No Surrender | Eddie Munson

Chapter Fifty-Six: Burning

CHAPTER FIFTY-SIX: BURNING

HEROES — DAVID BOWIE/PETER GABRIEL

I can remember
Standing by the wall
And the guns shot above our heads
And we kissed as though nothing could fall

TW// Blood, death

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"Hello, Beth."

It is dark. So dark.

The tension around my arms and waist are gone but I still feel weightless, floating. Even though I am ankle-deep in icy water. My attempts to move get me nowhere. It takes everything in me not to panic. "H-Hello, Henry."

"I have not been called that in a long time."

He doesn't sound like I expect him to. He sounds normal, just a man. A figure approaches. His white clothes stand out sorely from the nothingness around us. I'm sure I have seen him before. That smile with so much malice hidden behind it, that mop of blonde hair, gaunt cheekbones. His uniform is like the orderlies' at the Lab.

When he stops, we are level. Eye to eye. His are blue, just like mine. A cold hand cups my cheek. "You've grown up."

"And you've become a monster," I quickly retort, chin jutting out and jaw clenched painfully tight. "Maybe you always were one."

"I like to think I simply reached my full potential. Perhaps that is monstrous to some. I had hoped you would think differently. You always were different from the others, you and your sister."

My eyes flare. "Don't talk about my sister. Don't even dare."

He coos. "Do you feel that?" Eyes falling shut, he inhales shakily, teeth showing in a delirious grin. "Oh, if only you could. You are burning."

The temperature has increased but I am still shivering. "Stop wasting my time. Just kill me if that's what you're here for."

Surprise brings his intense stare back to me. "And let you take Max's place? You must be curious why I came back for her. After all, I knew you'd come. Ask me, Beth. Ask me why I chose that child again instead of latching onto all of your... issues. Go on."

A moment passes. He isn't joking, he really wants me to ask. So I lean in and drop my voice to little more than a whisper, "Fuck you."

"That is why."

The response isn't what I expected. I hesitate. "What?"

"You're such a small thing, so gentle. It's why you're still here. You have learned to bow down and let this world walk all over you. All that potential and you don't even know it. Do you know what I remember?"

I don't humour him with a response this time.

He chuckles. "I remember how you used to fight. When you were just a little girl in that awful place, you resisted Papa's efforts, you could suffocate entire rooms with your tantrums. The children could not sleep when you had your nightmares. They used to scream for an end to the terror that you caused. Why do you think he had to stop you from remembering? You convince yourself that you are weak but you could bring the world to its knees. When will you learn that emotion rules all?"

"I don't understand."

"A person can die from a broken heart, from fear itself. Is a panic attack the best you can do, a wall of 'happy'? You are afraid of causing pain, afraid that you will lose yourself... but you are already lost, you always have been. Sara, Five, Beth. All of these names are meaningless. Labels. We are beyond that. Beyond names, beyond numbers, beyond every little box they put us into. Gods cannot be caged."