9:00pm
Trigger warning: Death, weapons, slight mentions of depression
I found this YouTube, Alex Meyers, and I highly recommend you watch his videos. He basically watches and reviews average-ish shows on Netflix and Disney channel and also movies, but in the most hilarious ways. I love each of his videos, so check him out!
Au
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"Salve, Roman!" Patton called to his older brother after he came home from school. The boy grinned at the sight of his brother, dropping his bag in the hallway before kneeling in front of the young boy. "Greetings, still battling that Latin?" Patton nodded enthusiastically, shoving forward his note book filled with translations.
"Te amo!" He giggled and Roman smiled lovingly. "I love you, too" Roman hovered his hand above Patton's head as if he was about to ruffle it, then shook his hand as if he were, miming the action. Patton grinned and flicked his head so his hair covered his eyes as if Roman did actually touch him, making the teenage boy smile broaden before he stood up and hurried up the staircase.
Around Patton, the world faded to darkness as his eyes suddenly opened and he was staring at the white ceiling above him. That dream- or memory happened many years ago, they always occur around this time, around the anniversary of his brother's death.
Sighing out sorrowfully, he sat up in bed and rubbed his eyes. It was an early summers morning and school had just ended a week ago. Looking over at his calendar he eyed the date and slumped even further. Today was the day.
He slid out from bed and grabbed his bag, it was nearly full of most of the stuff he would need, now he just needed to add a few more clothes and he would be done. Crossing his room to his drawers, he grabbed two shirts and a pair of jeans, while rummaging his eyes landed on a picture frame sitting on the desk, it was of him and Roman when the two were younger, Roman's arm hovering over Patton's shoulder, camera in his other hand.
"I'll avenge you, Roman" Patton murmured, lifting the picture and holding it to his chest, "I promise" he whispered then set it back down.
"I'll be back later!" Patton called to his dads, Logan and Virgil, who sat in the living room on separate arm chairs. Logan looked up from a book while Virgil stopped scrolling through his phone. "Alright, call if you need anything" Patton nodded and gave them both one more lingering look before he opened and shut the door, breathing in a long gulp of air before he walked down the pathway to his gate.
Before stepping onto the pavement he looked both ways, making sure no human was coming. When he was sure he was alone, he stepped out from his front yard, closing the gate behind him. Across the pavement were four lines indicating the path to walk down on. The blue lines went left, the reds right. Patton needed to go right and that was the ones on the furthest side of the pavement, the safest side.
He stepped into the blue lines then over to the red, gripping the straps of his bag before he turned right and began his walk.
He hadn't come across many people that day, most were in cars, driving to do their weekly grocery shopping. The people he did see, however, were either across the road from him or walking between the blue lines.
By the time he reached the busier part of town, it was nearing ten am. He still had half an hour to get where he needed to be, otherwise they would leave without him, and he needed to be there. He was going to avenge his brother if it was the last thing he ever did. And it will be.
He slowed to a stop at the end of the pavement he was walking on, waiting until there was a gap between the people before he slipped into the space between the red lines and followed down the path. Every pavement in the world was split off into two rows, going left and going right, everyone had to walk whatever pace the one ahead were going if they wanted to survive. It was why many people preferred to use cars - less chance that they would die.
He was coming up to the traffic lights he needed to use to cross the road, so to indicate to the person behind he stuck up his right hand (as the traffic lights were on the right) and kept it there while slowly slowing down. Every time he did this he clenched the end of his shirt so tight his knuckles turned white, but living like this was a lottery everyday.
Thankfully, he managed to get into the red space and pressed the button so the lights would turn red and he could cross. While he waited, he flinched when a scream sounded from down the road. Whipping his head in it's direction, he saw a crowd of people breaking away from the lines and jumping onto the road - from a young age people were taught to jump onto the road incase of emergencies (cars stopped when they censored something before them) and this emergency was someone fell over. That usually was what it was, that and people running.
No one was allowed to run in public. Ever. It was one of the most dangerous acts they could commit.
Patton watched as the crowd, horrified, gazed at two people who were on the floor, one laying on the other, their bodies frozen in paralysed shock. Then, they began to cry, crying until their bodies were nothing more than two piles of dust.
Patton closed his eyes and hurried over the streets as fast as he was allowed to go.
This was why he needed to get to those people in time. He couldn't let this continue anymore.
"We thought you weren't coming" Steffan spoke up to Patton who had rushed down the beach towards the group of teenagers. "Sorry" he panted, "distracted, someone fell" he waved off, every one of the teenagers tensed, knowing what he meant.
"How many?" Another member of their small group, Aubree, asked. "Two"
And the conversation ended there.
The five of them climbed aboard the boat that belonged to Dillon. He inherited it from his parents when they were killed after someone ran into them. He was also taught how to steer it, so he was basically the captain, standing behind the wheel and turning on the motor.
Patton sat towards the front of the boat on one of the benches on the side, placing his bag by his feet. Steffan sat right at the end, head facing the vast ocean ahead, determination set in his harsh blue eyes. Aubree and the other girl, Blair, sat opposite Patton but with at least a few feet's space between them, Aubree brought out one of her many weapons she brought along from her bag, looking over them while she polished. Patton guessed she had cleaned these many times in the upcoming weeks, but it was something to do, something to remind them all of what they were about to do.
All the teenagers here had a reason for this mission; Patton lost his brother; Steffan lost his mother; Aubree lost her nieces; Dillon lost his parents and Blair lost her twin sister. They were all fuelled with anger and vengeance.
Vengeance for the people who were killed by the power of Coram Deo.
Coram Deo was a powerful entity, the most powerful in the universe. In fact she was created with the birth of the universe. She created everything that humans know to this day; space, galaxies, the solar system, planets, animals, sea, fish, them. She was their god.
And yet she was the most hated thing by every single human alive.
She lived on this Earth, for it was the only one she gave intelligent life to, on a remote island accessible from southeastern America. On a map it was under the 'T' in Atlantic Ocean. Many centuries ago people went from far and wide to the island to try and defeat or befriend the entity; but no one ever came back. There wasn't a single survivor. Not ever.
Which was why Patton knew he wouldn't return home after this; he knew this was the last thing he'd ever do, but it's for his brother, and possibly to give people a better life, without having to worry about the people around them.
Recently, a few years ago, there was a voyage to the island, as no one had gone there for decades before that, but people still knew she was there, because her rules were still set in place. No human touch.
They hadn't returned. Planes flew over - they were lost, too.
Everyone in their right mind stays away from that place, and no one allows anyone to try and reach contact to it, but these four teenagers didn't care, they had been through loss, loss so painful it destroyed their soul and filled it with fury, fury locked up, only to be released when they see her. When they destroy her.
Maybe it was their determination that blinded them from the truth.
While the boat grazed across the oceans surface, Patton felt a presence beside him. He looked over and saw it was Dillon. Dillon never spoke, not once, hasn't uttered a word since he lost his parents, he was the most depressed out of them all, yet he still came anyway, still survived all this time to do this exact thing.
From beside him he pulled up a book and handed it to Patton. Knowing it was fruitless to ask what it was and why he wanted him to have it, he looked at it instead to try and find the answers himself. On the front was a circle enclosed by the other, between the two were words of Latin.
Now Patton knew why Dillon gave him it. But what is it?
Inside the inner circle was a faded, black silhouette of a human, arms hovering above their sides, legs spread slightly apart. Patton pressed his fingers against it, but it was nothing more than a picture. Flipping open to the first page, he read the words in large text, bold font.
"Coram Deo"
Everyone on the boat turned to stare at him. "Oh yeah, that" Blair piped up, "it's a book about Coram Deo, 'parently, everything you need to know about that waste of space" she spat her name like it was a forbidden, horrid curse to never be uttered. Patton nodded in understanding, flipping over a few pages. Since Roman died he kept up his Latin, for that was what his brother wanted, that was the last thing he said.
'Keep battling that Latin, for me'
Even still, he couldn't read it all, but he managed.
A whole day passed of Patton absorbed by the old book and the others sitting in silence, every so often eating and drinking to replenish themselves. They had plenty of supplies so that wasn't an issue. While the sun was setting, Patton finally closed the book and sighed out, buzzing with all the new information he had learned.
Everyone knew Coram Deo was a powerful being, born with the universe, creator of all, but Patton didn't know she had to be impartial. He also didn't know she wasn't allowed to love or hate whatever she created; meaning she physically couldn't hate the human race. The idea made him snort in disbelief - she could've fooled him.
The rules as old as time were set in stone and had to be followed, each and every one, or Coram Deo would be punished. Patton didn't know what this punishment was, because he couldn't really understand that part, but he hoped it was evil, tortuous and painful.
However, somewhere in his heart, he didn't wish that at all.
"How many people do you think are dying right now?" Aubree's voice broke the noise of the ocean around them. They had stopped the boat journey for the night, and they were all laying in sleeping bags, pillows under their heads, eyes focused on the starry night above.
"Hundreds" Blair responded, a spiteful undertone in her voice. "But not once I'm done with her, the sick bastard"
Patton rolled onto his side and closed his eyes, but couldn't sleep, he couldn't stop thinking, thinking of everything he was doing. His parents were probably out searching for him now, in fact they probably think he's dead, and he couldn't imagine what it must be like to lose two sons, but this was for the greater good of everyone. He couldn't be selfish anymore. He needed to at least try.
The next day Patton returned to the book, and everyone existed in silence, thinking, imagining what they would do when they saw her. Coram Deo.
No one knew what she looked like; no one had lived to tell the tale. But it was world-widely believed she looked like a human - a female human. This book hadn't commented on what she looked like yet, if it will at all, but Patton didn't really know that as fact, as he still couldn't read it all.
He cursed himself for not giving Latin more of his attention, but every time he did, it would remind him of Roman, and nearly every single time it ended with him curled up on bed crying.
"What're you learning?"
Patton looked up at Aubree and Blair. "Oh, nothing more than the usual. It does says she has rules to follow, too, like us"
"Oh, yeah? Is one to make the human race suffer for all eternity?" Blair rolled her eyes, viciously stabbing a knife of hers into the bench beside her, Patton winced, but thankfully it only left a small mark. Patton didn't want to ruin Dillon's boat.
A few hours later Patton's interest was caught by a certain page in the book. It described who Coram Deo was, admittedly not how she looked, but it stated something close to 'she is just a child'.
What did that mean?
She was only a child when the book was written? Because Patton was sure she could've been a child when she was birthed, but it was thousands of years later when she made the planet, and many, many more years till this book was written, so she couldn't have been a child when this was stated.
So why do they emphasis it so? Across this page, the next and many after it, they all, all say 'she is just a child'. Well, a loose translation, anyway. What does it mean? She's a child? How can she be a child if she's so old? How can she be any age range of she is infinite!? Patton sighed and rubbed his eyes under his glasses. This was becoming confusing, fast.
He theorised it could refer to a possibility that she was innocent, acted like a child, had the knowledge of a child, but really? A being like herself wouldn't at least try and learn more? It seemed stupid to say she was stupid. And innocent? She was far from it from the way she treats the human race. She could possibly act like a child, for he hadn't met her yet, and had no knowledge of how she went by day-to-day. That could be it, but how would this writer know?
There must've been survivors for this book to have been created. Survivors from thousands of years ago.
'She is just a child'
Patton didn't know what to think of it.
The boat ride was long and almost impossible to bare from how silent it was. And Patton didn't exactly like traveling by boat, however, when land came into view, and they could all see the grand, yellow dusted temple in the far distance, they all felt different emotions swarm through them and clasp their heart.
Steffan was determined, Aubrey was passionate with anger, Dillon was plagued with masked sadness, Blair was vengeful and Patton?
Patton was...confused.
Dillon stopped the boat once it reached the side of the island, he couldn't go too far otherwise the boat would be stuck on land, so they all had to waddle through the water. The teenagers, apart from Dillon and Patton, held up their bags full of weapons, Patton held up the book and Dillon a scarf.
"I'm going to kill this son-of-a-bitch" Steffan snarled, cocking his gun. Patton watched the three furiously determined, older teenagers jog up the sand and towards the old, long staircase made from stone. Dillon knelt down on the sand and buried half of the scarf under it. He leaned down closely and whispered something to it, then stood, dusted sand from his knees and gestured for Patton to follow as they arose up the staircase after the others.
And for the first time in months, since this was first suggested to him, Patton was having doubts, doubts that lingered in the back of his mind.
'She is just a child'
The three teenagers were already inside once Patton and Dillon made it to the top. "Ready?" He asked Dillon who nodded and walked ahead, through the large, doorless entry that seemed to stretch upwards for miles, columns holding the roof above it. The temple was one large room, with another staircase that led to a chair. A chair occupied by a body.
A naked body, at that.
Patton didn't know what he was expecting, but this was not it.
But it was her, Coram Deo herself. She didn't look like a child, more like a young adult. He gripped the book harder, willing it to tell him what it meant!
"Teenagers" Coram Deo mused, standing up from her throne, making a descent down her staircase. "How interesting. I haven't seen such a kind like you before" she commented, pausing on the last step.
Patton swallowed, taking all of her in. She had long, impossibly black hair that stopped just below her waist, her eyes without white, just dark nothingness. Her skin was flawless, without a single hair, it seemed smoother than a newborn baby, a glistening pale.
"And guns? My, my" Coram Deo grinned, a grin so wicked Patton had to look away. "Looks like we'll have a fight"
"You're a murderer" Steffan spat, aiming his gun at her. The insinuation made her laugh, the noise escaping across the room, not bouncing back against the walls, certainly not echoing.
"I follow the rules, dear boy, you break them"
"They're impossible rules!" Blair suddenly roared, eyes flaming with anger. "No one can go their whole life like this! Not everyone! Without human touch! It's inhumane!"
"They don't go their whole life" Coram Deo corrected, "babies are held; are they not?"
"Yes, babies, but it has to stop after six! Six! Have you ever tried to stop a six year old from trying to hug you?!" Aubree cried. Coram Deo didn't lose her smirk that she wore as soon as her eyes landed on the newcomers, and their statements certainly wouldn't budge it any time soon.
"Have you ever considered trying harder?"
At this, their burning rage toppled, and they all tried to attack, but with one flick of her wrist their weapons were in the air. It's not like that would stop them, but when they advanced, they were in the air, too, screaming incoherently at Coram Deo who giggled in glee.
Patton watched, frozen in shock, unable to do anything as she tormented the teens. Suddenly, something hit his back. He turned to see Dillon gesturing him over. Silently, Patton crept out of the temple and down the first section of the stairs, standing in the space between the first and second.
"What do we do?"
Patton gasped; he had never heard Dillon speak before.
"I-I-I don't know" he admitted, fumbling with the book. "The answer has to be in here somewhere, but most of it is useless! And I-I can't understand it all!" He felt tears well up in his eyes, and in a fit of overpowering emotions he slammed the book onto the floor and fell to the ground.
"Patton, I came here to avenge my parents. Stop having a temper tantrum and help me!"
Suddenly, Patton froze up again.
'Temper tantrum'
'Temper tantrum'
He ripped the book up from the ground and flicked through the pages, vigorously wiping away his tears.
"This book states Coram Deo is just a child" Patton began to explain, facing Dillon who stayed silent to listen. "It also states she can't hate or love anything that she created; and I had a hard time finding it in me to care about that information, because what good would that do but it's coming together and I think..." he drifted and closed the book. Running a hand through his hair a few times.
"Think what?" Dillon questioned, becoming more agitated by the second.
"It doesn't say anything about our rules, Dillon" Patton voice rose, "and why not!? It says about her rules, but what about ours?! You would think they would at least mention it I-" Patton's eyes widened as he stared off into the distance.
"What? What is it?" Dillon demanded, seeing realisation crash over the boy.
"The rules aren't in here. Our rules aren't in here because we don't have any rules" Patton's voice rose with excitement as it all come together, like a puzzle in his head.
"What are you on about!? Of course we have rules!" Dillon dismissed, but Patton shook his head.
"Listen to me; this book is basically screaming the answer at us! And I was too dumb to realise!" He exclaimed, shaking the book in the air, "this is just a temper tantrum!" He yelled, and Dillon gazed at him as if he were crazy.
"Think about it! So many times this book repeated 'she is just a child' - and what do children do when they're upset? They throw a fit! They yell, scream, and in most cases scream 'I hate you' - maybe, no, I am certain there was a time where humans could touch, hug, embrace, and I'm sure in that time Coram Deo liked us! Why wouldn't she like her creation?! But we betrayed her!"
"I...I think I follow?" Dillon still didn't look really convinced and confused. He also did not believe humans ever touched in the past without punishment.
"You do! You're smart, Dillon, think about it, all the times we tried to kill her in the past? Because, what? She was powerful? We were scared? She is a child, we made her scared-no, we made her upset, angry, but she can't hate us - she can't turn to us, scream and crying, she can't tell us she hates us for what she did because it goes against her rules, so how did she do it? The one way to make her feel better? The one way to say 'I hate you'?"
Dillon stared at him with wide eyes and parted lips.
"Take away what we love most. Human touch" Patton placed the book on the ground and breathed out steadily. "And what does a child need when they're upset?" he asked without expecting an answer, but as he ran back into the temple, Dillon gave one anyway.
"Comfort"
When he reappeared in the room, she could see the teenagers suspended in the air still, while Coram Deo had her back to Patton.
Not for a moment did he stop, no hesitation crossed his mind as he ran across the room. The teenagers watched, expecting him to attack, but when Patton curled his arms around her waist and held them there tightly, they all gasped in shock.
Coram Deo did, to. She hadn't been touched since she was birthed.
"Get o-"
"We're sorry" Patton whispered into her shoulder, holding her tighter. "We're so, so sorry, Coram Deo"
"If you don't let go I will-"
"We're sorry, we're sorry we tried to kill you, we're sorry you couldn't live in peace with us, it was our fault..." he lifted his head and turned the girl around and stared into her eyes. "And I'm sorry"
Coram Deo was silent for awhile. The teenagers watched on, Dillon by the door, the others in the air, imagining Coram Deo to kill him then and there, but then they all saw Patton smile, lift his hand and cup her cheek.
"You can't hate us" he murmured, stroking just under her eye, "but I do, I will for you, I hate what they did to you, and all of this can be over, you win, we're sorry"
In that moment, the three teenagers dropped to the ground, along with the weapons. "Feeling better, kiddo?" Patton whispered, smiling as he would to a child.
Her black eyes became glossy.
Patton thought it was all over, but when he saw Steffan, running up with a knife in hand, Patton knew it wasn't. Grabbing her arm, he pulled Coram Deo behind her, gasping out when the knife plunged into his gut. In that moment he collapsed to the ground, Dillon held a hand over his mouth, unable to comprehend anything happening.
For a moment, Steffan couldn't, either. He didn't mean to kill Patton, he got in his way!
Coram Deo stared down at Patton for the longest second that had passed in her everlasting lifetime. Then, she slowly looked up at Steffan who took a few steps back. "It's funny" she whispered, lifting her hand in the air, Steffan's neck suddenly darkened considerably.
"How you call me a murderer"
When Patton opened his eyes, he was staring up at the golden yellow ceiling of the temple. He squinted against the sun's rays that flowed in through the large doorway, the setting sun directly in line.
"Sleep well, dear boy?"
His vision flickered over beside him to see Coram Deo sitting there, in her naked glory. Memories from earlier that day crashed through his mind so suddenly he winced, and then remembered the stab, running a hand over his gut quickly.
"Don't worry about that" Coram Deo spoke up, "where...where are they" he managed to sit up, looking around the room for the three other teenagers.
"In the ocean. One day they'll reach land" she smiled, this time, however, it wasn't a smirk.
"And Dillon?"
Coram Deo turned her head to her left so Patton did, too, spotting Dillon sitting on the staircase leading up to the throne, book laying in his lap. "It's a book of memories of him and his parents" Coram Deo explained before she arose from the ground and helped Patton up to with a graceful curve of her wrist.
"Why don't you sit beside him?"
Patton nodded and did as told, taking a seat beside Dillon who positioned the book so they could both see. Patton smiled at how cute Dillon looked as a child, sitting with his parents in various places and countries. Patton guessed they travelled a lot.
Suddenly, he felt a weight on his shoulder and almost screamed, instead minimised it to a yelp and jumped away from Dillon who sat back up straight.
"Dill-"
"Oh, don't worry about that" Coram Deo cut Patton off, helping the two to their feet once again.
Like Patton had done to her, she reached up and cupped his cheek. "My tantrum is over. You are all free"
Patton found himself chuckling as tears pooled in his eyes. "Oh, Kiddo, thank you, thank you so much"
Coram Deo smiled in response, but didn't say anything more on the matter.
Once they were outside and ready to get to the boat, Patton turned to Coram Deo one more time, pulling her into a gentle hug, one she returned for quite some time.
"Will you be okay?"
Coram Deo smiled, "I have been since the dawn of your planet. I wouldn't say goodbye, though, dear boy, this won't be the last time we meet"
Patton giggled, reached up and stroked her cheek again. "Stay safe for me, Kiddo, and no stealing cookies out the cookie jar"
Coram Deo chuckled, too. "No promises"
The boat ride back was considerably shorter, in fact it only lasted a day. Patton wondered why that was, with heavy sarcasm included.
Once they got off the boat, Patton grabbed Dillon's hand and did what he wanted to do since he first got on that ship. Go home. The two boys found themselves laughing as they ran across the beach and up onto the streets. People looked at them, horrified as they pulled the other into a hug, but they didn't die, nothing happened.
"Come on" Patton whispered, holding his hand again and running down the street, in between the two pathways. People jumped out the way, but so many people at once they all fell on top of each other. Screams didn't last, for more and more people touched, not a single one fading into dust.
"They'll love you, Dillon!" Patton yelled as they made their way down the street to Patton's home. "I promise!"
Dillon held Patton's hand tighter.
The boy, so excited and happy didn't even knock before he opened the front door and yelled his parents names.
But silence met his ears.
When he entered the living room, dust piles met his eyes.
For a temper tantrum, it sure caused a lot of pain, huh?
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12:00am