Among The Hidden

Breath for Me

15 years prior

...

Scar stood up, wiping the tears away from his eyes. There was no use for crying. Right now, he needed to survive. Make a shelter, find food, not get abducting and killed. You know, the basics. 

Trudging over to a nearby tree, he began to swing his fists against the trunk. His knuckles stung, as the bark scraped his hands. 

'This would be so much easier with an axe.'

He though to himself. 

In theory, he could just summon an axe, without having to go through the pain of obtaining the first pieces of wood required. But that would take up a lot of souls, especially for an under-ranked and un-practiced Vexling like himself. It didn't help that they weren't allowed to use their magic, and the repression was not healthy at all.

Even if he did summon an axe, someone could see him, and attack. It was too dangerous.

'Did Human's have to think through their every move, scared for what people would do to them if found?'

Scar continued to punch at the tree, until eventually, it fell to the ground. He gather the wood, the blood from his hands staining parts of the lumber.  

He walked up to the top of a nearby hill, mumbling to himself, and began to build a house. 

"Please hold on Enaeh. I promise I will get you out of there."

. . .

Present day

"Wels?"

Wels stood frozen, unable to function. His brain short-circuited as he tried to think of what he could possibly do in this situation. 

Xisuma opened the door, and saw Wels, standing there, looking like he had just seen a ghost.

Thank gods Xisuma didn't notice the faint residue of the blue mist on the floor. 

"Wels are you alright? What happened?"

Xisuma panicked slightly as he quickly went to make sure his friend was okay.

"I... I'm alright. Y-yea. I'm fine. No worries."

Wels whispered, trying to seem calm. It didn't work. 

"Wels, you're not fooling anyone. Somethings up. Why did you call me here?"

X rested a hand on Wels' shoulder.

"I..."

Wels was trembling, its either he outed his friends to one of the people that wanted to kill them, or, he figure something else out. And he was not good at improv. 

"It's alright Wels. Take your time. I'm here for you."

Xisuma soothed. 

"He... he's back. Well, he's always here, he's just gotten louder."

Wels started.

"Wels, I don't think I underst-"

"And I can't control him. He keeps coming back, and I just can't be alone right now. Because if I'm alone I don't know what he will make me do."

Wels rambled, talking over Xisuma. 

"And I'm just so scared, and I feel alone, and I try to put up a good face but he is so controlling and manipulative. And loud. So loud."

Wels slid down onto the floor and curled up into a ball, back against the chest behind him. Tears rolled down his cheeks.

"It's going to be okay. Deep breaths. I'm here. Breath in for 4 seconds, hold for 4 seconds, and then out for 4 seconds."

Xisuma comforted his friend. 

"I-I can't..."

"Just try, you can do it."

Xisuma sat down next to Wels.

"Breath in, 2...3...4, hold, 2...3...-"

Wels coughed, unable to hold his breath.

"I'm sorry... I'm sorry... I'm sorry..."

Wels whispered frantically.

"It's alright, you are doing great."

X told him.

"Breath in, 2...3...4, hold, 2...3...4, and out, 2...3...4."

Wels followed allow, calming down.

"Great job! You did it!"

Xisuma praised.

Wels smiled a little, wiping the tears from his eyes.

"Now, when your ready, can you tell me more about this?"

Xisuma asked, voice steady and calming.

Wels nodded, taking a few more deep breaths before he started talking. 

"I have... a voice, of sorts, in my head. Sometimes I see him though, so he's more of a person than just a voice. He talks to me, and tries to make me do things that I don't want to do. And when I don't comply, he takes control of my body and does it himself. It's like, my body is a car, and I am in the drivers seat, and he is in the passenger seat. He will tell me to drive a certain route, and if I don't drive that way, then he leans over and grabs the wheel. And sometimes it feels like there are other people in the car as well. Just asleep in the back seat."

He explained. 

Xisuma nodded slowly taking processing the words.

"I know, it sounds like I'm crazy..."

Wels added, looking down at the floor.

"No, I understand what you are saying, and you are not crazy. I don't relate to your experiences personally, but I have an Idea based on what you described of how that must feel, and I'm sorry you have to go through this. I'm here for you, no matter what."

Xisuma smiled softly under his helmet, and put his hand on Wels' shoulder.

"Thank you, X."

Wels smiled back, and wiped the tears from his eyes again.

"It's alright bud."

"Sorry for calling you all the way out here, I just really needed to tell someone and I didn't know who to talk to."

Xisuma smiled at Wels' words.

"No worries, I'm always here for you, Wels."

X stood up, brushing off his pants.

"I need to go take care of something, but you can always call me whenever you want. Alright,  Wels?"

"Alright. Thanks again."

Wels nodded at Xisuma as he walked out the door.

Why did you tell Xisuma about me?

The voice said, sounding mad, but also confused.

I'm not sure. I couldn't think of a lie, so I told him the truth.

Wels answered.

The voice didn't respond. 

And Wels smiled.

. . . 

-Rain <3