Monster King

Chapter 25 - You're only human

'Monster!'

'The ugly freak!'

'Demon spawn!'

Their words whispered into my ear, and I hesitated. The warmth left my body, and a chill crawled over my skin. Why am I even doing this? Why am I even here? He doesn't actually ca-

'Talk to your dad about this.' Molly's words came to mind.

'Your father does love you Nyx.' Then my mothers did.

I took a breath and rested my hand in my lap.

"Honestly, I'd rather not take my mask off. No offense, but I only feel comfortable doing that around people I'm close to. Even though we're blood, I don't know you." 

I could see the hurt that started to swell within his silver eyes. However, he still nodded.

"I-I understand. Believe me son I wanted to be there for you, I really did. It's just, life is difficult right now."

"After a day here I can understand." I replied. "So, I'll make you a deal. You answer my questions and listen to me. And I'll explain Casey, deal?" 

A weak smile etched itself on his face."Waead."

I'm just gonna assume that means he agrees. I opened my mouth but I hitched in my breath. My heart was running a mile a minute and I couldn't keep my hands still.

I took a breath and grabbed my pant legs. Just do it Nyx, just do it!

"S-so, I kinda hated you my entire life, mom struggled a lot to keep us afloat. Grandma wouldn't lift a finger to help us, because mom decided to be with you, because mom decided to have me." I took another breath and focused my eyes on the legs of his chair. Even just looking at his body was too much. "Then came the day mom shot herself. I don't even remember much of it. Just the blood and rushing to the hospital. All I remember was my grandma saying. 'The son of the devil did this.' 'The son of the devil.' She locked me in a room and I didn't see sunlight for days. The spirits in there…it was…a nightmare." My arm started to shake more and I sat back.

Your okay Nyx, your okay…

"Kek, Asf, Asf Kek I'm so sorry."

I glanced up and saw tears streaming down my father's face. Which made my shaking stop. He was crying? For me?

"I-it's okay. I'm over it now. All of this is to say, I hated you. Because I had to hate you. You were the devil, that's why I was scarred, you were the devil, that's why I saw things nobody else could, you were the devil, of course you left mom." I looked down to my shoes and sighed. "But now, I don't know. It's like, everything I knew is unraveling."

Something cold ran down my cheek and I reached up. The cold wet sensation rested against my fingertips and I realized I was crying. Dad moved over to me and I held my handout for him to stop. 

"Don't, I'm fine." I said and rubbed my eyes. "As I was saying. I'm starting to see that you're not the devil. That things in life aren't that simple. It still feels like you abandoned mom, that she got the crappy end of the deal. However, after seeing you only once, and remembering what mom told me. I don't think that's necessarily the case. You're both suffering. So now, I don't know what to do. How to feel.  If you're not the devil, then maybe I am really just a monster all on my own.

"Kek, you're not a monster." He said firmly. "You're a victim. A victim to my mistakes, to history, to the petty wraith of a jealous Guardian. None of this is your fault." 

I took a deep breath in, then out. My heart started to relax, and my hands stopped trembling. 

"So, my questions, now that you've listened to me babble. How did you meet mom?"