Mad As A Hatter | #KNLabyrinthWC

[Special Chapter] Answers

Fear is real. It radiates everywhere and it can be felt by any one. It is experienced by many, up to the point where they hate themselves for feeling it. No one wants to feel fear. Even if it is the sole element all of the people have in common. Aside from change, fear is the only thing constant in the world.

When asked about pain, it is automatically understood to be the brain's way of reminding you that you are human. You are alive and existing in a world full of cruelty. Pain is everything but understandable. It is a mystery almost as terrifying as love.

I stared at the man in front of me as he nonchalantly built a fire for the both of us. It was night time, and we decided to rest after walking down the seemingly endless woods. We found a small cave where we can try to refill our lost energy while we remained in hiding.

It was an unexpectedly cold night, where as the country we lived in was nothing but hot. I reached towards the newly made fire as it did wonders to the cold of my hands. I stared at the fire, admiring its beauty and how it danced in the middle of the room, unbothered by everything that surrounded it.

"Sometimes I wish I was an inanimate object." I tore my gaze from the orange glow to the man who accompanies me. There, he sat on the other side of the makeshift fire. "I've always wanted to be a rock. Even the smallest pebbles to the biggest boulders, they all seem to be strong. I wouldn't care if I couldn't move. I would be contented as long as I didn't feel anything."

"Even the strongest rocks can be smashed in to a million pieces with the right instrument and the right reasons." I replied, smiling at him. He was unmistakenly calm but his eyes represented pain, as if he was trying to remember everything that has happened in his life. "Q, Quantum, can I ask what really happened?"

He snapped out of his trance and looked at me. I saw in his eyes the contemplation and as if he was finding the right words to say. He sighed, and looked up. "The night that it happened, I felt nothing but scared. I hated the feeling of being small but I couldn't feel anything else. My mind was blank, and the only thing I heard was the fire that licked the walls and my beating heart that was faster than imaginable. He stared me in the eyes after I arrived at our house. He was grinning from ear to ear, proud of what he has done. I couldn't move even if I wanted to punch the life out of him."

His tears glistened as the light of the fire reflected them. I stood up and sat beside him, wrapping my arms around his neck. I wiped his tears as he continued talking. "I realized that if I killed him, I would be just as scum as him. I didn't want that. I don't want to be like him."

It was the first time I saw him in such a vulnerable state. Q has always intimidated me but right now, all I felt is pain as I watch him reminisce the happenings. His tears continued to flow as he stared at the cave wall, fighting off any more emotions. "May I know who you meant by he?"

He held my hand and intertwined it with his. "My father." he whispered and took a deep breath. "Like us, he was a patient at Echo. He escaped and decided to come back to my life, ruin it and get away with it. He didn't just left me in that house with the bodies of my family. He left me with the blame, the fault that I did it."

"I-It was your family?" I stuttered. Nobody really knew who was burned in the fire. DNA is erased once bodies turn to ashes. Now, I completely understood why he was acting this way. He lost his family to a murder committed by someone who was a part of it. He nodded as new stream of tears flowed down his cheeks. 

"He killed my mother and my 6 siblings. As to his motive, I have no idea. It all leads back to just him being plain psychotic." He bitterly stated. "I've always asked myself why he spared me. Why didn't he kill me along with my family? Why did I have to suffer the loss when he could just end it with me dying alongside them?" He continually asked. "Back when I was little, back when I was still unaware of how illnesses work, he would always buy me toys while my siblings were left with nothing. I realized I was his favorite. When I was younger, I wouldn't have complained. But now, I wished I could turn back time so I can be the worst child he has ever had so I would no longer be his favorite."