Veilbreaker: Shattering the Veil of Lies-Chapter 26: Past

Cracked.

Warped.

Bleeding black at the edges.

Each one had an image. Each had different versions of the same image.

It was me. I was the image.

One is sobbing.

One is screaming.

One is on his knees, begging a faceless god.

One is a corpse.

They were all of me.

None of them fought back against their fate.

What are you doing?!

Don't let it dictate you.

Fight back against it.

"Aren't you a hypocrite?"

A disembodied voice rang out.

It wasn't Richard.

It was...

Me.

A deeper version. A darker one.

"You say you're different, you aren't a slave anymore yet..."

"This is all you are."

CRACK!

The mirror depicting me sobbing shattered into innumerable pieces— the fragments glistening in a faint light before dissipating. My cries— fading into oblivion.

"Pathetic."

CRACK!

The mirror depicting me screaming in agony shattered. My blood curdling screams whittled away into nothing.

"Scared."

The begging mirror collapsed next. Even the god I reached for was dust.

"Desperate."

"Isn't that what you are?"

"A slave with delusions of rebellion."

I tried to speak.

But the words—

No. My voice—

It didn't come.

Then, the final mirror floated forward.

The corpse.

Was this my future?

All I amount to is a fucking corpse?!

The head of my corpse slowly looked up at me.

His heterochromatic eyes, lifeless.

Empty.

The skin sagged like a coat draped over bones. Grey. Hollow. Wrong.

Instinctively, I reached out, hand trembling .

To touch him— myself.

The corpse smiled.

"Just as I thought..."

"You're so..."

"Weak."

CRACK!

The pane shattered— his corpse was now dust.

Left alone in the void.

Eyes wide— jaw slack.

Then, one final whisper slid across the silence.

"You're still a slave"

"Even your shadow knows it."

"Just a mere..."

"Fucking slave."

My consciousness then faded.

Beep.

Beep.

Reality returned with the sterile scent of antiseptic.

I slowly fluttered my eyes open, only to be blinded by a light overhead. A soft beeping sound— turning my head I saw an IV drip injected into my forearms.

I let out a deep breath, staring blankly at the ceiling. I didn't feel relieved, I wasn't angry at what they did. I wasn't pitying myself for my helplessness.

One phrase echoed through every fiber of me.

You're so Weak...

You're still a slave.

[Papa?]

Corvus?

[Oh Papa you're okay!]

I'm fine...

[I'm just in the veterinary sector.]

[My wing got injured.]

Oh okay...

Are you alright?

[Yes, the nice nurse patched me up.]

[I'm just sleepy now.]

Okay...

Go to sleep.

[Okay... huam]

[...]

Wow he's a fast sleeper.

I stayed silent as it dawned on me. Corvus got hurt because of my weakness. Andrea got hurt because of my weakness. The image of Liliana dragging her through the dirt.

Seared into my mind.

Right now, I just lay on the hospital bed. I just lay there, watching the light flicker above me—just like that shattered mirror.

Is it even a good thing that I woke up?

Then I felt it.

Something gently squeezed my hand— a gentle weight against the side of my stomach.

I tilted my head to the side to take a look. I blinked.

The haze in my eyes finally lifted—and that's when I saw her.

Andrea.

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Slumped forward in a chair beside my bed. Her fingers loosely curled around mine, as if afraid letting go would wake a nightmare. Her head rested gently against my stomach, rising and falling with each of my shallow breaths. A soft puff of her short hair moved with every exhale.

She was asleep.

She was completely healed.

Her expression was calm— no tension, no fear. Just rest. She looked safe.

Why?

Why is she here?

Why would she stay?

WHY WOULD ANY—

I stopped right before my thoughts spiral out of control.

I just gazed at her thoughtlessly.

Looking at her like this. It calmed the storm that raged within my mind. I felt at peace.

Reflexively, my fingers twitched, barely, but she didn't wake. Her grip tightened again for a moment, reflexively, like making sure I didn't disappear.

Warmth pooled in my chest.

Not relief. Not happiness.

Just—

...something I couldn't name.

I could've moved. Could've pulled my hand away. Could've looked away. But I didn't. I just watched her sleep.

She looked so small like this. So human. Her breathing was steady, one hand resting against her cheek like a child lost in dreams.

And for a fleeting moment—just a flicker—

She was the only thing I could think about. Unconsciously my mind began to memorise every feature of her.

Her hair.

Her face.

The small mole near her left ear.

Her lips.

Her breathing.

Why am I doing this?

I only met her a day ago.

I know nothing about her but...

So does she, she doesn't know anything about me.

Yet she's here.

She's an idiot for staying.

With me.

Of all people.

Gently, I move her head onto my leg so that I can sit up. I didn't let go of her hand.

I didn't want to for some reason.

Unbeknownst to me someone walked in.

"Mate, she's been there the entire time by your side."

A familiar voice rang out. A very familiar Australian accent.

Bodhi.

"How long was I out?" I mumbled.

He walked up to my hospital bed and stood right next to me.

"About um... 8 hours."

"Oh... okay." I nodded.

Bodhi's head then tilted as he analysed my face. His lips curled into a smile as he chortled.

"Oi look now, your face is all healed up! "

"Not a scratch left."

I slowly directed my gaze to him. With a raised brow I inquired.

"What happened to my face?"

Bodhi's smile faltered. His eyes momentarily widened— he realised he kinda fucked himself over. He sheepishly smiled as he stammered.

"Nothing mate, when you hit the ground your face got a bit shagged."

LIES 

A disembodied voice whispered in my mind.

My brows furrowed for a moment.

"I know you're lying."

Bodhi's smile collapsed.

"I decided to be your friend because I thought I could finally trust someone."

"So please don't lie to me ever. Even if it's for my own good because I always know when someone's lying."

"So tell me..."

"What happened to my face?"

Bodhi looked at me for a long moment.

He then sighed.

"Fine mate."

"I'm sorry, what happened was..."

"You had some sort of episode. I don't know the specifics because I wasn't there but when I got there you were scratching your face aggressively."

"You then headbutted Josiah and beat him to pulp as you kept calling him 'Richard'."

My eyes momentarily widened.

My lips quivered— I held my head in my hand as I stammered.

"Okay thanks..."

Bodhi clenched his jaw.

"I know I might be intruding but..."

"When you beat Josiah... you said that you already killed Richard..."

"Who's Richard, Kerrigan?"

My hand began to shake as my lungs went empty. I couldn't breathe. Suddenly I felt Andrea's hand squeeze my trembling hand subconsciously.

Calming my mind.

My hand shook as I gripped his shirt.

I couldn't look him in the eyes.

"If I tell you..."

"Promise to never say his name in front of me..."

"Ever..."

"I don't want to remember."

Bodhi's breath hitched. He didn't know how to react to the vulnerability I was displaying.

But something in mind came to a resolve as he thought.

He's my friend.

I need to help him in whatever way I can.

"I promise mate." he affirmed.

Can I trust h—

STOP IT!

He's your friend.

Just say it!

I wasn't going to tell him the full truth. But pieces of it. I still planned to take the simulation to the grave.

Taking a shaky breath, my voice was quiet. Too quiet.

The kind of quiet that came after screams had long since died in your throat.

"B-before I became Leon's disciple..."

"I was owned by a man named Richard."

His name came out like rot. Like poison I had tasted a thousand times.

"Legally I was a servant. But that's not what I was. Servants have human rights. Rules. Safety. Peace. I had none of that. Nada. I was his thing. His slave. His toy. I breathed because he let me. Ate if I pleased him. Slept when I collapsed. And bled when he got bored."

That horror slowly hardened into a cold, unblinking stare.

His hands clenched— so did his jaw.

But he listened.

Like he promised.

"He abused me in every way. Physically, sexually, psychologically. Nothing was off the table. He enjoyed it through and through, sometimes he'd get his friends involved."

My eyes didn't blink.

Didn't move.

"Bodhi... have you ever felt your skin being torn off? Slowly. Deliberately. While you begged And he laughed. Kept laughing."

"I was his dog— no dogs get fed. I was his plaything. Something he could break and put back together and break it again and again."

My voice began to quiver— barely.

"I began to slip. My sanity was always on edge, sometimes even dying was better than living. He didn't let me die. No. Whenever I tried to kill myself, he would always save me and then tell me..."

"I was his. That I belonged to him— I shouldn't be so selfish."

I let out a dry laugh.

"I almost succeeded once... yet it was all for naught."

Bodhi was barely holding himself together. His nails dug into the palm of his hand— knuckles turned white. He bit his tongue yet he let me speak.

I took a breath. Slow. Steady. Like it hurt.

"I lost faith. In life, death, living, happiness, love, pain. I stopped dreaming, I stopped hoping. I began to accept my fate— let the chains that bound me stretch into eternity..

"And then—" I froze. The memories hit like a freight train. My eyes saw nothing. Only the past.

Bodhi's voice escaped his throat like a hiss.

His face, considerably paled but stern.

"What... happened after that..."

I looked at him. And there was something in my eyes— something cracked. Something primal.

"I snapped completely." I whispered. "I lost my sanity, finally. He made me keep it for so long and then boop! Gone."

Unknowingly— the faintest of smiles crept my lips. You had to be very close to even notice the curve of my lips. Bodhi was and he did.

"I stopped begging. Stopped crying. Stopped screaming. Stopped trying to kill myself..."

"I snapped his neck. Twisting it 180 degrees."

No pride. No regret. Just the truth.

Silence followed. Heavy, thick, sacred.

I added. In the faintest voice ever.

"Even now, I find myself slipping. Sometimes seeing Richard in the corner of my eye, nightmares where I'm back in that fucking manor."

"Sometimes... I think he's right next to me. Alive."

Bodhi didn't speak.

Didn't move.

Didn't breathe.

His face looked like it had been carved out of marble. Pale, rigid, unreadable—but his eyes...

They were alive. Rage, sorrow, disbelief. All of it warred in the storm behind them.

His mouth opened.

Closed.

Opened again.

Nothing came out.

He looked at me like I had just shown him the world was made of knives.

And I had been walking barefoot the entire time.

"...I..."

A sound escaped his throat.

"I didn't know, Kerrigan. I didn't..." His voice cracked. "Gods. I didn't know."

I shrugged. Too tired to comfort him. Too broken to care. Bodhi stepped forward like I was made of porcelain. Or dynamite.

He did something unexpected.

He placed a hand on my shoulder as he sat beside me— in front of me. Eye-level.

As if he was trying to connect with the blackness that is my soul. Trying to shine a light in my never ending darkness.

"I don't know how to fix what happened to you," he said quietly. "I'm not gonna act like some magical bestie who can hug the trauma outta your bones."

I clenched my jaw to stifle a bitter laugh.

"But I do know this—"

He leaned in.

"I'm here and I don't plan on leaving."

My breath hitched. Slightly. My eyes momentarily widened.

"You're not a toy, or a dog, or a slave. You're Kerrigan. You're you. And if you ever see that bastard in the corner again—"

His voice dropped to a growl.

"You let me know. I'll bring fire."

My lips twitched. I tried to hold it. I really did.

I just couldn't hold it in anymore.

"Pfft..."

Bodhi's bravado crumbled as he looked at me incredulous.

"Mate what the fuck! I'm tryna help here!"

My face went red as I giggled.

"Pfft— sorry. I just couldn't help myself when you said 'I'll bring fire'"

"It was just... so c-corny pfft haha..."

Bodhi went equally red and he relented— laughing his ass off with me.

"Yeah I think I was a bit too into it." He chortled.

"Ya think, pfft." I mumbled.

We made sure not to laugh too loud— to not wake up Andrea.

Bodhi then stood up and smirked at me.

"I'll be right back... with snacks."

I gave him a thumbs up like this was the most important mission of his life.

Thank goodness.

I was just getting hungry.

"Oh can you do me a favour." I shot a request.

Bodhi tilted his head.

"Sure what is it?"

"Can you go pick up Corvus from the veterinary sector as well."

Bodhi froze. For just a moment. The name alone made Bodhi visibly glitch. He was reminded of what the little gremlin asked him in the cafe.

'Are Mama and Papa mating?"

Bodhi shuddered slightly but nodded with a wry smile.

"Sure... I'll go get the little bastard."

And he was gone.

He gave one final shudder before disappearing through the door like a man going to war.