Project X ✔ [O L D V E R S I O N]

+ chapter thirteen +

Dram rolled his eyes, stuffing his clothes in his bag and said, "I do not."

"I do not know what the General spoke to you about; I do not know if you are being punished and I could not care less, but I will tell you this. If Alexa comes home with abnormal bruises on her body from the hazardous training you may force her on, I will not hesitate to rip your limbs apart."

He shook his head, nonchalance ringing clear on his voice. "I thought you were a pacifist, Xander."

"I also protect my own," he clenched his jaw.

Dram stared at him with disgust. "Oh, so now the human is yours?"

"She is my partner," he responded with ease, not seeming bothered whatsoever.

"You surely forgot Corah easily; if something were to happen to the human, you would not be so affected by her," He shrugged, closing his locker and stared at him with challenging eyes.

Xander gritted his teeth, placing the bag by his feet and said, "I have not forgotten Corah, Dram, but it has been seven years. I think that I may start seeking companionship by now."

"Yeah, because the human women are the best companionship there is," he snorted.

"They are our best bet right now," he seethed, "no matter how much you dislike them; you cannot disrespect them or treat them any different than you would have treated a Xrionian."

He chuckled. "Actually, I can; they are not my people. I do not have to treat them like-"

Xander appeared before him, grabbing his collar tightly and menacingly whispered, "I do not care what you do, Dram, but as I have said previously; hurt Alexandra and I will not hold my anger back. You walk around with a hothead and do not think about the consequences. I am not sure how much longer the General will take your childish act, but if being a second-in-command is what you wanted; you surely will not get it now."

Dram pushed him away, shrugging his arms angrily and spat, "You took it from me; that was my position and you took it from me just like you took Corah."

"Corah was not a thing to fight over," Xander took a step back, knowing that if he stayed any closer to him, he'd regret it. "We gave her the choice to choose between us and she chose me; I did not oblige her. Nonetheless," he leaned down to grab his bag from the floor, "I have warned you. Alexa will be a part of your squadron, but you will treat her as if she were-"

"I get it," Dram snapped, glaring at him. "I already got this speech from General Jenks, of course he was less violent, but I got it. Can you leave now? I want to go home and take a shower."

He gritted his teeth, not liking that he interrupted him, but nodded his head once and returned home. After he took a shower and rid his body of any putrid odours, he drank some water and sat down on his bed to read another book on the history of humans.

He was currently on the era of Renaissance and he was surprised at how many innovative things they had done and what they had changed; not all humans were horrible. Of course, the power during that time [the Church] was obviously power-driven, but he was fascinated by some of the things they did.

Just as he neared the split of the church into different branches, his door slid open to reveal a heartbroken Alexa. Her eyes were red and puffy, her breaths were coming in short heart-wrenching sobs and she seemed to be on the verge of falling apart.

Xander sat up, frowning at her and said, "Alexa? What is the matter?"

She trembled, walking towards him and he quickly stood up, enveloping her in a warm hug. Her shoulders shook and the only sound that would leave her mouth were her heart wrenching sobs. Her face was sticky with tears and her nose was tinted red.