alive

twenty one

Alec

I let out a sigh once Nova was finally asleep in one of the rooms of Kai's cabin. I walked out to find Kai sitting on the couch. "I am never having kids," she says when I take a seat next to her. I knew she was joking because of the way she talks of her fantasy future with Kate. I want her to have that future, more than anything since I couldn't get my own with my late wife, but this is reality, shit happens and things don't go how you want them to.

I should be sleeping, it's three in the morning, but every night my wife's death haunts me. The sight of Matthew shooting her in the head is forever etched into my brain, I doubt it'd be going anywhere anytime soon. "I'm sorry," I said, I'm not sure why, it just came out. "For doing this to you, your girlfriend and your friends. Well- and for putting eyedrops in your water a little while ago," I clarified.

"Why did you? Why do you do all his dirty work? Clearly he's a coward, but you aren't the type of person to allow cowards to control you, so why?" She asks. I wanted more than to tell her the truth, how Matthew sent me and my sister to Jessica when we lost our parents. My sister went back to London when she turned 18, leaving me with my one year old daughter and Matthew's thirteen year old daughter who he rarely spoke to. He gave me a home when I needed it most, making me owe him by working for him and keeping his and Jessica's affair a secret, along with their child. "I have to tell you something-"

I was cut off by the sight of a soaking wet Matthew standing in the doorway with a familiar blonde girl in his grasp.

Kate

"Kate," Kai looked at me with her mouth hanging open. "Kate?" Arden, Felix, Jaesuk, and Gus appeared in the main room, like a group of dogs smelling food. "Don't touch her!" Matthew snapped at my brother when he reached his arm out on my left. "I found this little delinquent walking by your little rendezvous spot," Matthew huffed, it felt like my right arm was going to fall off from how hard he was holding onto it.

Kai gave me the look that she usually does when she's about to scold me. "And then she pushed me into the lake," he glared down at me. I could see a smile form on Kai's face. "Bitch," he grumbled before pushing me to the ground. "I am going to shower and then we will discuss what will happen."

"What were you thinking?!" Kai yells at me in the room we share. "I needed to be alone, Lia's house is closer to the lake than your cabin is," I explained. "Why did you go to the lake? Why couldn't you have gone somewhere else, anywhere else! The lake is exactly where he would expect you to go," she continued. "I'm sorry, okay? I don't care that he caught me, I couldn't stand to go a moment longer without you." I felt tears fall down my cheeks. "Kate, I understand that, but now it will take even longer for us to be together. Who knows what my punishment will be for lying about it," she sighs, wiping the tears from my face.

"I have thought it through. You, your brother, and your friends will return home," Matthew started after he got dressed. Kai opened her mouth to talk, but Matthew held up his hand to stop her. "Kai, you will finish school, for fucks sake you have already been held back once. I'll give you a month to spend with your friends, then you will come with me." Kai had her eyes wide. "One month?!" She yells, shooting up from the couch. "One month," he repeats.

"Can't you give me longer than that? I have been here for months, I need more than just a month to prepare for this shit," She continued. "6 months?" Matthew suggests. "A year," Ace steps in. "A year? This has nothing to do with you," Matthew glares at his son. "Kai is my sister, I haven't seen her in two years. I'd like to catch up on that missing time," he shrugs.

"A year is way too long," Matthew grumbles, taking a seat in one of the dining chairs. "A year is a good amount of time," Alec now joins in on deciding Kai's future. "It gives us enough time to move into that new building, get all the furniture for two other rooms, and get whatever Kai and Jaesuk need to do their job," he continues. I forgot about Jaesuk, and it seemed he forgot as well considering the look on his face.