With a lowered gaze, Noah closed the door with a soft "click" of the lock. He turned his back to the door and leaned against it for a moment. As blue-green eyes closed, he sighed softly while processing the events prior to this moment. If Noah were more awake, he would have told Caesar his phone was destroyed and inquired more about the network, but the older man was right. Restful sleep was a necessity; a necessity that Noah sacrificed to earn the privileges he was denied back home.
The blond slowly walked the bed, placed a hand on the comforter to descend upon the mattress. Shucking off his converse beside the bed, he strips himself of his old clothes and in the new batch Caesar left him, albeit slowly and deliberately. Noah was self-conscious about how the simple t-shirt would leave his scars around his arms, and the major burned one under his right ear lobe exposed, but he supposed he could just use his jacket for that. It protected him on both a physical and sentimental level, not just because it was so durable and practical, but it was something to remember where he came from, who his family was, and to an extent, who he was. Noah would have hardly considered himself a nostalgic, tender heart in the past, but his experiences have shown that holding on to pieces of home, things and people that reminded him who he was, saved his sanity in all the chaos.
As Caesar's footsteps were getting farther and farther out of earshot, Noah hesitated before he took the NyQuil, placing the empty glass after jugging down the whole thing, tucked himself in, and dove face first into the pillow to muffle his sobs. He didn't want to sleep, but he was too tired to fight the exhaustion that claimed him a full minute later.
-----------------
Noah awakes with a start, only to be in a strange, white location, with the feeling of something attached to his hand. Vision clouded by light, he tries to sit himself up, only to feel a gentle pressure applied to his hand.
Noah looked around dazedly for the source of the light, warm voice. His focus narrowed upon a girl with tender, olive eyes, long, auburn hair, and a gentle, pretty smile. It takes five seconds to feel her hand intertwining with his own, and it takes even longer to recognize who she was.
"Claire?" He questioned softly, his own voice barely rose to an audible whisper.
"Yeah, it's me." A white hand reaches to caress his cheek and tuck a strand of hair out of his face. "You're in the hospital. But it's all over now, we can go home."
Noah looked at her with a puzzled brow, a fuzziness that clouded his brain. Before he could get a word in from her, someone else was looking over him and his healing progress.
"You fell and hit your head," Claire snatched Noah's attention, answered his unspoken questions. "You were out for over a week, but the doctors said you're recovering really well."
So, it was just a dream, he was back home and he was alive! Not in that Nautilus with that happy Caesar...
Caesar. He asked.
"Claire, where's Caesar, and Rex? Are they okay?"
Suddenly, Claire's gentle, content face fell to a frowning, sympathetic expression.
"...Noah," She murmured pityingly.
Noah tried to speak again, only to feel a chill ghosting over his skin. Looking over Clarie's shoulder, he saw an all too familiar figure in the doorway. As soon as the blood drained from his face, it boiled up to make it flush in anger. His blue-green stare that now alighted with internal flames met the blinking, undefined expression of Black Knight.
Attempting to sit up again, he grabs for Clarie's arm, to keep her close. Everything seems to be in show motion, as Noah attempts to stand from the bed to run toward the woman. Only when he tries to protect Claire, while starting to chase after BK, Clarie rips away from his clasp, staring back at him in wide-eyed horror.
"Noah," The girl stated breathlessly. "You're not you."
The white room is suddenly shrouded in black, with Claire's form dissipating into nothingness. Noah turns to reach out to his girlfriend to no avail.
A cool, misty fog ghosted over the teen's skin, a wind suddenly picking up to ruffle the hospital gown he wore. Daring to turn around, he saw Black Knight stalking closer and closer, her unreadable expression now exposed her cruel, calculating gratification. With the glint in her violet eyes, now beginning to glow, and her mouth turning upward like a bow. In turn, Noah stared back, daring to not close contact. He was her prey to bat around and tease before, but now, after everything that happened, she had no power over him.
"What did you do with them?"
Black Knight doesn't respond as her hand reaches out to grab Noah's throat.
"All you need to know," Black Knight's voice began to alter into a deeper baritone, little by little, her features melted away to look like... "all this, is your fault."
Staring back at him was no longer Black Knight, but now a version of Noah, blood drenched the hand that grabbed his throat.
"Tell me. Where do you think those Salazars could have gone?"
The barking laughter was like ice that clanked together, hollow, mirthless, and cutting. Both cold hands bathed in blood locked around his neck, choking him even more as the passage of oxygen was being blocked. Noah's eyes watered, his own hands covering this monstrosity of himself's hands.
Forcing Noah to look in another direction, the other, darker Noah revealed Black Knight's body, looking as though she was badly electrocuted, black ashes covering her, and impaled by the weapon he used when Noah defied her.
Noah stared back, seeing the life gone and away. She was out of everyone's misery, it needed to be done. Yet...shouldn't he feel something? Anything?
Then, to Caesar's body, blanketed and lying in his own large pool of blood. At Noah's feet, the man was exposed, his clothes and stomach ripped open, with all guts spilled. His dark brown eyes and mouth hung open.
"No." The darker Noah let him go, as the gowned one fell to his knees, gawking back in horror, reaching out for the scientist, to only feel warm blood at his fingertips.
"You will always remember this. This was all your fault."
Noah then hears a snap and a loud bang in the distance.
----------------
With a shout, the teen woke sitting straight out up from his bed. He felt the cold clamminess of his face, the sweat dripped down, fists balled into the sheets, nails dug into the fabric. It wasn't until after a few blinks that he redirected his focus around the room. The light blue walls were a stark contrast to the white walls of the hospital, the black ones in Black Knight's office, or the pale gray ones of his room back home. He looked over his stand with the empty glass, and the dirty pile of clothes that lie hazard on the floor.
With both hands to covering his face, he sighed exasperatingly, sinking back into the bed, feeling tears trickle down, he shook his head as yet another nightmare dominated his subconscious. The idea of going back to sleep set him on edge, he didn't want to revisit that. However, in knowing how his dreams worked, it would be inevitable that it would pick up from where he left off and spiral into something even worse. That was how it was for him every night. Why couldn't Noah sleep and dream about a life without EVOs? Without Black Knight, Providence, dreaming about being back home with his parents. No one would be struggling financially, the idea of him being emancipated would be unthinkable and unnecessary. He could go to school, be with his friends, become a basketball star, have his girlfriend Claire by his side, partake in petty and typical teenage dramas, get the highest grades, make everyone, including himself proud.
Noah's mind wouldn't be at peace until he could investigate exactly where he was, why, and how he got here. Caesar briefly explained it already, but there had to be more to it than what was already told.
Making up his mind, Noah put on his jacket to cover up his scar, and rose out of bed, while still feeling sore, he didn't feel like he would pass out again. Or at least, have the energy to make sure he didn't. Crossing his room to the door, he opened it a crack to see if anyone else was out and about. Finding no one coming either way in the hall, he closed the door behind him and walked down from the hall to observe his new surroundings, now that he was more awake and could get a sense of forming a plan B, worst case scenario.
CW for bloodiness and guts... >> because I'm horrible
The blond slowly walked the bed, placed a hand on the comforter to descend upon the mattress. Shucking off his converse beside the bed, he strips himself of his old clothes and in the new batch Caesar left him, albeit slowly and deliberately. Noah was self-conscious about how the simple t-shirt would leave his scars around his arms, and the major burned one under his right ear lobe exposed, but he supposed he could just use his jacket for that. It protected him on both a physical and sentimental level, not just because it was so durable and practical, but it was something to remember where he came from, who his family was, and to an extent, who he was. Noah would have hardly considered himself a nostalgic, tender heart in the past, but his experiences have shown that holding on to pieces of home, things and people that reminded him who he was, saved his sanity in all the chaos.
As Caesar's footsteps were getting farther and farther out of earshot, Noah hesitated before he took the NyQuil, placing the empty glass after jugging down the whole thing, tucked himself in, and dove face first into the pillow to muffle his sobs. He didn't want to sleep, but he was too tired to fight the exhaustion that claimed him a full minute later.
-----------------
Noah awakes with a start, only to be in a strange, white location, with the feeling of something attached to his hand. Vision clouded by light, he tries to sit himself up, only to feel a gentle pressure applied to his hand.
"Noah. Noah, it's okay, you're safe now. It's me."
Noah looked around dazedly for the source of the light, warm voice. His focus narrowed upon a girl with tender, olive eyes, long, auburn hair, and a gentle, pretty smile. It takes five seconds to feel her hand intertwining with his own, and it takes even longer to recognize who she was.
"Claire?" He questioned softly, his own voice barely rose to an audible whisper.
"Yeah, it's me." A white hand reaches to caress his cheek and tuck a strand of hair out of his face. "You're in the hospital. But it's all over now, we can go home."
Noah looked at her with a puzzled brow, a fuzziness that clouded his brain. Before he could get a word in from her, someone else was looking over him and his healing progress.
"You fell and hit your head," Claire snatched Noah's attention, answered his unspoken questions. "You were out for over a week, but the doctors said you're recovering really well."
So, it was just a dream, he was back home and he was alive! Not in that Nautilus with that happy Caesar...
Caesar. He asked.
"Claire, where's Caesar, and Rex? Are they okay?"
Suddenly, Claire's gentle, content face fell to a frowning, sympathetic expression.
"...Noah," She murmured pityingly.
Noah tried to speak again, only to feel a chill ghosting over his skin. Looking over Clarie's shoulder, he saw an all too familiar figure in the doorway. As soon as the blood drained from his face, it boiled up to make it flush in anger. His blue-green stare that now alighted with internal flames met the blinking, undefined expression of Black Knight.
Attempting to sit up again, he grabs for Clarie's arm, to keep her close. Everything seems to be in show motion, as Noah attempts to stand from the bed to run toward the woman. Only when he tries to protect Claire, while starting to chase after BK, Clarie rips away from his clasp, staring back at him in wide-eyed horror.
"Noah," The girl stated breathlessly. "You're not you."
The white room is suddenly shrouded in black, with Claire's form dissipating into nothingness. Noah turns to reach out to his girlfriend to no avail.
A cool, misty fog ghosted over the teen's skin, a wind suddenly picking up to ruffle the hospital gown he wore. Daring to turn around, he saw Black Knight stalking closer and closer, her unreadable expression now exposed her cruel, calculating gratification. With the glint in her violet eyes, now beginning to glow, and her mouth turning upward like a bow. In turn, Noah stared back, daring to not close contact. He was her prey to bat around and tease before, but now, after everything that happened, she had no power over him.
"What did you do with them?"
Black Knight doesn't respond as her hand reaches out to grab Noah's throat.
"All you need to know," Black Knight's voice began to alter into a deeper baritone, little by little, her features melted away to look like... "all this, is your fault."
Staring back at him was no longer Black Knight, but now a version of Noah, blood drenched the hand that grabbed his throat.
"Tell me. Where do you think those Salazars could have gone?"
The barking laughter was like ice that clanked together, hollow, mirthless, and cutting. Both cold hands bathed in blood locked around his neck, choking him even more as the passage of oxygen was being blocked. Noah's eyes watered, his own hands covering this monstrosity of himself's hands.
Forcing Noah to look in another direction, the other, darker Noah revealed Black Knight's body, looking as though she was badly electrocuted, black ashes covering her, and impaled by the weapon he used when Noah defied her.
Noah stared back, seeing the life gone and away. She was out of everyone's misery, it needed to be done. Yet...shouldn't he feel something? Anything?
Then, to Caesar's body, blanketed and lying in his own large pool of blood. At Noah's feet, the man was exposed, his clothes and stomach ripped open, with all guts spilled. His dark brown eyes and mouth hung open.
"No." The darker Noah let him go, as the gowned one fell to his knees, gawking back in horror, reaching out for the scientist, to only feel warm blood at his fingertips.
"You will always remember this. This was all your fault."
Noah then hears a snap and a loud bang in the distance.
----------------
With a shout, the teen woke sitting straight out up from his bed. He felt the cold clamminess of his face, the sweat dripped down, fists balled into the sheets, nails dug into the fabric. It wasn't until after a few blinks that he redirected his focus around the room. The light blue walls were a stark contrast to the white walls of the hospital, the black ones in Black Knight's office, or the pale gray ones of his room back home. He looked over his stand with the empty glass, and the dirty pile of clothes that lie hazard on the floor.
With both hands to covering his face, he sighed exasperatingly, sinking back into the bed, feeling tears trickle down, he shook his head as yet another nightmare dominated his subconscious. The idea of going back to sleep set him on edge, he didn't want to revisit that. However, in knowing how his dreams worked, it would be inevitable that it would pick up from where he left off and spiral into something even worse. That was how it was for him every night. Why couldn't Noah sleep and dream about a life without EVOs? Without Black Knight, Providence, dreaming about being back home with his parents. No one would be struggling financially, the idea of him being emancipated would be unthinkable and unnecessary. He could go to school, be with his friends, become a basketball star, have his girlfriend Claire by his side, partake in petty and typical teenage dramas, get the highest grades, make everyone, including himself proud.
Noah's mind wouldn't be at peace until he could investigate exactly where he was, why, and how he got here. Caesar briefly explained it already, but there had to be more to it than what was already told.
Making up his mind, Noah put on his jacket to cover up his scar, and rose out of bed, while still feeling sore, he didn't feel like he would pass out again. Or at least, have the energy to make sure he didn't. Crossing his room to the door, he opened it a crack to see if anyone else was out and about. Finding no one coming either way in the hall, he closed the door behind him and walked down from the hall to observe his new surroundings, now that he was more awake and could get a sense of forming a plan B, worst case scenario.