Sorry that I haven't posted this yet; I've been a little preocuppied. So as a token of my apology, here's an extra long chapter. :3 Leave me a nice, juicy review. So far, this has been my favorite chapter to write.
And now, on to the story! ;A;
Weeks and weeks had gone by. He still had this heavy feeling in his chest.
Ever since their little "run-in," Kevin hadn't been able to get her out of his mind. He'd still imagine her eyes. Those large, swirling pools of August grasses. They were so deep; whenever he imagined them, he felt like he was drowning.
He'd tried distracting himself. Money didn't seem that important to him anymore, so he'd just settle for causing a little bit of chaos here and there. He couldn't stay in any one place too long, either. Kevin kept running from city to city, leaving behind a trail of destruction. Even the satisfaction he got out of it had changed. He didn't know why; things just felt so different now.
He became angrier and angrier as the days went by. He blamed his anguish on the humans. The normal ones. They were so delicate and fragile; he could crush them in the palm of his hand without a second thought.
Kevin smirked. He lay, faced up to the sky, next to a small stream. It's strange. Ever since that night, he had always returned to these small banks, wherever he may be. He found them calming. Soothing, even. It gave him a chance to clear his mind and think. He didn't even need to think of anything in particular. He just needed to relax.
However, some thoughts would always begin to swarm into his head, unfurling and corrupting.
He thought of ordinary people. He would always be above them, wouldn't he? He could swipe away their tiny lives on a mere whim. They were almost.. too weak.
And what did that make him? Too strong.
Sighing, Kevin rolled onto his side, staring down into the water below. He let his stony fingers play at its surface, watching the ripples form and spread out. Then, he caught a glance of his own reflection. He stared at it for a minute, a sad expression etched onto his face.
Kevin now lay flat on his stomach, watching it. Searching for an answer. Looking at every detail, every small feature. He was trapped, staring at what couldn't be him. Hours and hours passed, and he hadn't moved a single inch.
"A monster is staring straight back at me... It's going to devour me this time, too, isn't it?" he sighed again, closing his eyes for a moment. Just a moment. Upon opening them, he choked on his gasp of surprise.
Gazing right back at him was, yes, his own image. But it was strangely distorted, smirking up at him. Kevin was horrified; he quickly struck out at the "other him," moving back. Water splashed; the surface was covered in the same ripples, spreading out until the water settled down again. Silence followed. Slowly, hesitantly, he returned to the bank's edge. All he saw was his own frightened expression looking back at him.
Biting his lip, he whispered, "There you go again, Levin. Scaring the shit out of yourself for nothing..." He chuckled nervously. There was nothing to be afraid of. Even if, by some chance, a creature had been able to disguise itself as him, he could take it on, couldn't he?
Right?
Wrong. He could tell. Kevin knew it was a reflection of his inner self. His tainted, disgusting insides. All mangled up and exposed on the front for the world to see. He cringed. That's what he was becoming, wasn't it? What a scary thought...
All of a sudden, he heard a soft, whispering sound. Like a blowing breeze. Dismissing it as nothing but the wind, he closed his eyes and tried to sleep. The sun was high in the sky, a few clouds passing over it. Abnormally warm for October in the north.
He froze.
"October, then..." he muttered to himself. Kevin started shaking. That's when this whole mess began, didn't it? When he was thrown out. Cast away from the rest of the world. Isolated. Abandoned. Strangled sobs and gasps escaped his lips. He curled up tightly into a ball, shaking and crying. He hadn't remembered the last time he had cried like this. Let alone, cried at all.
I thought I'd forgotten how to...
Time slowly slid by like this. Day soon turned into night. He hadn't moved at all, and felt the weather slowly growing cooler. Then colder. And even colder. He let out a bitter laugh. "There. That's more like it. The only difference is that it's not.. raining..." Letting out a low groan, Kevin began to feel the light drops of moisture fall to his face. He held up his left arm to cover himself, the rain making soft hissing noises as it made contact with his burning appendage.
The whisper from earlier returned, slowly growing in intensity. Inside his mind, it growled, "Well, isn't this just dandy? Stuck alone in the rain. Just like when you were a little kid, right? What, are you gunna cry now?"
Kevin groaned. "Shut up. Leave me alone..."
"Aw, is the little baby sad? Gunna cry again? Cry because your own mother didn't even want you?"
The voice snickered, echoing around inside him. It was as graceful as a wasp flickering around in a jar.
"Get out of my head!" he roared, sitting up and clutching at his dark hair, glaring around him. "Unless you want me to beat the shit out of you, you'd better-"
"Oh, yes, that's more like it. Giving into your rage again? Ah.. hahaha. Definitely much better than just lying there and crying, eh? Like a little baby, right? Jeez, this appearance is pathetic enough, but I wouldn't think your insides would be just a puddle of mush, too."
Kevin blinked, glancing around himself, trying to calm down. "..Who're you, anyways? And how're you talking to me like this?"
The voice started laughing harshly. "Well, isn't it obvious? I'm you, you little pansy."
By this, he was taken aback. "You're not me. Now get out." Damn, this guy was really irking him. But how could he know about all of that? No one else knows... Unless maybe he is another part of me... But wait. How is that even possible? Ugh, someone cut me some slack already... Kevin wasn't the brightest adolescent in the world. All of this thinking was pissing him off.
More laughter. "You're half-correct. I'm not you. I'm not weak, like you are. I'm not pathetic, like you are. You see, I'm your anger. I'm your hatred. All stuffed into one, itsy-bitsy, tiny hole in your brain. I see everything you see. We're one in the same. But there's one other difference between us, you know."
Okay, he was starting to feel creeped out now. So his brain was talking to him. Great. That's just great. Maybe he finally hit crazy.
Biting his lip, he looked up. Tempted to say something like, 'Oh, what's that? The fact that I can actually control our body?' However, he feared the voice's reply. So, he just settled for mumbling to the ground. "And what would that be?"
"I can make you stronger."
Kevin stayed silent for a minute. "What're you even talking about? I'm already invincible!" He growled. "Or would you like a fucking demonstration?" Yep. Back to pissed again. His moods seemed to alter a lot, nowadays.
"What good is physical strength if you don't have enough backbone to support it? Lying here in the rain, crying your eyes out. Paints a pretty pathetic picture, doesn't it? Right?"
He felt himself nodding, and he wasn't even trying to. This was definitely a weird day...
"Good. I thought so, too. Now, all you have to do is throw out all of those stupid emotions. Or..."
Its tone became quite malicious. "Is there something holding you back?" When Kevin failed to come up with an answer, it let out a dry, wheezing cackle. The voice was growing darker and more distorted by the minute. "Hm. I'm right again, it seems. So, let's see what little bit of human you have left in you..."
Images of Gwen flashed before Kevin's eyes. He growled and shot up from the ground. "For the last fucking time, get out of my head!" He fell into a massive fury. Trees were uprooted from the ground. Rocks were shattered.
The voice chuckled lightly, fading into the inner recesses of his mind as the seconds passed by. "Seems as if you're finally starting to learn. That's good, that's good..." By the end of its sentence, Kevin couldn't hear any more. It was finally gone. He didn't need a moment to think; it had done its work. He let his hatred flow, crushing all of those feelings, those weaknesses, those memories. Before he knew it, his anger had led him into the nearby town.
Cars were flipped over; people were screaming. Oh, that sound. That lovely sound. It was like music to his ears, like fuel to keep his fire going. Everything and nothing were both trapped in a heat haze as he continued. Men were torn down from their proud selves; haughty women were sinking in their terror; children were realizing nightmares. All of these fueld the blaze in his heart. He could step all over them, the people who had held him down his entire life.
They all hated him, he could tell. They were all born to hate him. He blew their lives out before they had a chance to hurt him. No one was guiltless. This race had to pay for what they had turned him into. This destruction was all their doing.
Out of the blue came a loud bang. Kevin barely had a second to turn around as he was struck with a huge force: something had been fired at him. He let out a yell as he was blasted some distance away, crashing into vehicles, toppling over.
He rubbed his head and looked up, noticing people surrounding him. His vision was blurry, he felt himself getting weaker. Before he lost conciousness, the could of sworn he heard it laughing at him.
Slowly, he began to wake up, noticing how blurry his surroundings were. He vaguely remembered the night's events - that is, if it was the next morning. He groaned in agitation, hand instantly flying to his chest. Looking down, he blinked at what he saw. There were bandages tightly wrapped around his torso over. They covered a wound that he presumed had come from a missile of sorts. He poked at them harshly with a hardened finger. Not a very smart idea. Wincing, he grumbled, "What, did they send the damned military after me or something?" He gingerly rubbed his afflicted area and looked around the room. Looks like I'm in a cell... Wait, a cell? How the fuck did they manage to capture me? I'm Kevin-fucking-Elevin, for Christ's sake!
Stumbling up to his knees, he tried blasting magma at the wall. Nothing. Not even a single mark. His left arm sharpened and he tried cutting his way through. Still, no affect. He thought for a second, and turned to the door. There was no handle or window, and was probably the only way out of here. "Tch, probably a controlled door, too..." He braced himself. He let out a yell as he fired both flames and crystals with all his might, but to no avail. Huffing, he fell back to the floor on his back, exhausted.
He glared up at the metallic ceiling, panting. "Damn it, this is all your fault! You did this to me!" Gasping and wheezing, Kevin tried to catch his breath so he could continue berating his unknown punisher. "You created me so I could turn into a monster, a freak! It's your fault! It's.. not mine..."
Not those thoughts. Not here. He forced himself back up to his feet and took a stance. Again and again and again, he threw himself at the exit. Again and again and again, nothing happened.
Silence.
He sat down against the wall, staring at his large hands. He buried his face in his hands, adrenaline coursing through each vein in his body.
Lying down, he closed his eyes, trying to adjust and get comfortable. To calm down. He had such a throbbing headache; it made it really hard for him to think of a way out of there. He tossed and turned for awhile. With the silence, he sighed for what was probably the hundreth time that day. Accompanied by his weary state, those piercing whispers started up again.
"I really need to get out of this place..."
He'd done it again. Ben just had to go and let himself get captured by what was probably another wack-o scientist. Gwen crossed her arms, staring out the passenger window as the cars and buildings flew by. The RV was definitely going over the speed limit, but her grandfather didn't notice. They just needed to focus on getting that creep back.
They had all decided to go for a walk in the park. A nice, simple day. Ben had seen an icecream cart and completely spazzed out. Instead of buying some and doing and what any normal person would have done, he went alien and tried stealing it. This drew a lot of attention to him, and a car pulled up. A guy wearing a gas mask had shoved him in, hopped back inside, and drove off. And that's where their simple day had turned hectic.
A beeping sound started coming from a screen on the dashboard. "Ugh, please tell me that's a good thing," she groaned, turning her attention towards it. They had been searching for her cousin for what seemed like hours, with a number of false alarms from the other detection devices.
Max grinned triumphantly. "No. We've got him."
Her head jerked up. "Really?" Letting out an exasperated sigh, she leaned back in her seat. "Well, isn't that a relief..."
He chuckled. "Definitely. Now hang on, this is going to get bumpy!" Quickly, he turned the wheel to the right, knuckles white from gripping it so tightly. In a split second the blue sky in front of them morphed into a mass of green and brown. The two were bouncing up and down in their seats and they blew their way through the thicket.
The Rustbucket zoomed past blurry shrubbery; loud thuds and other noises shook all around them. Gwen let out a tiny scream as they flew down a hill, emerging out of the chaos. They were headed straight towards a huge, fortress-like building. Before she knew it, they had already crashed right into its side. She lurched forward and heard a sharp crash, head searing with pain. In a few seconds, everything went dark.
She heard these strange, low sounds that echoed in her head. She groaned, weakly moving her hand upwards. There, she felt this strange, sticky substance. Her eyelids felt so heavy. Realizing she was lying down, Gwen wanted nothing more than to go back to sleep. However, the voice steadily grew louder and clearer.
"Hey, Gwen? Gwendolyn? Are you alright?" The noise was worried and frantic. It made her head ache even worse.
Her eyebrows furrowed. "Nn... Who's there...?" Forcing her eyes to open, she started making out colors and shapes. Someone was kneeling next to her. It was fuzzy and she couldn't make anything out properly. The light was really irritating, and she closed her eyes again.
After awhile, she heard a loud yell, followed by a blast. Gwen tried peeking out from her right eye and everything was illuminated brightly. There was another cry and a zap, then everything was submerged in darkness.
A beeping followed. Although farther down the hall, the sound was extremely sharp and annoying. Voices could be heard in a low rumble even farther away.
What happened..? Did someone turn off the lights..? And what's that noise..? I need to get up, but my head is just.. ugh...
Incoming running, followed by yelling. A swarm of people - although, they didn't sound like people - seemed to pass right by her, their steps reverberating off of the hard floors. Somehow, no one had trampled over her. It's like they didn't even see her at all. The noise died down. She weakly reached an arm out, feeling for anything. Nothing. Seems like whoever had been there a few minutes ago was gone now.
She shuddered. Gwen didn't like the idea of being on the ground, in the middle of nowhere, defenseless. She tried forming orbs in her hand. Their pink light flickered briefly, then died out. That's right. Completely and utterfly defenseless. She limply let her arm fall back to the linoleum with a sigh.
Big mistake.
Something must have heard her small exhale of air; it was moving towards her, fast. Frozen in place, held down by fear, she held her breath. The other stopped. She heard it make a sound of confusion. Allowing her eyes to open, only a sliver, she could see a fiery glow. It stayed in place shortly, and starting moving farther away from her.
Oh, good, maybe I'm alone now...
She closed her eyes as a shudder coursed through her body. Relaxing after a few deep breaths, she lay there in dark silence. Now I can focus on finding Grandpa and Be-
Her eyes flashed open, wide and horrified. It had a hand on her arm. She could feels its hot breath at her neck. A large eye could be seen glowing in the darkness, along with two smaller ones. They were locked right onto her. She couldn't move; it felt like her heart had completely stopped.
Nothing happened. It hadn't seemed to notice that she was awake. After a few more empty minutes, she was pulled into its arms. The creature stood up and walked a small distance, sitting back down. Her heart was beating like crazy, ready to burst straight out of her chest. A cold and hard hand caressed her cheek with surprising gentleness. This confused her - weren't all monsters supposed to be unfeeling and rough?
This continued for some time. Moments spread out like hours. Out of nowhere, she heard a voice, soft like silk.
"Really, I wonder what it is you've done to me..." it chuckled, followed once more by silence. After awhile, it continued. "You're just like an angel. Soft, wonderfully warm..."
Gwen shook slightly, praying he didn't notice. She didn't know who or what this thing was, how it knew her, or why it was holding her. Trying not to panic, she settled down and listened.
" 'Your hair winter fire... January embers... My heart burns there, too,' " it quoted.
Its hand slid up from her cheek and tangled in her hair. "And your small body... So fragile..." With its other hand, the creature stroked her arm slowly. Searing pain shot through her, and Gwen immediately moved back.
She heard a low growl. Backing away as fast as she could, she turned and scrambled to her feet, taking off in a run. She stumbled along the way, terrified. She heard it catching up, and fast. Gwen tripped, falling back to the floor heavily. The thing skidded past her with a laugh. Turning, it took its time, then dropped down to one knee.
"You know, as beautiful as you are, you're awfully clumsy," it muttered, more to itself than Gwen. She couldn't move away; it held her in place by the arms. She could feel her arm burning in the same spot. She didn't even try to put up a fight as it leaned in closer.
Then, the hall was filled with a blinding light. From farther down, she could hear running in their direction.
"Gwen! Hurry, get away from him!" There was a flash of green, and the voice deepened. "Get away from my cousin, you freak!" Ben's voice was closer now; his horrified tone sent shivers up her spine.
As her eyes adjusted, she realized she was staring right into the face of Kevin E. Levin.
Her complexion instantly paled; she felt like she would be sick. Never before had she been this close to him. During their first encounter after his mutation, his image had been masked by smoke and fire. Now, at such a close proximity, she could see each of his ugly features. Worst of all: he was looking directly at her. Unfazed by Ben's arrival, a smirk was plastered on his face. It made her blood run cold.
Kevin leaned forward and whispered something in her ear. Gwen felt like she couldn't move a single muscle. Barely a few seconds had gone by and she realized that he had already fled.
Ben came back, in human form, shaking his head. "He got away... Did he hurt you?" He dropped down in front of her, hands on her shoulders. She didn't reply, staring directly in front of her with wide eyes. "Uh.. Gwen? Hello? Anybody in there?"
She blinked after a few seconds and looked around, then smiled dazedly. "Oh, what..? No, no, I'm fine..."
After making sure she was okay, Ben and Grandpa Max walked over to a massive hole in the wall. As she followed behind them, Max filled her in on how the impact had forced her straight out through the windshield.
Her cousin kept his eyes down as he told her the rest of the story. While their grandfather had been trying to wake her up, Ben managed to escape from his cell. But to do so, he had turned into Gray Matter to disable the base's power and security. Guilt was evident on his face. This had caused a major break out of other alien specimens. A few were recaptured, but a couple dozen were still on the loose.
The two continued filling her in on the details, like how they'd be spending the next few days rounding up the rest of the escapees. After falling into silence and getting into the RV, neither of them tried bringing up what happened when the lights came back on.
Gwen barely heard a word either of them had to say. She was still numb from the encounter. Brilliant as she was, she couldn't wrap her finger around what had happened, and what Kevin had said. None of it made sense, jumbling up and tangling in her mind.
That night, she realized something. For the second time in her life, she was afraid. Really afraid.
She was staring out the window, curled up in the covers, too nervous to fall asleep. Crickets chirped outside; leaves rustled in the wind. The faint pitter patter of raindrops sounded against the top of the RV.
She'd never had to worry about silly things like nightmares before. Never before had someone had control over her like this. Gwen glanced down at her arm - she had forced herself to avoid looking at it since leaving the facility. Biting her lip, she anxiously pulled back the sleeve of her pajamas. There, on her forearm, was the burn mark she received from Kevin. This made her recall that last short moment with him.
" 'I'll see you in your dreams...' "