Despite suddenly getting so wide awaken, Noah quickly felt drowsy again.
He laid down,wishing to see no more of William...any of that.
But...no.
He was back at it again.
In a dream...
He was kneeling.
Noah didn't know how long he had been kneeling there.
Time had lost all meaning.
His hands trembled as they clutched onto his brother's lifeless body, fingers digging into cold fabric as if holding tighter could somehow bring warmth back.
"Brother… wake up…"
His voice cracked, barely holding together.
But there was no response.
There would never be.
The world around him felt distant, muted, like he had been submerged underwater. The voices, the footsteps, the laughter… all of it blurred into meaningless noise.
His mind refused to accept it.
Refused to understand how everything had fallen apart so quickly.
Just yesterday...
They had all been alive.
Laughing.
Talking.
Living.
Now,
There was nothing left.
Noah's breathing grew uneven, his shoulders shaking violently as tears streamed down his face without stopping.
He didn't notice when someone approached.
Didn't react.
Until,
A sharp pain tore through his scalp.
"Ah-!"
A cry escaped his lips as his head was yanked backward.
His vision spun.
His grip loosened.
And just like that,
His brother's body slipped from his arms and hit the floor with a dull sound.
"Pathetic."
The voice was casual.
Bored.
Noah's entire body trembled as he was forced to look up.
William stood there.
Calm.
Composed.
Untouched by the chaos he had created.
"As I said," William continued, his tone almost conversational, "don't kill him yet."
Noah's pupils shrank.
For a brief moment, confusion flickered through the overwhelming grief.
"Let them have their fun," William added lightly, glancing toward the others. "Just don't break him completely. I still have things to say."
Laughter followed.
Low.
Cruel.
Before Noah could react,
He was shoved forward.
His already weakened body failed to support him, and he stumbled helplessly, caught by someone else.
Clark.
The same man from earlier.
Strong.
Unyielding.
Noah struggled instinctively, but it was useless.
His strength had already been drained.
His spirit...
Shattered.
He was dragged upstairs.
Dragged into the very room that had once been his.
His safe place.
Now,
It felt like a cage.
Clark threw him onto the bed without care.
The impact knocked the breath out of him.
Noah tried to move.
Tried to crawl away.
But his limbs felt heavy.
Unresponsive.
"Don't struggle," Clark muttered, his tone impatient. "It'll only make things worse."
Noah's heart pounded wildly.
Fear crawled up his spine like ice.
"No… please…"
The words came out broken.
Desperate.
But they meant nothing here.
Nothing in this place filled with monsters.
His resistance was weak.
Too weak.
Each attempt to escape only earned him harsher force, until even that strength faded.
Until all that remained...
Was helplessness.
Time blurred.
Noah didn't know how long it lasted.
Didn't want to know.
His mind retreated somewhere far away, trying to protect itself from the reality his body was forced to endure.
But even then,
He could feel it.
The humiliation.
The pain.
The way his dignity was stripped away piece by piece.
His tears didn't stop.
They couldn't.
Because there was nothing left for him to hold onto.
Not pride.
Not hope.
Not even anger.
Because even anger required strength.
And he had none left.
When it finally stopped.
Silence returned.
Heavy.
Oppressive.
Noah lay there, unmoving.
His body felt foreign.
Broken.
Like it no longer belonged to him.
He stared at the ceiling blankly, his vision unfocused.
For a moment,
He thought it was over.
That maybe, just maybe...
They would kill him now.
End it.
Give him the mercy he had been silently begging for.
But fate,
Was not that kind.
Footsteps echoed again.
More than before.
Noah's fingers twitched slightly.
His body reacted before his mind could.
Fear returned.
Sharp.
Overwhelming.
He didn't need to look to know who it was.
"Seems like you've had quite the experience."
William's voice.
Light.
Amused.
Noah's breath hitched.
He didn't turn.
Didn't respond.
He couldn't.
Because the moment he did...
Everything inside him would break completely.
"I told you," William continued, stepping closer, "you're quite valuable."
His tone carried a hint of satisfaction.
As if everything was going exactly as planned.
Noah's nails dug weakly into the sheets.
Hatred flickered again...
Faint.
But alive.
"I'll kill you…"
The words slipped out hoarsely.
Barely audible.
But they were real.
They were all he had left.
A quiet promise.
William laughed.
A genuine laugh this time.
"How bold," he said. "Even now."
Then his voice turned colder.
"You still don't understand your position."
Noah's body trembled.
He did understand.
Too well.
That was why it hurt so much.
More hands reached for him.
More voices.
More laughter.
Noah shut his eyes tightly.
His body no longer resisted.
Because resisting...
Only made it worse.
And somewhere along the way,
He stopped feeling like a person.
Stopped feeling like himself.
He became,
Nothing.
Just something to be used.
Discarded.
Destroyed.
By the time it finally ended.
There was nothing left.
Noah lay motionless on the bed.
His breathing shallow.
His body numb.
Even the pain had dulled into something distant.
His mind,
Empty.
He stared at the ceiling, his eyes unfocused, tears slipping silently into his hair.
He couldn't think.
Couldn't feel.
Couldn't even cry properly anymore.
Everything inside him,
Was gone.
Voices echoed faintly in the background.
"He won't last long."
"Looks like he'll die any second."
"Should we stop?"
Noah didn't react.
Didn't care.
Let it end.
Please.
Just let it end.
Then,
A voice cut through everything.
Clear.
Decisive.
"Enough."
William.
Footsteps approached.
Slow.
Noah's gaze shifted slightly.
Blurry.
But he could still see him.
Standing there.
Looking down at him.
Like he was nothing.
"Still alive?" William murmured.
Noah's lips moved.
It took everything he had left.
"I… won't… forgive you…"
A whisper.
Broken.
But filled with something deeper than pain.
Hatred.
Pure.
Endless.
William tilted his head slightly.
Then smiled.
Cold.
"Let's see."
And without hesitation,
He ended it.
Darkness swallowed everything.
But even in death...
A thought remained.
A will that refused to disappear.
'If I get another chance…
I will destroy you.'
"No…"
Noah's body jerked.
His eyes snapped open.
His breathing was ragged, uneven, as if he had just been dragged out of deep water.
His chest rose and fell rapidly.
Sweat clung to his skin.
Tears slipped from his eyes without him realizing.
For a few seconds,
He couldn't move.
Couldn't think.
Couldn't separate past from present.
Then slowly...
Reality returned.
The quiet room.
The soft light.
The absence of blood.
The absence of death.
He was alive.
Again.
Noah sat up abruptly, his hand pressing against his chest as if to confirm his heart was still beating.
It was.
Fast.
Violent.
But real.
A shaky breath left his lips.
"…It was a dream…"
No.
Not a dream.
A memory.
The past that had already happened.
Once.
His fingers clenched tightly.
His gaze darkened.
Tears still lingered in his eyes.
But something else was there now.
Something stronger.
Something sharper.
Resolve.
He swung his legs off the bed and stood up slowly.
His body still felt heavy.
But his mind,
Was clearer than ever.