A Window To A Soul

Chapter 33: Cal

After we got back to the house, I agreed to tell Della everything. She sat at the foot of my bed, and I sat at the front of it. I told her that I would tell her everything about me. "You already know my birthday, but Chloe is my twin sister. She was assigned for her birthday to be a week after mine. She originally had a dorm alone with a girl. Kai and I had a dorm with another kid that wasn't there long. When I was younger, 10 I think, I had dreamed of being a farmer. I always wanted to be able to look at nature and tend to it."

I looked out the window. I saw the tree that was outside. I remembered the punishment I had. "A teacher caught me talking to Kai and Chloe about wanting them to be there with me. I was thrown in a room for a month. I was fed once a day with a small meal of stale wheat bread and sour grapes. I barely got any water. Sometimes I had to drink my own pee." I felt my heart start racing just from the thought. "The disciplinary officer ended up coming in after a week and told me to whip myself for food. Every day would be the same routine and I would be fed after. When I was finally let out, I never spoke about my own interests again. I never disobeyed anyone and I stayed away from anyone that did."

I realized that there was a tear in my eye. "After that, I tried to block out the memory. And when I was 15, Chloe was labeled the strongest bodyguard and was allowed to switch to our dorm."

I put my hand over my heart, trying to slow it. "It was hard for me to be able to actually get close to you. I was so afraid that something like that would happen again. I should have known better."

I couldn't stop repeating the memory in my head. I could still hear the sound of the whip cracking against my back. I could still feel it. I could still taste the stale food that mixed with blood after I picked it up off the floor. I remember the smell of the room after I pissed and shit on myself. I remember how I felt when I drank my own urine. I felt disgusted. But I was so thirsty. The people over the speaker called me disgusting and horrible.

I realized that I was crying when I felt tears drip onto my hands. Then Della held it. She reached forward with a sad look on her face. "I'm so sorry you had to go through that, Cal. The disciplinary officer is truly a horrible woman."

She paused before she continued. "I've had thoughts like that before. I've thought about how I would like to be something else. Someone else." She smiled at me sorrowfully. "But when we change this world, we can be whoever we want. You can be a farmer!"

I shook my head. "No. I don't want that anymore. I think if I do it, it would just bring back those horrible memories. I-..." My voice cracked. "I can still taste it. I can still feel it. Every night it haunts me."

Della pulled her hand back and hugged herself. "I want to change this world. I don't want people to go through the same thing that you did."

As I was about to respond to her, I felt a low rumble throughout the whole street that we were on. Della must've felt it too because she tensed up and was looking around. "Stay here. I'm going to go see what it is."

I left the room and closed the door behind me. I walked out of the front door and looked around. A bunch of different people had come out of their houses as well. There was a huge crack shooting down the street as the ground shook. I held onto the door frame so I didn't fall.

The house next to our house collapsed, dust and debris coming with it. I shot into the house and opened the room door, yelling for Della to come on. She didn't think twice and immediately followed.

As she got closer to me, I grabbed her arm and pulled her out of the house just as I saw big cracks in the walls. I coughed on dust as it made its way in from the door. Just as we got outside, the house started to fall.

People were screaming outside. I heard a woman crying. I looked at the house that had first collapsed and saw a brunette woman with her legs caught under the debris. I let go of Della's arm as the next house fell. I ran to the woman and tried to lift the debris. It was from the front wall.

I heard someone laughing loudly at the front of the street. I looked over, panicked. I was still trying to lift the wall. It was barely moving, but it was still lifted a little more than it first was. The person laughing was Elliott. But as he was laughing, his eyes seemed to be flickering. His marking flashed on and off. And then he seemed to morph into something completely different. It was a taller man with red hair that fell at his shoulders. He had no eyes, and his face shape changed completely. He had a sharp smile as he lifted his arms to where his palms were facing the houses. As he closed his hands into fists, the two houses crumbled into a ball.

I stopped trying to help the girl as I stared in disbelief. Nothing about what I had just seen made sense.

Then he looked at me. Then his eyes fell on the woman I was trying to help. As he looked at her, blood splashed across my shirt and face. I gasped in shock as the woman's head exploded. Her body went limp. I heard another person scream, this time it was Della. Della!

I turned to Della as Elliott's hand now faced Della. I bolted and tried to cover her. "STOP IT!"

I skidded to a stop as I covered Della. I wanted to just stop thinking. What was happening?! Less than two minutes ago, I was talking to Della. I don't even know what's happening right now.

Elliott started laughing again. He sounded like a psychopath. I don't know what I should call him to be honest. He looked like a god. He had no eyes and was using powers! It sounded insane. He finally put his arms down, but now he was taking off his robe. I was so confused. At least, I was.

All my confusion went away as I saw the marking on his chest when his robe fell. Elliott wasn't Elliott. He was Oden.