Sharing The Secret
Pt. 2 - A Thin Veil Gone
Dot, looked towards the others. She had just finished telling them all that she had been though, and now taking a shaky breath she ,sat back down on the couch next to her brother.
"Attempted suicide?" Matrix said his brow farrowing "wh.. How...b.." his mouth move trying to form a logical conclusion to this problem but found none.
He got up and hit a nearby stool with all his might, splintering it to bits before he turned away from the others and walked outside. He needed to be alone.
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"Damn it !! He thought to himself "How come I'm so fucking blind all the time.". He began to pummel the side of a building, not caring how raw his knuckles became. " what kind of a friend am I any way?" he snarled to himself, punching the building harder now " what kind of god damn idiot doesn't notice that their best friend is trying to delete himself"
He punched until his arms ached, and long after. He didn't care about the blood coating his hands , or the pain in his shoulders, and back. He cared about his friends and family, he would do anything to keep them safe.
"And now " he thought to himself "I've let you down. The strong shoulders sank ever so slightly as Matrix wept.
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Bob lay on a med cot, IV's in both his arms were helping to replenish his blood loss, and various machines and monitors beep and hummed keeping his weakened body going and trying to coax him back to the land of the living.
Dot sat by his side. The beeping of the heart monitor almost hypnotic to her tired mind.
She yawned how long hade she been sitting here three, four hours she didn't know, nor did it really matter, she didn't plan on leaving till Bob came to.
She gazed down at the face of the sprite she loved. They had been through so much together, from games to picnics their friendship had grown into something more. And yet it had taken the fear of losing one another to get them to admit their feelings and bring them together.
Dot wipe her cheeks dry, staring at the pained face below her. Now the fear of losing Bob had become real again.
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"No... what are you doing,..... why..... help me ... No..."
"No"Bob said. The word was spoken very quietly, with a dreamy quality only the dying or fevered can achieve.
Dot turned to face Bob again
"Bob?" she asked
"No" Bob mumbled again. Then his face twisted as though he were in mortal agony "No!!!"
He screamed his breath coming in fast frenzied gasps "Stop..st.stop!!!!"
Dot was by his side her hands trying to hold him steady
"Nurse !!" she called. " hang on Bob, user what's going on in your head"
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They were here again, the hands. Cold and rough. Stripping him of his dignity again as they had every night for the past eight days now. Cruel and hungry eyes staring at him as he lay beaten and broken on the floor, like he were just a piece of meat.
"User please let me be deleted" he pleaded silently, hoping against hope to be heard and answered. Misery at the knowledge that a quick end would not be forthcoming and that now the worst had arrived .
He closed his eyes tightly as rough hands grabbed him around the waist, his mind froze with horror at what was about to happen
The sensation filled his head and guts with a roiling nausea, like nothing he had ever felt before. Pain, white hot pain coursed though him.
Then his attacker forced himself deeper, the pain surged as if the first jolt had only been a faint test.
Bob screamed and closed his eyes tighter as his attacker pushed and shoved his way into his body, tearing and ripping him like tissue paper. Bob screamed in pitiful anguish until blessed unconsciousness took him.
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"No....aaarrrggghhhh!!" a horrific wail jumped from Bob's lips , his body arched on the cot before going slack again, He lay there limply, his face draining of all color.
Dot clasped her hands to her mouth as the doctors ran in fearing that Bob's heart might have simply stopped, so quickly did his energy leave him.
When the doctors assured her he was alright, she slowly inched back over to his side running her hands through his hair she gently kissed him.
Whatever demons he had been battling had been quieted for now, or he was battling internally with them. She reached over and dipped a cloth in a basin of cool water, ringing it out she ran it tenderly over Bob's face. From the flush on Bob"s cheeks ,Dot assumed that his fever was extremely high.
"Bob" she whispered softly "Bob can you hear me, it's Dot, are you awake?" she didn't expect an answer and began to held the cloth on his burning cheeks.
Bob's eyes snapped open, black pupils floating in a swirling sea of chocolate brown.
Rage erupted from them as he laid them on Dot.
"Bob" Dot looked at him
Bob reached up faster than Dot had believed him capable, and clasp his fingers around her neck.
Dot's mouth opened as she found her air being crushed from her lungs.
With a strength born of desperation she managed to throw Bob off her to the floor.
"Bob " she pleaded "your not well. You shouldn't be up"
The anger in his eyes only increased, and he took shaky step towards her.
Dot barely dodged a weak kick to her stomach, this was enough, she hit the buzzer to call the others in. "Bob ple...." a blue fist knocked her down before she could finish. She sat there stunned a moment before coming to. She looked up to see Bob standing over her, his eyes blazing with rage. Dot cringed there was no way she could move fast enough to escape, she covered her head as Bob raised his fist.....
"Dot" Mouse rushed to her side, helping her up
"Sis what's the matter? Matrix said charging into the room.
Dot looked up to see that Bob's expression had changed from anger to one of pure terror. He backed to the nearest wall, and huddled into a ball squeezing himself as tight as he could go.
His eyes remained focused on Matrix, like a caged animal waiting for it's punishment.
Matrix looked to Dot and Mouse then over to Ray and Andria all had similar masks of confusion on their faces. He looked down at his hero and friend who stared back even as tears poured down his cheeks and his body threatened to shake itself apart, Matrix slowly walked over, and then very gently ....touched him.
. The cry that echoed in the room shouldn't have been able to be made by a sprite. But made it Bob had, and now he was in a frantic hysteria screeching, twisting, clawing, biting, kicking, knocking things and people over.
"Bob !!" Dot cried a the sight.
Mouse and Andria each managed to grab an arm, while Matrix grabbed his legs.
At this Bob went ballistic "no!!!" he screamed twisting one leg free he skillfully brought his knee up to connect with Matrix's forehead.
"Aghh, shit" Matrix cried as he grabbed his temple, Bob still stared at him, still with the fear in his eyes. He struggled with, the two sprites holding his arms, howled in crazed fury that they were holding him.
Then he felt a warm rush go up his leg, he looked down to see Phong smiling kindly at him and removing a needle from his thigh.
"Rest now my son" Phong voice crept into his ear
The world went fuzzy, and Bob leaned against Andrai, Dot and Mouse for a moment before becoming deadweight completely.
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Matrix sighed his head throbbed where Bob had struck him, but it didn't hurt nearly as much as the look of dread Bob had given him the whole time, not nearly as much as seeing his idol cower in a corner.
Matrix sat on the railing by the energy slide. In the web he'd liked it when people cringed in fear at the sight of him or fled in terror from his touch.
Now his best friend did so and it tore him apart.
"Not only am I a horrid person, " he said to himself "now my best friend is terrified of me."
Matrix closed his eyes, if only he'd been more observant , he might have been able to see how he had caused the problem,
Matrix hung his head in shame "Bob I'm sorry" he whispered "it's all my fault"
"it's all my fault"
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Under Dot's insistence, Ray and Mouse had gone for a break, and ended up in a small café not far from the hospital.
"Now that was something you don't see everyday, eh Mate? " Ray said sipping his coffee
Mouse gazed through the window at the city stretched out before them, it looked just the same as it had the first time she'd been here , besides the absence of the Tor.
And yet it's not"Mouse thought "It's people are scarred by the memories of the war....just as Bob is scarred by his memories of the web.
"Mouse?" Ray asked
She looked over realizing that she hadn't answered him."Sorry, sugah" she smiled
"Your friend will be ok. Phong can help him. He'll be back to his old self in no time"Ray said
"No" she said " he won't be, none of us are our old selves anymore. Especially not Bob"
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Andria looked up from the catalog she'd been reading, hoping to see Matrix walk in through the door. But it was merely a doctor going about his rounds.
Andria thought for a moment before getting up and going over to the doctors side "Excuse me" she asked.
"Hmm..yes can I help you?" the doctor asked looking up at her though horned rim glasses.
"I'm Andria, a friend of Bob's" she began "I was wondering if ...well...is he going to be alright."
"Hmmm... Bob ...Bob...a here we are slit wrists, oh my how nasty...dear dear dear well don't worry he'll recover, and the physical scars should be hardly noticeable" he said running off
Andria nodded "physical scars ... I'm more worried about the mental ones." she thought
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Dot was wondering that question as well. What could make a man cringe in terror at the mere sight of it, or go in to a wild frenzy at a simple touch?.
She just didn't know, sighing she walked over to the cot and plopped down in the chair. Closing her eyes she , began to drift off and dream.
### "Bob" she called to a blue sprite under his car,
"Hmm," came from under engine, Bob emerged covered in grease
Dot smirked at him "why don't you give up on the poor thing," she asked
"Dot!" Bob gave her a stare of mock horror " this is a classic, you can't be serious"
He then got that stupid look on his face and Dot couldn't help but laugh, covered in grime standing next to a piece of junk he would never get running again, he looked so innocent and lighthearted like he enjoyed every minute he was alive. And quite possibly he did
Then he laughed, as he usually did for no apparent reason. It seemed to Dot that he had to laugh or fear exploding from the joy that radiated from inside him.
He tackled every task with a genuine humor to it, as though it were simply beyond him to do otherwise.
"Hey, Dot" He called "wait up...Dot...Dot" ####
"Dot...Dot.."
Dot woke up and looked over to see Bob staring at her.
"Bob!!!" Dot cried she ran over and hugged him, crying into the soft hair that spilled down over his shoulders ".Oh Bob.. When I found you and.. and.." she stopped realizing that Bob was not hugging her back, she pulled away from him to look at his eyes.
They betrayed him as usual, showing a anguish so deep it rocked her to her soul.
Dot took a deep breath "Why did you do it Bob?"
His brows raised, if it were possible for him to look any hopeless ,hearing those words had done it.
Bob turned away from her "I don't want to talk about it !"he snapped
"Please, Bob let me help you" she said softly. When Bob gave no reply she decided to tell him of her time in Mainframe without him.
" I was paralyzed with fear when you were thrown in the web" Dot said," Then I lost Enzo .I I thought I lost everything.. Megabyte took over the system driving us out of the principle office I was on the verge of despair ....And then you came back." Dot stopped for a moment " you helped me , now I will help you. You don't have to fight alone anymore...... Please Bob."
Bob stared at the wall. Dot thought he was going to rebuff her again . She tried to think of a new approach to use .Then he turned to her with a look of such wretchedness, so full of accusation and suffering, it was all she could do not to beg him to let her help. Bob's earlier words had been full of anger. But there was something more, Dot could see it in Bob's desolate eyes , his gaze spoke of wrongs done to him that were beyond his power to express.
" Bob " she asked her voice barely above a whisper" What happened to you in the web?"
Slowly tears made their way down his face .
"I was raped"
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End Pt.2