Becoming a Monster

Chapter 118: Chapter 118: Was Neal right all along?

No one dared to speak, either their thoughts were clouded with uncertainty, or traumatized from what they perceived as torture, and a nightmare that would haunt their dreams forever.

When everyone believed the cries were going to continue, another sound began to creep into the mix. The sound started off as indecipherable, seemingly unintelligible grunts of pain. However, as time continued, and their ears strained to pick up on the sound; those grunts of pain turned into deep unnerving growls.

As the growls manifested, Neal was seemingly no longer in pain, but the disturbing crunches of his bones snapping and the ripping of his flesh and tendons sounded more horrifying than before. If Neal’s human traits were still able to be made out before, now, his body was almost no different than the puppet of the abomination lying not so far away.

Time ticked on, the grotesque transformation appeared to be nearing its end. The ’Neal’ before them now stood on his bent hind legs, easily standing over eight feet tall. ’His’ body still contorted in different parts of his figure. Suddenly, his head tilted back, his arms spread out, his mouth opened, showing his new distinct razor-like teeth before unleashing a dreadful howl.

—-

”He’s...he really was turned into a monster...” A bystander muttered out of disbelief and fear. Their obvious observation attracted the attention of those with similar thoughts. Those thoughts didn’t focus on the idea of Neal turning into a monster, it was centered along the lines that Neal predicted this would happen and that it would soon happen to them.

”What if Neal was right all along?”

It didn’t take long for many of the people to wholeheartedly believe Neal’s warnings. And while the others continued to feed into Neal’s dying message, Mark and the others were having a discussion of their own.

”So what happens now?” Bailey worriedly asked. Her question incited the others to glance to one another, waiting for someone to be their voice of reason. Usually during pressured moments like these, Isabelle would sit back and observe. However, scrutinizing the others’ expressions, she realized that the show Noah put on was too emotionally stimulating for the others to make a sound judgment. Despite not being in the best mental space herself, the ”death” of her previous persona allowed her to rationalize the information handed to her before making an emotional decision.

”Nothing changes...” She uttered, while sighing of resignation. Her despondent tone, mixed with her short cryptic answer garnered startled looks from everyone there, eliciting another sigh from Isabelle in return as she continued.

”What we just saw, honestly, what did we expect?” Isabelle rhetorically asked, her gaze shifting past the others, landing on Noah who was gathering around his newly acquired monster with Ailetta and his two beasts. ”Noah has been extremely transparent for who....no, ’what’ he is. It was Neal that poked the hornet’s nest, expecting not to get stung; so, nothing changes. Noah would continue to be the way he is, as long as we don’t ’poke’, then nothing would change.”

Alicia’s eyes widened in disbelief. ”How could you be so...so evil? It’s not the same! Noah didn’t just kill someone out of self defense, he literally turned Neal into a beast forever, he turned him into a literal slave! And for what? What Neal said....what he said doesn’t justify this....”

Isabelle met Alicia’s gaze with a steady, albeit conflicted look. ”I’m not saying what Noah did was right. It’s horrifying....But we’re not in a world where right and wrong are simple anymore. Neal was at least given the option to leave, but he took that leniency to try to pit everyone against Noah, and he paid the price. We need to stop thinking about how we feel and start focusing on surviving.”

Mark, who had been silent, finally spoke up. ”Isabelle’s right. It’s not about agreeing with Noah; it’s about understanding the situation we’re in. We don’t have the luxury of idealism. We need to stay together, and stay strong. Don’t forget that this alliance is only temporary until we reach the checkpoint.

Alicia shook her head, tears forming in her eyes. ”But what kind of choice is that? Living in constant fear, bending to the will of someone who can do that to another human being?”

Empathizing with his close friend’s turmoil, Ishii gripped her hand strongly in his, unsure how to comfort her, he could only reinforce his agreement with Isabelle. ”It’s not about living in fear, it’s about adapting to this new life of ours so we don’t have to continue living in fear.”

His non supporting comfort elicited a shock expression of betrayal, but Ishii met her gaze head on, not giving way of his firm grip on her trembling hands. ”I know you’ll never agree with Noah’s actions, but in some ways, he is right; we need to change if we want to survive, and I’ll be with you all the way.”

”ishii...” Alicia’s accusing gaze softened, lost in the security Ishii brought to her in her time of vulnerability and confusion.

The group soon fell into a heavy silence, each member struggling with their own inner turmoil. The reality of their situation was harsh, and their future was uncertain.

Meanwhile, Noah and Ailetta were watching with intrigue and awe, respectively, as the new abomination finished its transformation. Ailetta placed a hand on Noah’s arm. ”Noah, I can’t agree or disagree with this....but...” Her gaze indicated towards the others. ”They’re scared....I know you may not care about what others think of you, but....I....I don’t want you to become the next Valtura...”

Noah’s eyes glistened briefly as he recalled the once weak human, who proceeded to become a demon. Consumed with the trauma of his past, Valtura performed unspeakable deeds throughout his life to the point that giving anyone a swift death was considered merciful. In the end, Valtura’s soul and mind became tainted by the many inhumane deeds he performed that he lost the reason for his actions in the first place. Not only the innocent, but even his loyal followers and potential love interest was unable to escape his tainted impulses.

Noah understood what Ailetta was trying to say, his expression flickered with a brief moment of vulnerability before hardening again. ”I won’t...” Noah responded, though, there was a lack of assuredness in his tone. Even now he remained indifferent to the others’ fear, nor did he care if he had to kill them all if they were to have made the decision to respond to Neal’s call and attack him.

”Sigh....don’t look at me like that...there’s no reason to keep thinking about it.” Slowly Noah turned to face Ailetta directly, not thinking of his actions as he moved a bit of her hair that covered her eye, revealing her jaded eyes behind the cracks of her glasses. Hidden beneath Noah’s stoic expression, his gaze held slight amusement within them. ”You’ll be there to stop that from happening right?”

Aitetta looked towards Noah, her heart pounding so strongly that her heartbeat dwarfed the sounds surrounding her. She wanted to smile, to respond to his answer with affection, but then she realized that he never explicitly assured her of her worries, instead he put the burden entirely on her.

”Ugh....fine! I’ll be sure to be there to slap some sense into you.”

Noah laughed as he got to witness her mini tantrum, her puffed cheeks giving her the resemblance of chipmunk.

This would’ve been a great time to tease her, but the scene being enacted next to him held his attention even more.

When the new abomination seemed to lose all rationale, bent only on its instincts to bring carnage and chaos in its wake; Fenrir made a drastic move. With the skill ’Spawn of abominations’, Fenrir growled out the command for the abomination to stand rooted in place as he drew near. The command lasted long enough for him to widely open his jaws before clamping down into the abomination’s shoulder. The abomination howled with unbridled pain, and yet it refused to budge.

Upon closer observation, the leaking area within each puncture wound oozed out a substance that held no resemblance to the abomination’s blood. The substance reminded Noah of Fenrir’s venom, but the liquid was of a higher viscosity than normal, while the liquid itself held an almost radiant gleam within it.

Within the time Fenrir injected the particular substance into the abomination, the abomination began to show signs of changes. Its aggressive growls became meek, its extended claws receded, while the most noticeable change was its eyes. Unlike the violet abyss of its counterpart, a thin, almost indistinguishable predator pupil resided within.

Assuming that Fenrir was just about done, Noah shifted his attention to the others. Their expressions remained between a mixture of pensiveness, hopelessness, and fear.

”Well?” Noah questioned, but his vague inquiry was only met with confusion. Being met with only silence, Noah took a deep breath to reign in his annoyance, believing that his question spoke for itself.

”You all saw what I did, now....” Noah’s eyes dangerously narrowed. ”Are we still playing ’follow the leader’, or, is this where we part ways?”

Despite Noah not intending to be threatening, the abomination emitting low growls next to Fenrir’s side, served as more than just a reminder of the consequences of crossing him; the others mistook it for an underlying message, ’obey, or die’.

Their body language reflected the burden placed on them by the horror of their own imaginations. Noah’s impatience was gradually increasing as no one spoke up, but then someone amidst the group finally advanced forward.

”Noah, what you did...I can never agree to it, ’we’ can never agree with it, but I can at least understand why you did it.” Mark stood before the others, his stance was contradictory towards his feelings. Despite his inner turmoil, he knew that someone had to speak up, to be the voice for the others when they all believed that their opinions and rights were being caged.

”Before we can give you an answer, we need you to give us an answer. Are you...do you plan on turning us all into those ’things’ if we decide to leave?”

Expecting for the worse, Mark hesitantly gripped his sword out of instinct. If Noah plans to enslave them as mindless beasts, then he would rather sacrifice himself to allow the others to escape. However, contrary to his brooding worries, Noah’s puzzled expression came as a surprise, and his sudden chuckle made Mark question even himself.

”It seems you all are finally taking me seriously.” Noah light-heartedly replied, ignoring the glare he received from Mark in return.

”I’m serious Noah, you may think this is all a game to you, but to us, this is a matter we are not willing to joke about. If I have to, Noah, I’ll fight you with everything I have if that means preventing you from making us into your slaves.”