Ancient Forces (2018 Reboot)

Chapter 18 - Illumination on the Past

Zayne took the final few steps to the room and allowed the door to open. The light switched on, giving a small hint of illumination for the room. Zayne stepped down to the center of the room and peered into the unlit area of the barred up area. Resting on the slab for a bed was Eli, his back turned towards his guest. Zayne stepped forward and set down the bag of food, then turned and started walking away.

"What's this?" Eli grumbled.

Zayne paused and turned to face his acquaintance, seeing that he'd gotten up and opened the bag of food in seconds.

"Buffalo Wild Wings. I just grabbed three different things for you to eat."

Eli looked up at Zayne, gazing into his heart with those two glowing green eyes. Zayne was used to the gaze now, so he wasn't fazed by it. Or maybe that was just because he was really tired.

"Long day?" Eli asked as he reached in and started unpacking things.

"Yeah. Really long," Zayne mumbled as he rubbed his eyes and yawned once more.

Eli unboxed his wings first, then started eating. Zayne noticed a difference this time however compared to most of the other times. Eli wasn't just shoving it down his throat as fast as possible. He was actually eating like a normal person. He was freaking out either. No shivering, no anger or fear in his voice, just a steady, calm kid eating his food. Zayne addressed the change in tone.

"Getting better?"

Eli stopped eating and looked back up at Zayne, "If this is what you call better then sure."

"You're not totally freaking out like normal, so that's an improvement right?" Zayne brought up his point.

"I guess."

Zayne turned to face Eli fully instead of having the conversation over his shoulder. Eli went back to eating again.

"Are you lonely? I mean, being cramped up in here all day every day, that's gotta be boring and quiet right?" Zayne asked curiously.

"I've learned to live with it. Especially after years of this kind of life."

"That's not a good life to have."

"Yeah? Well, the life of a monster has no other options," Eli was beginning to show signs of agitation.

"Eli, if you think of yourself as a monster just because of what you can turn into then by that definition I'm a monster too. Eli listen-"

"NO, YOU LISTEN ZAYNE," Eli suddenly snapped, giving Zayne that intense glare with his piercing green eyes, "When you think of a monster, what do you see? Long claws? Sharp teeth? A horrid overbite with drool and nasty eyes staring at you from your closet? Cause I'll assure you right now I've seen much worse. When I'm told to think about a monster I don't have to think. All I have to do is look in a mirror and I'm reminded of the horrible monstrosity that I am. I'm reminded every day of the atrocities I've committed against humanity in that Nightmare body. I remember their screams. Their horrible cries for help. Their struggle to escape, but all for nothing. I remember the sound of their flesh being ripped apart. I remember the taste of their blood and flesh. I am FORCED to relive those moments over and over again and it NEVER ENDS. So tell me Zayne. Who's the real monster here? The kid with dragon powers trying to make a change in the world or the horrible creature of the dark who eats people to survive?"

Zayne took a step back in shock as he saw the green eyes slowly glass over. His sharp glare turned into nothing more than a soft puppy look with tears filling the bottom portion of his eyes. He had totally lost it. He had snapped beyond anything Zayne had seen before. The sobbing of Eli reminded him of his own crying over his parents. The amount of pain Eli was going through was so much different than Zayne's, and yet he still felt connected to Eli in some way through that pain. Eli took a final bite of his wings and tossed the box at Zayne's feet. He got up and curled himself up on the bed again, still crying.