You're Mine

32. Ash

11.13.19

I awoke from my dream feeling more determined to find him than ever. That maybe, just maybe, I could feel him for real and hear his voice. I looked up to see a small, abandoned looking concrete building on the horizon and smiled before sprinting towards it. I've been looking for days and this was the first sign that it might be all over soon. I walked over to the ajar door and shoved it open a little bit more. The first thing I smelt was fresh blood, with an underlying scent of woodlands. Alex. I began to get frantic. What if it was his blood I could smell? I swear, if it was I'd tear my father apart limb by limb. I noticed a door open where the scent was strongest and stepped up to it. I placed my feet on the first... second... third step before I heard loud crying and someone trying to soothe another. I stepped down onto the last step and looked out. One of the teenage boys was hugging the other super tightly. There was a dead body on the other side of the room, but I ignored it, opting to listen to the boys' conversation.

"Shhh... I won't let him hurt you. I just found you, and I'm not allowing them to take you away so soon, brother." I swear I recognized his voice, but it was so nasal that I couldn't figure out where from. It made sense now why they had hugged so deeply; it was because they were related by blood. The first boy whimpered loudly, still staring directly at me, so I decided to step up closer to the light so that hopefully he would recognize that it was me and not whoever he was trained to be frightened of. My heart rose into my chest when the first boy turned swiftly, but the worriedness fell again as soon as I realized that it was just Alex.

Wait, just Alex? I found him! However, his eyes didn't immediately light up when he saw me, and instead I saw the slightest bit of skepticism within the emerald orbs. "What is your business here," he whispered, his voice regarding me in a strange way that I didn't like. He seems scared to even keep eye contact with me...

"I'm obviously busting you out. What else would I be doing? Why are you looking at me like that?"

"I thought for a serious second that you had joined them..." That's an outrageous though, why would I ever do that to him? Then again, he's been down here for three days, and I'm sure that it isn't very good for his mental health.

"Alex you should know by now that I would never betray you, right?"

"I don't know who I can trust anymore... I was raised not to trust easily, but I had thrown that out the window with your father and now I just feel broken and betrayed... I don't know who to believe in any more."

"I understand, but just know that I'm your soulmate. I would never turn on you for any reason."

"Even if I screw something up royally?"

"Definitely if you do."

"That's reassuring."

"Yeah, I suppose. Now, let's get out of here." I grabbed onto his hand to pull him out of the basement, but he made me let go before walking over to the other kid that's down here with him. He bent down and picked him up, and I was reminded in a tide how compassionate my soulmate can be. I don't know if it's just his nature or if the training he had was affecting it, but I loved it about him. "Alright, now we can go."

I lead him out of the basement into the dimming light outside, and the bitter night air battered against our cheeks. The person in my soulmate's arms had fallen asleep against him, and I was honestly beginning to get a bit jealous. "What's his name?" I queried unintentionally shivering when I could see my own breath. I don't feel cold very well, but I'm sure that Alex is freezing. We need to get far out of dodge and figure something out.

"Oh, I forgot to introduce you guys in the crazy. This is my twin brother, Allystar. He's been through a lot so don't be rude to him please." They seem close even though they only met a little while ago, and I wished that he would let me carry him like that. I've only gotten to do it once, and that was just because his powers had made him exhausted... Speaking of powers, we really need to figure out what the hell is going on there. I don't want to be unprepared and lose him because of it, no way. We are going to live a long, full life together, and I won't let it turn out any other way. He's my soulmate and I will do my duty to keep him safe; that's final.

We crossed the border into Alabama when the moon was at the highest point, and I found a clearing in the thick forest. Alex's eyelids were drooping at this point, and I knew that he really needs to get a good rest. I stopped, and he immediately sat on the dirt. He laid his brother down next to where he was, and my heart ached at the adorableness of his sleepy appearance. "Come here," he mumbled, and I happily obliged.

"A-Alex?" Allystar wailed loudly. Alex turned around to look at him, and I saw the battered boy relax a bit until he saw me as well and grew tense. "What happened, who is he, where are we?"

"We got out, and this is my soulmate Ash. He's going to be spending a lot of time near us so it's best that you two get to know each other, and we're somewhere in the middle of nowhere Alabama."

"You mean after all this time I'm finally out?"

"Yeah, you are. Welcome back to the outside world."

I leaned back a bit feeling accomplished that I had saved Alex's life and also improved someone else. I wish that this had never happened; I wish that my family was normal. I hope that one day our relationship can be salvaged, but it will take me a lot of time to finally get my parent situation back together. I closed my eyes and thought about the state of my world, and I was happy that I finally had someone to call my own. I've never been better mentally, and I think that I'm blessed to have someone like Alex here to share my ups and downs with. The two laid down next to each other, and I felt like my heart was going to burst with all of the love that I'm giving and being given... Living without him... I could never. I swear to everyone that I will not betray him or leave him now or ever. I will devote every living fiber of myself until I pass because it's right... I will never forget.