Cloud - Chapter 27: Chapter 27

It was quiet in the car.
I was sitting in the passenger seat, my gaze fixed in space. I couldn't move but my lips were trembling. I so much wanted to cry but no tears fell down as flashbacks of what I had done played again and again in my mind.
Cloud was driving us to his house. We were closed to arriving. He was throwing some glances at me from time to time. He was trying to hold himself from asking questions but I knew that he was going to snap and he did soon enough.
"Luffy," he started at last, his voice high and firm. "What happened? Why the hell are you bloody?"
"I already told you that I don't want to talk about it," I replied to him, avoiding his eyes and he groaned.
"I left you for ten damn minutes," he exclaimed angrily. "What did you do? Who hurt you?"
"Why do you instantly conclude that someone hurt me?" I asked him and I saw the way his hands around the steering wheel tightened.
"There are not too many conclusions to make," was his reply. "Someone must have attacked you. Just tell me who it is. I'm going to take care of it."
I let out a laugh, shaking my head in disbelief. I was kind of amused. He was going to take care of it? There was nothing to take care of anymore. She was dead. I killed her. End of the story.
"There is nothing left," I murmured and he frowned. We finally reached the house and Cloud parked the car. I was about to get out when he suddenly grabbed my arm.
"Don't you dare leave," he told me. "Spill everything out and now."
I did not want to say it. It was going to be more real if I did. Each time I thought I was getting used to my new life, something had to happen to remind me that I did not have the right to feel better. I did not have the right to have one happy moment without something happening or someone to destroy it.
"You were right," I told Cloud in a whisper. "Going back to school was a bad idea. I should have never left this house."
I opened the door and pulled my arm out of his grip to get out. I slammed the door shut and walked towards the house. I heard Cloud shout my name but I did not look back as I got in the house. I ran up the stairs in the direction of one of the guests room to lock myself in but I bumped into Frederick midway.
"What the - Luffy! What happened to you?" he asked me, his eyes full of worries. Honestly, he was the last person that I needed to see right now.
"Let me go, Fred," I told him, pushing him away from me. I was about to break and I did not want him to see that. Though, he prevented me from leaving.
"You are supposed to be at the high school. Why did you come back earlier? Why are you in that state?" he asked me and I shook my head, looking down in shame. I tried to pass by him but he came to stand in front of me.
"Please, let me go," I pleaded him and I heard someone's steps behind me.
"Cloud, what happened to him?" Frederick asked the devil as he arrived. I could sense a little bit of anger in my cousin's voice. "You were supposed to look after him."
"Don't look at me like that. You are the one who gave him your consent to leave the house," Cloud snapped back. "I left him just for one moment to go pee but when I came back, he was knelt down, already in that state. He doesn't want to tell me what had happened."
Frederick sighed and I felt his eyes come back on me. I stepped forward and leaned my forehead against his shoulder. He wrapped his arms around me and I suddenly felt warm. Though, inside of me, I knew that it was so cold.
"I'm taking him to my room," my cousin stated.
"Okay, let's-"
"No, Cloud, only Luffy and I. We'll have a private chat," Frederick cut him off and he pulled me away. I remained close to him until we arrived into his room and he locked the door behind us.
There was a long mirror in his room, a room that he happened to share with Rain. The latter was nowhere to be seen though. I advanced towards the mirror and looked at my own reflection. Yeah, I seemed to be in bad shape.
My clothes were slightly torn, maybe it was because of the thorns that scratched my skin. My neck was partially covered in blood due to Gina's nails digging into my skin. I seemed to be hurt but to be honest, the physically pain was nothing compared to my current feeling.
It was guilt.
Guilt as powerful as I had never felt it before. What I did to Gina surpassed every bad thing that I had ever done in my life. I would have never thought that I would reach a so low level in my life. There was no going back for me.
I already turned evil. I received a power which would have no good purpose on this earth. The power of darkness. I knew it now. Having control or not over my powers would not change anything.
I would still do the most horrible things.
"Luffy," Frederick said, capturing my attention and I looked at him through the mirror as he came closer to me. "What's wrong? You can tell me."
"Are you scared of me, Fred?" I asked him instead of replying to his question. It took him by surprise.
"What are you talking about? Of course not," he replied confidently and that made me laugh.
"You should be scared. I have changed," I told him. "Look at me. I'm no longer the same. I'm dangerous for everyone now."
"But you are still my cousin," he interrupted me. "And I love you. Having powers doesn't change who you are. I know it."
"You're delusional," I turned around to face him. "I'm not me anymore. My recent actions prove it."
"Listen, you are only saying that now because you have no control over your powers but-"
"No, you are not understanding me," I exclaimed, cutting him off in his sentence. "I know it now. I can't have powers while still trying to be me. It's dark inside of me and there is no going back."
"No, you're wrong. You decide who you are. It's not your powers which decide of it," he told me and I just couldn't hold it anymore.
"I killed someone," I let it out at last and I saw the way his expression change into a shocked one. "I killed someone. I killed someone."
"N-no, it-it can't be," Frederick protested but he was just deciding to not see the horrible truth right in front of his eyes.
"She tried to kill me," I explained it to him then. "She got me trap. Gina was ready to attack and you know, the first thought that came to me was to kill her. I had controlled over myself and I controlled the power within me. It was so easy to do. I just had to cut her head off. I did it without even blinking."
"No, shut up," my big cousin shouted in disbelief. "I can't hear more of it. This is - this is..."
"Horrible," I finished the sentence for him, completely calm. "This is the truth. I'm sorry."
He just looked at me without saying another word. At that moment, I expected him to shout at me, to insult me and hell, I even thought that he would hurt me. Though, he did none of that. He came to me and hugged me tightly. I was shocked by this. I deserved a bad treatment. What I did was horrible and I needed to pay for it.
"It's alright," Frederick murmured and he caressed my back. "Everything is gonna be alright."
"How can you say this? I'm a killer...you should hate me," I told him and he pulled away, looking angrily at me.
"Shut up," he said. "Don't be stupid. I would never hate you. And about that girl, I'm hundred percent sure that you would have never hurt her if she didn't search for it. I understand why you did what you did."
"So that's it? You are just going to accept the fact that I killed her?"
"I don't like it, of course. I don't want you to fall into darkness but I also don't want to see you dead. Sometimes, you have to use the extreme methods. No one is going to look bad at you for that. I won't let it happen," he pulled me into his arms for one last embrace and then kissed me on top of the head. "Though, I think that now you should rest a bit. You can sleep in my room."
"Thank you," I told him honestly. "I wouldn't have been able to bear with anything without you there."
"I will always be there for you whenever you need me," he promised me and I got out of his arms. He messed up with my hair and I groaned. "I still believe in what I said. You did not change."
With that said, he left the room, leaving me alone. I stood still for some seconds and then glanced at the bed. I should probably take a shower but my clothes happened to be in Cloud's bedroom and honestly, I did not want to face anyone by going there.
So I went on the bed and laid down. It was within minutes that my eyes closed and I fell asleep.
***
It seemed to take seconds before my eyes opened again and I realized that the environment around me had changed. I was in a familiar place though, a place which I did not come to since quite a while.
"Hello, Luffy," the original greeted me and I sighed. I looked in his direction and was surprised at the sight of him.
There he was sitting at a table, drinking tea. There was an empty chair in front of him. Where did he find those?
"Would you care to join me for tea?" he questioned and troubled, I made my way to him. I hesitantly sat in front of him. Humming, he took the teapot and poured me some tea to which he then added sugar.
"How...?" I frowned and I took my cup of tea to take a sip. It surprisingly tasted good.
"How is any of that possible?" he voiced out my unsaid question and I nodded. "Well, I don't even know myself. I got the want for some tea and here it is. It happens sometimes. Kind of intriguing."
"And why did you bring me back here?" I asked him and he looked at me with a smirk.
"To see how you are feeling obviously," he replied. "You made your first kill. I would like to know more about your impression on the matter."
He said that so naturally, like if it amused him.
"What do you want me to say exactly? That I liked it? I did not."
"But you did not hate it either," he added. "You liked the power. It was thrilling, I'm guessing. It's tempting you to use it to your advantage. The question is; will you fall for it like I did?"
"I'm not you, stop comparing us," I told him, leaning forward. He hummed, taking a sip of his tea.
"That's what I'm starting to see," he admitted and he paused. "According to everyone, I chose power over anything else. They thought that nothing else mattered to me."
"According to everyone?" I repeated with one raised eyebrow. "Isn't that true? Isn't it why people locked you up? Because you were too dangerous."
"Power is not the only thing that I wanted," he murmured with a thoughtful expression.
"What else did you want then?" I asked him and he stared at me.
"Enough," he said. "I did not bring you here to talk about me, but about you. You still have some self-control work to do."
"Powers are connected to feelings," I said then and he chuckled.
"That's how I always see it," he informed me. "Like you must already know, different persons have different ways of controlling themselves and my method for control was to link my powers with my feelings. I had perfect control on what I feel and what I want so of course, I control everything. I thought that this would work with you too and surprisingly, it did."
"Well, now, I'm confused. Why did you help me?" I asked him.
"Because you need to know how to protect yourself. I wouldn't want you to die so suddenly."
"And me dying will result in you dying too," I concluded. "That's why you helped me with Gina."
"Not exactly," he corrected me. "I can't die. If I could, I would have been kill right away instead of being stuck with you. The truth is, if you die, another human replica will be instantly born and I would be, once again, locked in another being. It's an horrible circle of miserably and if it happens, Vance will have to restart everything from trash. Finding my exact location is a real hard task."
I leaned back against my chair.
"What will you do once free from me?" I asked him and he thought for a few seconds.
"I don't know. I have some people to find, some people to kill. I'm not sure yet."
"Is the one that betrayed you in your list of people to kill?" I questioned him and his expression immediately changed; his smirk disappeared and a hard look came into his eyes. "I mean, if I remember correctly, you said that this person was very dear to you but then betrayed you. Well, will you make whoever it is pay for this?"
"What are you trying to know exactly?" he asked me, interested.
"Maybe that particular person would want to give us a hand so that you never get free," I replied and I did not have the chance to say more.
"I think that this little meeting will have to come to an end," he declared and I suddenly felt something.
It was like a pain in my chest. The type of pain that you get when you had been hurt deeply inside, a pain that only certain persons could make you feel.
This feeling wasn't mine.
"Are you-" I stopped when I saw the strange look that he had in the eyes. It was familiar. I saw it before. It was the same look that I had when I was hurt.
"Goodbye, Luffy," he said and everything around me disappeared.
***
I opened my eyes soon after to find myself back in Frederick's room. I sat up slowly and glanced at the window. It was dark outside. I slept a lot it seemed.
Was I dreaming?
Was the original really hurt?
Did what I say touch him in any way?
Impossible, I thought. He couldn't be hurt, he couldn't get hurt.
I got out of bed and then of the room. It was time for me to take a long hot bath. I needed to go into Cloud's bedroom for that. Actually, I had been sleeping in his bedroom since I came to stay here. Of course, he did not sleep with me. He...well...I did not even know where he went at night. It was a mystery. It would have been probably better for me to sleep in another room but I ended there one night and I somehow remained there.
I arrived in the bedroom to find it empty. I immediately went into Cloud's personal bathroom. I took off my clothes and let them fall to the ground. I would have to throw them away later. There was nothing else I could do with them. I got in the shower and let the water fall.
I immediately relaxed.
I did not know for how long I remained in the shower but when I got out and went back in the bedroom with a towel wrapped around my waist, Cloud was there, leaned against a wall. His eyes scanned my entire body.
"How are you feeling?" he asked me and his eyes followed me as I walked to the drawer where I had put my clothes in.
"I'm okay," was my reply. I took the first shirt that I saw along with a pair of boxers and a short. I glanced at Cloud and definitely, he did not look ready to get out of here so that I could put my clothes on. I decided to walk back to the bathroom but he stopped me when he said:
"Really? You are shy to put on your clothes in front of me? I thought that we got pass that already. I already saw the important part of your body."
He really had the nerves.
"I'm not going to walk around naked just because you did some dirty things to me," I retorted.
"Still, I would like to see," he admitted and I stared at him in disbelief. We exchanged one long look before I turned around to look away from him. Right, he wanted to see me naked again.
I could give him what he wanted.
I let the towel fall and I started putting on my clothes. Sure, from this position, he could only see my butt but still, I couldn't help but blush. I put on my short with trembling hands and just when I finished putting on my shirt, I fell his presence behind me.
"You like teasing me, don't you?" he whispered and I turned to face him.
"You wanted it," I reminded him.
"Right," he said and he bit his bottom lip. "You need to come with me."
"Listen, Cloud, I just want to stay here. Whatever you have planned will have to wait for another day. I don't want to deal with anything right now," I told him and I walked towards the bed.
"Estella and Storm are back," he let out and I looked at him with wide eyes. "Ready to follow me now?"
I did not reply and simply ran out of the room. I literally sprinted to the living room. If they had returned back, they must surely be there. Once in the room, sure, Estella and Storm were there along with Rain and Frederick.
Though, there was no replica in sight.
"You got to be kidding me?" Frederick exclaimed angrily at Storm and Estella. "How could you let that happen?"
"It is not our fault," Estella exclaimed back. "We tried our best but obviously, that damn boy already got everything planned."
"What happened?" I let my presence be known and everyone looked in my direction.
"Shit happened," Estella was the one to reply. "He-"
"No, Estella," Frederick interrupted her before she could say anything. "Enough. He doesn't need to know about this."
"I don't need to know about what?" I asked him and they all remained silent. "Tell me, Frederick."
"It's better for you to not know for now. We'll deal with this on our own," he said but I did not appreciate that.
"We need to tell him. You know as well as I do that he doesn't like it when secrets are kept away from him," Cloud intervened and I looked at my cousin, waiting impatiently for him to spill everything out.
He sighed.
"He's dead," he admitted and that was enough for me.
Dead.
Again.
I felt like falling at that instant but instead, I stepped back and hit against a chest. I knew exactly who it was and I let him wrap his arms around me.
"Let me guess," I did not know how I got the courage to speak. "The Vins."
"Nope," Storm protested surprisingly. "They had nothing to do with it this time."
"That damn idiot committed suicide," Estella exclaimed before I could ask more about the real cause of his death and I felt my heart drop at her confession. "Right in front of us, he killed himself."
"I'm still not understanding how you let that happen," Rain said and Estella groaned.
"I told you, he already planned everything," she said and she explained herself further. "Come on, he came knocking at our door. We talked and Storm and I got our eyes off him for simply a few minutes and, he had already ran away! I don't know how he knew where we were and who we were in the first place."
"Apparently, he was a fortune teller," Storm added his part of the story and Estella rolled her eyes. "We asked a few people around the area about him and showed them one photo of you, Luffy, and everyone happened to know about him. They said that Dizz, that's how he was called, was the fortune teller of town. He could see things that no one else could. He was considered a freak. Well, with his reputation, we quickly found his hiding place."
"But to what end?" Estella asked herself. "We went to the place, ready to kick his ass to bring him by force with us but when we arrived, he was standing against a wall, a knife in hand. He already knew that we were going to come. The last thing that he said was he needs to see what I have seen all my life, I finally find the reason to free myself from this curse. Gwarsh! I have no idea what he might by that but before we could even act, he slit his throat open."
I freed myself from Cloud's arms and walked out of here without saying a word. Suicide. He committed suicide. This was unbelievable and that made me angry. I had been worried about his safety, I was worried about all the replicas' safety and him, he had to end his life.
Free himself from this curse.
What curse?
Somehow, I found myself in the kitchen and I stopped just at the entrance when I realized that there was someone already in there.
"Hey," I said, unsure as I took a step forward. The person's back was facing me but at the sound of my voice, he turned around to look at me. I frowned. "Who...who are you?"
I never saw him before and what caught my attention was the fact that his clothes did not look like our nowadays clothes at all. His hair were black and his eyes were, wow, so blue and beautiful.
He did not reply to my question and just continued to stare at me. I questioned him about his identity again but still got no reply.
"Luffy," someone said and looked back to see Cloud coming into the kitchen.
"Hey, who is this guy?" I asked him then and I looked in the direction of the boy only to find out that he was no longer there. Actually, he had completely disappeared.
What?
"What?" Cloud said with a frown. "What guy?"
"But he was just here," I whispered in confusion. Did I see things right? Was I dreaming?
"Luffy," Cloud said again and I returned my attention back to him.
"Forget about it," I told him but I was still confused. "What is it that you want, Cloud?"
"How are you?" he asked me once again and I groaned.
"I'm okay. Didn't I already tell you that earlier?" I reminded him and I gave him a glare. His question annoyed me.
"I heard your reply but that doesn't mean that it's true," he explained and I rolled my eyes.
"I'm fine. Now drop it," I told him angrily and he stepped in front of me when I tried to walk away from him.
"Frederick told me about Gina while you were sleeping," he admitted. "And now you know what happened to the replica. So I am going to ask you again. How are you?"
"Are you expecting me to break? That's what you want to see? Me crying because it is one of the worst days of my life?" I shouted at him. "I'm not going to break. Because when I cry it makes me look pathetic and weak. This is not going to happen again. I-"
I stopped myself and stared into his eyes. He was letting me speak but his eyes said it all. So, I gave up on speaking and simply made my way to him. I leaned forward and rested my head on his shoulder. I hugged him. Soon, he wrapped his arms around me and I closed my eyes for a few minutes. Though, when I opened them, I saw him again.
The same boy that I saw earlier was standing near the kitchen's entrance and the look that he had in the eyes made me shiver. He looked ready to kill and I asked myself:
Who did he want to kill?