'Repeat the curse...' Corey thought, knowing that Ethan was referring to the first hypnotic, Ashunti and Jackal's supposed 'lost son' "E̵̹͗l̷̫͊i̵̲̊z̶͉̒a̷͖͋b̷̘̊e̴̠͐ť̴̼h̵̢̛ ̷̘̓w̴͙̔ą̸̑n̵͚͋t̷͉̉ȅ̶̻d̵̹͌ ̸͕͆ĥ̸̬e̴̳̔r̶̗̓ ̶̛͚t̴͙͘ȍ̴̫ ̵̩͑l̸̦̾ḭ̴͗v̶͛͜e̶̮̎" Ethan simply stated "I̵͙͊ ̴̬̄d̸̗͝ö̸͙n̸͕͌'t k̸͉̇n̶̥͝ȍ̴̻w̷̤̋ ̵̣̓h̵̝͝ơ̸̙w̷̦̐ ̸͕̓t̶̫̉o̵͎̾ ̴͕̇ů̸͇n̶͎͘b̶̹̍o̶͙͆u̵̼͊n̸̘͑d̸̳̍ ̴͍̈a̸̫͝n̸͎̚ ̸̝̐ē̷͕g̵̩̽o̷̢͝ ̶̩͛f̴̛̮r̷̼̀o̴͔̍m̵̫̈ ̶̧̀a̷̡̚ ̷̘̽ȟ̶̠u̶̥͠m̶̹͊a̸̝͗ṅ̴̝ ̴̎͜s̶͎̋ő̷̺u̶̯̾l̸̽ͅ, ẅ̶̖́e̶̛̞ ̵̞͒w̸̭̃e̴͓̎r̶̤̔ë̶͉́ ̸͍͑n̴͚͠ḛ̸̈́v̶̲͠e̶̦͠r̷̡̈́ ̸͇̉ţ̴̏o̷͖̕l̶̘̏d̵̖̽ ̸̟̅t̴̙̀h̴̒͜á̸̜t̵̫̓ ̸͕͝d̴̛̦ǔ̸̡r̶͕̓i̶̘͋n̴͍̓g̷͙̓ ̶̱̓E̷̼̋U̷̪͋, b̴̲̎û̶͍ṭ̸̐ ̸̤̽t̵̨́ḧ̴̰́ẻ̷̘ ̴̳͘r̴̼͗o̶͈̽y̴̑͜a̶̦͝ḻ̵̍ ̵̳͝f̷̰͝a̸̤͘m̸̝̋i̸̬̎l̶̙̊ị̷̀ē̴̲s̸̨͗ ̷̛̙ẃ̸̘o̸̲͌ú̷̬l̶͓̊d̷̯̔ ̸͚͋k̵̛̘n̸̻̄o̷͉̊w̶̖̆ ̷̞̂h̸̖͒o̸̟̾ẅ̷̰́" Ethan continued. "We could've been unbounded this whole time-" "T̴̡̿o̴͇͌ ̶̩̃t̶͔͌h̷̤͑ë̶̼́ṁ̶̦ , t̶̠͂h̸̦̎ê̸̲ ̶̊͜r̶͎̊e̷̬͌a̸̢͠l̸̟̈m̷̹̃s̴͚͊ ̶̨͑a̷͚̔r̶̮̋e̴̳̔ ̴̥̈a̶̮̾ ̴͚̓l̶̙̋ḭ̷̃ẗ̸͕t̸̝͑l̴̰̏e̴̺̿ ̷̡͗s̶͜͝a̴̛̼f̶̦͊ȇ̵̼r̵͎̒ ̵̹͝w̴̺͌ǐ̴͙t̶̙̂ḧ̷̰́ ̴̪̃m̶̥͑ė̸͙ ̵̰̆s̸̩̊t̸͔͒ḯ̸̳l̵̙͌l̷͝ͅ ̸̤́b̸͙̀ō̸̳u̸̗͊n̶͍̊d̵̮͆e̷͙̒ḓ̷̔ ̸̧̂l̶̼̊į̸̚k̶̞̎é̶̡ ̴̰̿t̶̩̐h̷͚̚i̴̘͒s̵̝̊, Ï̷͜ ̶̣̊c̶̳̐a̷̯̋n̷͉̾'̴̼̓ẗ̴̞́ ̵̫͝d̴̹̑o̵͙͐ ̶̻̍ḁ̸̅ṋ̷͛y̴̲̔t̶̛͇h̴̞͝ḯ̵̥n̴̺̆g̴͘ͅ ̸̻͗ḧ̷͈́a̶͘͜r̸̭̃m̵̜̅f̶̬̊u̷̬͝l̵̘͘ ̷͓̍o̷͎̒r̴͉̈́ ̵͇͝d̸͉̅a̴̩̕n̸͇̓ḡ̷̢e̴̡̊r̸̩͑o̵̟̍u̶͙͒s̵̺͌" the shadow stated "So I'm a walking prison" "F̴͕̀o̵̙̊r̴̯̈́ ̵̩̔n̷̬̕õ̴̗w̵̃͜, o̸̼͘n̴̝̄l̷̞̄y̴͙͋ ̴̦͊û̸͙n̵̪̊t̶͍̍i̴̡͐l̶͇̐ ̴̯̐V̶͉̾i̸̖̕x̴́͜e̵̲̐n̶̖͐ ̵̳͐i̵̞̅š̶͔ ̷̡͌k̷̛̹i̷̝̓l̷͕̾ḻ̴̈́e̸̫̅d̴͓̑... ṭ̶͒h̷̻̿e̸̬͛n̴̤̒ ̸̪̿y̴͙̆ö̶̩́û̷̗'̸̜̏l̴̞͒l̸̝͗ ̸̀ͅn̵̡͋e̷͔͂v̷̢̌ê̵͈r̷͕͆ ̶̈́͜ẗ̸̢́o̷̼̐ ̴̹͊d̶̼͗ḙ̴̾ȁ̴͔l̷̜͛ ̶̥̉à̶̩g̴̨̚á̷̩ḭ̸̈́n̸̜̈ " and like that, the shadow fell quiet as Corey returned his gaze to him, reading the familiar expression.
"...happy birthday" Corey said as Ethan's eyes widened a little "H̶̘̅ȏ̵̡w̴̤͛ ̴̪̓d̸̛̜i̴̫̚d̴͈͛ ̷̰́y̸̥͗ȏ̸̭ȕ̵͈-" "Angelina pulls the same face whenever it's her birthday" the hypnotic smiled a little "The more I think about it, the more alike you both seem" he stated "Don't like your birthday, huh?" "N̴̟̓ǒ̴͔t̴̗́ ̶̪̂r̶̩͗e̸̻͒a̶̫̓l̵͓̊l̶̙̆ỳ̶̝...." Ethan answered, looking away this time "...so how old would you be today?" Corey asked, trying to lift the mood a little and succeeding as he spotted the tiniest smile tug at the shadow's lips. Ethan thought about it for a moment before answering "A̷̝͠s̴͝ͅ ̴͔̃ȃ̶͈ 'd̷̙͘e̴̫͐m̸̬̔ọ̷̐ņ̷͑ ', t̴̮͑h̷̠̋i̷̘͘r̸̘̚t̴̪̃y̷͇̓ ̵̭͘ȍ̷̘ǹ̷̪ȩ̴̑, b̷̤͘ú̶͎t̸͠ͅ ̴̟͆a̸͕̋s̵̘̐ ̷͓̀a̶̭͊ ̵̝̎w̵͎̅h̷͝ͅó̸̟l̵̳̋e̶̯͑..... f̶̛̗o̵̲͐r̸͚͝t̸̹͝y̵͉̓ ̴͙̆ê̴͔i̵̳͘g̷͍̀ḧ̸͎ţ̶͗" he answered "Í̸̭n̶̻̚ ̶̬̈t̶̰́r̶͔̈́a̷͙͌d̶͎̉i̶̞̕t̶̺̃i̵͍̕ǒ̵̤n̷̙̈́a̶̟͆l̷̯͒ ̸̮̎c̶̫̓e̷̠̽l̵̤̏e̷͙͝s̶͎̄ṭ̵̿í̴̮a̸̩̅l̴̢̄ ̸̭͗ë̶̱y̷̩͠è̵̹s̵̛̻, I̴̢̔ ̸͙́w̶̰̐o̶̤͑ȕ̴̩l̷̻̋d̶̹̓n̸̹̑'̶͓̾t̷̞̅ ̷͈̆b̵̩͠ě̸̞ ̶̪̈́c̶͕̏o̷͓̓n̷̮̅s̴͉̅i̶̥̋d̶͔̄ḙ̵͋r̶̥̾è̶̻d̷̲͊ ̶̤͠ą̷̽ ̵̬̒y̴͚̾o̸͍͂ŭ̸͈ṅ̸̘ḡ̸͍ ̴͔͑a̸͉͛d̵̡́u̵͖̒l̶̺̂t̶̬͘ ̴̮̉u̵͍̾n̸͎̄t̶̖͝i̵͇͒l̷̲̇ ̵̮̏I̴̛̼'̶̡̊m̸̖̽ ̷̲̄a̴̩͂ ̶͈͑ḩ̵́u̸͓͐ń̶͜d̷͔͆r̵͉̍e̶̪̔d̸̰͐ " Ethan said as Corey laughed a little "Seriously?" "T̴̲̀h̸̻̆e̸͔̊ ̶̮̾l̴̦̎i̷͕̎f̷̠͛e̵̟̐ ̷̤͒ȩ̷̇x̷̭͆p̸̙͆e̵̠͌c̴̻͂t̵̍͜ă̴̼n̶̺̆c̴͙̔y̷̤̽ ̴͔̀ó̶̥f̷̡̀ ̸͓̀a̴̜͘ ̸̨̔c̶̝͌e̴͚̓l̸̠͐e̷͉͠s̵̼̀t̵̻̓i̵͉͊a̸̘͋l̷͖̈ ̸͔̿i̸̜͂s̷̱̾ ̵͖͊f̶͙̕i̸̞̕v̵̪̋ẻ̴̜ ̸͌͜ḧ̴́ͅu̴͍͊n̴͖͌d̶̥͆r̶̢̆é̶̼d̸̮̎ ̷̥̕ẙ̷̱ē̴̝a̶̛̰r̷̺̈́s̶͔̓ ̸̈́͜a̷͈͝t̸̡̽ ̶̳̉m̸̯͋a̵̗̒x̸̺͌ " the shadow told the hypnotic who laughed a little more as Ethan finally let the smile crack through.
The young teen girl carefully crawled out from behind the game booth, pushed herself back onto her feet and decided to make a run for it. As she neared the path at the front of the main circus tent, she heard a small clicking sound coming from the collar around her neck, and as she reached a hand up towards it, the collar shot her with a horrid bolt of electricity, sending the poor girl to the ground, desperately clawing at the collar.
Rhin Warden House, Perible, England, Mid
Friday, July 14th
9:16pm
Tom jolted awake, the nightmare having shocked him out of his sleep. He groaned in tiredness, rubbing at his bag-ridden eyes.
He hasn't stopped having these nightmares for weeks, every single one of them about a girl running for her life, a girl he doesn't remember ever meeting or seeing... it felt like he had forgotten about something important and yet with every single nightmare, he feels a deep connection to every inch of the horrid dream.
After a minute of calming his heart back down, Tom dragged himself out of bed and over to his closet, getting dressed for the day before walking out of his bedroom and down the corridor, through the living room and into the kitchen, unfortunate enough to find Tord sitting at the dining table, eating cereal whilst scrolling through his phone and the second he noticed Tom step into the room, the norwegian's head perked up and a bright smile drew across his face. "Morning Tom" Tord happily greeted the other boy as Tom forced his venom back down his throat, making his way over to the boiled kettle "Where's the others?" Tom questioned, making it obvious that he was not in the mood for any more 'friendship' attempts from the other "Edd and Matt have gone shopping, they won't be back for a while" Tord answered. His brows knotted a little "...are you okay?" Tord asked as Tom grabbed out a mug and begun to make himself coffee "Bad dream, that's all" Tom answered, quickly finishing making his coffee and turning on his heel, starting towards the door to escape the kitchen. "You know you're going to have to get used to being in the same room as me at some point" Tord said as Tom came to a dead stop "I get it, you don't want me here, you don't like me, but at the end of the day, we still live in the same house as each other" Tord continued "You're going to have to learn to control your emotions-" "And how am I supposed to do that when every time I see or hear you, I want to rip you part?" Tom spat back.
The entire time this asshole has been back for, only about one month, he has been nothing but extremely nice and trying to become friends again yet today, he rudeness in his voice and coldness in his tone, it was like he had finally given up the 'good guy' facade and was turning to 'bad cop' as a plan B.
"If that's what you feel like, then you need to learn to get over it, because I'm not leaving anytime soon" Tord stated as Tom turned his head back to the other boy, throwing a harsh glare at him as Tom walked over to the sink and poured the freshly made coffee down the drain, tossing the mug into the sink before heading back to the door out of the kitchen. Tord's brows knotted as he watched the other leave "Why did you-" "Lost my fucking appetite" Tom spat the answer, walking out of the kitchen and back down the other end of the house, stepping into his bedroom and slamming the door close.
12:21pm
Tom stepped out into the small backyard, a smile about to draw across his lips until it turned into an immediate frown at the sight of Tord sitting on the old lawn chair, reading some email on his phone "You've been out here for three hours on your phone?" Tom hissed the question, the other boy not even bothering to look up "And you haven't left your room in three hours," Tord stated back, a small smirk tugging at the corner of his lips "For someone who hates me, you keep track of my activities around the house very well". "I only came out here because I thought you left" Tom stated, glaring at the unmoving soldier "Still, you were listening out for me" "Isn't there an army base you're supposed to be at?" Tom questioned, annoyed anger flaming in his voice as Tord waved his phone a little in response "Me and Paul have a few more weeks off before we need to return to work" he answered. Tom's eye twitched a little "Off for what?" he snapped "You're not sick or injured or visiting family- you're just lazing about" he continued as Tord closed his eyes, listening to the half demon continue on his hissy-fit "You're fucking babysitting me, aren't you? Edd put you up to it" "The only thing Edd did was tell me what was going on with you" Tord corrected Tom's accusation "I'm not babysitting you, I'm just readjusting to my environment given that I have been in Norway about half a year" he added. "Edd told you what?" a threatening and strained question passed through Tom's teeth as Tord froze up a little.
He wasn't supposed to tell him that.
The soldier immediately put his phone in his pocket as he stood turn, turning towards Tom and meeting the other's harsh glare "Maybe we should take this inside-" "Is that the reason you fucking came back?" Tom cut off Tord, glare narrowing on the red sweatered boy "Tom, please, this isn't something the neighbours should be overhearing-" "What? think I'm gonna kill myself again?" Tom snapped. "I didn't need you then and I don't need you now-" "You need to calm down" "I'll 'calm down' when you're fucking dead" Tom spat before Tord grabbed him by the arm "You need to control it-" Tom harshly soccer-punched Tord across the face. Tord's mouth was bleeding when he re-grabbed Tom's arm and dragged him back into the house, shutting the door behind themselves before the soldier turned back to the half demon "The fuck is wrong with you?" Tord snapped, still keeping his grip on Tom's arm as the half demon kept trying to yank said arm out of the other's grasp. "Look, I'm sorry, Thomas" Tord begun "Yes, the second I heard that you were hurting yourself again, I shot back to Perible in hopes to keep you from doing it," he admitted, still getting a horrid glare from the other boy "But I really do mean it when I say that it's my main and only reason for returning- I want to help you, but I need you to actually listen, like right now" Tord said, holding up the other's arm to show him his blackened hands.
'That's why he kept telling me to calm down' Tom thought, embarrassed that he had lost control over the demon side.
Powerful and uncontrollable emotions leads to uncontrollable actions, especially for a celestial who is still having problems controlling his own powers.
"It... it hurts" Tom admitted, wincing a little as he continued to stare at his blackened arms, feeling Tord's grip lighten to a gentle hold whilst caressing the half demon's face with his other hand, returning his full attention back to Tord whose eyes were filled with nothing but worry and deep concern "I promise you when I say my reason for coming back is good" he told Tom. "I was planning to come back the second all of Mid had been searched for the kids, and yes, I came back early because Edward called from a hospital waiting room," Tord continued as the other hesitantly listened, frozen in place almost "It scared me, the thought of losing you permanently... and knowing that I'm to blame for it- that's why I came home" he said. "Not out of guilt, just pure worry for you" Tord told him "You can hate me all you want just please, let me help" he asked before Tom stepped away, out of the other's gentle grasp, forcing the distance between them "Tom" Tord's voice hung in the air as the other forced his gaze to the ground "...what are you thinking?" the army soldier hesitantly asked. Tom gripped his arm "Millions of things, everything bad" he answered, closing his eyes as he continued "When you left, I knew you would come back but everything convinced me otherwise and...." Tom's voice had killed itself midsentence as Tord nodded his head.
Ever since they were little, he's always remembered Tom as a negative thinker, drowned in his own overwhelming thoughts... and how it led to so many problems during high school. Nothing helped, really. Music became an escape along with hanging out with Tord, Edd and Matt, but nothing had hurt more than being able to see right through the mask your friend tried wearing everyday.
"I told Edd what I am" Tom's voice cracked a little, regaining Tord's attention "...what did he say?" "That he understood why I lied, that we were still friends... he told Matt for me, he's alright with it too" Tom recalled as the other boy nodded his head.
Tord smiled a little "Hey- remember those paper hearts we made when we were little?" he asked, changing the subject for both of their sakes.
The two seven-year-olds sat in Tom's bedroom whilst their parents sat in the living room engulfed in a deep and delightful conversation. The boys were cutting out shapes from paper until Tom cut out a heart from some blue craft paper before scribbling on the words 'Tord + Tom' onto it, then gave it to Tord who instantly smiled "Thank you, Tom! I love it!" Tord exclaimed and with a few rushed seconds, the boy quickly cut out a red heart and wrote the same words onto it. The moment he finished, he handed it to Tom who instantly grabbed it and hugged it tightly to his chest "What are you doing?" Tord laughed "You 'stole' my heart, so I'm taking yours" Tom recited the line perfectly from some weird movie their parents had watched weeks ago, both boys immediately erupted into pure laughter "You already stole mine" Tord recited the next line from the movie that sent both of them onto their sides, stomachs hurting from the insane laughter.
Tom smiled a little, holding back a small laugh "Yeah, I do" before his smile fell "...how are you so strong?" he asked Tord who raised a brow at the question "What do you mean?" "I mean- you spent your whole life with your parents' expectation to take your father's place in the Red Army, to be both a soldier and engineer" Tom started as Tord bit his tongue "And that's what you are now, a soldier and engineer for the scariest leaders of Mid..." Tom looked down at his hands "...you never had people judge you for who or what you are". "Jenna and Robert love you, even more after the 'demon scare'" Tord told Tom, placing a gentle hand on the other boy's shoulder "They called Blake to get you a transfer to Mid-" "And I dragged you, Edd and Matt here with me" the half demon cut off the soldier, shrugging Tord's hand off of his shoulder and taking another step back. Tord sighed, guilt showing on his face as Tom's brows frowned "...you were going to come here either way" "Yeah" the soldier confirmed Tom's words. Tom shook his head "Blake said he convinced yours, Edd's and Matt's parents to move you here" "Edd and Matt's parents, yes, mine... they were already thinking about it" Tord admitted "Dad teaching me everything about the army wasn't going to be enough in order to be accepted- I needed to do the MCD Program like all the other cadets" he explained, watching the half-demon turn his head away from him. "All cadets need to do the MCD Program and the proper cadet training, and that's a four-year long- they were going to move you to Mid for high school" Tom returned his gaze to the other boy, slight annoyance and anger returning to his face "My demon-freakout was the perfect excuse for you to come here-" "I was going to wait until after high school" Tord cut Tom off this time, taking the half demon back a little.
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