Reborn As An Evolving Monster

407  The Dark Side Of The Moon

"Weren't you eager to leave?" Laylah asked as she lowered her hands to the ground. Her knees followed.

"I am." Mark answered, seated on the ground in front of her. "But I need to think."

"So? Want to use me to make up your mind? Even though you wouldn't talk about them before?"

"Yes."

"Fine." She chuckled. "But they are waiting, aren't they?"

"Krista is waiting for me, yes. Outside the Barrier."

"Krista couldn't enter?" Laylah asked, repeating the name to make sure she remembers it. "No."

"Mm... I thought for the longest time that no one had found this place, or me."

"That makes sense, since you can't find the Barrier either. It's surprising that you didn't think of it as your own planet."

"My own planet...?"

"Since it's spherical, you know."

"Like I'm on the Moon?"

"Ha! Yeah, I guess." n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

Laylah raised her gaze towards the solitary source of light peeking through the darkness of the night.

How many times had she looked at it? How much time had she spent looking at it? The same Moon, every time. A Full Moon. It didn't move, rise, or set. Always there. Nothing changes in this place anyways. She moves towards them, they run away. Only the Moon keeps her company. After what seemed, and very well might have been, an eternity, Laylah still never got tired of seeing the Moon.

It was shining brightly. All the time. Despite being alone in the sky. Climbing onto the roof of the cabin she called her home was a challenge, but staring at the Moon felt better from there. A bit closer to it.

Shining, unwavering Moon.

It didn't move or spin. Always shining. What hides behind it? Darkness? Does the other side shine too?

There were times that Laylah stared at the Moon for so long that she could feel it.

She was the dark side of the Moon.

"I will go to Krista." The sudden words made her flinch. Laylah wasn't used to having her attention taken away from the Moon by something, anything. "I'll bring Krista to... Elisa. Then-"

"Elisa. She's the problem?"

"She's not."

"Then?"

"I am."

Laylah stared silently for a bit. Her eyes lingered on the Monster's shoulders. The way the moonlight reflected against those white scales, she didn't dislike.

"Just go already." Laylah said as she pushed herself off the ground.

But before she could stand,

"I'll come back for you."

The words made her freeze.

They had an even more profound effect on the white-scaled Monster.

Why...?

Because there was something about this place. Something about her.

"Don't."

"I will. I'm sure there's-"

"I said don't. You've already made up your mind. You're leaving, so forget about me, just as I'll forget about you."

"But I can-"

"I SAID DON'T, OKAY?" She shouted suddenly. "Just... Leave quietly. Time will pass, and I'll forget"

"I don't want that."

"I'm not asking for what you want." Her cold and dark pupils stared. "I'm the one that will remain here. You don't get to say what you want. Drop it. Let this be... A sweet dream, that I will soon wake up from."

"I can help-"

"Mark." She interrupted. The look in her eyes, Mark recognized. "I can't..." It was strange, being on this side. "I can't... Entertain that kind of hope."

Stuck in her own World, Mark knew that pain. That solitude.

More than those, the pain of seeing others. The pain of seeing those that were not of this World.

Passersby, visitors, friends, family, parents... Laylah had had the occasion of seeing none of these.

Until now, a visitor.

The young Mark used to love having visitors, at least for a certain time. They were a nice break from the mundane and repetitive everyday life inside that hospital. Whether his parents or friends he used to have, it was nice having them. A nice break.

That was all they could be. After all, sometime later, they would leave. He would be alone once more, and he would question whether they had even really been there. Their temporary presence had no effect. No real effect. Just a nice break.

And now, it was the same. Mark knew he was nothing but a break for her. A break from her solitude. Mark knew that, in time, she would come to hate him. Just like he had come to hate the visitors. They always lowered their gaze in shame when leaving. They always excused themselves and gave compassionate smiles. Mark hated them. Though he, at the time, had trouble accepting that fact. What could they have done but feel sorry for him? He did not know. In any case, Mark didn't want to be like them. To leave like they did. He didn't want to be a nice break.

A sweet dream.

But giving hope is a terrible thing. Empty promises are the worst, and he had gotten many. Letting down someone to whom a promise had been made... Is a terrible thing.

Mark had already let someone down. Which is why he couldn't find the words.

"Fine. Forget about me, but I will come back."

Laylah smiled.

"I won't be counting on it. Now, what's the issue that keeps you from going to those waiting for you?"

Mark's gaze moved towards the ground.

Between a chuckle and a sigh.

The irony was obvious. Telling someone to wait for you while others are already waiting? "I hurt her. Elisa. And I..."

"Do you care about her?" Laylah asked after the white-scaled Monster seemed unable to find the words.

"I do."

"Do you love her?"

"What would you know about love?" Mark asked. It was a question he had been asked a while ago.

"I have my books." Laylah answered with a chuckle. "So, do you?"

"I think so."

"Does she love you?"

"I... I hurt her. That changes everything-"

"I'm not asking about you. Tsk, tsk. So self-centered. I'm asking if she loves you."

"I don't know."

"You hurt her."

"I did."

"Did you mean to?"

"It's not so simple."

"It is. Did you mean to or not?"

"That doesn't change anything-"

"It changes everything!"

"It doesn't. The result is what-"

"That's so cowardly! I'm saying that whether you meant to or not is what matters!"

"And I'm saying that it's not."

"It is! And you know it! You're just scared to see her! To face her!"

"I'm not."

"You are! Did you mean to or not?" Laylah pressed.

"I... There was Influence, I'm sure of that. I wasn't completely... But I can't tell if it came from me or if it was... If she hadn't... Then I... I don't know what-"

"Then you didn't mean to hurt her! That's what matters!"

"No! What matters is whether it will happen again or not!"

"Then the two of you will make it so that it doesn't happen!"

"It's not so simple-"

"It is!"

"I've already-"

"If she loves you, then she will forgive you!"

"You don't know what-"

"I don't need to know! It's obvious that-"

"Stop shouting!"

"I won't! It's painfully obvious and you're mopping around when you have someone waiting for you!"

"No! If she loves you, she will understand! She will forgive you! The truth is, you don't care about that! You don't want her to forgive you! You're just running away!"

11:48

"I'm not-"

"You are! You're a coward is what it is!"

"You don't know what-"

"I don't need to know!" She shouted. "If I can explain it then-"

"Don't! Explaining it won't change anything!"

"If you would let me get a sentence out then-"

"No! If she loves you, she will understand! She will forgive you! The truth is, you don't care about that! You don't want her to forgive you! You're just running away!"

"Just shut up!" Mark shouted as he grabbed her shoulders and pinned her to the ground. "You don't know what happened. You can't-"

"Then do it to me."

"Huh?"

A bottomless and icy abyss for eyes. Empty and dark. The dark side of the Moon stared.

Her hands moved. She lay them on his cheeks.

"Do it to me. Whatever you did that hurt her. Whatever you were going to do."

It had only taken a second for the pieces to come together.

Those Creatures of the Night, the things that Mark had thought of as Visions or Dreams at first... Familiar.

And she was too.

Ever since Mark had met Laylah, she had somewhat seemed like an airhead in her demeanor. But at times, she was different.

It was more obvious now than ever.

"Do it."

She reminded him of Mina. Not Mina, the nurse who had taken care of him for years,

"Do it to me."

But the Mina who haunts his dreams.