Alpha Project 5

Alpha Project 5; Nightmares

The darkness consumed him, making his eyes twitch in his ragged sleep. He moaned softly, a tortured sound escaped his lips. The sheen of sweat on his brow shone in the cold, pale moonlight that entered the dark room from the window. He grasped the sheets he lay on, his fingers twitching as he fought off some invisible beast.
Hours passed, his eyes still flickered under shut lids and his hands still clenched the sheets. The nightmare hadn’t released him from its icy grip yet. No, if anything, it was growing stronger. The thoughts inside his head were dragging him down into the depths of his anguish.
The moonlight, strong and silver, danced through the window. It was illuminating his bed and the floor around it. The beauty outside of the building Cap had found himself in seemed to be teasing him tonight. While his mind was consumed with the darkness; nature bathed his body in light. Everything was mocking him, the serene mountainside, the snow that capped the green fir trees, the light that sliced through the darkness and the animals that made the night their hunting ground.
Cap reached the finale of his fears, the climax of his dream. His jaw clenched and his hands balled themselves into fists. Each one of his veins could clearly be traced along his arms, his tendons stood out like mountain ranges and his white knuckles became even paler. Each scar on his hands was shining in the light. His breathing sped up, his chest began rising and falling rapidly. He was coated with sweat, no longer confined to his brow.
The crumpled, tangled sheets around his legs were kicked off.  They fell silently to the floor, landing in a pile. The pillows that had been placed so artfully on his bed when Cap had lain down but a few hours ago where now scattered around his bed, on the floor. If the sight wasn’t so painful and pitiful, it could’ve been beautiful.

“What are we going to do with him?”
“Train him,” Draco sighed, “There’s little else we can do.”
“You saw the look in his eyes as well as I did. He doesn’t want to kill... He doesn’t want to be one of us.” Fox growled, “You know I’m right.”
“I don’t care if you’re right or not, he can’t die.”
“Why won’t you let him die?” Fox spat, his anger getting the better of him. “He deserves it as well as us. It would be more merciful.”
“I promised.” Draco muttered, looking Fox in the eyes, guilt swelled up in his chest, “I swore I’d protect him. This is all I can do.”
“You’re pathetic.”
“Fox.” A low, reverberating voice came from the shadows in the corner of the room. “You’re being unfair.” Fox bowed his head, acknowledging he had taken his anger and insults too far. “Draco, you’re doing this for the wrong reasons. Take what the boy wants into account.” Draco nodded, swayed by the voice. “And both of you, stop squabbling. You act like children sometimes.”

Fox nodded, his eyes piercing the darkness but still he was only just able to make out the man’s body. How he had the skill to hide so well, Fox would never know. He stood up, and without acknowledging the shadow’s or Draco’s existences, walked out of the room. He let out a deep sigh, this was tearing him apart. The new... kid. Was he here because he wanted to be, because someone else wanted him to be or because of Draco’s conscience? None of it made sense any more. After five years, this place had begun to get to him. Its scent clung to him, its way of thinking had become his own, it repulsed him.
He kicked the door of his bedroom open gently and padded to his bed. He stripped his clothes off and climbed into bed, pulling the covers up to his chin. He shut his eyes and drifted away on a sea of unanswered questions.

Draco paced up and down in the spare room where he and Fox had waited for Cap to wake up after bringing him here. He remembered the conversation in the cell, the reasons he’d chosen that man in that cell to talk to, the conversation afterwards. His thoughts were driving him insane, surely and not very slowly. Could it really only have been seven years ago that he’d come here?
His mind drifted back to before he was here, caged like an animal. His family’s and his fiancée’s voices echoed in his head, their faces swam in front of his eyes... This was as close as he was ever going to get to them again.
Draco bit the inside of his cheek, the taste of blood bringing him back to the present. His mouth was full of half healed cuts and reopened wounds; he ran his tongue along them. Each one was to stop him drifting off into his memories, and each one had saved his life in some way. It was just a reminder that his subconscious hated him.

Cap struggled to the surface of his dream, and was dragged back under by the demons of the depths of his mind. Whimpers escaped him as he felt their talons slash into him, unable to fight back. The screaming began; the high pitched wailing that echoed inside of Cap’s head each night. He rolled over, brought his knees up to under his chin and lay in the foetal position. He was defenceless against this last line of attack that his subconscious threw at him. The screams were silenced with a quick movement, blood gushed and people cried out. Cap clenched his eyes shut, his body acting completely independently to the body he used in his dreams.
Suddenly, there were no more dreams and Cap’s eyes opened. He clenched his jaw shut tight, muffling the scream he was about to let out. No one would hear that. Not again.

Reviews

[Amata Luna]

What a nightmare and everyone of them seems to hold a secret of their own. I saw another part of Fox I don't know he has and that's something remarkable about the character. I'm getting curious and intrigued by Cap by the minute. What now?

[Coyote Poetry]

I like this chapter. I like the struggle and the thoughts. I like the ending. Can't show weakness to other men. Thank you for a excellent chapter.