Hello again. I know it's been 10 months since I last updated. I am so sorry for the long wait. My life has been changing so much so quickly it's becoming more and more difficult to find time to write. Not to mention I've had a serious case of Writer's block that's been hitting me hard as well. I will try my best to try to update more often, but I can't promise. The only reason why I'm updating today is due to my good friend the Night Ninja. They gave me the first portion that helped get me going. And now the moment we've all been waiting for: THE NEXT CHAPTER! Enjoy!
Hailey was going berserk. She was running through house, Beibeis hot on her tail, screaming something about spoiling venison. Zane ran out of his room to see what was wrong and went to the kitchen. He opened the freezer. The light was out and the meats had started to defrost. Hailey's run around the house stopped where it began, the kitchen.
Zane got an idea.
"Alright, calm down, Hailey." He said. "I can't fix the freezer, but I can keep it cold."
Zane opened his palm and shot a bit of ice into the freezer.
Hailey gaped at him. "How..."
"I'm the master of ice, remember? It's just part of my powers. Usually my friend Jay is fixing the freezer while I'm surrounded by all the food acting as an ice chest." Zane answered, feeling a bit forlorn from talking about his friends.
"Who's Jay?" asked Hailey. "You never got into detail about your family."
"My friend, he's the master of lightning, he and his girlfriend Nya are our resident mechanics, though Cole and Kai usually call Jay the 'Mouth of Lightning', he's very talkative," said Zane.
These were the first details Hailey had heard about Zane's family.
"Who are Cole and Kai?" asked Hailey.
"Kai is Nya's older brother and the master of fire, Cole is the master of earth," explained Zane. He glanced out the window with longing.
Beibeis caught up with them and landed on Zane's shoulder, nuzzling him.
"It's odd." said Hailey "Beibeis has never taken to anyone like she has to you. She doesn't even nuzzle me like that."
"I sort of have a way with animals, birds in particular," said Zane sheepishly.
"Do you have any pets?" asked Hailey.
"Yes, I used to have a dragon but I've had a falcon since I was very young," said Zane.
Juneau came out of the other room, he knew that usually when the freezer broke Samuel just gave him the ruined hamburger.
"Sorry Juneau, no hamburger this time," said Hailey patting her dog's head.
Juneau lay at Zane's feet wagging his tail.
"Man, you're an animal magnet," said Hailey.
"I concur." chuckled Zane awkwardly
"You'll do pretty good when you finally get you riding lessons," Hailey said.
"I have not had any real experience in horse handling, so for that, I am not sure."
(Time skip to midnight)
Samuel's P.O.V
My eyes shot open as started awake.
I sat up quickly, hand over my heaving chest, trying to calm my racing heart.
Once I couldn't hear my heartbeat in my ears, I rubbed my eyes.
"It's just another one…" I muttered.
I squinted to see my alarm clock on my nightstand.
12:09 AM, it read.
I groaned and flopped back onto my bed, throwing a pillow over my face.
I lay there, trying to fall asleep, but I couldn't. Soon my throat started to feel dry, so I got up to get a glass of water.
I was walking down the hallway past Zane's door when I thought I heard a noise coming from inside. I paused and listened.
As I pressed my ear to the door I could hear words like 'No' and 'Stop' as well as 'I am a nindroid and Ninja never quit', as well as the sound of whimpering and someone moving around.
"What the hell…" I whispered.
Suddenly there was a tapping and cracking sound as the doorknob became covered in a case of ice.
I jumped back and cried out in shock. Then I heard a thump and muffled screaming. Strange hissing noises and tapping and cracking came through the door.
I ran to my room and grabbed my shotgun from under my bed and ran back to Zane's room. I twisted the door knob but the door didn't open. I tried again, ramming my shoulder into the door, where it finally gave way.
I almost fell as the door swung open and shards of ice fell to the floor. I looked behind me and saw the door was partially covered in ice at least an inch thick.
"What the hell?!" I said, much louder this time, and I looked around the room. Patches of ice covered one wall, and one of the pillows on the bed was frozen solid.
"N-no! It's not about numbers! IT'S ABOUT FAMILY!"
I saw Zane on the floor on the other side of the bed. I ran over. He was writhing around, muttering and talking in broken sentences, about what I couldn't catch. The bandage around his cracked eye had fallen off and his other was squeezed shut.
Suddenly Zane let out the most ungodly scream, clawing at his chest, tears streaming down his face.
I threw down my shotgun and got down next to him, grabbing his shoulder.
"Zane, ZANE! Wake up! It's a dream! It's not real!" I shouted, shaking him.
"What the hell is going on!?"
I turned to the doorway and saw Hailey standing there, .223 in hand.
She looked at me, then saw Zane writhing on the floor.
"Oh my god." She said, letting her rifle drop to the ground as she rushed over. She dropped to a knee beside Zane. "Uncle Sam, he's having a night terror!"
"I know. He's not waking up, I already tried." I grunted as I kept a firm hand on his shoulder.
Hailey grabbed his face and shook it.
"ZANE!" She yelled. "WAKE UP! WAKE UP! IT'S JUST A NIGHTMARE IT'S NOT REAL!"
Zane continued to squirm and scream beneath Hailey's and my hands. She looked at me pleadingly.
"What do we do?" She asked.
"Keep him steady, make sure he doesn't hurt himself." I said as I pinned down his knees. "It's all we can do."
Eventually Zane's writhing became weaker and he stopped screaming, now just the occasional twitch and a whimper.
I signaled Hailey to let off of Zane's shoulders as I let off his knees.
"What do we do now?" She whispered to me.
I sat on the bed, rubbing my eyes.
"I don't know…" I muttered.
"What do you do when…you know…" I didn't want to say it. Seeing Zane like that reminded me a lot like…well…me.
Hailey looked at me with a raised eyebrow.
"What do you mean?"
I glanced from Zane to her. She looked confused for a moment more before I saw the understanding dawn on her face. Her lips formed a tight line as she nodded.
"Yea." She said flatly. "I get what you mean now. After you…well, you know too…usually I give you space and let you come to on your own."
Hailey looked down at Zane, who was practically limp on the floor. "But that's you though…I ain't sure how Zane works when it comes to these things…"
Cautiously, Hailey moved past Zane and kneeled down next to him. Gently she reached down and shook Zane's shoulder.
"Zane." She said. "Wake up."
Suddenly Zane jolted awake. He gasped as his eyes snapped open and he sat up fast. He looked around the room, like he was expecting whatever was in his dream to jump out and attack him. I could see the fear in his eyes.
"Zane." Hailey said. She snapped her fingers, getting his attention. "Look at me. There's nothing to be afraid of. You're here with us. You're safe. It was just a dream."
Zane stared at her a few seconds more before he groaned and let himself fall to the floor. He was quiet.
I stood up and walked over. I knelt next to him, trying to see his face.
"Zane." I said softly. "Are you alright?"
Zane just shook his head weakly, not even looking at me.
I furrowed my brow.
"Hailey," I whispered. "Can you give us a minute?"
Out of my pepherial vision I saw her nod and leave, taking my shotgun and her .223 on the way out.
"Zane." I said again. "Look at me. Please."
He did. I could see that he was crying. He was crying. I didn't think robots had true emotions. I didn't even know they could have dreams.
Then again, I didn't know robots like him even existed in the first place.
I saw the look in his eyes…well, eye. The fear, the sadness, the brokenness, the misery…
I knew right then and there that he had a night terror. I could see it. The look in his eye, the way he shrunk away from me, the way he was breathing like someone had an iron fist around his throat, the look on his face that was asking whether or not I would truly be able to understand what he was going through…he reminded me so much of myself, it felt like I was looking in a mirror.
I sighed.
"Here," I said quietly. "The floor ain't gonna do you any good."
Carefully, I scooped Zane up (who was very light much to my surprise) and carefully placed him on the bed.
Zane lay there, not even moving.
He was dead silent and didn't look at me. He was acting like me.
"Zane, is there anything I can do for you?" I asked. "Can I get you a glass of water, some sleep syrup, a different place to sleep, anything?"
No answer.
I didn't know what to do, so I sat there at the foot of the bed in case he did ask for something.
Silence stretched for what seemed like an eternity.
"It felt so real…"
I jumped slightly as Zane spoke finally for what seemed like forever. His eyes were open and he was just staring blankly at the ceiling.
"Uh…" I said, trying to think of something that would comfort him. I felt horrible for him.
I came up empty, however, and sighed in frustration. I thought back to myself, what I did after having a night terror that helped me feel better (minus chugging down a half a bottle of whiskey).
Normally Hailey was there to comfort me and she always encouraged me to open up and talked about what happened. More often than not, it always helped me out in the end.
I took a deep breath.
"Zane." I said. "What happened?"
It was silent for a moment.
"I-I had a very terrible dream…" Zane murmured shakily, still looking down.
"I know." I said. "What happened in the dream?"
"M-my bro-brothers…" Zane began. "We were in…in a b-battle with the Overlord…h-he had them all in his grip a-and he wouldn't l-let them go…"
After that he was quiet. But I could tell there was more. Lots more.
"And then what happened?" I asked, being careful to not sound probing.
Zane just covered his face with his hands and turned away from me.
"Y-you wouldn't understand…" He said, on the verge of tears. "Nobody would understand…that's all I've been my entire existence…just misunderstood…no person understands me…they never will…"
That moment something within me clicked. I couldn't really describe it, but what Zane said were the word that I've been looking for to describe me ever since my world turned upside down.
Misunderstood.
I knew what he was going through. I knew what he was feeling. Sure, he wasn't in the exact situation that I'm in, but still.
I took a deep breath. I rested a hand on Zane's shoulder.
"Zane, I know what you're going through. I know the feeling. It hurts. It hurts bad. And you feel like you're the only person that's going through it. But there's others out there that feel exactly what you do. Myself included."
Zane looked up at me.
"Zane, I don't know if you know this, but I have combat PTSD." I took a breath. "I've had it for thirteen years. And every day of those years it's been torture. It's like a monster living inside you. And I know it's difficult to cope with…trust me…"
When I said that, those horrible memories that I always just wanted to forget came back, replaying in my mind over and over and over-
"Samuel?" I heard Zane. "Are you okay? My scanners indicate abnormal levels of…depression and anxiety."
I shook my head, shaking those memories away for the time being. "Yeah. Look," I said. I helped Zane sit up.
"Let's talk. Soldier to soldier here. If you don't want to say much I understand. You can tell me anything. I'm not one to judge."
Zane looked at me and finally nodded in understanding. "Okay…" he said.
"Great." I said. "Now, What happened in that dream?"
Zane looked at me, down at the bed, then at me again.
He took a deep breath. He began to tell his dream.
(No One's P.O.V)
"And I remember…" Zane said, wiping away an artificial tear. "My brothers screaming at me to let go…but I didn't…then he exploded. I went with him…the last thing there was was a great big flash of light and terrible pain in my heart. Then it was just darkness…"
Samuel, who had been listening the whole time, nodded.
"I see…" he said. "Zane, I'm glad you told me this. I never knew you went through something that bad. Why didn't you tell me before?"
Zane wiped a tear away and looked at Samuel.
"I thought nobody would understand." He said. "I just always assumed everybody would think I'm not mentally stable…I thought I'd be pushed away…people thinking I'm something that I'm really not…just be misunderstood…"
Samuel nodded in understanding.
"I was in your position once. I felt like people thought I was a freak. A psycho. A cold blooded man. A murderer."
Samuel looked up at Zane.
"So I guess that makes the two of us, huh?" He said.
(Zane's P.O.V)
"So I guess that makes the two of us, huh?" Samuel said to me.
'The two of us.'
Those words struck a wire deep within me. It was a feeling of happiness. It was a feeling of relief. A feeling of comfort.
It was at that moment when I knew I was accepted. I knew I wasn't a castaway. I knew I wasn't being judged. I wasn't being considered as a freak, an oddity, or what other words fit that definition. I knew that I was being welcomed and not pushed away.
An odd feeling rose up through my circuits. I couldn't describe it. It relaxed me, soothed me, reassured me of all my fears.
It got stuck in my chest and grew to the point where I had the uncontrollable urge to take Samuel into an embrace.
After a moment I felt Samuel's arms come down around me.
"Uh…yea…okay…" he said as he returned the hug. "I know buddy."
I stayed there for a very significant amount of time. I finally felt that I could relate to someone. I finally felt that someone knew how I felt like.
Finally, someone understood me.
And there you have it! Chapter 32! How did you like it? I have another chapter in the works right now so hopefully that will be up sooner than later. But like I stated above, NO PROMISES! Constructive criticism is greatly appreciated! Have a good night y'all!