The
young child was kicked against the wall again for failing to complete
his task on time. He groaned in pain and looked up from his position
towards his own mother glaring down at him.
"You failed again
and I'm fed up with it!" she said shrilly.
The child
didn't dare answer back because he knew if he would he would suffer
even more. He glanced around and noticed his 5 older cousins creeping
slower and slower towards him. Suddenly, before he could do anything,
the cousins pounced on him, like a lion attacking its prey. Kicking
and punching the child in any place they could reach, the cousins
laughed and the boy's mother just standing on the sidelines, not
caring what was happening...
Dark Ace woke suddenly from
his dream; panting heavily, sweat dripping from his forehead. He
wiped his forehead and quickly got out of bed. He slapped himself a
couple of times before he made his way to the bathroom, telling
himself to snap out of it. This had been going on for weeks now and
he couldn't take it anymore.
When he was in the bathroom he
peered in the mirror and gasped horrifically. That wasn't there when
he went to bed that night. Just above his right eye, a small lump was
forming, swelling up and turning a purple colour. He groaned and
splashed some water on his face to try and wake him up a bit more.
The lump was still there.
"Oh brilliant," Dark Ace
muttered to himself, "now I'm going to look stupid..."
But that wasn't what was really bothering him. He didn't
understand why these dreams kept cropping up. He was fine during the
day and the evening, fine while he fought, but as soon as he drifted
off to sleep, the images of that woman not doing anything as the
cousins pounded away just wouldn't stop. It was horrible, haunting
him. That wasn't just a random boy that Dark Ace kept dreaming about.
It was his childhood. And it didn't want him to forget about it.
Making his way down the corridor after he'd got himself
changed, every Talon he passed couldn't help starring at that bruise
above his eye.
"Got something to stare at have we?" he
growled as he passed them. The Talons looked terrified and shook
their head, "good, now clear off and get some work done,"
Even
Snipe noticed as Dark Ace passed him, "what happened there, Dark
Ace?" he asked, rather... friendly.
Dark Ace spun around and
narrowed his eyes at Snipe, "I don't know what you're talking
about," he snapped.
"On your eye, you've got a lu-"
Snipe was cut off as Dark Ace slammed him against the wall.
"I
don't see anything, do you?" he hissed angrily in Snipe's
face.
Snipe gave Dark Ace a funny look and shoved him away, "don't
deny that you got hit Dark Ace, your not perfect," he snarled
and walked away.
Dark Ace growled angrily and carried on walking.
He was getting fed up now. Everywhere he went people were
asking him what had happened. If another person asked, he'd have to
kill them. It didn't help that he was facing Aerrow, once again,
during a battle. He drew his blade quickly as Aerrow leaped onto Dark
Ace's skimmer. Aerrow sniggered slightly as he noticed the bruised
lump above Dark Ace's eye and nodded at it.
"What happened
there? Fell out of bed did you?" Aerrow grinned as he attacked
Dark Ace.
That was it. Too late to turn back now, he'd had enough.
Dark Ace literally forced Aerrow onto his back and he kicked him hard
in the head, like his cousins used to do to him. He didn't care about
his weapon now all he cared about was causing serious damage in any
way possible.
But Aerrow wasn't going to give up that easily, why
should he let himself get beaten up? He fought back hard as he
grabbed Dark Ace's leg and tripped him over. Dark Ace growled angrily
and wrapped his hands around Aerrow's neck and started strangling
him.
"NEVER EVER SAY THAT AGAIN!!" Dark Ace yelled angry
and annoyed as his grip tightened.
Aerrow struggled to breathe but
he wasn't going to give up as he punched Dark Ace in the face and
grabbed on of his small blades. Dark Ace let go immediately and
growled.
"What are you going to do if I do mention it
again?" Aerrow laughed.
Dark Ace entered his quarters, dripping in wet mud; hair drenched from the rain and his mood not the best. Aerrow had not only mocked him and humiliated him; he'd also beaten him. Again. Not only was he angry with Aerrow, he was also angry at himself. There was a reason why Aerrow kept beating him time after time. And it was these thoughts, these dreams that kept distracting Dark Ace from what he was doing. He couldn't take it much longer, something had to be done. But what? Dark Ace couldn't go to a Physiatrist, because he didn't want to be humiliated even more than he was with this stupid lump.
He sighed quietly, took off his
clothes and climbed into the shower. Reaching for the soap he started
singing Dancing Queen by Abba quietly, trying to drown out all his
thoughts in song.
"you are the dancing queen, young and
sweet only seventeen," he sang, lathering his jet black spikes
of hair in shampoo, washing out all the mud from it, "having the
time of your life oooooooh, see that girl, watch that scene, digging
the dancing queen..." his voice got louder and louder, unbeknown
to him.
Then his tune changed as he rinsed his hair free of the
soap, "like a virgin, touched for the very first time. Like a
viiiirrrggin," He did a little dance as he continued to wash his
body, still singing above the noise of the water colliding with the
shower floor.
Dark Ace laughed slightly still dancing as he
climbed out the shower and wrapped a towel around the lower half of
his body. These thoughts about his dreams had totally vanished from
his mind as he danced his way over to his wardrobe and took out a
fresh set of Cyclonian uniform. He laid it out on his bed as he made
his way over to a self and picked a can of deodorant up and sprayed
himself with it. Placing back on the shelf, he hop-skipped his way
back over to the bed and dried himself with the towel.
Dark Ace was feeling a lot better as he changed out of his uniform and climbed into his warm bed. He nuzzled his head slightly into the pillow, forgetting about his dreams. Happy thoughts flooded his mind as he closed his eyes and drifted off.
The boy was kicked against the wall again. Surrounded by all family members, none of them doing anything to help him. His five cousins held him down, making him lie on his stomach. They laughed and lifted up his shirt as the child struggled to get free. Lifting up a knife, one of the cousins grinned as the adults around just watched and laughed. The boy looked around helplessly; silent but scared. A cousin grinded the knife into the boy's back and he screamed in pain, still trying to get free. Another cousin took the knife and cut a deep line down his back. Tears rolled down the boys face as he passed out and the ground below swallowed him into nothing…
