The final door had made him nervous and ill. Just looking at him made him feel terrible, but he could not deny there was no avoiding it. Every time he tried to move in another direction all roads ended at this exact point.
When all his friends were all dead he was sure. His life was all over..would he be only a memory? July did not dwell on these thoughts for long. He would be buried under them otherwise. The second his fingers touched the door knob his life flashed before him. He recalled the day he'd been taken away by a stranger and sold off as a comradery. He remembered running into the night, away from his captors fearing being punished again. He'd met Jayson by chance, their relationship had been fast paced and brought color into his grey world. July Anderson. That was who he used to be. A new start began when he took on Jayson's last name, hoping to start over with a better life for both of them.
Tears pricked at his eyes as he tried to cling to these memories and others like it. He was always meant to be taken from, it had simply become a fact of life.
He understood now. Each and every day passed by him, and he watched as his life unfolded. Every waking hour led up to this moment, from being welcomed in by the Mall faction. To surviving with his husband, despite the terrible burden of having committed their loved ones to die given they did not try and go back for them. A month rolled by in a blink of an eye. They had kept to themselves mostly, and only helped out more as the situation took on a grave turn for the worst.
July was the virus now. He'd been Infected, and it had gradually consumed him as time marched on. He was no longer himself, he was one segment in the greater sea of beings. He was connected to a vast network, and the realization made him complacent. He was legacy, a part of Creation.
His consciousness stirred from somewhere deep inside him. Everything that was once him was being collected, harvested and pulled away from him. He was being stripped of himself, bit by bit.
No. July didn't want to break, and be forced to another's will. He'd fought so damn hard to be free, this was not how he wanted it to end.
You are legacy. A gift. You infect those remaining.
This wasn't what he wanted!
Harvest. Feed. Gather. This is what it expected of him.
He was still human! July screamed in defiance as he struggled to break free from the madness the voices promised him. What did it mean by his memories were not complete? It was the last think he he felt before a sensation of something ripping apart settled into the core of his being.
Suddenly he was free. It was almost like waking up, but he realized he did not have a form. He was not human at all. Terrified, he tried to move only it was impossible in that exact moment. What was wrong with him?! Why was he paralyzed was he dead after-all?
More memories, like the ones he'd had earlier. He was sitting on a sofa, head resting on Jay's shoulder as they watched a movie together. How could he do things like that without a physical form? Laughter taunted him, happy joyous sounds he would never hear again made him reach out for the fading images and figures that ran from him, always just out of reach. July felt the vines, they began to wrap and coil around him, responding to his desperation.
They obeyed him, giving shape and substance for him to move with. This was good enough, at least until he found his own vessel. Frantically he began searching, pulling and digging at the vines until he saw a face. Elated, he went to it, searching through the tangled prison. Quickly however, he realized this was not what he had hoped to find. It was someone else, a face he knew without question.
He'd watched from his dreams as the other cared for him. Avery was his name, he had carried him while his human form slept. He'd protected him during the Nightmare. And yet for his heroic deeds, he was now to share the same fate as July. Sorrow filled him as he gazed at the other. July had failed to protect so many of the ones he loved, perhaps he could make a difference now. There was a space beside Avery that was empty. It clearly had been a holding chamber much like how Avery was contained now July realized. Fresh blood even still graced the vines.
Being able to see now, he reached out for the boy. "Let go.." He whispered, and obligingly the vines began to release their hold on the reaper. Reaching for him, despite the vast difference in their body mass, he easily lifted him. July had the strength and will to carry out this one final deed. A favour for a favour. July would keep him safe.
No one stopped him as he moved away from the nerves core. As he moved away, he began to unravel, pieces of him left behind as he spirited the other down the series of stairs. At last he came upon the exit, gazing through tired eyes out the window. He could sense the shadows there, they felt uncontaminated, and were meant to save the boy he held. Even if it pained him, he stretched, gently placing him in their arms as he was forced to retreat back inside.
July could not leave this place he realized, Creation would not allow it. His thoughts turned to Jayson as he ascended the stairs, leaving behind the exit. If he was like this, then were there others like him? A flicker of hope was there; perhaps they could find one another before he was permanently swept away into the vast sea of assimilation.
OOC
Character's name: July Slider
Character's faction: Mall
Character's journal link: Journal
Character's survival stats: ..: biggrin ata::.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF MY CHARACTER July is of medium build at around 5'6". He is fairly pale regardless of sun exposure. His hair is extremely thick, and is solid black. It is cut in a medium length that is fairly easy to manage, with bangs just long enough to sweep over a portion of his face. He has two distinctively different eye colors, the left one being silver while the other is a cerulean blue.
