After a good twenty minutes, they had both managed to put together their supplies, throwing away the soggy and old snacks to make room for Fred, who was transformed into a plant again. The phones were finally charged and Beta started feeling less numb about everything; the soreness in his muscles was getting better while his eyes finally stopped stinging.
"I'm gonna have to talk to the receptionist so I can demand my money back, if you hear arguing don't get involved." Beta said as he set Fred in the car Beta started to close the door but was stopped by Fred's tendon.
"Beta, wait I need to transform you!"
"Huh? Oh, fuck. Sorry I forgot."
"We can't make mistakes like this, we have to be smart, Beta."
"Yeah, whatever..." Beta leaned down to take Fred's tendon.
——-
After a decent chunk of time, it was already getting late. Beta had already finished the exhausting back and forth between him and the motel staff a while ago. Now he was driving to the closest garbage dump available, hamburger in hand.
"Alright, we shall now destroy property that isn't ours." Fred stated, rubbing his little tendrils together, looking really mischievous.
"Hell yeah," Beta answered after gulping down his food, -"It's gonna be so much fun! You have no idea, Fred."
"Is your food good? I still feel like you should wait until we get there to eat. Driving and eating can be dangerous."
"Listen Fred, I may be a nasty guy but eating at a garbage dump is a limit, haha."
"Ok!"
"I wish that you could have a bite of this though!" Beta took another bite. "Mom never let us get fast food and fuck Sen and Al always said they were better than eating this stuff."
"I wish that I could eat human food sometimes as well. It fastiates me that you humans spend so much of your time feeding yourself. Eating for you isn't just to keep you alive it is another way to make yourself feel that you are alive."
"Yeah, sure. You know Charlie's older brother is a chef? Never had a chance to have his food though. "
"And Charlie is your older brother's fiance correct?"
Beta felt his lip twitch.
"Yeahhh, maybe we should change the subject."
"... Oh yes, sorry."
"It is just weird.."
"I know, Beta."
" ...And honestly, I feel weird everytime I even think about Charlie. God why did I bring him up! He is an emotional wreck. Did you know I used to pick on the guy? He is probably crying so hard with this family mess."
"I wouldn't blame him."
"Me neither. But the worst part is that he only has Alpha there for him! Do you know what he did to me when I would cry?"
"No, what?'
"Laugh."
"Oh."
"Yeah honestly it is weird that those two are together Alpha would even roll his eyes when he saw mom cry. Fucking bastard."
"For saying we should stop talking about this you seem to really like talking about it."
"It just really bothers me."
"Are you jealous..?"
"Pff- NO!" Beta said, his eyes fixating on the road in front of him, just a few more minutes until they reached their desired destination, even the GPS kept reminding him that they were on the fastest available road.
"It's just that," he continued, "I know mom only accepted him because he's Alpha. If I ever tell her that I'm dating a guy named Fred, she'd disown me. For fuck' sake, if dad was alive he'd be so dissapointed in all three of us."
"Why would he be disappointed in Senpai? As far as I remember, he liked girls."
Beta rolled his eyes; "Yeah, you're not wrong there - but Sen never settled on anyone. He switched partners faster than I could keep up counting them. As perfect as he claimed he was, he also had a lot of college rumors going around about him."
"I see..." Fred pondered, "Well, sometimes in order to find yourself and be happy - you have to disappoint your parents' views. You are not a cardboard copy of your father, you never will be; because you are your own person. That is what I love the most about you."
Beta flinched internally at those words. Love. That felt so good and horrible at the same time. He didn't really know what to reply as he parked the car outside of the garbage place. After a moment of silence, he spoke up finally; "I guess you're right, he's dead anyway, so it doesn't even matter."
"Beta..."
"Go transform now, I'll look for an entrance or a crawl space, okay?"
"Be careful, I hope they don't have any guard dogs.."
"I have killed four people. I think I can handle some dirty dogs!"
"...still..."
Fred watched as Beta stepped out of the car and circled the fence.
——
A loud shatter rang through Fred's ears as he watched Beta throw a brick at a TV laughing maniacally. He himself was tired sitting on an old couch. Fred was extremely grateful that the place seemed closed with no one keeping guard. Still, he couldn't help but be on edge.
"This is so fun!"
"Ah, yes..."
Beta himself plopped himself next to Fred.
"Sometimes I wonder how your previous servants were and if they were as fun as me."
"You should know that you are far from a servant to me anymore."
Beta reached to grasp his hands pulling himself closer.
"Hah, yeah. I'm pretty special."
"Of course you are," Fred confirmed, picking up a decently sized rock with his fist and throwing it on some half broken window - watching as the glass shattered in all directions. "My other servants hated me. They wouldn't wish to talk to me even, I had to manipulate them to do what I wanted."
"That's fucked up, Fred. I love it." Beta smiled, throwing his arms around the taller's shoulders, giving him a quick kiss on the cheek. Fred melted into the gesture, purring in return.
"Curse this hunger I was born with..."
Beta found himself leaning in more as his mouth made contact with Fred's face. "Everyone has a deep dark hunger inside them." He whispered. "Some are better than others at hiding it."
He continued to trail kisses along Fred's face as Fred made sounds of enjoyment. "Beta, I think I lo-"
The sound of footsteps in the distance stopped him. He pulled away, eyes jolting.
"Shit Fred, someone is coming..." Beta hissed.
"It sounds like one person. I think it will be fine to jump them."
"Ugh, let's not kill anyone more right now. We don't know if someone else is with them. Hide or something and I'll talk to them."
"But..."
Beta gave Fred another quick perk. "If anything happens you can be my knight in shining armor."
"Ok..." Fred moved himself away.
Beta got himself up and tried to straight out his clothes to look less homeless. He would explain he was just some dumb art student trying to find something here to use for a project. He squirted at the figure approaching, it looked like a tall man.
"Why am I not surprised that I found you here of all places?" Beta blood went cold from the familiar voice. It couldn't be? How?
But it was. It was Alpha dressed in an all white turtleneck. Cigarette in hand with a scowl that would make a shark cower. A gun strapped to his shoulder.
"A-Alpha... how I.."
Alpha held his hand up. The typical sign the Beta knew that he should shut up. He did. He glanced around to see Fred nowhere in sight. He was surprised that Fred didn't come out immediately but maybe he was surprised himself to react right now. Maybe he had hope that this situation could end peacefully.
"YOU are not allowed to talk right now! YOU have no right in any sense!"
Beta eyes were starting to sting. What did he know?
"You killed him Beta. You killed our baby brother. I don't want to hear anything from you."
"...."
"Who were you even talking to before? I heard you talking to someone else!" Beta just moved his eyes away from him. "ANSWER ME!"
"No one!"
"Wow Beta, my dirty brother is a crazy psychopath who talks to himself. What a shocker."
"What the fuck are you even here for!? And How the fuck did you find me? Why aren't the police trailing your ass."
"Beta, your pea sized brain didn't turn off your location. And they aren't here because I wanted my one on one time with you before they got to you."
"Wow, what a hero."
"Shut your mouth."
"JUST GET AWAY FROM ME, ALPHA!"
"Why, because you are going to kill me too?"
"YES! I WILL EXACTLY DO THAT SO LEAVE ME ALONE!"
"I will not."
"YOU DENSE MOTHERFUCKER, LEAVE!"
"You're pathetic. Not only do you try to make yourself appear strong and scary, you break down the moment someone actually confronts you." Alpha spoke camly, dropping his cigarette to the ground after taking a final, long drag. His clean and new shoes dragged on the ground to extinguish the small dots of fire.
"Now answer me, who are you with?"
"I-I'm alone-" Beta answered quietly, his eyes fixated on the ground for a moment, which proved to have been a big mistake - Alpha got mad enough to approach him. The younger brother flinched as the other grabbed his dirty shirt, his fist making contact with Beta's nose.
Surprised by this action, he fell to the ground in pain - holding his nose as a light flow of blood seeped through his nostrils. He wasn't given another moment to recover as another punch dragged across his face, making his face violently turn to the other direction.
"Answer me. Who are you with?"
"N-Noone-"
"Bullshit." Alpha spat, "You're the biggest disappointment I have ever laid my eyes on, there is no way you killed three people alone at once."
Tears started to break the surface of Beta's eyes as they ran down his bloodied face. "It was all me!" he sobbed, "I just wanted to be left alone! Go away!"
Upon seeing the other crying his eyes out, Alpha's eyes softened momentarily - he couldn't stop comparing this very face with the one he had to take care of deceits ago. The expression was too similar to the one he made all those years ago, when he used to fall on his face while playing in the sandbox.
"Ugh Beta just get up and we will-."
This moment of weakness didn't last long as Alpha heard someone approaching.
Even Beta turned around as a new figure stepped into view... Alpha has never seen something as revolting before - the creature was best described as a monster. Black liquid seeped through his skin, onto the ground as it's eyes stared holes into the human. The many rows of teeth, as well as his towering height, made Alpha step back and take a hold of his gun.
"What the-" Alpha hissed, his eyes quickly jumping between Beta and the monster.
"F-Fred?... What are you doing?..." Beta asked weakly, not flinching as the entity stepped closer to him. It seemed as if he inspected the other's injuries, before his eyes snapped towards Alpha.
"You must be the oldest. It's a pleasure to finally meet you." Fred spoke, seemingly catching the other off guard by his ability to communicate.
"Step away from my brother!" Alpha snapped back, every last drop of fear in his body seemed to die down as he held his gun tightly, pointing it at the entity.
"I don't suggest doing so." Fred answered, watching as Alpha's eyes widened in panic. Beta recognized the familiar reaction, it was an ability of Fred he suffered through the very first time they met. He watched Alpha hold his throat as he desperately tried to breathe, falling onto his knees as his gun lowered. Fred took the opportunity to move closer, towering over the blonde.
He saw that Fred's digits grabbed at Alpha's head, ready to turn his neck enough to break it.
"FRED- STOP! DON'T KILL HIM!" Beta cried, more tears seeping through his eyes. Fred turned around in confusion. The entity let his powers leave Alpha, watching him barely hold himself from collapsing - he almost made the human have a literal heart stop, so he was clearly trying to recover from the shock. Fred walked towards Beta, who was now back on his feet.
"Beta, why did you-"
"I don't know! Don't hurt him please-" Beta whined, his hands grabbing at his hair in panic.
"But he tried to kill you!"
"N-NO! He wouldn't kill me-"
Alpha's tired eyes watched as the two argued, both their silhouettes blurred into the background as his vision faded. He finally found out what was wrong with Beta. His brother didn't kill anyone by choice, instead he was either framed or forced to commit these horrible acts by the monster.
The older brother's hand inched towards his gun again, he was going to save Beta. Just thinking about the vile things that his little brother had to suffer through made his blood run hot with hatred. He was going to tear the monster limb by limb and run away with Beta, they would go home together and he was going to tell Charlie everything about what happened.
He was going to save everyone. Make everything okay.
He felt the dirt scrape under his fingertips before they made contact with the smooth surface of the gun. He didn't even notice that he had dropped it as he carefully took it back into his shaky hands, holding his arms up as best as he could. Everything was a blur, Alpha wasn't sure what would happen to him once he shot at the monster, but whatever it was - he would endure it to save Beta.
Alpha aimed as best as he could, closing his eyes momentarily in a short prayer; this was for Senpai and for Beta. The arguing between his younger brother and the vile creature ceased as an ear piercing gun shot tore through the air.
Fred's eyes widened as he watched Beta collapse to the ground. It happened so quickly he didn't know where he got hit. Every emotion washed over him as he met eyes with Alpha. He was truly the real monster. Beta spared him and he still went out of his way to harm, especially while their backs were turned!
He watched as the pathetic human dropped the gun to the ground, squinting his eyes as Fred approached. He tried his best to crawl away, his head was heavy as he searched for any sight of his brother.
"B-Beta?" Alpha groaned out, obviously still disoriented. Fred used his powers on him before he could utter another word. His wrath increased as he made the older brother turn the gun onto himself toward his face. His hands shook as he tried to fight it. Fred got closer seeing the fear and begging in his eyes. "Please... no."
Good.
Fred stopped for a moment to think about what he was going to do, was it really worth it to blow the human's face apart? Beta cared for him, clearly - but the fact that he was able to turn on them at any time made his anger return immediately. How dare he shoot his own brother? At least the accident that revolved around Senpai's death was nothing more than a mistake - this was murder.
He pushed his mind and made him finally pull the trigger. The sound was louder than before as Alpha's face exploded. Blood and skull fractures flew everywhere - it only took a moment for the body to fall limb against the ground with a thud.
The deed was done and now Fred's attention was back on Beta - he was currently crouched over inspecting him everywhere. It was a scary situation because of his already bloody face but thankfully his head didn't get impacted at all. The damage was done on the side of his waist, with only a gaze that cut his clothing and was bleeding. Fred let out a noise of relief. His Beta was going to be okay.
"F-Fred." Beta eyes narrowed opened. He clearly was shaking more from the shock of everything going on than the pain itself. "Am I going to die?"
"No! You are going to be fine." Fred pulled him closer in his lap. He pulled at Beta's shirt to rip a piece off to hold it against his wound and apply pressure to stop the bleeding. Beta groaned in pain. "I'm sorry."
"W-Where is my brother?"
Fred couldn't answer.
"Fred, where is my brother?"
"Beta, please just rest."
"Where is he?! What did you do with him?"
"Beta, he hurt you, I had to..."
Beta's eyes fell.
"He's gone..." Beta tried to sit up to look but Fred stopped him.
"No... No, don't look." Fred held him back weakly.
He knew the image was even more gruesome than what happened to Senpai. Alpha's face was beyond unrecognizable, blown open like a red rose revealing its petals. But horrible - oh so horrible.
"Let me Fred, please." Beta spoke more broken than ever before. He was pushing away trying to get up.
"No, wait. You need to rest-"
"GET off of me!"
Fred flinched as the human snapped at him, his teary eyes narrowing as a warning. The demon let his hands drop to the ground, watching as Beta limped over to the body. He sat down on the dirty ground next to him, his eyes wide in shock and disgust.
"So, we're just going to leave him here?.." Beta asked, his voice dead and monotone as more tears builded up. "We can't just leave him here!" his voice suddenly spiked in volume as his sobs tore through the air. It was obvious that he wanted to hug the body, but he was too afraid to move Alpha even slightly. The blood gushing out of his neck was turning the ground dark red.
"Beta, there is no better way to get ri-"
"SHUT UP! I DIDN'T ASK YOU JACKSHIT!" He sobbed more, uncaring for the cut on his body. He brushed at Alpha's stained sweater. "Fuck he is so fucked up and dirty. He always hated being dirty!"
"He isn't..." Fred stuttered. This was a bad decision. A really bad decision. "Beta he is gone, he wouldn't know that he is dirty..."
"JUST SHUT! Why didn't you listen to me, you disgusting monster?!"
Fred could feel something inside of him break as Beta insulted him, just a few moments ago they were happily resting in each other's arms - Fred was even about to confess something he had never said to another being in his life before. But now, the human only saw him as a monster again; the demon wasn't even sure what he did incorrectly.
Yes, it seemed like killing his brother was a bad course of action, but there was simply nothing left that he could do. Either Alpha or Beta were destined to die today - and Fred would have never allowed his human to end up in a pool of his own blood. Fred lowered his gaze as he remained quiet, just like he was told to, as he listened to Beta's weak sobs.
Beta mind then went wild as he searched around. He caught sight of the gun that took his brother's life and grabbed it, pointing it up to his chin. Fred didn't even have time to react - to use his powers to stop him as Beta clicked the trigger. The gun was empty though, so it only caused more fat tears to fall from his face. He dropped the gun and collapsed into himself with his face to the ground.
"F-Fuckkkk..."
Fred jumped right into motion, he ran over to Beta and grabbed him off the ground roughly, pulling him tight to his chest.
"What had gotten into you, Beta?!" He spoke in a tone that the human has never heard before. It was the first time the demon sounded scared, even his digits were shaking as he dragged them across his back repeatedly. He buried his face into the other's hair as he prevented him from moving.
"I can't do this Fred... I have been pretending that it was all ok but I'm not ok. I can't live like this."
"Shhh...none of this is your fault." was all that Fred could say in the moment. Beta pushed away from again.
"I'm going back to the car, take care of him."
Fred wanted to stop him but he knew that effort would only lead to more issues. Beta obviously needed space, he would eventually bounce back like always. And as sick as it was the meal bleeding out in front of him was too tempting to just leave there.
Beta stood on shaky legs.
"Hold pressure on your wound while you are in there," Fred mumbled.
Beta just didn't respond as he limped away.