#sleepyhead

Open.

"Okay, is it— can I start yet?"

"Yes, Noah. Go ahead. Tell me about the day that it happened. The series of events, how it all transpired, but from the perspective of the victim, rather than the perpetrator. Speak when you are ready."

"Okay... may I just ask, uhm, who you are?"

"Are you in any position to ask stupid questions, mutt? I thought you were raised better than this."

"Oh, right."

There is the sound of a young boy cleaeing his throat, then the rustling of fabric being disturbed.

"The day started out really good, actually. Or, I thought so, at least. For once, he got up on time, and he was allowed breakfast, too. He didn't even get nauseous or anything!! I was so proud of him..."

...

"Noah."

"Oh, oops. Okie. We parted ways after breakfast, me to go learn, him to go to church. Gosh, I did wonder why he always had to go there instead of school... Abel wouldn't talk to me about it. But that's okay, there were a lot of things he didn't talk about. Like Xelqua's rules, he hated those, and how at night, I would always catch his dad—"

"Noah, get your mind back on the task at hand, please. I am not asking about his father."

"Well, sir, I know, but I thought I should bring up the behavior that—"

"No."

...

A quiet exhale, like a childish huff.

"Okay, fine. He went to church, and I went to my classes. When we had free time, I went and put my ear up against the door, like I always do. I think he was crying, like, real loud, but he... that wasn't unusual. Father Trevor found me, and he just told me Abel had a lot of things he had to apologize for that day, and I was scolded for trying to listen in. They almost cut my hair over that! I— I told myself that I'd never try to hear him again, because I had grown quite proud of how long my hair has grown, and I really didn't want to get in trouble big enough for them to cut it."

"At lunch, Abel wasn't there. He had to skip meals a lot, since he was in trouble so often, so I didn't really think much of it. I—I mean, I was sad, of course!! I just... wasn't surprised. Only a little disappointed."

"He must have acted out then?"

"Oh, I don't know. I asked his dad, Father James, n' he said that the answer was none of my business, nor my concern. And that was true, so I just sorta... left it alone. It was only another thing that Abel would refuse to talk about anyways. I always figured that if he wanted to ignore things, I'd let him! It can't be easy to think about all the hard stuff he deals with..."

"You speak as if you are still fond of him."

"Well, of course! I'm not gonna stop being his friend."

"Are you not upset about him stealing your life away from you?"

"...of course I'm not happy about it. But I can't only see him for that one bad act. He—he was a good friend to me, I won't forget that! Even if he was mean sometimes, and even if he did kill me, I always knew that he loved me. And I always loved him. That is not going to stop just because—"

"Oh, nevermind. Just get on with it. I'm not here for you to sing his praises."

"You asked!"

"Carry on, Noah."

"Fine!"

...

"After lunch, and then a few more lessons, it was time for entertainment. I noticed, this time, Abel was wearing his shorts and tank top, like he was supposed to!! That made me happy, because first, it means he was out of those smelly old pajamas, and second, he was brave enough again!! For a while, a few years, even, he had flat out refused, most of the time, to wear anything if it didn't cover him head to toe. We never talked about it, cause I didn't want to push, but I think it was a modesty thing, maybe one of the rules he had to follow. Like how he's not meant to change or be indecent during the day."

"Ah, you are aware that he had to have his own extra set of rules?"

"...I read it in his diary. He wrote them down over and over for days. It's because of his status as our link between—"

"Yes, I am well aware, Noah. You may go on."

"Okay. Well, finally, the tank top meant he was going to take this more seriously. As is typical for entertainment days, Abel managed to beat everyone he went against, but faltered against Father James. As is also typical, he just refused to even move. After that, we went against eachother."

The grin in his voice is almost audible.

"For once, the first time ever, I beat him. I won against Abel!! That—that was huge. I got extra wine with dinner, and much praise from my covenmates, and even Father James! It was.. really cool. Of course, I was overjoyeed!! I couldn't stop my tail fron wagging the whole evening. After dinner, we got a while to rest and have free time, rather than worship, which was very pleasing to me."

"I tried looking for Abel, but he had disappeared by then. Maybe he had to help people out with confessions? I dunno. I layed in bed for a while, then waited, and waited. Finally, after like, thorty minutes, he came to the room! I could've sworn he had more bruises than I had given him during our round of entertainment, but he wouldn't talk about it. I wasn't shocked by that. But I was surprised when he asked me to spar. He never reallly practiced his fighting skills with anyone else, nobody really knows how he got so good at defending himself! So sparring, with him, was very unusual."

...

"I agreed. We met in the courtyard, nobody there to supervise. I asked if I should go find someone to do so, but he denied. Even though I know no one else was there, I felt... watched. It was weird."

"We 'sparred' for a while. He was going easy on me, and constantly looked on the verge of tears! I thought about asking what was up, but I knew he wouldn't answer honestly, so I just left him to sort it out with himself. I... I really should have asked what was going on with him. I regret not doing so."

"Finally, he began to pick up the slack after roughly an hour of play-fighting. He actually began to challenge me, but I quickly realized that he wasn't just making it a little more difficult. No, he seemed keen on actually taking me down! Just because he was bitter about the results from earlier!! O-of course, I tried to overpower him like I had earlier, but... I don't know. It was like he had taken drugs or something!! He was freakishly hyper and quick on his feet, and much more aware than he typically was. I coukdn't keep up!!"

"Abel pinned me to the ground. By this point, I was afraid. I could see blood staining both his and my shirt, and I knew most of, if not all of it, was mine. He gets... scary, sometimes. Like he hates me. I was crying, and I begged him to time out. I was down, he had me, that was the end of it! You win, Abel!"

...

"It... it must have not been enough for him. I don't remember much else. I know there was a lot of blood, and it made me dizzy. I stared up at Abel's face that whole time. It was this weird mix of histeria, and fear, and maybe regret. It was so weird. I... I didn't like how that looked on him."

"After that, I suppose I ended up here, with you."

"Okay, thank you. Can I ask you something?"

"Do I really have a choice?"

The older sighs heavily, annoyance is clear in his tone as he speaks again.

"Do you feel that same feeling now? Like you're being watched?"

"...uh huh. I... I sort of just figured it was because of this creepy void we're in, like, just, nervousness cause it's so weird here."

...

"Is he watching? Is Xelqua here?"

"No. He's never been here, Noah."

"..what?"

"Your religion is a lie, Noah. There is no prophet from the stars. Your priests lied about all of those signs or communications with your Watcher they've had. Your precious Xelqua abandoned you a long time ago, Noah. He doesn't love you."

...

"What?!"

A distressed whine, then a thump can be heard as someone presumably slumps to the ground. There is a rustling of wings and a groan.

"Fucking idiot."