Breed and Burn: Faceless

Chapter 16- Devil Without A Cause

In the quiet moment like this, with Axel staring out at the window, he felt himself wondering about death. Maybe it was because of the body behind him or how Noble's screams still haunted his memories. Tears stalked his eyes and he could only imagine how Sage felt having to witness that. Just the dying wails were enough to squeeze his heart and rob him of air.

Alongside Sage, Noble was probably the most hopeful. He would never know why or how they got there. He would never know who his parents were. No one should have to die in a cage, waiting to be saved. Choking slightly, as he thought about how Noble's family were looking for something that was no longer there.

In the corner of his eye, he caught a glimpse of the body, his stomach tightened all over again. They say you die twice. Once when your soul leaves your body and twice when someone last mentions your name. Feeling a little sick, Axel promised himself he would mention Noble's name every day and before he would go sleep he would say it like a prayer. He only hoped that was the only name he needed to keep alive.

Maybe one day it would hurt a little less.

"Noble," he whispered, blocking out everything bad around him especially Seven. His name didn't need to be associated with cruel things.

Refocusing his attention to the outside world, Axel stared up at the sky. The state of it made him feel uneasy and disconnected to the real world. Places where time was an illusion, where there was no day no night, no light no darkness, only ever occurred in books and movies. Actually living in it was something else.

Everything remained the same for about half an hour; desolate grey moors, stretches of bare trees and litters of bones with flesh clinging to them. Time was as shapeless as the rain. Almost stuck in this trance, Axel felt his mind jerk when he saw something move amongst the stillness. Tears in his eyes, from holding too tight, he shifted and stared at the slowly passing shades of grey.

A four-legged creature emerged from the darkness. It looked like something out of a novel, fiction come to life. It was misshapen and grotesque with matted, greasy hair and huge thorns that twisted towards the sky. It was an inky blue with a jade seaweed like substance draping across its horns and running along its back. It balanced on its knotted haunches and made a low and terrible shriek like it was calling for something. Its face was wrinkled and its eyes were onyx black and deep set that lit up with a purple flare at certain angles.

All Axel could do was stare silently with his mouth agape. It looked so real but it couldn't possibly be. Face pressed up against the freezing glass, he watched it open its mouth so wide it could swallow worlds. Displaying a set of metal blades instead of teeth which clicked and whirred and rattled. Some of the supposed teeth were spinning steel circles with a razor-sharp edge. His claws were thirteen inches long to the tip, as sharp as a sword drawn from a shuddering wound.

Even when the train rushed past it, it was so huge it didn't matter. Axel captured everything in great detail. Whatever it was, it was massive. Even still, he could hear its limbs dragging across the ground. A tail perhaps through the undergrowth. Each step was spaced far apart and shook the ground and made the trees quiver.

Axel wanted to run downstairs and tell the others about what he saw but he knew it took them a long time to fall asleep and to break that would make some unhappy, moody teenagers. Still shocked, Axel could hardly believe what he saw. If it wasn't for how firmly the image was imprinted in his mind, he would've assumed or forced himself to believe it was his imagination and that the silence was getting to his head.

The more he thought about it, he was glad he hadn't told the others. Everything seemed to happen to him. He experienced everything first. There was no reason to raise their suspicions. First, he had to gain their trust.