Breed and Burn: Faceless

Chapter 20- soap (II)

"I think it makes you look like a badass," said Thorne, his voice filled with an amount of clarity that surprised Axel. Reality was, his insides were collapsing. "Kind of like something out of a supernatural teen drama. You know where the main characters are supposedly monsters because they're not 'normal' but they end up saving everyone's skinny arses instead..."

Axel scoffed. He thought about how Seven said he could save everyone but himself. Was he capable? Would he even bloody bother?

Not all monsters do monstrous things. Seven's voice echoed in the back of his head like a half-forgotten nightmare. It came from the darkest and most dangerous corners of his mind.

Again? Now? Seven was going to do this again?

Axel felt it break. Like china falling onto a marble floor, his last shred of control was ripped from his body. He had reached his limit and was done. Axel was done.

"Shut up," screeched Axel, digging his foot into the ground and smashing ice in the process. Shock registered on Thorne's face when he realised he wasn't talking to him. Axel could feel his own body become weightless and giddy from the anger as he fought to reclaim his body. The sounds escaping from his chest resonated against the wall, making Axel sound horrific and twisted. " It's here. It's always here. Get out of my head Seven! You're always here. Get the hell out. This is not yours."

I don't know what you think shouting is going to achieve. Please, I may be young but my time is short and I'd rather finish it with all five of my senses. Besides, you are wrong. The great Axel is wrong. For the first time, I am right and you are wrong. It may be your body but it's our mind." Then, it giggled.

He could feel its presence shadow him. It pushed into his head until it felt like his eyes were about to pop out of their sockets.

"Thorne. Help me get this thing out of my head."

You know what you have to do. You must know the true capabilities of what it is like to be a doppelganger before they become dust. Time runs fast and thin. Then, it began howling with an insatiable pleasure.

"How, Axel? What the hell do you want me to do? Tell me, you little bastard! Make sure your tea kettle is on? I can only help you if you tell me how! It's really that simple. It must be fracking exhausting using your entire vocabulary in one sentence."

Pushing forward, Thorne turned to face Axel. He was met with those eyes, the root of all hellish nightmares. They were the colour of the flames that the devil thrived in. Fire red. His eyes reflected the anger rushing to his head. Something about them made him feel terrified. He didn't want to feel scared but his entire body was throbbing in fright.

His eyes brought memories. Wicked ones.

To Thorne, Axel's eyes were the glass that his mother smashed on his face that left shards drawing blood from his cracked skin. To Thorne, Axel's eyes were the pain in his eyes when he cried himself to sleep every night until he was ten. To Thorne, Axel's eyes held the same force his father would put in each brutal blow whilst the same words were told to him over and over again. You're not allowed to cry.

His memories were no different from nightmares. They vanished when he awoke but haunted his sleep. Realisation set in. Those weren't nightmares. They were memories. No pain amounted to this. No matter what they endured, they each possessed a small drop of hope. Hope that was driven by the thought that their parents were out there -having sleepless nights because of them- waiting for them to come home. Thorne dreaded to know what his past held but he wasn't allowed to cry. Not now. Not when his friends needed saving.

You notice that, Axel? You did that. Take credit for it. You broke your friend. Just by the ugliness and repulsiveness and foulness of your face. How much longer Will it be until you break them all?