23 The Mount Part 2
"I have something I need to share with you all," Noe speaks.
Within the brightly lit kitchen, Daniel jets to Noe's side, "What is it?" as Feng Mian and Rosalind turn their heads to look at him from the green couch at the other corner of the living room.
Daniel's pot is left boiling on the stove unattended while Feng Mian uses a towel, and Rosalind shakes her head like a dog, to release the water stuck in their hair from the showers they took. They wear matching black pajamas.
The scent of onions Noe religiously chopped tinges and swirls around, in air with aromatic chicken soup.
It was revealed that, of the five doors, three are bedrooms, the central door leads to a bathroom, and the one painted black should not be accessed no matter what. Rosalind assumes that Daniel must have a fetish of some sort.
"What do you need to tell us?" Daniel leans over Noe. Going to place his hand upon Noe's shoulder, he stops himself mid-way.
"Does it have to do with Daniel's black door?" Rosalind jeers, "Do you want to play with him in th-"
"Shut up," Feng Mian covers Rosalind's mouth with her hand.
"Let's sit for dinner first," Daniel suggests.
After setting up the dining table which has a potted plant and glittering flowers adorning it, Daniel and Noe take off their aprons and sit opposite Feng Mian and Rosalind.
"How cozy," Rosalind says, taking in the chicken soup, bread, and an assortment of salads. "These don't look lab grown to me. How do you have the money to afford fresh vegetables?" she picks at a lettuce leaf in one dish.
"Let's eat," Daniel says, about to take his utensils.
"Aren't we going to pray first?" Feng Mian stops him.
Steadying his breath, Daniel ignores her and unconsciously dishes out a bowl of soup for Noe as well as a side of spiced salad.
"Thank you," Noe says as he receives the dishes and places the ones he served for Daniel in front of him.
"How sweet..." Rosalind scrunches up her face. "You. What is it you wanted to tell us?"
"Prime Minister Kamiyama is the one who hid the school's explosion. Two lawyers, one of them named Honoka, spoke about it in the elevator when I went to meet with Rubin. Those two lawyers are also involved in the shantytown redevelopment plans. But to what extent the Prime Minister is involved here as well I am unsure." Noe sips on his soup and moans, "This is delicious, Daniel."
Daniel presses his lips closed, trying to repress a smile, "Thank you."
Noe's eyes twinkle.
"Westville's Rally to encourage the people to vote Prime Minister Kamiyama back into her seat in the upcoming elections is tomorrow. We can intercept her there," Daniel adds.
"You read my mind," Noe smiles.
"We can't just walk up to the Prime Minister and talk to her at a rally of all places," Rosalind tries to snuff out their enthusiasm.
"Did you forget that there are three Ephrenes on this team?" Feng Mian rekindles it.
Lowering herself in her seat, Rosalind slurps up the rest of her soup in silence.
After dinner, they quickly wash up their pots, pans, and utensils before reconvening in the living room.
"We'll leave tomorrow at ten in the morning. For now, let's get some sleep. Rosalind and Feng Mian, you can take the two spare bedrooms to the left of the bathroom. Noe, you can take a shower then take the third room. There's one more set of spare pajamas left in the cabinet beneath the sink for you to use. I hope you like the color red. I'll sleep on the couch." Turning back into the kitchen, he dismisses them as if they were still students in a class.
"You can shower first," Noe follows Daniel and takes the remaining soup pot he was scrubbing away at.
"Really?" Daniel looks down at his raw hands.
"My hands are tough. It'll be fine," Noe reassures.
Upon returning from his shower ten minutes later, Daniel finds everything from the dining table to the couch is spotless. Noe is panting alone in the corner of the kitchen.
"I'll go take a shower now."
As he passes by, Daniel clears a path for him in astonishment.
"Your shampoo smells nice," exiting the bathing suite with his Ephrene attire on, Noe compliments Daniel has met him in front of the bathroom. Billows of steaming hot smoke tumble out of the cracks around the doorframe.
"What happened to your pajamas?" Daniel looks Noe up and down.
"I'm sorry," from behind his back, Noe pulls out the half-charred materials. "I think I got hotter since I left Earth."
"You certainly did."
"What?"
Daniel shakes his head, "Don't worry about the clothes. You can go sleep in my room."
Vaulting like old-age Olympic Gymnast Simone Biles, Noe lands squarely atop the thick, green couch. "You can stay in your room. It's more comfortable there," he speaks. This way, Noe can also monitor Feng Mian and Rosalind's activities in case they get ideas about disturbing his soulmate.
"You usually listen to me. Why not today?" Daniel raises an eyebrow.
Noe stares into his eyes.
Yawning, "I guess I'm not going to be able to convince you. Should I turn off the lights or are you afraid of the dark?"
"I'm not and I can do it," Noe moves to stand but Daniel claps his hand and darkness falls.
"Goodnight, Noeremous," he heads into his room, disappearing behind his closing bedroom door.
In the quiet of the night, memories torrent into Noe's mind. Hundreds and thousands of different faces, people, and their mistakes lit up like Christmas lights in his brain. Twisting and turning, now matter how deeply he nestles beneath his fluffy white blanket, Noe fails to find peace with the images scampering raucously.
The night pieces away as the others fall asleep to the smell of sunshine and purple hyacinths.
~
TAP.
Taking by force what should never be stolen.
TAP.
Exploiting the weak for self-gratification.
TAP.
He deserves to die.
Against the echoing cobblestone alley, Noe's footsteps echo.
In the dead darkness of the night, cats scream and whine for food, preparing to skin their prey. Fumes hiss out of punctured pipes hanging off matted grey walls, from which leak obscenely clear liquid drops. They plop as the ground compresses them.
From the choking fog, Noe's figure breaks forth in fury. Down the ally and up the eerily familiar, steeply sloping streets, he arrives at the dusty door of a monster. Muffled sobs seep out the door frame as grunts of slithering and slimy pleasure serenade brutality.
Leather gloved, Noe raises his hand to knock. Three times his knuckles collide with brown dirt that coats his black gloves. Until, a silence resounds.
Honing in his hearing, the clicking and clanking of a shotgun being raised behind the door are heard. The monster behind the door shifts, muscles tightening and eyes opening wide as a mouse lemur in the grey-blue dark.
Crouching, the nuzzle aims right at Noe's head as he says, "Who is it?"
Kicking open the door, Noe merges with the darkness of the room. Only his black eyes burning ember like coal streak across the monster's vision.
The monster pulls the trigger but no bullets are ejected. Curiously observing the room, a hologram projects the dim image of a little girl. Tugging the trigger incessantly yet to no avail, the monster bares its teeth in frustration and stands up, raising its weapon above Noe's head. As he rushes forward, his phallus swings in the chilly night, spilling over his unzipped trousers.
Noe clamps his hand around the monster's neck like a viper jerking forward and sinking malevolent fangs into its victim. The gun slips from the monster's fingers.
"Wh-" bubbles of choked speech die in its throat. Its voice cannot escape Noe's steel grip. "WHY?" the monster's mouth spells wide like a menacing gorge. Looking closer, Noe sees the truth. The gorge is empty, a cavern of hopeless ignorance and oppression. This man truly is a monster.
Noe's head gushes with memories gifted to him by a deceased soul flitter through him like carbon-dated films. Flashes of the monster's face as he violates his niece come into view. Shrieks ring in his ear. Tears streak down his face.
Lowering his other hand, he palms all of the man's loose appendage into his fingers and squeezes.
"Remember this as the day heaven's rage rained upon you."
With that, Noe yanks the monster from its roots, cord and sagged balls savagely pulled out from flesh. Scarlet flows upon the grey-blue and paints it purple in a shower of vengeance.
Releasing his throat, Noe leaves him on the floor soaking in a pond of his own, filthy blood.
~
A bird swimming in the pools of the dimly lit living room, Daniel sits upon the thick couch anxiously awaiting Noe's return. The single lamp lighting the room a deep orange casts shadows beneath Daniel's features - carving a skeletal portrait across his face.
Noe removes his gloves before placing his hand on the chilly doorknob and twisting. He can hear Daniel's warm heartbeat drumming along on the couch. Entering the apartment, the door swings and encloses him and him inside the quarters.
"Where did you go?" the accusation in Daniel's tone pricks Noe.
"Out," Noe points to the door behind him with his thumb.
Rubbing his face, Daniel sighs long and hard.
"What's wrong? It's not like I didn't come back," Noe questions sincerely.
"It wouldn't be the first time you disappeared without notice."
Then, Noe remembers. The seven bullies. The laboratory. The rope.
James.
Seeing the tension flowing onto Noe's face, Daniel lowers his arm to grab Noe's hand in an attempt to comfort Noe, or himself. Daniel is unsure.
As they are about to touch, Noe fiercely retracts his hand.
"Don't touch me." His hand still feels slimy with the sickening pus of a monster.
Daniel stares at Noe in disbelief. Sorrow and rage lick at the Veren continuously swirling around Noe's heart.
A sudden thought begets Noe.
"What happened to you at Sympathy? Why aren't you working there anymore?" he enquires.
Frozen, Daniel's silence condenses the tension in the room.
"Just, next time," Daniel steps away, "tell me where you're going before you leave."
Once again, Noe watches Daniel's back disappear into the darkness of his room.
