The Survivors: Point of Origin (book 2)

Alpha and Omega, pt. 3

"How do you kill a Survivor?"

"Now that is a funny story," he said. "I'm not sure you'll believe it if I tell it."

"Try me," I said dryly.

He obliged. "Did you know that Alexander is one of the oldest names in written history? Its roots are different in different languages, but the name that it stems from is older than I am! In Greek mythology, my name would have been Paris.

"You've heard of the Trojan War?" he asked. I nodded. "So you know the story. Paris wants Helen. Helen is married to the king of Troy, Menelaus. Paris steals Helen, and a war ensues."

"What does this have to do with killing a Survivor?"

"Sadie, you ask how to kill a Survivor. I ask why one can be killed at all. There was a time when our kind could not be killed. It was a glorious time! Do you know what we were called then?" he asked. I shook my head. "They called us gods. All those stories you've read in that book you carry around with you. That was us."

I didn't believe him. "So what happened?"

"There came a way for us to die, of course. It was my fault. I was careless. In that damn war, I thought I was only fighting humans," he said resentfully.

"What war?"

"The Trojan War, Sadie! Keep up!" he snapped.

"You were there?" I asked. "History has no memory of you."

"You call it history, I call it a memory. I started it for crying out loud. I am Paris of Troy! Who knew that spat would be something the world wouldn't forget?" he laughed. I shook my head. I didn't believe this either. "There was one fighting among them who was supernatural. One who, supposedly, could not die."

"Achilles," I said.

"Good girl. Their superstitions told them Achilles could not die but for that one tiny place his dear mother held him by when she dipped him in the River Styx," he said. "Every warrior has a weakness, Sadie. And every human is stupid. They thought he couldn't die, well I proved them wrong, didn't I?"

"You're telling me that you killed Achilles? In the Trojan War? That was you?" I asked incredulously. Then something dawned on me."Paris died," I laughed. "Struck by an arrow from Philoctetes in the war. Keep up."

"Like I don't know how to fake my own death. You can laugh all you want, but I take it very seriously. In killing Achilles, I lost my invincibility. Instead of his power, I acquired his greatest weakness, and so, in turn, have all my descendants," he said, his eyes heavy.

"We have an Achilles heel," I said.

"Every one of you," he said. "Which, as it turns out, has worked well for me. That weakness in all of you has led to immeasurable power for me," he grinned.

"It's the heel then?" I asked. Admittedly, I hadn't tried that.

"Oh, come now. Be a little more creative. The proverbial heel depends on the individual and his powers. Our greatest weakness is at the source of our greatest power," he said. "Now chew on that, you morbid little girl."

I narrowed my eyes at him. He was playing games. "Why couldn't Lizzie keep me contained in the city? Why can't they keep me contained, even now?" I asked.

"Because of the human in you," he said.

I froze.

He smiled the sly, dark, and invasive smile he'd smiled at the girls with the open wounds. He reached for my covered arms.