Komodo Part 12

The next several nights found Komodo awoken, shivering and drenched in a cold sweat. Once she had regained the strength to not simply pass out from exhaustion, dreams triggered from the event with Kaz began. The young woman had somehow managed to keep herself from screaming out or alerting the Viral, or as she figured moreso, he cared less than to see what was wrong with her each time it happened.
Having woken from one such nightmare, Komodo sat on the couch hugging the pillow she had been using to her chest. No matter what I do, I can't make them go away...God, why do you hate me? I don't want to keep re-living those nightmares. I hoped I had put them away, locked up in the little vault in my mind. But...Hm? She was brought from her thoughts by muffled footsteps. She looked up to see Beelzebumon's silhouette in the hall doorway.
The only truly visible parts of the Viral were his wine-red eyes, glowing dimly in the darkness and the faint whiteness of his skin. "Komodo? What'cha doin' up?"
"I um..."
"Ya okay?"
"Mhm..." She nodded slightly.
"Yer a terrible liar. Yer voice is shakin'. Ya radiate fear. What's the matter?"
"Ju-just a nightmare."
"Mm. Hate those things."
"Me too..." she whispered, hugging the pillow tighter to herself.
She watched the Viral as he swiftly walked over to the couch.
He picked up the sheet, draping it about the young woman's shoulders as he sat down beside her. "They ain't fun ta have, but they're only as scary as ya let 'em be."
"Not if they're real..."
"Eh?"
Komodo sighed in response, she did not feel up to elaborating on such a disturbing matter.
"Seems ta me there's more ta ya than I first figured. Bit of a nasty past?"
"I guess you could say that." Why is he so interested this time? I was awoken before by nightmares and he didn’t seem all that interested...
"Must be, ta give ya nightmares that keep ya awake."
"Mm...what about you? Why are you up?" Komodo asked, trying to change the subject. She was feeling uncomfortable and anxious about his probing.
"Eh, me? Hey now, yer changin' the subject."
"I-I'm not. I was just curious..."
"Well, if ya must know. I was hungry."
"Hungry at this hour?"
"Yeh, so what?"
"Just seems strange. I haven't seen you up at this time before."
"Ain't always hungry at this hour."
"Would you like me to get you something?"
"Nah. I'ma big Digimon, can get it myself, ya know."
"O-okay..." Komodo pressed the lower portion of her face into the pillow.
"Oh, jeez. Yer gettin' upset over that?"
Komodo merely closed her eyes in reply.
"There's somethin' up. Do ya not trust me ta tell me? Or is it just somethin' else? I know somethin's wrong, I can sense it."
"Please..." the young woman started with a small hiccup. "I just...it hurts to think about."
Beelzebumon put his arm across the back of the couch, letting his hand drape next to Komodo's shoulder. "Sorry ta have upset ya. I just figure if ya tell me, I could be of some help."
"Telling wouldn't change the past."
"But maybe it could help with the future. Livin' with nightmares and plagued thoughts ain't any fun. Ya know already somewhat I'm dealin' with. Here. I'll tell ya why I'm up if ya'll tell me why ya are, deal?"
Komodo looked up at the Viral. Why is he being so persistent? "...I suppose..."
"M'kay. I'll admit, I ain't hungry. Talkin' 'bout my Tamer brought back some old scars. And ah...it's pretty easy ta tell if a human's upset. I came in 'ere 'cause I knew somethin' was wrong with ya."
"See what was wrong with me...?"
"Yeh. I do care, Komodo. No matter what ya might believe."
"I was having nightmares, re-living horrors of my past. And some were just what might have happened if you guys hadn't..." She halted and took in a shaky breath, trying to fill her lungs with a dry throat. "My parents were once kind to me. I don't remember much of those times, but I know they happened. But as I grew older, the kindness stopped. They blamed me for their poverty and hardships in their marriage. They kept me because Mom dreaded what the neighbors would think if the baby they had seen so many times before suddenly disappeared. The marriage remained unstable. Both worked all the time and hired a sitter to keep watch over me so they wouldn't have to. When I hit puberty, my father decided was the time to make up for the damage they caused me over the years. His repayment was not something a father should ever give his daughter." A shudder ran down her spine as a sudden voice, the one that belonged to her father, rang in her ears: "You are such a beautiful and wonderful daughter. I should never have treated you so badly. Here, I just want to make up for it. If you're quiet, I'll get you something especially nice."
"Shit, I'd not have thought that...that's just sick."
"He was careful about everything, too, was the worst of it all. I would have to shower afterwards, or I'd be bathing. I wasn't allowed to keep the door locked or I'd be beaten afterwards. Somehow he had convinced my mother I needed birth control, said something about helping me control my hormones. Really it was to ensure he didn't impregnate me by accident. He had watched those shows, ones with fathers who did the same to their daughters, but didn't make sure to keep them from getting pregnant. But all that came to an end."
"Did 'e...?" The question was quiet and forced.
Komodo shook her head. "No, fortunately not. But Mom found out; walked in when it was happening. She blamed me, of course...screamed that I had stolen her husband from her. Called me all sorts of names. Threw me out shortly afterwards. I had just my nightgown. I had to scavenge for clothes later from a dumpster."
"And what of that little punk, where does he come in?"
"Kaden? Oh...he came in not long after my father. I first thought he was kind. He would bring me to his home after school some days and we would spend time together. He somehow knew by my behavior I was easily manipulated and already being molested. He took advantage of me. Our friendship quickly took a terrible turn and he deemed me as his pet. After Mom threw me out of the house, he tried making me stay with him. He was worse than either of my parents. He has such a volatile attitude and is vicious. Now you know, are you happy now?" she asked, a bitter tone to her voice. Having the past brought up this way tore at every fiber of her being. The scars she bore on her wrist burned faintly in reminiscence of the day she received them.
"Not at all. Komodo..."
She squeaked in surprise as the Viral pulled her to him, hugging her tightly to his bare chest.
"I swear I won't ever hurt ya like that. I won't let anyone hurt ya like that ever again, I promise."
"I can never believe that..." she murmured, feeling her face flush against the chilly flesh of the Viral.
"Ya can say that all ya want. I just want ya ta know I mean it, 'kay? I ain't just some 'eartless bastard of a Viral."
"I-I never said tha-" She was cut off when he held a finger against her lips.
"Hush."
Komodo blinked in surprise and pinched her lips together. She held them together until he removed his finger.
"I've done pretty awful things back in my days of bein' Daemon's General. But never once did I do anythin' like that. I don't know how ta handle what ya've been through. If I bring somethin' upsettin' up or anythin', just tell me."
"Okay...are you...going to let me go?"
"Oops. Sorry. I keep forgettin' that makes ya uncomfortable." He removed his arms from about her.
Komodo straightened herself up. "I...it's not...the same...with you..." She said the last portion under her breath, blushing deeply at the concept.
"It's not what now?"
"It's not that bad." she said sheepishly.
"Good. I'd hate ta make ya more uncomfortable than ya already are. So uhm. Ya want me ta leave?"
"But why?"
"So ya can sleep."
"Oh...actually, would it be okay if you were to sit here awhile longer with me? I'm not really up for sleeping..."
"I understand. Not much a problem. Ya mind if I turn the television on?"
"Not at all."
"Awesome."
Komodo had to shut her eyes against the bright blaring lights as the television fizzed into life. She re-opened them slowly after they adjusted. She dared a glance over at the Viral and was rather startled to find him dressed only in a pair of black boxers that ended at the bottom of his thighs, showing off the various scars that stretched across parts of his body; from his shoulders down to his knees, there were even some on the tops of his fingers and knuckles. The only other time she had seen any of them was after he had walked in on her changing. But she had been too flustered to have really noticed. Being closer to him than before, they were easier to make out.
She had become so engrossed at counting the scars that she did not notice that their owner was watching her, seemingly amused.
"'Ey, ya starin' down my trophies, eh?"
"Wh-I-I was no...trophies?"
The Viral tapped a jagged scar stretched across his upper torso. "Yeh. Earned every one of 'em fightin'.
"There's so many..."
"More of 'em are hidin' on my back. One of 'em ain't a trophy. Just a bad memory."
"Oh..." Komodo looked down at her hands. Seeing the sorrow in the Viral's eyes when he spoke made her feel guilty.
"Nothin' ta fret much over. Got it a long time ago. That damned Kagemon."
"Kage...?"
"Hmph...bastard got me in the back. Poisoned me enough I couldn't stop 'em from killin' my Tamer. I could only watch."
"I'm sorry for making you bring that up. I was just..."
"Like I said, don't fret 'bout it. It's not somethin' I've forgotten. ‘Sides, I got me a new trophy ta add ta the collection."
“New one?”
“Yep.”
“Where?” She watched as the Viral tapped a location on his side out of her line of sight. “How did you...?”
“Er...” He gave her a sheepish grin. “I kinda lied ta ya ‘bout that gunshot.”
“What?!” She stretched herself across the couch, placing her hands on the middle cushion to balance herself.
There was a small white square bandage placed on the Viral’s side near his abdomen. A ring of pink in the middle stood out amongst the whiteness of the bandage and the Viral’s skin.
“You...you were shot?”
“Just grazed. Ya know? A scratch is all.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“I didn’t want ya freakin’ out ‘er anythin’.”
Komodo sat back on her side, overtaken by a sense of shock and guilt. He got hurt because of me. I got him injured. I... She had to swallow back a small sob.
“Oh, not with the cryin’, now. Had ta open my big mouth.”
Komodo turned away from the Viral and curled against the arm of the couch, pressing her face against the soft fabric.