Realization

Chapter 11:

"What?" Elijah asked with extreme confusion. What Natsuki had just said kind of scared Elijah.

"Am I dead? Of course I'm not dead I'm right here. I'm alive. Why would she ask that?" Elijah asked in his head.

"How are you even alive right now?" Natsuki asked with fear, backing away even more.

"Okay I need you to be more specific because I'm confused right now." Elijah said with his heart beating extremely fast.

".....That thing......it....it.....slit your throat.....yet your alive...." Natsuki stuttered. She backed into a wall which caused her to nearly collapse. Elijah had chills down his spine, and he moved his hand across his throat which was pouring out blood. Elijah felt like he couldn't breathe, but not from the slit throat, but from fear. He felt himself turn pale and he looked a Natsuki. He felt the world around him begin to darken and he passed out.

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He slightly opened his eyes and he saw bright white lights that blinded him. He strained to block the light with his hand while a shadowy figure appeared in his foggy vision.

"Are you okay?" he heard Natsuki say from above him. As Elijah's eyes focused, he saw Natsuki was less pale and smiling was at him.

"Am I dead?" Elijah scratchily said while slowly lifting his torso up from the uncomfortable bed. He noticed he had not left the school, but was in the nurses office.

"I thought you were, but luckily no. That thing only scratched your throat and it started to bleed and it look like it slit it, and I panicked so.....yeah." Natsuki said nervously. Elijah raised his eyebrow.

"So I'm not in a hellish universe?" Elijah asked which made Natsuki giggle.

"Nope! You're perfectly fine." Natsuki replied happily. Elijah looked around the area, which was cold and empty. That atmosphere seemed familiar to him, but he didn't read too much into it. He turned his head to see Natsuki who was looking at him with a smile on her face.

"What?" Elijah asked as she shook her head and realized that she was staring.

"Oh. Um...nothing....just.....spaced out." Natsuki said then suddenly became red.

"And I thought I was the daydreamer around here." Elijah said making her laugh. Elijah saw the extreme redness on her face and he cracked a smile.

"I think a tomato is less red than you." Elijah joked around which made Natsuki laugh.

"Oh shut up!" Natsuki said shoving his shoulder. Elijah laughed along and they met each other's gaze. Their eyes were wide and they were looking into the depths of each other's souls. Before Elijah knew, they had both closed their eyes and their faces were slowly moving closer to each other.

"So I heard you got attacked." Elijah heard Damion say as he walked in the door. Natsuki and Elijah jolted backwards and Elijah immediately felt awkward. The two tried to act normal and as if nothing happened.

"What?" Elijah asked putting his hand on the back of his neck in nervousness.

"You got attacked right? And apparently by the looks of your neck it was Freddy Kruger." Damion said nodding towards Elijah's neck. He looked around in hopes for a mirror to see what his neck looked like, but he was unsuccessful.

"It wasn't Freddy Kruger it was that thing we were talking to you about before Eli walked out." Natsuki said then giving Elijah a frown.

"Well I guess the claw marks kinda indicate a monster attack, but for all I know it could've been a setup to get me to believe you." Damion said leaning against the door.

"Well lucky you I've got a picture of it." Natsuki said grabbing her phone from her back pocket and opened it up on a photo, then handing it over to Damion. He glanced over the picture while and his eyes grew wide.

"Oh my god! This totally looks photo-shopped!" Damion said handing back the phone to Natsuki.

"It's not! I swear it's real!" Natsuki whined. Damion rolled his eyes.

"Everyone swears on things. Yet they never seem to follow through." Damion said crossing his arms. As soon as Damion said that, Elijah remembered what happened in his new dream-like memory.

He thought for a second, and his heart skipped a beat. He remembered Damion because they knew each other. His mom always said they were distant cousins and the last time he saw him was when he was six years old. She told him that he was taken to his grandparents and she never explained why.

"He really is my brother, isn't he?" Elijah questioned in his head and he looked over at Damion.

"You're talking about your parents when you mean by no one ever follows through right?" Elijah asked which made Damion raise an eyebrow.

"Uh.....yeah.....how do you know that?" Damion asked hesitantly.

"Because you live with your grandparents. And your parents took you to them, but never picked you up I'm assuming?" Elijah asked, knowing exactly where he was going with his interrogation.

"Yeah. That's what happened. My parents are assholes though." Damion bitterly said and looked away.

"Are your parents names Natalie and Adam?" Elijah asked Damion who looked at him confused.

"Yeah....how did you know?" Damion asked with a little fear in his voice.

"Because they're my parents too." Elijah said which shocked both Damion and Natsuki.

".....But......but how?" Damion asked shakily. He was shaking where he was standing and he went a little pale.

"When I was six years old my mom or Natalie told me I had a cousin which I recognized was you and she told me my aunt and uncle sent you to my grandparents. Every time I asked to know what happened to you, she'd evade the question. That, and both my parents were a single child. So you can't be my cousin if there's no aunt and uncle, and our parents have the exact same names. That leaves only one option." Elijah explained which made Damion walk forward some.

".......So you're my brother?" Damion asked with fear in his voice.

"That's what it seems like. So yeah. I am." Elijah said then shrugged which made Damion look down.

"They abandoned me though. For what?" Damion asked looking at Elijah in confusion.

"I have no clue. Mom won't say anything in depth like that to me. Except the part that the thing I've been telling you about killed dad." Elijah said which made Damion's eyes widen.

"Dad's dead?" Damion asked, tears began to well up in his eye sockets.

"Yeah. He died three years ago." Elijah said looking down. His heart was pounding the hardest it ever had.

"Yet mom didn't have the decency to tell me that my own dad was dead? What the fuck kind of parent is she?" Damion sobbed sitting down on the nurse bed that Elijah was sitting on.

"It's okay bro." Elijah said moving closer to him and wrapped his shoulder around him.

"Oh my god this is the saddest thing ever!" Natsuki exclaimed. She quickly sat on the bed and hugged Damion. He sniffled, then looked up and wiped his eyes.

"Schools out by the way." Damion said scratchily from all the crying.

"Why don't you come home to me and we can both interrogate mom. Are you up for that?" Elijah asked and Damion nodded.

The three of them got up and began to walk out of the nurse's office. They slowly walked out of the school and headed towards Elijah's house in silence. Natsuki soon departed which left both Elijah and Damion alone.

"I recognized you too by the way." Damion said with his head down. Elijah looked up at him and smiled.

"At least I wasn't the only one." Elijah said hoping Damion would smile. He let out a small smirk, then it faded as quick as it came.

"You still digesting everything?" Elijah asked Damion who looked up.

"It's just hard. Knowing that your parents left you, and your what thought to be cousin who's apparently your brother tells you your dad is dead. It's hard to process. So yeah I'm still digesting." Damion said looking down.

"I went through the same loss. And you know about Noah, and he was my best friend. And being the only one that knows the truth about how he died....that's hard too." Elijah said, hoping it would make Damion feel better.

He knew exactly what he was going through, being how he went through it himself. But maybe because he was younger, he didn't completely grasp the concept that his dad was gone until Noah died. Then, it all hit him like the strongest person alive whacked him in the face with all their might with a sledge hammer.

"All these thoughts and feelings I'm having.....maybe they're just me reacting to all this hurt. Maybe it's maybe just a phase of which I'll get over. Maybe I'll be okay!" Elijah thought to himself. He smiled at the thought.

"I'm sorry about Noah too. But everyone says it's because he killed himself.....but you and Natsuki are saying it's because of a creature.....who you said also killed dad......and that picture Natsuki showed me......was that....really that thing you keep seeing." Damion stuttered and began to shake. Elijah nodded.

"His mom found him hanging in his bedroom, but the thing is he was always so happy and didn't show a single sign of what might have made him do it. And I say that it's because of that creature because the night before he was hung, he saw something which looked exactly like that thing and I told him about what I had been seeing. Then, my arch enemy or bully got his faced bit off and was put into a coma. Noah watched it as it ripped him apart. So, my theory is that it hung him and made it look like a suicide. And that's why I don't want to get close with anyone. I don't want anyone else to get hurt. But Suki came around and I tried to push her away but I....just couldn't." Elijah explained. He grew a headache from all the drama that had happened the entire day. He was emotionally drained, but he knew he had to be there for Damion.

"Well I guess that's possible. I still feel bad though. Noah didn't deserve that." Damion said quietly while looking down.

"Yeah I know. I hate myself for it." Elijah said quietly then looking over at Damion.

"You said you couldn't distance yourself from Natsuki........do you like her?" Damion asked looking at him. Elijah looked down and took a deep breath.

"Yeah....I guess I like her.....I mean......we were seconds away from a kiss before you came in." Elijah said looking at Damion. He let out a small smile.

"Heh, sorry about that. Was just checking up on you. Which I'm glad I did because now I know I have a brother which is nice." Damion said which made Elijah let out a small laugh. They soon reached the house to where they entered and saw no one.

"Where's mom?" Damion asked as he looked around the small house.

"She's not gonna be back 'til nine." Elijah said starting to head up the stairs.

"Oh.....so what do we do 'til then?" Damion asked and began to follow Elijah.

"We can play PlayStation." Elijah suggested and reached the top of the stairs.

"Okay." Damion said then followed Elijah up the stairs.

They entered Elijah's room and Damion looked around at his room. He saw how Elijah's walls were littered with anime posters. Damion began to giggle.

"What?" Elijah asked looking at him with a raised eyebrow.

"You're such a weeb." Damion replied. Elijah laughed at the remark and smiled.

"Anime is life, leave me alone." Elijah said turning on the PlayStation. Damion laughed.

"And so is PlayStation." Damion said while grabbing a controller.

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"Elijah I'm home!" the two kids' mom called from the kitchen. Elijah smiled at Damion and he smiled back.

"I'll grab you in a second." Elijah whispered to Damion and set down the controller and headed downstairs.

"Hey mom!" Elijah said happily as he entered the kitchen. Natalie smiled and looked at Elijah. She gasped at the claw marks on Elijah's neck.

"Oh my god! What happened to your neck?" Natalie yelled quickly moving towards Elijah.

"Mom, it's fine....I just.....ran into some feisty cats that clawed me." Elijah lied rubbing his neck.

"Are you sure you're okay?" Natalie asked Elijah moving her hand across his neck.

"Yeah, I'm fine." Elijah said and his mom stepped back.

"Alright honey." his mom said while she put away some groceries.

"Mom, I want you to meet someone." Elijah said beginning to back out of the kitchen.

"Oh? Who is it?" Natalie asked with happiness in her voice. Elijah smiled.

"Let me go get him." Elijah said while running up the stairs. He entered the room and Damion looked up at him.

"You ready?" Elijah asked him and he nodded. Elijah waved his hand from the door frame to gesture Damion to follow him. He quickly got up and followed Elijah down the steps. The two walked into the kitchen and his mom was turned the other way.

"Mom," Elijah started and his mom spun around and froze.

"Meet Damion. Or as I like to call him, my brother!"