20 TPN STORIES IN 20 DAYS CHALLENGE

Day 4 - Nightmares, Doubts and Injuries

[Submitted by @RividaRoses]

It had happened again... The terrified look in his eyes, the whole body soaked in sweat and the traces of blood on the pillow and the sheets... His suffering was eating away at him physically, it was obvious because his days were already numbered, but it was mentally that Norman was the sickest. He was engaged in a losing battle against illness, a tortuous and uncertain battle against the people he despised the most... But above all, it was a war against himself that made him move further and further away from who he really was, day after day. Norman was reviewing all the trials and abuses he had faced at Lambda, if at first they were simple tests more complicated than those at Grace Field but still far too simple for a mind as brilliant as his, the months that followed turned into a test of survival, the horrors that Norman saw and suffered were beyond anything he could have imagined...

The more time passed and the more his mind was focused on only three things: Escape, Finding Emma and his family back, getting revenge... revenge... revenge! This last point was invading his mind more and more, he wanted to exterminate all those who had made his life a living hell until now... But alone, he was unable to do so, he spent most of his time suffering and gathering a team to be able to escape... And meanwhile he had no idea if Emma, Ray and his siblings were still alive, as the days went by he had totally forgotten their existence, the flame of hope that lived in him shone for a much darker motivation, His candour and kindness had been swept away, relegated to a state of memory because of the traumas of that fiendish place, deep down Norman hated that version of himself... But his survival instincts combined with his intelligence were stronger and had put Norman's true personality away... He had become as cold as death itself... Cruel, ruthless and silent.

But the confidence he showed towards his escaped comrades was only a decoy, since his escape the traumatic memories of what he lived there came back more and more often, at the beginning it was once or twice a week ... Now it's minimum once a night, with the added bonus of the disease that is progressing ...

He had taken the time to calm down and change his pillowcase. He was reduced to changing his sheets so as not to attract attention, like a child who would have wet his bed, except that it was not to hide from shame, but to preserve the image of an unshakeable figure for his new companions. His night was over, so he had decided to go to work in the basement, it was always time to save. There he met Vincent and Zazie, they too might've had a crisis.

Vin: Hello Boss.

Nor: Good morning Vincent, good morning Zazie.

Zaz: Awaaaaa.

Nor: Another crisis?

Vin: Yes.

Nor: Okay.

And they had been working all night, their plan was on track and they will soon be able to put it in place to reach their final goal.

This plan had taken months to come to fruition and was guided by the hatred and resentment of a group of individuals who would stop at nothing. Since their escape they had been travelling around the country looking for all kinds of demons to gather information about them just to make their poison, but in the meantime they had learned that Grace Field's group was still alive, Norman was finally happy deep inside him, and he thought he would finally be able to find them... to find her. But the reunion wasn't as good as he would've thought... He was really sad and disappointed to see that Emma and Ray had totally disproved his plan and that the blood-cursed girl demon was still alive... And Emma who deeply wanted to save all demons and go to the other world without harming anyone... It had tormented him deeply. He had imagined and dreamt about the bitter failure of his plan because of these two heretic demons and Emma's innocence, a failure that led to the cruel death of each of his brothers and sisters including Ray and Emma... He couldn't bring himself to do it, and his coldness had crossed a threshold... If he had to lie to his best friends to save them, then he wouldn't hesitate any moment about doing so!

Vin: Boss?

Nor: Hm?

Vin: Are you really going to execute the plan?

Nor: You could have done without such a stupid question Vincent. I will stop at nothing to exterminate these monsters until they're all dead.

Vin: Okay. My bad, boss.

...

Nor: Please excuse me for a moment...

Norman had this urgency to get out of the room as soon as possible, it was getting to him... Sudden nausea and dizziness, he rushed back to his room before vomiting and spitting blood, It was much more abundant than the last time... It was very worrying... At this stage he doesn't even know if he will be able to go through with his plan... He is prepared to die since that sinister day that separates his life as an orphan from that of a test subject... But he had just found back his two best friends... and his family... is he really ready after all? His brilliant mind was swimming in doubt, which only added to the crisis he was having, he was curled up on the floor suffering martyrdom... Before he came to his senses, clean up and leave to rejoin his peers. He must not doubt. He has no right to doubt. He's a genius after all.

He will kill the demons, even if it means lying to Emma, Ray, his family and anyone else. The only thing that matters is to go through with his plan.

His plan...

The plan...

...

Emma... Ray... Help...