The first time I saw the video, it was by accident.
One of our regulars wandered up to the bar while Kazuo and I were busy with something behind the counter.
He already had his phone unlocked in his hand. Kazuo caught it immediately, shot him a warning look, and said firmly, "Don't."
The guy laughed it off. "Oh, come on, man," he said. "It's important. He should see this."
"No," Kazuo said again.
I froze, suddenly aware that something was happening and that I was standing in the middle of it, not understanding what was going on.
Kazuo waved a hand at the guy, like shooing away a fly. "It's nothing serious," he said. "He's leaving."
The regular snorted. "Relax. It's just a video."
Before I could react, he shoved the phone into my hands.
The image was dark and shaky, as if someone had filmed it with trembling hands. A group of humans crowded together in the frame.
At first, I couldn't tell what they were doing. It looked like they were stomping on something.
There was laughter, shouting, and slurred insults.
I leaned closer.
Ears.
A tail.
Fuck!
It was a hybrid.
They were beating a hybrid who was already down and recording it as if it were fun.
My blood went cold.
I looked up at the regular. "Where did this come from?"
He blinked, surprised. "What, you really haven't seen it? It's everywhere. Some groups have been jumping hybrids all over the place. This one's recent. Yesterday, I guess… Maybe the day before." He glanced at Kazuo. "You didn't tell him?"
I turned toward Kazuo, panic crawling up my spine.
He didn't look at me. His eyes stayed locked on the regular.
"I think you should go," he said quietly. "Your friends are waiting."
Something in his tone made the guy swallow. He glanced over his shoulder, then nodded.
"Yeah. Yeah, okay. Sorry," he muttered before retreating to his table.
The moment he was gone, I turned to Kazuo.
"What was that?" I asked.
"Don't pay attention to it," he said. "There are always people like that. This time it just ended up online." He put a hand on my shoulder and looked me straight in the eyes. "Hey. It's going to be fine. Everything will be fine. Don't worry about it. Let's get back to work."
He sighed, turned, and headed off toward the storage room.
Fine?
Everything would be fine?
What was he even talking about? How could anything be fine?
I tried to calm my breathing, but it still came out uneven. Each breath hit the inside of my mask. My skin turned damp, and the mask on my face suddenly felt suffocating.
The video I'd seen a moment ago replayed in my head again and again. They were beating a hybrid. And they posted it online.
Why did that guy even shove that video at me?
Was it really fun for him to watch?
Ugh!
My head started to ache.
For the rest of the evening, I couldn't shake it.
The video followed me like a ghost. No matter what I did, it stayed right there, flickering behind my eyes, crawling under my skin.
As for Kazuo, he kept pretending that the video didn't exist. As though ignoring it hard enough would make it disappear on its own. And the way he acted only pissed me off more.
Why hadn't he told me earlier?
Was he afraid I'd panic?
Afraid I wouldn't be able to handle it?
Did he think I'd lock myself in my room and never come back out?
Okay, fine, maybe that would've happened. But does hiding it from me make anything better?
When I couldn't take it anymore, I slipped into the back room and, with shaking hands, pulled out my phone.
I searched. And searched. And searched again. Nothing at first. Then nothing more. Different keywords. Different sites.
Finally, I found a reupload on some sketchy website.
My hands shook so badly I missed the play button the first time. I tried again and finally started the video.
This time it was even worse than the first.
They were laughing and kicking him. They looked happy, as if hurting someone was the most entertaining thing in the world. As if this was something they had dreamed about doing.
My phone slipped out of my grip. I clenched my fingers around it so it wouldn't fall.
Watching it again was a mistake. I shouldn't have done it. And I definitely shouldn't have scrolled down to the comments. But I couldn't stop myself.
I wanted to know what people thought, what the ones who watched this nightmare had to say.
Somewhere deep down, I hoped they would hate the guys in the video. Hate the people doing something so disgusting.
But that's not what I found.
It was a flood of hatred. A wave of words aimed straight at hybrids.
They talked about us as if we were insects that had to be wiped out. A disease that needed to be removed.