The Veridians

Chapter 8

 Loneliness. Nobody wants to be alone, at least not for their whole life. Some people prefer being alone in moments, but if you could never see the people you loved most again, your family, your friends, you would find yourself in much emotional turmoil. Loneliness is all over, even in places you wouldn't think it would be. Sometimes it happens as a result of exclusion. Sometimes people think they don't deserve to have people. At some point, it becomes isolation. Some people fall into the hole of isolation, others isolate themselves. Sometimes, people fall into isolation in the hopes that they'll protect those they love most by hiding themselves. Fear can take a hold so easily in these moments. But it takes time to reverse the effects of prolonged isolation. And in order to heal the hurt from isolation, first and foremost, you have to unisolate yourself.

Callahan was alone. Sitting in his home, drowning in his emotions, the hurt he felt suffocating him. Everything was in vain, Julian was gone as far as he knew. He blamed himself for Julian running off. It was all his fault. And even if he tried to make things right, he didn't know if Julian would ever want to speak to him again. There was no going back. He ruined everything. His sorrow was translated into anger. He felt the stallion start to surface, as his eyes glowed green. He stormed into the room at the back of his home, infuriated & feeling an intense feeling through his strough turmoil. Once he was in his room, he closed his eyes, and he appeared in the black void inside of his mind again. Almost instantly, the stallion came out from the void to face Callahan.

"Why did you make me do those things. Why did you make me hurt them? Why did you make me hurt EVERYONE I LOVED!? You RUINED MY LIFE. I can't live like this anymore!" Callahan broke down onto the ground in tears. The stallion was still. Callahan looked up as he was on the ground. "You want me to do it? You want me to END MYSELF? WOULD THAT MAKE YOU STOP!? I could do it SO easily. And if you ruin my life any more, I WILL END MYSELF AND YOU. FOR GOOD." Callahan stood up, infuriated with the stallion. But his retaliation of anger would not be taken lightly. The instant he stood up, the stallion galloped towards Callahan to surround him in the green flames again. "No, no, no, no, no no!!" Callahan began to lose feeling in the physical world. He could only feel the stallion within him. The time was lost, as he burned up in the green flames in a painless agony. But suddenly, he flashed awake.

His eyes opened in the physical world. His room was in tatters, much more drastic damages than before. He felt his body regain its place in the physical world. Then, he realized. Something felt off. On the left and right sides of him, he saw something. It was bunched into clumps, clumps of strands, green strands. Callahan felt for his hair, but he felt nothing. Until he reached the point where his chest stopped and his neck started. His lengthy hair was gone, reduced to a short, green cut. "Did I do that?" Callahan pondered what had just happened. But lost in his pondering, he didn't hear the footsteps of somebody coming from the outside.

"Callahan? Are you home? Julian was taken somewhere, he was running on his own and he got knocked out by somebody!" Ari let themself into Callahan's home. They didn't see anybody in the main room. And not knowing there was something forbidden in the back room, they entered said room. "Callahan, are you in here-" Callahan's head quickly turned behind him in fear. Ari was in shock. The room they had entered was completely demolished. Callahan was on the floor, his hair entirely different than before. "Oh my... What happened here?"

Callahan stood up. "You were never meant to see this. Nobody was." Ari slowly made their way deeper into the room. As they did, they noticed more and more destruction scattered across the room. And once they were fully surrounded in it, they came face-to-face with Callahan, who was still distraught. "..What are you not telling me?" Callahan sighed. His head lowered for a moment. "Come to the main room. I have much to tell you." He walked out of the demolished room, into the main hallway, as Ari followed. Through however long Callahan was explaining himself, Ari listened with attentive ears. When he was finished, he let out a somewhat pained but relieved sigh. Ari had no words for him.