What Lurks Behind The Trees

The monster inside

*This is what Gregor sees in his head*

Gregor stared at the reflection of the sky in the water, the large birds flew through the clouds and the snow settled gently on his brown hair. His arms were wrapped around his bent knees, his finger tapped a melody on his hand.

Gregor looked at his left hand and sighed, he could see how the blackness was spread throughout his veins, tangling from his wrist and underneath his sleeve to his shoulder where the bite scar was. Gregor could see them, every day, he saw the red smoke swirling around in his head, behind his closed lids, but he didn't understand them.

When he first discovered his power, he focused on these red swirls, he tried to command them, control them, that's how the black liquid in his body was activated, that's how his arm suddenly transformed. He didn't know what he was doing at the time, but having used his arm many times since then, it became second nature to him. Recently these lines of red smoke had become wilder, giving him headaches and pain in his eye. It became harder for him to control these lines, it was like they were the Night Slayer part of him, fighting to be released.

Gregor remembered one incident in the forest where he was able to see in the dark, in the thick fog. At the time he didn't have time to think about it, but now that he remembered it, it must have been his red eye.

Gregor's own body was starting to become something foreign to him, he was starting to have thoughts that he himself did not create, thoughts that a Night Slayer would think. Like biting a human. It scared him, he knew from that moment that the Night-Slayer blood was still spreading through his vessels, slowly, but soon enough it would consume him.

Gregor was scared, of his own self, of what he could do to his friends and loved ones if he lost to that monster. And as he stared into the water, two red eyes met his, two lifeless red orbs. He blinked, but they didn't. The tear that fell from his eye hit the surface of the still water, creating a series of hoops that erased the image of the Night-Slayer. When did I start crying?

He stood up and took off the clothes that covered his top half so they wouldn't rip. He shivered at the cold that his bare torso. He closed his eyes and watched as the red smoke twisted and turned, he tried to focus, tried to make it stop, but it wouldn't. He groaned in pain, his head throbbed horribly. He held his head in his hands but his eyes were still closed, still focused on the red fumes.

He tried harder this time, he tried to control the monster, but the red came closer and closer until it clouded his brain like a large tide, he screamed in pain and snapped his eyes open.

"Greg, what are you doing?" Aden's rushed to his side.

"Didn't I tell you not to follow me!" Gregor snapped.

"It's freezing, why are you naked?!" Aden yelled back and threw Gregor's clothes at him.

Gregor threw them on the floor and fell to the ground. He held his head in his hands and frowned. "Aden, leave."

"No! Look at you! You're losing it!"

"I just need some time alone...please," Gregor said in a low voice.

Aden sighed "Fine, but come back before it gets dark or I'm going to come looking for you,"

Gregor nodded and Aden looked at him worriedly before huffing and stomping away.

Gregor closed his eyes again, he tried to calm down, he tried to breathe as he concentrated on the monster in his head. He inhaled and at the exhale, the smoke stopped moving, it became like sharp broken fragments of glass in his head. When he opened his eyes he saw that his arm was beginning to change, from the tips of his fingers to his shoulder, big dark claws. He stared at his arm, he flexed it and moved his fingers around. It seemed like his left hand only trembled when it was human. He had to learn to control the monster before it affected his body.

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Gregor walked back to the castle where everyone was waiting for him at the dinner table.

"You're back, you look terrible," Julian said.

Gregor grunted in reply and Aden stuffed a chicken wing in his mouth.

"Eat."

"How did training go with everyone?" Vince asked.

"The men that the queen gave us are already well trained, but of course I told them to train harder," Raymond said.

"I checked out the archers, they're really good, but of course I'm better," Rowan mumbled the last part, following it with a small chuckle.

"Their horses are just as strong as they are," Felton said.

"Queen Ivedellia said that if we wanted more support we can go to the North, she said they may be able to help us," Julian said.

"Well that's good, shall we go?" Alan said.

"Yes, but I don't think we all need to go,"

"I want to go," Aden said.

"Me too." Gregor muttered.

"No. Gregor you stay here, you know why," Julian frowned.

"I want to go, there's no reason for me to stay here," Gregor said.

"I can't-"

"It's fine, I'll take care of him," Aden said with a grin and Julian sighed.

"So, Aden, Gregor, Julian, Alan, Rowan and me?" Raymond said.

Everyone nodded in agreement.

"Let's dig in then," 

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