Thaddeus

Chapter 19

(Read Ferret's last chapter to see Alastor and Thaddeus's bloody interaction)

Thaddeus fell onto his back the second the door to the room closed, that meant Alastor was gone.

As if he already wasn't bruised and bloodied enough before, but Alastor had just made things worse for him. Thaddeus could feel blood dripping from his lip, his head a small cut on it.

Thaddeus absolutely hated how defenseless he was against Alastor, he knew he could put up so much more of a better fight if he wasn't chained down, besides, the ever increasing cold kept him weaker anyway.

Thaddeus couldn't stop his body from shaking, he couldn't get his memories from his time spent in that shed out of his mind. This was pretty much exactly like it, except Eros was Alastor in that situation.

Suddenly, the door began to open. Thaddeus scrambled up, leaning against the wall. He hated not being able to fully stand up.

Thaddeus held his breath, expecting the person who walked in to be Alastor, however, it was Zagen who came through instead. Zagen stared at Thaddeus, then began chuckling.

"I see Alastor really had his fun, huh?" Zagen said, grinning as Thaddeus clenched his fists, narrowing his eyes at his grandfather.

"Why so quiet? I didn't come to hurt you, that's Alastor's job, no, I came to...check in, I suppose." Zagen spoke as he kneeled down to Thaddeus's level, who didn't even try to attack Zagen, Thaddeus knew that would be a massive mistake.

Thaddeus was confused by how calm Zagen was, he debated on whether or not Zagen knew it was him who'd killed his brother. "What the hell do you want?" Thaddeus snapped, trying to act much more braver than he felt.

Zagen smiled at the attempt, it was adorable to him. Zagen had seen all different kinds of men and women crumble in fear before him, it was easy to see Thaddeus was scared as well.

"I wanted to know how you were doing in your new home, you'll be here for quite a long time, Thaddeus." Zagen said as his eyes narrowed.

"I'll be out of here soon enough, I always find a way." Thaddeus replied, his body tensing up.

"Oh, I can assure you that even if you do find an escape plan, you'll be back here. That's what happens every single time!" Zagen lightly threw his arms up as he stood. "Haven't you ever thought about it? Why do you always end up locked away? Thaddeus, it's where you're meant to be in life, at the mercy of your captors."

Thaddeus was speechless, he just watched as Zagen went on. "And you get here by being the violent monster you are, you killed those innocent kids, then your sister, now you've gone and killed my own brother." Zagen went completely stone cold serious towards the end.

"I didn't do any of it on purpose, Eros was the only one I wanted to kill." Thaddeus said, sure his words about Eros would make Zagen angry, but no reaction was given by the older man whatsoever.

"How can we be sure you didn't do it on purpose? What about Athena? You didn't need to kill her, yet you did. All you do is kill, your brain does whatever it can to convince you that you did it by accident, or that you kill for a reason, but the truth is that you killed them all without a reason, you did it because you love it, you're heartless in that regard." Zagen's words made Thaddeus tremble, he shook his head as Zagen grinned.

"You were always going to end up here, Thaddeus, locked away and being punished for your actions. You can't do anything about it, you can't choose your own path, so just accept it." Zagen walked back to Thaddeus, kneeling down as he warmed his hand up.

"Pain, that's all you understand, it's all you know." With that, Zagen lit his hand ablaze and brought it to Thaddeus's shoulder, burning it horribly. Thaddeus cried out, Zagen's grin only grew wider. Eventually, Zagen released his  hold, standing back up as Thaddeus clutched his shoulder, groaning and wincing.

"You're not a man, Thaddeus, you're a beast that deserves to rot for all his life. And you will do exactly that." Zagen turned to leave, heading for the door when Thaddeus suddenly yelled, tears forming in his eyes.

"YOU'RE WRONG, I DIDN'T-" He gulped, "I'M  NOT-" Thaddeus inhaled, then began to breathe heavily, his shoulder still stung on top of all this. Everything inside Thaddeus screamed that Zagen was wrong, but there was also a part of him that agreed, that believed in Zagen's words.

Zagen stood at the doorway, staring at Thaddeus as an evil smirk creeped onto his face. "I'm never wrong, boy, talk to me when you can finish your sentence." Zagen stepped out and pushed the door shut as Thaddeus began sobbing now, still holding onto his burnt shoulder.

Thaddeus felt his brain spinning and throbbing, he wanted so desperately to believe Zagen was wrong, but he didn't know what to think.

Thaddeus didn't have much faith in himself, or any at all, he felt intense guilt for what he'd done years ago, but was it guilt? Or could it have been an itch to kill again? He couldn't tell what it felt like anymore, he'd grown so numb over time.

"He has to be wrong..."