"Ever since he showed up, the monsters appeared."
"Maybe he did kill those children..."
"Yeah, he's a freak. Look at him - red eyes, controls blood."
"He's the real monster. It's all his fault."
Kai heard every word of the townsfolk's murmurings.
Their whispers weren't quiet. They weren't even trying to hide it. And yet... his response was the last thing anyone expected.
The other mutants turned to him, wary. They knew what he'd endured. The pain he was still in. Whatever his reasons, be it stopping Nyx, getting in the good books of the Outlaws, or something else entirely, Kai had fought to save these very people. Risked his life and physically suffered more than all of them could imagine.
He hadn't saved everyone. But without him? They all would've become monsters.
He'd even saved Nadya. More than once.
And now?
They looked at him like he was the root of it all.
