7 Chapter 7: Standing Up For Myself

"Are you sure about this?" Van imagined a voice asking him.

"Sending them back? Yes, I'm sure." He replied. Ever since Melissa left, Van kept staring at the door. It was like he was trying to burn a hole in it.

"You know that's not what I'm talking about." The voice replied. "Is this what you meant when you were thinking about if you had a second chance?"

"...I don't know what you mean."

"You know, when you jumped off that construction site. The thoughts running through your head before you Transmigrated were, word by word: If I was given a second chance, I would-"

"Stop." Van interrupted.

"..."

"..."

After continuous silence, Van sighed. "Look, I finally see happiness in this new world. I just want a clean slate. My parents are the last thing connecting me to my old life, to my despair."

"Whatever you say."

"Yeah yeah. I'll just ask them one last thing, then I'll make my decision." 

With his imaginary chat finished, Van twisted the doorknob, and entered the apartment.

He saw his parents as soon as he entered, they were sitting at the kitchen table having tea. Van dropped the groceries he brought by the door before approaching them.

"I was just about to look for you two. Can I ask you two something?"

His father stood up alongside his mother, a scowl on his face. "What do you want now, you waste of space?"

Van closed his eyes and steeled himself before looking his father in the eyes. Van could see the hatred behind his father's eyes, and his heart began to beat louder.

"...Do you guys really want me to die?" Van's heart began to beat even louder. He feared the answer, but he needed to know. Their answer was crucial to what he would do next.

His father scoffed at him. Van felt his blood rushing through his body, his heartbeat roaring in his ears. "If you weren't my flesh and blood, I would kill you myself!" His father spat out.

Van expected it, yet hearing it once more felt like he had gotten stabbed in the heart. He felt like he could barely breathe. "...Mom?" He looked towards his mother, over to see a look of disgust.

"You. Are. Disgusting." She replied. Van couldn't take it anymore. Tears rushed out of his eyes, and he turned away from his parents to look at his feet. He watched his teardrops fall on the floor and create wet spots.

Seeing Van's moment of weakness, his father took a step closer. "To answer your question," He barked, his voice dripping with sarcasm. "Yes, yes we do wish you were fucking dead- !"

Van's father stopped talking, letting out a gasp. His mother put both her hands over her mouth before letting out a shriek.

"You…. fucking monster…" 

Van's father fell to his knees, clutching his abdomen. A heavy, darker liquid than Van's tears dripped on the ground. Van retracted his hand that was previously near his father's stomach, which held a bloody kitchen knife.

Van dropped the knife on the ground, his eyes full of tears and rage.

"You guys contributed to the hell that was my life back then, back on Earth." Van said in a scarily steady voice. He raised the hand that held the portal device. "And for the record, I already did die once." 

He pushed the button, and within seconds, a blue oval of swirling energy appeared behind his kneeling father, illuminating the room. "Bye forever." He raised a foot, before using it to kick his father in the chest, sending him through the portal.

Van turned to his mother, who jumped in fear at Van's unemotional face, her hands still clamped around her mouth. Van quickly closed the distance, grabbing her by the neck. He dragged her over to the portal before stopping.

"You should work fast if you want to save him before he bleeds out." 

Saying that, Van let go of his mother, who fell into the portal. With his parents gone, Van tossed the device into the portal as well before it closed, sending the apartment back into darkness. 

The difference between when Van entered from now, however, was the bloody knife on the floor alongside the bloodstains all over Van's clothes. Van took a deep breath. He really did it. He really stabbed his father and choked his mother before sending them back.

A smile appeared on Van's face, tears once again pouring down. It was a strange feeling. He did all that to his parents, the people who raised him, as a final goodbye. Back on Earth, the hospital wasn't relatively near their home, so Van knew he probably killed the old man.

But Van didn't feel bad. If anything, he was proud of himself. That was the first time he stood up for himself physically, personally, instead of trying to get others to help him. 'Maybe this is the way,' Van thought, taking a seat at the kitchen table. 'Maybe I just have to stand up for myself.'

He took one of the cups of tea and took a drink. He placed it back down, basking in the silence, the peacefulness of the apartment. Right now, Van was happy. He liked that.

******

"Oi, wake up! It's time to take you to the academy!" 

It was now morning. Melissa stood in front of Van's apartment, ringing his doorbell over and over.

After a few more seconds of Melissa ringing the doorbell, the door finally opened, revealing a disheveled Van.

"Oh, it's you. Give me a sec, I'm going to freshen up." He said, rubbing an eye.

Van let Melissa into the apartment before heading for the bathroom. Melissa, now alone in the kitchen, looked around.

'Looks like he really sent his parents back.' Melissa smiled. It went all according to the plan. Melissa continued to spread her gaze around, until she noticed the floor. The floor itself was made of dark brown wood, but near the sink it seemed to be darker, and slightly reddish.

Almost like it was… 

"I'm ready now." 

Distracting Melissa from examining the floor any further, Van exited the bathroom and stood in front of Melissa, who noticed he still wore the same uniform he was wearing the past two days, only this time it had a few reddish-brown stains.

"You're still wearing that? And what are those stains?" Melissa scrunched up her face in disgust.

"Well, turns out my parents threw out all the spare clothes that belong to me, and I don't fit in their clothes, so…" Van shrugged. "Don't worry about these stains, I spilled last night's dinner on it."

"If you say so…"

Casting one last suspicious glare at Van's clothes, Melissa got up and left the apartment, leaving him to follow her. In the end, Melissa didn't really care. She wanted to interact with Van as little as possible.

As they once again walked through the streets, Van felt that he was slowly starting to become familiar with the area. He recognized some stuff he saw on his arrival, like the graffiti on the wall to his left, and the blacksmith forge down the road.

In just a few minutes, they arrived at their destination, which was a large gate leading to a massive compound, with a few large buildings in the distance, past winding paths, gardens, and other areas.

'So this is Transmigrator Academy.' Van thought to himself, taking in the sights. He was surprised at how short the walk was from the apartment complex, but after thinking about it, it made sense. 

The apartment complex itself was for trainees, so obviously it would be near the academy, where the trainees would go. While Van looked around, Melissa found her cue to leave. 

"Here's the academy," She said. "Once you go through this gate, just keep going to the left side of the compound until you see some smaller buildings separated from the main academy, that's where you'll find the other trainees. They'll most likely be in a massive crowd, so you won't have a hard time finding them."

Melissa turned around and briskly walked away the moment she finished speaking, leaving Van alone in front of the gates. Van looked himself over before groaning.

Van currently had on a wrinkly, bloodstained school uniform, and a long scar across his face. He looked like he was picked up off the street!

"Damn those scumbags that called themselves my parents. Now I'm totally going to give off a terrible impression…"

Taking a deep breath, Van stepped forward, and entered the compound.