⊹ ｡ ﾟ⁖✦ •𝘔𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘭𝘢 𝘊𝘢𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘰𝘨𝘶𝘦 𝘊𝘢𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘰 𝘈𝘜⁖ °✦ ･ﾟ⋆

Chapter 14

Cesar was up in his suite, as he had excused himself from the table. He was shaking and could barely remain standing. He slumped down onto his knees in a dark corner of his room as he felt his humanity slip away.
"No..." his final word.
Then he felt the alien presence in his body. The new feeling of numbness. Emotionless. Cold. So cold...he felt soulless. He wanted to cry, but it was impossible.
"Why am I a monster?" Cesar thought to himself.
The room felt chillier than before. Cold enough to see one's breath. Cesar had no breath in this state.

Jonah laughed and shook Mark's hand as the two wrapped up their game. The actions surprised him since he wasn't paying much attention to what was before him. All his mind would rest on was Cesar.
"Good game, bro! See ya tomorrow!" Jonah cheered and playfully slapped Mark on the back. Mark recoiled and sighed watching Jonah walk towards the stairs whistling.
He really had no care in the world about Cesar.
Not that Mark expected given the recent incident...but it was still surprising to see a new side of Jonah. A new, arrogant and disdainful Jonah.
Mark still didn't know what happened between Cesar and Adam. He wasn't sure he wanted to know. But of course, if he was gone, he'd miss the tall mysterious blonde. Sure, he wasn't patient, or the kindest guy, but the two men had bonded over their interests in the unknown of their new shared life. Mark now briefly started wondering what Adam thought of him. But he didn't dwell on it.
Jonah was well up the stairs and likely already shut into his suite for the night. Mark ascended the stairs himself, his mind still flowing through thoughts, one after the other.
Drifting.
Once he reached the top, he looked at Cesar's door.
"Should I check up on him? He's probably sleeping..." Mark's mind flipped back and forth between wether or not he should try engaging.
Finally, he settled on giving it a try. Cesar wouldn't be mad if he was woken up, he always appreciated people making sure he was set.
Mark shyly knocked on the door, quickly glancing down the staircase to make sure neither Thatcher nor Ruth would catch him outside of his room.
"Um..C-Cesar?" Mark whispered.
No response.
Mark waited another minute before trying again. He told himself he would try three times, and if nothing happened after three knocks, he would give up and move on—but attempt to check on Cesar again in the morning.

Down the hall, Jonah just got into bed. He felt real peace and relaxation again. Knowing his best friend was alive was all he needed and wanted. He fell asleep quite quickly.
In a dream, a dark and unfamiliar room faced him when he opened his eyes. He felt both dread and curiosity.
"H-hello..?" His voice echoed.
As he started stepping forward, the walls fell away and the tiles under him shattered and flew away with the walls. He gasped.
A creature the size of a giant stood before him, his point of view looked like he was a doll in a dollhouse and the being was a crazed child. The figure smiled widely and laughed maniacally. Fear and anxiety hit Jonah like a truck. He wanted to scream, but it wouldn't have been any use...he was clearly alone and would've been drowned out.
"Wh-what are you?!"
"I am your maker, Jonah Marshall!" The monster laughed.
"Huh?! What..what does that mean?!"
The figure threw its head back while continuing to laugh at him.
"Are you God?"
The creature laughed harder and shot back to give a wide eyed unhinged expression that shocked Jonah to his core.
"The opposite!" It yelled.
"What do you—what do you want?!" Jonah's voice trembled.
The laughing finally ceased about as abruptly as it started. Now a deafening faint buzz rang through Jonah's ears.
"Tell me," the demon asked, "What good has that Murray boy been to you?"
"A-Adam?!? He's my best friend! Please leave him alone, he's...he's been through so much!"
"I know. And you've offered him so much, just to get nothing back, isn't that right?"
Jonah started getting angry. "No! That's not true!" He yelled.
"Well of course it is!" Lucifer laughed. "Have you forgotten about all of the things he's said to you? The blatant disrespect? The fact that he clearly thought he was superior to you, that you were nothing but a crutch for him?"
"NO! THAT'S NOT HIM AT ALL!"
Lucifer broke into maniacal laughter again.
"You don't know us! You don't know me, and you don't know him!"
"Oh, of course I do..." Lucifer hissed. "I've known the child for years. Maybe I know more than you do! I know everything about him. Let me tell you, Marshall, there is more than meets the eye!"
"Shut up..! SHUT UP!"
"That disgraceful attitude you put up with...why? Don't you think you deserve better? I know you do. I know you thought so yourself."
It was true. After one particularly bad argument with Adam, Jonah did indeed realize he deserved better. But his intention was never to leave Adam. He wanted to be by his side no matter what. Everyone has issues. Nobody is perfect. Jonah felt like he knew that more than anybody else could.
"Why don't we just start fresh, hm? A new best friend who won't belittle you! You'd be so happy, Marshall! So very happy!" Lucifer laughed again.
"N-no I wouldn't!" He began to cry. "Adam means the world to me. You can't...you can't just get rid of him!"
"Who told you that, hm? They lied. I have a job to do. Responsibilities. You can guess what they are, can't you?"
Jonah fell onto his knees holding himself and sobbing.
"Do you give up?"
"I don't understand...he was fine when I saw him..."
"Life changes in an instant! Don't you know?" The devil continued chuckling to itself.
Jonah buried his head in his hands. "Please...please don't.." his voice became weak and soft. His body felt heavy.
"Look up once more, child," Lucifer ordered.
Jonah's head shot up involuntarily, tears still streaming out of his eyes and snot running down his nostrils.
"Would you like to kill him twice?"
"No!"
"Too late! You don't get to choose!" Lucifer broke into the laughing fit again as everything went dark and Jonah was shown every gruesome detail of Adam's death in life and the result of his recent encounter with Lucifer. From Adam's perspective, and then again from a third person perspective. Jonah was frozen still and couldn't move. Tears kept rolling.
He could feel his heart break.

Daylight ran in through the windows of the building. The curtains to Cesar's suite were shut, but a small beam of light still snuck its way inside, hitting him with a bright white haze. He opened his eyes, stretched, and sat up. He was on the floor...is that where he slept last night? Why? No matter, he felt rejuvenated and there was a spring in his step once more!
There was a knock at the door.
"Be right there!" Cesar said as he got up and brushed the dust off of his suit.
"Goooood morning, Mark!" He squealed, pushing past his friend and out into the hallway.
"I think today is going to be lovely!" Cesar declared.
"Uh...okay," Mark responded.
He was surprised and a little confused by the complete turn around he saw in Cesar. But he felt relief too, seeing him obviously feeling better.
Cesar jogged down the hallway over to Jonah's door and knocked while saying good morning in a sing-songy voice.
Mark found it weird how quick Cesar's demeanor changed, but decided to just ignore it and enjoy the fact that he was feeling better again.

Jonah jumped and felt his heart racing, waking up to Cesar's knock and voice at the door. His head hurt, but not as much as his heart did. Hopefully he'd get to have another confirmation that Adam really was okay. Jonah grumbled and dragged himself out of bed, over to the door and opened it.
"Hey." He sighed, waving at Cesar.
"Wow, you look..miserable!" Said Cesar.
"Thanks." Jonah shut the door in his face and turned around, flopping back into his bed on his stomach.
"Sorry, I didn't mean that in an offensive way! Really!" a brief pause. "And don't forget breakfast is ready! You don't wanna miss it!"
"Whatever." Jonah groaned into his sheets.