Gray Clouds

PROLOGUE

Eli was planning on killing himself tonight.

Eli stayed in his dark, messy pigsty of a bedroom, laid flat on the floor. He was stuck in the prison he called his parents' home, in the hyper-religious neighbourhood in Mistfel called Ramora Lane, or as he liked to call it, Hell. The man didn't move an inch, the only hint that he was alive being the rising and falling of his chest. The bright screen of his phone, resting on his open palm in front of his face, reflected onto his exhausted eyes, being the only light he had in them. Quiet, energetic laughing and the voice of a streamer played from the speakers of his phone.

At 2PM, Eli finally stirred, like a dead fish coming back to life, turning off his phone to plunge the bedroom back into a quiet void. The young man stood up, brushing long, tangled strands of black hair out of his face. The darkness and silence of Eli's bedroom seemed to leak out into the rest of the house, combatting with the bright streetlights illuminating from the windows.

Eli tiptoed his way down the carpeted stairs, his cotton socks further muffling any potential audible footsteps on his way down to the kitchen. The sound of the kettle boiling and the ripping of a cup noodle packet always seemed to amplify at night. Normally, Eli wouldn't be out of his room at this time, or ever, but he might as well eat something now. He knew he wouldn't end up eating anything else soon.

He kept looking over his shoulder in case the noise woke his parents up, feeling a wave of relief as the kettle stopped and his parents weren't up yelling his deadname in frustration.

The steaming water and flavouring poured into the cup with the two minute noodles, and Eli left it on the counter to take out a fork from one of the drawers. He took the cup noodles back upstairs, walking slowly, using equal carefulness when closing the door to his room. Eli slumped down on his gaming chair, bringing his feet up to huddle himself into a ball. The monitor's light nearly blinded his eyes, stabbing into the room's darkness.

Eli set down his hot cup noodle in front of a cluster of identical yet empty, used paper cups, like penguins huddling together for warmth on his desk. The first thing Eli did after accessing his computer was to go on Discord. He wasn't a part of many servers, and the only friend he had was named "Mouse."

Eli opened up Mouse's chat, slightly disappointed as he saw that Mouse hadn't messaged yet, the last message that was sent was from Mouse, at 9:40PM:

"Good mimir :3"

He wasn't really surprised, though. Eli didn't expect them to be awake at 2 in the morning. Eli sent them a small text. The last text he'd ever send them.

"Thanks for being my friend. I'm so glad I met you."

Eli sat back on his seat, eating his cup of chicken noodles. He probably could've picked something better than that to be his last meal, but he was content with noodles. After all, chicken noodles tasted great anyway. And yet, the salty taste of strong chicken flavouring couldn't distract Eli from the sinking feeling of sadness in his stomach. He was going to miss Mouse, even if they never met in person. And he was going to miss watching the streamers he loved and spent money on while looking for even a semblance of positive human interaction when Mouse wasn't around.

The only people he weren't going to miss were his parents and the members of The Church a few minutes away from his house.

Eli's empty cup joined the rest of his hoard of identical ones, and Eli felt his eyes becoming heavier. The young man let himself succumb to the embrace of sleep, listening to the flat hum of indiscernible background noise.

This was how Eli always spent his days, stuck in his room. The only times he was ever forced out was on Sundays, where he'd be dragged out to attend The Church with his parents.

Eli was looking forward to finally breaking the cycle.

.

.

.

"Mocha?"

Mouse started a call at 6:09AM. Missed call.

"Mocha, answer me."

"Mocha, are you there?"

"What do you mean by "I'm so glad I met you?' Is everything okay?"

Mouse started a call at 6:10AM. Missed call.

"Mocha, you're making me worry!"

Mouse started a call at 6:10AM. Missed call.

"Please send me something tomorrow! Don't make me worry..."

"Please stay safe, Mocha."

Mouse started a call at 6:11AM. Missed call.

Mouse started a call at 6:11AM. Missed call.