Purple Eyes [DreamNotFound] COMPLETED

(25) Silent Battle

Clay was sure that George had stopped caring for him entirely after he had realised what Clay had done.

The slow breathing in the cold complex was the only thing that could be heard.

Both rebels were in their own thoughts but still there was this unspoken truth, hanging in the air between them.

They would both die.
 

A loud noise made the two men look down the corridor where a soldier was walking towards them, followed by the Prince and a slumped person on his side.

The moment Clay saw Darryl's face, he knew it had hit him worse.
His eyes were red and bloodshot, his whole body seemed to be shaking and he could only walk due to George's supporting arm around him.

The soldier opened Clay's cell door and he expected to be taken out next, but instead George let Darryl fall into Clay's arms who struggled to keep the weak man standing and slowly let him down to the floor.

Clay was shocked.
Darryl's fingers were trembling while he tried to hold onto Clay's sleeve.

He wrapped his arms around the shivering body, furiously staring up at George while trying to hold back his own tears.

"What- what did you do to him?!"

He hated George, he hated the cold expression on the Prince's face, the selfishness and how he would hurt a Vilis who could not even defend themselves against a Pretiosi power.

George shrugged. There was absolutely no emotion in his face.
"He did not want to talk. So we made him."

Clay's stomach went weak and for a moment he felt like he would throw up. 
Darryl buried his face into Clay's shoulder, whispering something.
The trembling body in his arms broke his heart. He did not even want to imagine what those Pretiosi made Darryl go through- he could only feel the hate towards them, the incomprehension about the cold-bloodedness.

He felt helpless. He wanted to take at least some of the pain away- from the man who had always been there for him and who was now broken by the Empire, just like so many other Vilis.

"How could you do that?"
His voice was only a whisper.

George raised an eyebrow, causing Clay to tremble out of disgust towards the cold look in his eyes.

How could he ever find those eyes pretty?

It felt like he was staring into an abyss, falling deeper and deeper while the already weak light faded.

"Do you really think I care only a bit about what you have to say?" George was leaning against the door of the cell as if he was having small talk with a friend.

"You are a monster!" Clay shouted.
"You're a monster and a torturer!"

Darryl slowly shook his head into Clay's shoulder. "Don't- don't say that. Stop it. Stop."

Clay looked down at the boy in his arms, squeezing him a bit more. His eyes wandered over the countless wounds on the older man's skin, put there to make him talk. Most of the blood had already dried.

George laughed quietly.
"Be careful, you could be the next one. I managed to keep them from interrogating you but I can always change my mind."

Clay let out an ironic laugh.
"Oh you mean you kept them from torturing me? So you still care about me? Maybe because I'm not a Vilis like we all thought? But you're still gonna let me die? How merciful! You're selfish and hypocritical!"
Clay spat out and stood up after he made Darryl sit down against the bars.