Chereads / Clone Seeker / Chapter 26 - Memories

Chapter 26 - Memories

Within the second floor of the Meat Harvest Shop, Ciel stood at the far edge of the wooden room. He no longer felt the dreadful pressure which permeated the area just moments prior, however in its place was a tangible animosity which seeped out from a distant standing corpse. 

The corpse was of Simon, the broad joyous butcher. His figure stood motionless whilst his body experienced a change. His flannel shirt's fabric, along with his pants, dimmed in color, before their very materials began to deteriorate. His hair in both his head and beard were slowly falling off as his skin began to decompose as if he had been dead for far longer than he actually was. 

His white apron suffered the same fate, soon falling off completely and revealing the now rotten lacerations which Ciel had caused. His deep black eyes somehow turned more profound whilst at the same time remaining entirely hollow. 

They were eyes devoid of any spark of ambition, desire, or passion. Not even coldness found its way there as it had with Ciel. Only utter emptiness. 

Despite that however, permeating from inside their dark depths was an insidious will. One which rushed forth and penetrated Ciel's mind. With that dreadful will came those familiar whispers, their countless words almost audible.

It gave him a headache. 

It took a vessel, so could this be considered my first real meeting with that distant aberration?

Ciel understood that it was not Simon who rose, instead it was the 'lord' which he worshiped. It seemed that the fiend had not wished for Ciel's escape to such an extent that it personally descended down. 

Regardless of its sudden tangible presence, Ciel still felt certain about one thing. 

With cold eyes, Ciel donned a fake inhuman smile whilst lifting his chin up slightly. 

"Do not strain yourself too much, oh great lord. It is pathetic." 

He mocked. 

The aberration's gaze had felt distant before, so Ciel was certain that its restraint had not disappeared. Before him now was just a vessel, the real source of the aberration was still either far away or under some severe restriction nearby.

That meant that however powerful this corpse might be it most certainly had a limited time with the living.

The continuous decomposing of its body served as evidence towards that conjecture. 

Simon's corpse did not move, it merely continued to stare at Ciel head on. Ciel meanwhile, did not show fear. He returned the empty stare with his own cold one, despite the terrible pain the growing whispers caused him. 

No good huh. Then this aberration must not be human-like. 

Having grasped more information about this unknown existence, Ciel finally felt ready to take action. His urgency from before had lessened the moment his flesh ceased its rapid rotting. His body was still covered by disgusting areas of rotten flesh, however he could bear that pain still. 

The only question now was whether he should engage the aberration and retrieve what he came for in the first place, or retreat and waste all this effort. 

Whilst pondering this, his eyes narrowed to the side slightly, falling upon the illusory phantom of Simon.

Simon's expression was joyous still, seemingly elated at being in the presence of his corpse self, which was also the supposed 'lord' which he worshiped. Despite that though, deep within his illusory eyes were hints of both sorrow and rage. 

Ciel was most wary of him, along with the countless illusory women which flashed into view with every flicker of white light. Each phantom was situated beside a writhing hanged dismembered body part.

With the exception of one which stood far into the back, all alone. Unlike the rest of the female phantoms, and much like that of the sole male one, the distant illusory woman's eyes did not seem lost and distant. Instead they were intently focused upon the phantom Simon's back.

Nuzzled within her dark eyes was pure elation, one which the phantom woman expressed with an eerie, wide, sinister smile. 

Having finished his counting of them, Ciel made a quick judgement. 

Outnumbered. Retreat is for the best. 

Ciel then immediately entered into a sprint. His goal now was not the rusted steel door behind him but rather the rotten wooden wall to his right. He was certain it would not withstand a full speed slam.

The hollow, empty eyes of Simon's corpse followed him. The corpse did not move, however, all around him the phantoms, which seemed dormant, suddenly trembled then turned towards Ciel. With terrible speed they dashed forth, passing through the writhing hanged body parts which constantly reached out towards Ciel's direction as if he were a flesh magnet. 

Ciel almost made it to the rotten wall when his body was suddenly invaded by numerous phantoms. His body shuddered violently and his mind became overwhelmed by countless thoughts, emotions, and memories.

***** 

Within the outskirts stood a woman. She was a frail woman with light brown hair, black eyes, and light skin. She wore an ugly pink dress which could not hide its old age. By no means could this woman have been considered beautiful. 

Indeed she was not, however she had been once, only nine short months ago. 

The outskirts were a cruel place, truly so, and yet if one had a single advantage then there was hope that it could provide them with a life which was just passable enough. That was all which the woman wished for once. 

She had successfully leveraged her beauty to gain a job at a casino, one which was of course gang affiliated, however one which valued pretty objects above all else. 

Because pretty and beautiful things were the greatest allures. Men would rush in like moths chasing a burning bright light. That was her job; lure them inside, keep them inside. 

The woman had grown very good at her job, until the day came that a young handsome man from within the city arrived. It did not take long before the woman received a plethora of compliments, then promises. The man had been rather charming and pleasant. 

She had never fallen for the advances of a customer prior, however she must have been extra foolish on that day. Perhaps she wished that his proclamations were true, that she could actually be saved from this place. That she could live a better life, surrounded by affection and stability. In the end she had returned with him to his hotel, slept with him, then was meant to be taken along into a much better life, a happier one. 

That did not occur. 

Instead she was awakened by the hotel owner kicking her half naked self off the room, her handsome partner long gone. 

Had that been it then everything would have been okay, however her luck was rotten, she had always thought so at least. Only a month after that encounter, she discovered her pregnancy. Her bosses discovered it as well. 

Just like so, she was jobless and carrying an unwanted child. 

Life became even harsher after that, its quality dropping among the worst within the outskirts. She lost a lot of her weight from many nights without proper food, and she was just barely managing to sustain a job longer than a month before losing it due to her growing inability to work. 

At least it's almost time… 

It was almost time for her child to be born, almost time for her to discard of it. Almost time for her to become free again. 

Bastion had strict anti-abortion laws, a direct result of the fact that humanity was on its final embers and it needed reassurance that the future generation was not dwindling in numbers. The woman felt that such a law was unfair and cruel, especially to those within the outskirts who it had never bothered to help. 

So great was her resentment that she even wished for the eternal flames to devour them all like it had done the rest of the world. 

She had no love for humanity, no love for life. 

Thinking such, with simmering hatred inside her heart, she took a step forward and crossed the Western Stretch Highway. Before long she had entered the slums, the area which was to be the birthplace, and death place of her soon to be born child. 

*****

Her labor was grueling and filled with overwhelming anguish. The woman could not remember just how long it had been since she felt such pain, nor could she recall when she had cried to such an extent. 

It was the worst experience of her life. One endured for nothing. 

Finally, when the child did come. Her initial instinct was not to throw him away as she had planned, rather it was to see his face. She wanted to see the monster which made her wretched life harder. She wanted to strangle it with her own hands. 

But, when she brought the weeping baby closer, her heart's hatred failed and she hesitated. She did not know why she was hesitating, if nothing else in this world, she at least had the right to kill this monster. And yet, she could not. 

Because it had her eyes, because those eyes were drenched in tears, because he looked healthy. Sure the last nine months had been grueling for her, but was that not true for this child as well? He had survived the lackluster food she provided, he had starved with her when she failed to acquire anything, he had worked so, so hard. And in a state far weaker than she herself had been.

In that moment, the woman discovered that she was capable of a thing like motherly love. It was a wonderful discovery, one which made her happy. She had not had much within this world, but now, if nothing else she had a son to keep her company. 

Perhaps someone who would not need her to be anything other than herself, a woman named Elly, a woman who was not good at keeping a job, who was not good at masking her emotions, a woman who was a wreck, but who still struggled on, unwilling to wield to this wicked world without a fight. 

Along with her joy, shame also assaulted her. How could she have ever considered killing this child? This child was hers, her only son. For now and forever… 

It was as all her emotions, memories, hopes, and pains collided into a chaotic storm within her heart that she could no longer halt the tears which swelled up in her eyes. As she wept in her empty corner, far detached from the society which cared not for her, she whispered the name of her child. 

"Simon…"