I stared into his pitch black eyes, filled with the most angst and despair fathomable, and I could not help the tear that spilled down my cheeks, for I realized that man has no limits. He cocked his head and stared at me, as if unable to understand my outburst of emotion. I quickly tore out my handkerchief and rubbed at my eyes, effectively removing any trace of the wretched liquid.
His eyebrows, if you could call them that since they were merely bits of hair sewed together on his forehead, scrunched up and created lines of worry on his harrowed face.
He opened his mouth and spoke in a beautiful voice, as my countenance filled with shock at the pure sound coming out of the wretch in front of me.
"Sir.. But why are you crying? It should be me. I, the monster everyone fears and loathes, should be the one kneeling at your feet with tears dripping from my eyes, begging for your forgiveness. I should be the one that feels sadness, for I deserve it. But you sir… Why, you're just a man and I'm a monster. You have to fear me because there is no room for love."
A shudder escaped my lips as I heard the despair ridden words, and touched them as if they were palpable. No man should ever take ahold of these feeling that plague the creature in front of me. Yet, he himself told me he is not a man. Who decides the humanity that resides in our beings? In our souls. Does God? Do we ourselves decide? Who chooses the right to be human? Did the creature? I asked and asked these questions as they burst through my mind, unable to find a solution, for I learned that not every question deserves an answer. And the creature deserves not only care but love because, after all, his heart beats the same as ours. His soul yearns for love the same as ours. His eyes and lips and ears desire the same senses as ours. So why deny him the earthly rights that are so easily granted to us? Why deny him what everyone deserves?
As the inner battle tore itself through my body, I came to a realization. This creature, this monster in front of me was not a monster at all. He was us. And we were him. As in, everyone holds dark desires yet everyone is taught morals when he did not. Everyone receives at least a bit of care, yet he is alone to the feeling. In that very moment, I did not regard him as a monster or a creature, I saw him as what he is. An equal. A person.
"You! Listen to me. You are not a monster! If you regard yourself in this manner, I have no choice but to do so towards myself. You are innocent, just like a babe, yet you are treated horribly. Is it for your unusual appearance? I beg of you, please! Do not dare listen to them! Do not let them feed your mind and whisper in your ear the doubts of man and the sins that they create. Do not let them rid you with guilt and pain. No! Please, sir. Fight them, with all you have because.. Because I believe in you, and.. I care."
While I uttered my plead to the person, I had been transfixed in my own world. But as the final words escaped my lips, I realized my position and looked down at him. He was kneeling on the ground, crumpled like a rag doll, as sobs wracked his body and tears bore through his eyes. He looked vulnerable rather than dangerous. His eyes rose up and looked into mine, as if challenging me to look away, yet I did not for I had found the love locked in them.
"Walton, I will always remember you. I will always cherish you, albeit in death. You understand, don't you? I have to die. I have to do it. No one deserves the pain and anguish that I have brought upon my creator so I will destroy myself, just to enforce the security everyone had before my birth. But know this, Walton. Even if you hate me or unleash your anger afterwards, I will always hold you to highest regard and if this is what love is. If this is what it feels like.. I will always love you. Goodbye, kind sir."
The tears were obscuring my vision as I saw him slowly get up from the ground and turn away, prepared to jump out the window. I yelled after him before he had chance to do so.
"Wait! What should I call you. What name should I remember you as?"
His head turned to side as he addressed me, in soft tones.
"The Misunderstood Monster. Call me that and no one will forget the tortured wretch. No one will forget my story, dear Walton. For I will always be the monster."