Chapter 10

I hated Sariel. Our first meeting had left a bitter taste in my mouth and a twisted pit in my stomach. His incessant need to talk and pry about subjects he had no right to, had rubbed me the wrong way and a deep rooted hatred filled my heart for him.

I had hoped I would not see him again and yet there I stood, in the gray nothingness staring at him.

"Why are we here?" I asked through clenched teeth. "I am sure I did not call you."

"Oh…but you did." He smiles and I look away.

"Leave!" 

"Oh come now." He chuckles. "I can't be worse than solitude."

"I crave solitude." I answered. "And even in my mind I am incapable of having it"

"That's a bit extreme." He says, walking towards me. "You can't honestly want to be alone."

I said nothing.

"Anyway." He continued. My lack of a response was not a deterrent for his need to talk. "Did you know this place can be anything you want it to be?"

I turned away from him. He could babble all he wanted, I would not answer him.

"Well, it can be. Since it's in your mind, you can manipulate this place however you like."

I sigh loudly before sitting on the ground and falling on my back, looking up at more gray nothingness. It brought a sense of calm to me, knowing nothing existed in this vast space. I would probably never change an inch of it. 

Curiosity did tickle the back of my mind at his words, though. How did he know so much about a subspace that existed in my mind? Had he been to places such as mine before?

I wanted to ask him, but did not want to give him more reason to talk and so I said nothing, letting him blather to himself for as long as we were stuck together in this space.

Thankfully the pain I had felt while awake had not followed me. So even though Sariel was a grating presence, I was mercifully pain free.

"My father kept me in my room my entire life." He said suddenly, causing me to sit up in my shock. "You're the first person I've talked to outside of that room."

"What?" I could not help but ask.

"Oh…so that's what catches your attention." He smiles bitterly. "He said something about me being perfect or some such nonsense."

"What?" I asked, not knowing what else to say.

"I'm thrilled you're talking to me, but maybe diversify your vocabulary." He grins.

"What do you mean you were kept in your room?"

"It's as I said." He shrugs. "He designated me a room the moment I was born and I've been in there since."

"And he told you it's due to your perfection?" I asked, disbelieving.

"He told me that after centuries of trial and error, I was created. Apparently I house the very essence of what he was trying to create and because of that I had to stay locked up where even God couldn't find me."

"Are you still locked in your room?" I asked, looking at him expectantly. 

He nodded. 

We fell into a silence then, him not wanting to continue and me unable to change the subject. Thankfully the silence was a comfortable one.

Laying back down I resume staring up at the vastness surrounding me. This creature, whom I still did not like, had led a pitiful life. It made a twisted type of sense that his immediate reaction to me would have been curiosity. As much as I loathed others prying into my life, I may have been too harsh on the poor boy.

A stabbing pain jolted me from my thoughts and I hissed in a breath. 

"Are you okay?" He asked, worried.

"I am not sure." I answered, as another bout of pain crippled me. "I think the pain is bleeding through."

He grabbed me and helped me to sit. I felt powerless as another bout of pain had me cry out and curl in on myself.

"You shouldn't be able to feel anything here." Sariel said, rubbing soothing circles on my back.

I glared and tried to move away from his touch.

"Will you tell me, now, what happened?"

I shook my head vehemently. He was incapable of helping me, so what good would it have done me to open my mouth about my secrets.

He shook his head and huffed in irritation. "You're hopeless."

I sighed as the pain began to ebb and flow, sapping what little energy I had out of me. Even in my own mind, I could barely keep my eyes from closing. Before I was fully aware of what I had done, my eyes had fully closed and I was drifting. 

"Hey!" Sariel shouted. "Open your eyes!"

"The pain has ebbed enough for me to sleep, why are you stopping me?" I grumbled, keeping my eyes closed.

"Please." He begged. "I don't think you're falling asleep." 

I huffed, as I had to pry open my eyes to glare at him. "Then what am I doing, if not falling asleep?"

He shook me violently, trying to get me to sit up. "You're dying, you moron!" 

"Oh." I mumbled. "Okay."

"NO!" He shouted. "NOT OKAY! GET. UP!"

I felt him shaking me as my body went completely lax; what little energy I had was finally sapped from me. I could no longer open my eyes, so I was unsure what kind of look Sariel had on his face. He sounded frantic as he continued to shake me. Part of me felt bad for not being able to open my eyes and assure him I would be okay, but even I knew I would not be waking up from this ordeal without a miracle.

"Please wake up." I heard him beg, as my consciousness began to slip. "I can't save you if you die."