Becoming a Monster

Chapter 117: Chapter 117: Don’t Worry Neal

Ailetta gasped, her eyes widened before glazing over into a mid trance as she digested his words. Wasn’t she of the same belief? she had just found her goal, a goal where she planned to make the greatest sacrifice to achieve it.

Twice she was ready to sacrifice herself, all so she could be useful to Noah. And even now she planned to sacrifice herself again....For her to question Noah’s decision when he’s fighting for what he believed, despite the immorality of it all; she despised herself for being so weak minded, for not having faith in the person she was willing to give everything for.

Her unease soon metamorphosed into a newfound resolve, to watch Neal’s end, and to use this chance to fully envision Noah’s goal.

Thud*

The moment Fenrir released Neal at Noah’s feet, Noah released a small net of webs, tethering Neal’s chest to the ground.

Being suddenly tied down onto the ground momentarily distracted Neal enough to forget about his situation. However, the moment he realized he was unable to move, his gaze hesitantly wandered to the figure that stepped forward. Confronting Noah up close was somehow more daunting than confronting Fenrir. At Least with Fenrir, Neal could only expect to be eaten alive, but in front of Noah, death could be considered a merciful gift. Neal’s terror urged himself to plead for his case.

”I-I’m sorry Noah! I was wrong! Give me one more chance, I’ll...I’ll leave, I’ll disappear and-and you’ll never have to worry about seeing me again, I swear!” By this time Neal was a broken mess. His tears mixed in with his runny snot only led to making a very disturbing image. His appearance tore at those who made the decision to not intervene. Once again, Jasmine wanted to interfere, not only because her human empathy couldn’t allow her to continue to watch; but also because she was afraid of the impact this would have on everyone’s morale once the deed was done.

”Sigh...Jas, will you stop it already? You’re not the only one bothered by this, but is intervening worth the chance of gaining his hate?” Mark once again cautioned his sister. But Mark’s reprimand wasn’t enough to stop her attempts this time. If Neal is killed, his last warning would cause him to die as a martyr. It would be the first step to causing the others to resent and fear Noah even more, only leading towards a further divide within the group, potentially endangering the lives of everyone. For her friends, for her immature brother, she must be the one to speak up, or their chances of making it to the checkpoint in one piece would be in jeopardy.

”Noah, wait! This isn’t right!” She yelled while simultaneously approaching forward to make her presence known. Her interruption was enough to catch Noah’s attention, but her advancement was met by someone who had the least patience of everyone there when it involved Noah.

Without noticing until she was right upon her, Arachne stood in Jasmine’s way, blocking her path with a demoralizing glare.

her eyes burning with an almost personal grievance, filled with envy and bitterness that Fenrir was trusted over her to accomplish Noah’s order. Arachne’s slender fingers twitched, itching for any excuse to silence Jasmine permanently to release her frustrations.

”No one interferes,” Arachne hissed, her voice as cold as the coldest of winters. ”But if you want to become my meal, I can make an exception.”

Jasmine froze, the weight of her resolve wavering under the intensity of Arachne’s glare. But she couldn’t back down, not now.

”No....no, Arac-Arachne? Jasmine stuttered over Arachne’s name that she has only heard being voiced in outside discussion; her voice trembling under the threat posed by the spider watching her every move. There was hesitation in her heart to immediately back down, but then Neal’s painful groans reinvigorated her with the courage to at least try to reason with Noah once more. ”Noah! This isn’t just about you or Neal. It’s about all of us. If we cross this line, there’s no going back.”

Noah, standing over the trembling Neal, turned his head slightly to acknowledge Jasmine. Annoyance reflected in his gaze, and yet he was slightly curious of the ”justice” that someone who was supposed to be more level headed would say.

”Arachne,” Noah’s voice was a calm command, ”let her speak.”

Arachne reluctantly stepped aside, her eyes never leaving Jasmine, as if daring her to make one wrong move. Jasmine took a tentative step forward, but nothing more, her heart pounding in her chest. This was her only chance to make Noah see reason.

”Noah, killing Neal like this...nothing good would come about it, nor would killing him bring you any sense of satisfaction.” Jasmine implored. ”It will only cause those of us who still believe in you to fear you. When the world is filled with death and despair, we shouldn’t add on to it, we need to stick together, now more than ever.”

Noah’s eyes flickered with a dark amusement as he listened. He crouched down, snatching Neal’s arm in his hand as he pleasantly observed its changes with an eerie smile.

”Fear is a powerful motivator, Jasmine,” Noah said softly, almost dreamily. ”It will make the others think twice before crossing me. Without fear, without strength, I would be the one in Neal’s position instead.”

Jasmine took another step forward, desperation seeping into her voice. ”Do you really believe that? A life where people will only respect you out of fear? You’ll only be creating a world by yourself where you’ll end up alone, is that the kind of life you want? Is that the kind you wish to put on Ailetta?

Ailetta, who had been silently watching the exchange, finally spoke up. Not wanting to be used as a tool to be used against Noah again.

”Noah will never be alone Jas....” Ailetta said, stepping forward to stand beside him. ”You shouldn’t judge him, none of us understand what he’s been through. If he hasn’t become what he is now, then maybe someone like Neal, or.....” Ailetta’s calm gaze narrowed towards Mark. ”Your brother would’ve actually succeeded in taking his life.”

Jasmine’s heart sank as she gasped in shock. Not even she was prepared for Ailetta to have such undying loyalty for Noah despite his blatant attempt to murder another human in front of their very eyes. More strung on the fact that Noah’s grip on Ailetta was far stronger than she had feared, Jasmine subconsciously disregarded the comment about her brother.

With judging, concerning eyes, Jasmine stared intensely towards Ailetta as if trying to gauge if the Ailetta she’s known all this time was the same; or if maybe Noah had did something to her....turning her into a monster just as Neal proclaimed Noah would eventually do to them.

”Ailetta....what happened to y-”

”Arrrrggh! What did you do to me!” When Jasmine was about to ask the question that would potentially destroy their entire friendship. A scream, no...a horrified screech sounded, taking hold of everyone’s attention.

Terrified stares anxiously tried to uncover the source for Neal’s emotional shift. The trigger for such a change was instant as they saw Neal feverishly grasping at his arm.

Despite their fear, their curiosity won out in the end as their stares scrutinized his odd behavior, specifically his arm. Murmurs of alarms buzzed at the sight, Neal’s arm was bulging and ripping, explosive amounts of blood popped through the air as each tendon and blood vessel popped and intertwined with the other.

Each ligament, tendon and muscle merged and grew within his growing arm while surprisingly, his arm began to grow massive amounts of hair that elongated into a fur like appearance.

Everyone who saw the abomination’s transformation was overcome with an eerie premonition, but they couldn’t understand why the transformation was drastically different than when the undead was changed.

None of them had enough experience with being infected to understand that the disparity in evolution between the infected and infector would amplify the infection rate by a large margin before spirit can play an effect on the process. Added to the fact that Fenrir’s venom was highly contagious for its species, Neal didn’t stand a chance.

It was when Neal noticed the fur-like hair growing out of his arm that his irrational mind put two and two together, his fear morphing into borderline hysteria. ”Noooo! You can’t do this, don’t make me into one of those ’things’! Please, anyone please, HELP ME!” Neal begged with all of his emotion, his voice threatening to rip through his lungs. As he screamed for help, amidst his cries, he was unable to hold back the fear of reality. Sobs began to overwhelm his yells, wails interrupted in between.

Noah’s amused smile became more intrigued as the transformation occurred, a sarcastic thought entered his mind that he couldn’t help laughing off. ’How does this not bring me satisfaction?’ He off handedly made a jab at Jasmine. Witnessing Neal’s turmoil, seeing the terrified expressions of the people who constantly judged himself for the monster he has become; if fear meant respect, if fear meant he would be left alone, why would he not want everyone to fear him?

”Don’t worry Neal,” Noah responded to his cries with a collected, almost soothing voice. ”I just didn’t want you to be called a liar, now you can finally say that your truth was right all along. You hated me for being a monster so much, well, how does it feel? Come on, you can do it, tell everyone how you feel now that you’re becoming a monster.” The tone of Noah’s voice suddenly shifted, turning into a sadistic version of a devil’s whispers. All the while, Neal’s transformation advanced to the rest of his body. Neal’s state of mind was overwhelmed with the agonizing tears and breaks within his body that he was no longer able to sense other sounds over his own cries.

”Jas....” Mark stepped forward when he saw his sister slump onto the streets. He arrived at her side, trying to support her, but her body didn’t budge, her face didn’t turn to acknowledge him as she watched Neal’s suffering. ”Just....why is this happening?”

Mark thought deeply about her question, his own expression was far from pretty. ”This was out of our hands Jas, we should just be happy that it wasn’t us....that it wasn’t me...” Mark’s ominous response finally gained her full attention, there was a concerning yet inquiring gaze urging for him to explain. However, before Mark even had to, Jasmine quickly recalled all of the time’s Mark challenged Noah, either out of spite or blind jealousy. Imagining Mark in Neal’s place was a heavy blow on her already conflicted heart. Tears burst forth, her own cries mixing amongst Neals as she cried into Mark’s arms.

”I’m scared Mark...I don’t know what to do anymore, why did all of this have to happen? What if Neal was right? What if we’re next? I don’t.....I don’t know what to believe anymore.”

Seeing his sister so vulnerable in this moment, Mark for the first time finally realized just how much his sister was forcing herself to keep everyone together despite her own worries. With a pensive expression, Mark looked towards Noah, his thoughts converging into one that would propel his mindset to new heights. He was fully set on besting Noah for the wrong reasons, before, it was only because he believed that it was his rightful place to be the strongest and to lead everyone to peace and a better future out of this hell. But now, he needed to be stronger, overwhelmingly stronger than Noah, to be the balance that can put down the monster if ”it” ever became their enemy.