The Forgotten Ones

Chapter 25: Eighteen

One week later

Bzzzzzt. Bzzzzzt.

Elias gave an indifferent glance over towards his phone just as the light from the screen interrupted the darkness in the corner of his room. It was a text from Rocco to the group chat Eli had forgotten to leave. It read:

I know everyone can't make it, but if you plan on coming to the meeting and you have a spare jacket I could really use it. It's colder than a snowman's ass-

Elias let his eyes return to his window as the screen went black again from neglect. He'd almost forgotten the group was meeting again, and he cursed the message for the reminder. Eli hadn't been involved with anyone since that night. His entire drive to pursue La Mort Noire had been broken and therefore the bonds created thereon. It wasn't that hard to do. He simply stopped showing up--to tutoring--to lunch--to the meetings. After the first few days, everyone just stopped asking questions, and each time Elias thought Cush would bring up their deal, he never did. It was like everyone just began fading. He rarely saw anyone anymore...anyone except Sunshine.

They were still buddies, and because of that Eli would see him twice every school day; in the morning and afterschool. Nothing more, nothing less. They were very insignificant encounters and neither one of them ever spoke a word to each other.

Elias hadn't spoken a word to anyone really. He spent most of his time alone, cooped up in his room where everything seemed tame and familiar, but most importantly away from his family. On the days where he couldn't even stand being inside the house, he would go on long walks. Though, it seemed he was taking them everyday now. However, whether in his room or out on a walk, Elias was always thinking about the same thing; his one goal.

Turning eighteen.

Once he was eighteen years old with his highschool diploma, he would be free. He would no longer have to stay in the torturous prison he called home. He could leave, and that's what he intended to do. Before he moved, Elias and a few of his friends in Florida had all planned to room together when they graduated. It was a way to save money and focus on growing their independence while they figured shit out. It had been a while, but he was able to get in contact with them. They were still doing it and were all stoked to hear Eli was still interested. They had missed him, and in all honesty, Elias felt the same.

He was excited about catching up on things he missed while he was away, and eager to forget everything that had happened in his life since.

That's when he saw it.

His room was pitch black, swallowed in shadows except for the thin string of light from the hallway seeping into his room through his slighlty ajar door. Stretching from the floor, along his bed, over his back, just barely shining on his window, the light allowed him to see his faint reflection. Those same miserable, dead eyes of his staring aimlessly back at him. Oh, how he hated the sight of them. The image before him was the last thing he wanted to see. He couldn't put his finger on why, and for a moment, he wanted to blame humility, yet he knew that wasn't it. His mirror-image didn't produce pride, but the exact opposite.

Perhaps, he just didn't recognize who he was looking at. Why was it so difficult to place himself? When thinking about someone else, he effortlessly formed an opinion and depiction of who they were as people. Though when it came to him, he drew nothing but blanks. Who was he?Shouldn't this question be the easiest for him to answer? It was him afterall.