[ N I G H T M A R E ]
It was darker than would have thought possible. Darkness, and
no trace of anything alive, human or otherwise. He couldn't see but it was a
blindness dissimilar than just a lack of sight in the eye. An abnormal kind of
sightlessness. It was... a palpable darkness. Vejiita felt almost as if he could
reach out and touch it. He would have, too, if he were so certain of himself
that he had the limbs to do so.
Fine. He did not exist and he could
accept that. And, if by any chance he was alive, there was no way for him to
prove his existence. Not that he really minded. He had a tingling feeling that
he had been here before. This very nothingness was commonplace. He had just
never consciously known of it before.
Odd to think about, really.
Existing during a state of nonexistence and actually knowing about it. As
opposed to.... What? Never existing and not knowing about it? It appeared, so
far, that the end result was identical: you're nothing, don't even think about
it.
There was a light. Or, more aptly, a disturbance. A ripple in the
darkness breaking the never-ending sorrow that hugged him like a second layer of
skin. And there stood a figure an immeasurable distance before him, eyes
downcast and hands shoved into his pockets. Despite the distance between him and
the other, Vejiita could see the figure's expression clearly. He supposed that
this place he was in wasn't so much as darkness as it was just
nothingness.
But the figure Vejiita was staring at wasn't just
nothing. It took a moment for it to all register, his shock lagging his already
impaired reflexes, but soon it all came at him like a kick in the face. He found
himself staring, slack-jawed and helpless to look away, at... himself. The
general up sweep of hair, a crooked grin, the crosshatched scars proving a harsh
life. Vejiita took a wary stop forward, curiosity getting the better of him. He
recognized some of the scars on the other's face. But other scars were the
remnants of wounds that had never been dealt to him.
"You're insane, you
know that Vejiita?"
The rhetorical question echoed all around him,
adding to the saturnine atmosphere. His eyes narrowed on what seemed to be a
warped clone of himself, similar but all the same startlingly different. The
other man tossed his head back, the lopsided smirk following his amused tone of
voice. Earrings and broken, silver glasses resting on his forehead flashed
unnaturally in the darkness. His nose wasn't as straight as Vejiita's, it looked
as if it had been broken more than a few times and hadn't received proper
repair. His arms were thinner but still well-toned, ending in long, strong
fingers and bony knuckles. He laughed a low, raspy chuckle.
"Nice to
finally see you, face-to-face" he said, his voice less taunting than before.
"Chester Hardy, pleased to meet you. Don't bother introducing yourself. I
already know who you are." He winked. Vejiita noticed his eyes were a polished
brown color.
Vejiita shivered again. Those subtle differences. The
varied scars. The shape of his nose. The cracking voice. Ears lined with dozens
of silver piercings. What sort of terrible place was this where your self-image
was so terribly warped? He didn't even want to think about what he said....
A second flashing distortion of the uniform darkness and a new version
of himself appeared and stood stiffly as if he belonged here. This hallucination
could have set Vejiita at ease, for he more closely resembled the physique that
Vejiita was used to seeing in the mirror. His body was obviously heavily
muscled, in spite of his unnatural slouch. He had a chiseled face, similar to
the former apparition but not as lean, and had a much darker skin tone. His eyes
were bloodshot, their aloofness startling him as he stared unblinkingly at him.
A dark brown tail slid from around his legs, whipping back and forth
dangerously.
Another voice echoed around in his head, the personal and
private attack stirring defensiveness in Vejiita.
"We're all crazy and
you're all gonna die." He smirked.
Chester retaliated promptly, angry
words reverberating around in the darkness. "Shut your mouth, Monty. You're the
fucking psycho, out of all of us —"
Montgomery snarled, eyes suddenly
losing their remoteness. The mad fury in them made Vejiita want to take a few
cautious steps back. No words were uttered but their ferocity was enough to halt
the first's accusation. Vejiita felt as if Montgomery's point had been made,
even though the other, who was just grinning and shaking his head, appeared
undaunted. "Mont, Mont, Mont," he was muttering. "You put our boys to shame."
The one called Chester grinned up at Vejiita, then jerked his head in a
direction past Mont. Vejiita was glad to look away. He had suddenly noticed a
nasty shiner, a dark bruise ringing the other's right eye, the original
root-beer brown color dulling to a less colorful shade.
Following his
gaze, he saw two young men resting near each other, one standing and the other
crouching near him. They were a frightening sight: scant clothing torn to
shreds, exposing the scarred and bloodstained skin it previously protected. They
both looked much like him, more than the previous two, except that they were
stockier. Possessing no grace.
The one who was standing had black hair
and colorless eyes like Vejiita himself. He wore a primal grin, lips pulled back
from teeth, canines resembling fangs more than normal teeth. He was leaning
against the crouching one, whose appearance took after a very different part of
Vejiita.
"Super Saiyajin," Chester murmured. "It scares you doesn't it?"
Vejiita avoided his bruised face and laughing eyes. "I always thought it was a
load of bull. A story someone made up. A story you made up." He chuckled
softly. Even though his words were chilling, his laughter was somehow
lighthearted. "As if Rip cares, there. He thinks it's great."
That would
explain it, Vejiita thought. Rip, like the former Rob, was smiling, though his
grin exposed no inhuman teeth. His hair was a dusty brown. With a washing,
Vejiita imagined that it could possibly be blond. His eyes were almost like that
of a super Saiyajin, except that they were not so bright. Their color was
somewhere between teal and gray. Rip had a tail. Further inspection of
Montgomery, who was currently trying to decide whether to let his temper loose
or go back to sleep, proved that he, too, had a tail. It was a long brown thing
that jerked sporadically behind him.
Vejiita took a deep breath and took
another step back, trying to ignore Rip and the darker Rob. This was all too
much... Where was this all coming from? He caught sight of someone else and
studied him, not even bothering to groan out loud.
There was a composed
air about this new arrival. It could have been how he stood away from the rest,
distant but not standoffish. His arms were wrapped loosely around his body, as
if absentmindedly fending off a cold wind, mind elsewhere. His head was bowed
but he did glance up quickly enough, making tentative eye-contact with Vejiita.
He reminded him of Kakarotto's first son, both in his general appearance and his
quiet nature around people. That uncertainty and shyness was a welcome sight.
Rhys Schultz nodded shortly, giving Vejiita a small, encouraging smile.
He did not intend to step into this congregation. He had come only to try to
support Vejiita, not to expose himself and aggravate things any more than they
already were. Vejiita didn't smile back but Rhys Schultz felt that had done what
he had come for. To lend some small measure of comfort with just his presence.
"Yep," said Chester, snapping Vejiita's attention from Rhys. Quite
obviously, the lanky young man was leading whatever was going on. Vejiita paid
attention to him, eyes focused on the shiny diamond earring in the lobe of one
ear. "Our own little dysfunctional family. Not really that bad here. Honest." He
put his hands on his hips and leaned forward. "You belong here."
Montgomery's eyes flashed again, resentment and annoyance rippling off
him tangibly. They both ignored him.
Vejiita spoke up, his throat dry
and his voice noticeably strained. "N-no. I don't... I think I'm lost."
Chester shrugged, cracking his knuckles. "You wanna leave? Why?" He
shook his head, words failing him. This isn't a hallucination, he
realized. Was this hell? Either way, he wanted out! This was not right.
"Can't escape us. We've been here for years, Vejiita," Chester reasoned.
"Why do you want to leave?"
"Get him out of here!" Montgomery's
angry voice shot through the still air, his temper finally released. From the
corner of his eye, Vejiita saw Rip stand up, and Rob's expression became more
serious. "Chester! You jackass, I hate you!" He turned his scorching glare to
Vejiita, utterly murderous. "Get out." Chester let out an indignant sigh
but Vejiita didn't care about whose side he was on right now. He took a few
steps back, praying that the stability of this place would hold out just long
enough for him to get away.
Montgomery steadied himself, muscles visibly
tightening under a thin layer of clothes. Not an idiot, Vejiita took a few steps
back, ready to turn and bolt if necessary. He caught Chester's eye who only
shrugged and looked away. "I will kill you," Montgomery's low voice promised. "I
will kill you all."
That was the cue; Vejiita pivoted so his back
was facing them all and started to run. Away... away from his family. Away from
all that had kept him partially sane all these years.
Then, all was
dead.