pain? My eye is....'

Dave stepped forward and grabbed the knife out of John's hand while shouting in rage, "John! You motherfucking jackass! You tried to goddamn stab me when I was showing you how to be a man?! Luckily I saw you coming in the window reflection! Damn! Ungrateful just like your goddang mother!"

PAH!

John got hit down to the ground and braced the wall as Dave walked towards him.

"Now, I'll teach you a lesson that even your grandkids will remember!"

PAH! PAH! PAH! PAH! PAH!

Dave started beating and stomping on John like a wild beast. He didn't care where he was hitting him as long as the hits were landing. John screamed in pain and looked towards his mother only to see her standing behind Dave, her skin reddened from the earlier assault.

"M-m-mom, tell...dad....to...stop...."

John squeezed as much words as possible out of his mouth as the lollipop fell out of it. But, what he heard next would stay with John for the rest of his accursed life.

"Did you just try to stab your father? The man who cared for you all these years and the one i love? How could I tell him stop after what you did?"

When John heard those words, it was like a bolt of lightning had struck him. Him being shocked was an understatement.

Confusion.

Fear.

Regret.

All those emotions took him by storm as his father threw him against the kitchen table and delivered one last kick to his jaw.

"That's what you get for trying to go against me, runt! Try that again and I'll break your darn arms! How the hell could a weak boy like you be my son?! Bitch, pick him up and take him to his room!"

Dave put his belt back on and took a cigarette out of his pocket as he stepped outside the door to have a smoke. The man was out of breath and stressed out too much for his own good.

Martha looked at John with dead eyes and picked him up in her arms. The way she looked at him, it made him feel worthless, like trash waiting to be thrown out at a moment's notice.

These were not the eyes she had looked at him with before now. Did she still consider him her son?

She stepped on the lollipop as she staggered towards his bedroom and dropped him down on the bed. Using the last of his strength, John opened his swollen eyes and mumbled, "M..om? Why... didn't...you...save....me? I...wanted....to....help...you..."

With tears running down her battered face, Martha looked at him and said scornfully, "You would've helped me, no, helped us if you weren't born."

Those words were the nail in the coffin for John as he looked at his once loving mother leave the room.

'Was all the love she showed me fake?'

'Were both of them lying about loving me all this time?'

'They were the ones who were wrong... right? So why did I have to suffer? Was it because I couldn't fight back?'

'Should I just kill myself or run away? Mom did say it would solve their problems right?'

These were the sequence of thoughts that were going through John's mind currently. He had never received a beating this bad before. With the amount of pain he was feeling, he was surprised that he wasn't dead.

But, John didn't cry anymore as you would expect a child of his age to do. He was eerily calm as he closed his eyes and lay down on the bed as if nothing had happened.

John was always a peculiar child when it came to showing emotions and accepting unfavorable situations. He was quick to adapt. But, being this mutable meant that he was extremely impressionable. The ideologies of those around him could quickly corrupt who he was.

When it came to expressing emotions, he was someone who always had a monotonous voice and expression. The only times that would change was if he was under extreme stress or during extreme happiness. Anything in between was just met by a lazy, lethargic expression.

Underneath that expression though was a mind more mature than many kids his age. But even then, he was still an ignorant child.

'I should walk on those who are weaker than me? Why? Isn't that how a coward thinks? Why should I shy away from someone who's not a pushover? Mom, dad...they're probably the only people who think like that. There's no way anyone else would treat their family members like this... right?'

[End of dream]

In a large mansion located in California, John woke up from his extended slumbler after a hard night of work. He was currently twenty seven years old and was the CEO of his own self created company called YVO. It was a company responsible for supplying electricity and it was one of the most successful organizations in the country.

Rubbing the scars across his body, John thought to himself, 'Another dream about my childhood huh? They've been getting more and more frequent recently. Hm, I wonder how mom and dad are doing?'

As John got out of bed, the sun shone brightly upon his body, on every perfect or imperfect part of it. If one saw the amount of scars and burns that was covering his torso, people would think that he went through some grueling military training or a grizzly torture session.

In fact, it was just the aftermath of the continuous beatings he went through as a child. He had no shame in them as he loved telling people about himself and his unfortunate story. It helped lengthen an otherwise dead conversation sometimes.

Over the years, John had grown into a muscular man who was about 6'5 in height. No one would've ever thought he would gain such a massive frame after what he went through as a child.

But, no change was as apparent in John more than his ideology. He had grown to be a kind of....contradiction with his personality. He was lazy but hardworking, sadistic, prideful but not arrogant and always made sure that he was the best at what he did. In his mind, no one could be allowed to stand above him.

Which was why, as a side note, he planned to run for president sometime in his life. The feeling of standing above everyone in power made him feel good but safe. It was almost reassuring.

'Ah, the maid should've already prepared breakfast for Mom and Dad. It would be best if I served it to them before noon so I should hurry.'

John quickly threw on a luxurious robe and walked out of his large bedroom.

"Ah, Master John, good morning! The usual breakfast for Mr. and Miss Ross is already prepared and waiting on the table."

John's head maid saluted him and gave him a rundown of everything as they both walked towards the kitchen. Even though him and his parents had a 'few' problems growing up, he was kind enough to take care of them in their ro- well, dying years. Although they were missing a few mental and physical faculties, John did the best he could to support them.

Arriving in the kitchen, John picked up the plates and could already smell what was inside. With his usual lazy expression, John turned to his maid and said, "Good work, Sadie. Bacon and Eggs always make my parents happy."

The maid smiled happily and responded, "Thank you, Master John. But, master, when are you gonna introduce us to them?"

For the first time that morning, John smiled.

"Soon, Sadie. Who knows? Maybe you might meet them before your expected time."

Sadie was left confused at John's words as he walked away towards his parents room. He couldn't wait to see the smiles on their faces when he surprised them with breakfast in bed.

Going to the lowest floor of the mansion, John arrived at a room with a large metal door that only he could enter with a fingerprint and optical scanner.

Whoooshhh~

The door opened as John sauntered in happily. The closer he got, the wider his smile became. It wasn't long until John spotted the the ones he was looking for.

They were already waiting at the dinner table for him, and it looked like they were waiting for a very long time.

Elegantly putting down the plates on the table, John said gracefully, "Here is your breakfast, Mom and Dad. I hope you enjoy it. Maybe you guys love me now?"

No response. Well, of course there was no response as the 'people' John was talking to were the remains of his parents who had been mysteriously murdered and beheaded many years ago.

Some say they were strangled with a belt and beheaded with a kitchen knife but their heads were missing from the crime scene so it couldn't be 100% confirmed.

As it turns out, the heads of his parents were right here, on John's dinner table, having a cordial breakfast with him.

"Ah, I love you too Mom. I love you too."