Cold Blood | E.D

20. Dreams

Finely Stone;

"You're not a monster, Ethan. You know what I see? Huh? Can you handle the truth, King?"

There was no going back now. I didn't give him a chance to answer my hypothetical question.

"I see a little boy. The same little boy who's mother was taken away from him and he was forced to live in the world his father dominated. The boy who built up these walls around him which he can't even break through. I see the boy whose father abused him, whose father forced him to kill innocent people to show he was worthy of becoming King. He's blinded with so much hatred he doesn't even realise what he wants. He wants a hand to hold onto. A hand that will pull him out of the darkness that surrounds him."

It seemed like there was a completely different person inside of me. I was forcing the words out, I had no choice but to obey. A part of me knew what I was saying was the truth, the other part was questioning whether or not it was. Of course he was a monster, he kept me locked away for years against my will. He killed my parents. He's the definition of cruel in my head. However, there was a part of me believed anything but that.

Even between the chaos going on inside my head, I didn't miss the look on his face. The mask he put on 24/7 was gone, giving me a completely different Ethan that I had ever seen. The Ethan who I met last night. The Ethan who wasn't afraid to show his emotions. The Ethan who was so much stronger than the one on the battlefield. This Ethan was stronger because he didn't hide his tears from me. The sight of him looking so defeated knocked the breath straight out of me. It crushed my heart painfully.

Pure shock was covering his face right now, along with something else, I had no idea what. He bit into his lower lip, rolling it into his mouth. His eyes stared at mine, they were almost screaming at me, begging me to help him. But I didn't know how, I didn't know what to do.

I took a step forward, trying to comfort him. "I—Look, I-I'm sorry. I know how you feel—"

He cut me off. "Shut up." He snapped. The old Ethan was back, as if vulnerable Ethan never existed. He closed the distance between us, grabbing my shoulders. His grip didn't hurt but it was strong, strong enough to make me pay attention to what he was about to say. "No one understands! You hear me? No one!" He shook my shoulders, like he was trying to wake me up. "You have no idea what you're saying."

I pushed his hands off of me. "I was taken against my will too, Ethan! Did you forget that? I do know how you feel—"

"You don't know how I feel! You don't know shit about me! Don't act like you know me! You don't know what I've been through and I don't want to open those wounds again!"

"But what if they need to be opened in order for them to heal?" My tone softened. "Not everyone is out to get you, Ethan. You don't have to push people away. They day you start seeing the good in things, that day will be the best day of your life."

He turned his back to me but didn't make any attempt in walking away. He was listening.

"You know what I realised last night? When you were drunk?" I asked. "You're trapping inside a room full of haunting memories of the past. They're spinning around you, suffocating you. And you don't want to leave that room. You want to know why? Because you're afraid, Ethan. You're afraid that all the memories of the present will be as bad as the past. I promise you, Ethan. They're not bad. You need to open up."

I was done talking to him. I walked past him but he stopped me, grabbing my wrist. "H-How do you know all this?" He asked me.

Here it is. The question I had been dreading. What do I tell him? Would he believe me if I told him the truth? If I say I had dreams about his past?

"I have these...dreams."

He stared at me with a straight face.

"I had a dream about your mother, Ethan." His breath hitched at the mention of her. "She didn't want to leave you. She wanted to keep you safe. But, your father didn't. He killed her, Ethan. He killed her. He ripped her heart out of her chest. All she wanted to do was keep you and Grayson safe."

The King stared at me with confusion, but slowly started to piece everything together. "How do I know if you're telling the truth?"

"That's the thing. You don't. So, believe what you want. Just don't blame me if I don't tell you about my dreams anymore.

"I won't. But answer this. Did my mother love me and my brother?"

"She loved you, Ethan. So, so much."

The dangerous lack of space made my breath hitch, he was only a few inches away from me. He was having trouble finding the right words to say. I gave him a smile and for once, he actually returned it.

His smile. It was the most beautiful thing I've ever seen. His whole flawless face lit up, then the unexpected happened. Something that I wouldn't of ever imagined to happen.

He hugged me.

He closed the small distance between us, just like that. He enveloped me in his strong arms, they locked securely around my neck while mine stayed put at my side. I heard him sniff and I wondered if he was crying. Having his body so close to me made my brain go on overdrive.

Without thinking clearly, I snaked my hands around his waist. He buried his head in my hair, his fingers running through it smoothly. I closed my eyes, leaning into him.

I enjoyed this small moment because I knew when tomorrow came, he would go back to his old self.