Chapter Twenty-Seven (Storm)
It was my fault.
At least, that's how I felt.
My chest felt tight with pain, and not just from the beating I'd received from both Jasper and Nicholas, but the pain of hearing Alexander scream. I had tried. I had tried so hard to hide it from him, but I should have known that Alexander would see. He was stronger than he thought he was and even with two purebloods struggling to keep his eyes away, he still saw.
I had tried to pull him away and cover his head, but the two seconds of freedom allowed him to see what Mark and I had been trying to fight against. Alexander screamed, the sound almost inhuman.
It was pure and utter agony, tearing through the air.
Even Mark looked like he was about to cry, but he just bit hard into his lip and grabbed Alexander by the shoulder, whirling him around forcefully. It was too late, though. The damage had been done and Alexander was kicking even harder to get away.
I was grateful when Amber came running over, breathing hard as her blonde hair whipped around in the wind and blood caked the front of her jacket and bled from a cut in her cheek. Other than that, she seemed fine as she came over, taking Alexander, who kept writhing. Behind Amber came Kornelius, who joined Amber and Mark in forcing Alexander away from the bloody scene.
I hesitated to go after them before I forced myself to glance over my shoulder at my father, who was coming toward me. Blood was splashed up across the front of his clothes, droplets spattered across his face. His right hand dripped heavily with blood that didn't belong to him. It left a thick wet trail to Nicholas' body.
It lay in a thick sea of red blood. Just a few feet away was his head, still oozing globs of blood that made my stomach churn. My father grabbed me by the back of my head and turned me away.
"Don't look." He ordered firmly. I gritted my teeth as he kept his fingers entangled in my hair, forcing me to walk the other way.
"You didn't have to kill him." I seethed past clenched teeth. He didn't say anything for a while as we walked down the sidewalk toward the long black stretch limo that waited to bring us back to Wolf Creek.
"Yes, I did," My father answered, his voice cold enough to give me chills, "His intent was kill. Newell was forcing his bodyguard to torment Alexander, refusing to stop until Nicholas killed Storm. If Nicholas had gone after the bodyguard, they were in the perfect position to kill Alexander. I did what I did because I was saving my son's life. My son and his friend." After that he said nothing else, forcing me along by my hair until we got to the limo. He let go of me as I ducked into the limo, waiting for him to get in, but he went to slam the door. I swung my hand out to stop him, glaring at him.
"What're you doing?" I demanded. My father stared at me blankly.
"Newell escaped. He couldn't have gone far. The rest of you return to Wolf Creek. Call me when you're ready to come home." He informed, then slammed the car door shut, making me wince. I stared out the window as my father said something to William, who nodded and got in the driver's seat. My father stared at the black windows of the limo and he somehow managed to find my eyes.
We stared at each other until William pulled away. I continued to stare out the window until my father disappeared out of sight. I turned back to see that everyone had made it to the limo, but they all sat in silence.
Even Alexander.
He sat there, staring at the floor, tears streaming down his face. He looked pretty banged up and in need of some blood, but I didn't say so. We just sat in silence. Mark sat by Alexander, but didn't say a word. He just sat there, staring at anything that wasn't Alexander or me. He would sniff every so often, but that was it. I could tell he was fighting back tears too.
I looked at Kornelius and his wife, who sat in silence, looking too exhausted to care about anything, including their heartbroken son. Amber sat by her mother, staring at Alexander, her eyes red rimmed and ready to give way to tears, but she managed to keep them contained.
The ride continued on in silence. No one spoke. No one did anything, but sit and wait for the ride to be over. It finally ended once we pulled up the driveway. Mr. and Mrs. Grey got out first and went straight to the house, not wanting to deal with anymore of our misadventures. Amber climbed out next, but waited as Mark looked at Alexander, who made no move to get out.
"Alex, we should... probably go inside... You're bleeding pretty badly." Mark said quietly and carefully, then tentatively touched Alexander's hand. Alexander instantly pulled his hand out of Mark's reach, but nodded and slowly got up, getting out of the car. I looked at Mark, who looked back at me, hurt. I reached out and took his hand in mine, leading him out of the car.
We walked behind Amber and Alexander, who didn't say anything to each other as they went inside. I watched Alexander go straight to his room without another word, ignoring Amber, who told him he needed blood. Amber looked at me, frowning as Mark brushed past me to go up the stairs so he could wash off as well.
"What the hell happened out there?" She demanded, her voice like a blade of ice. I frowned in return.
"My father did what he had to do." I answered stiffly. Amber scowled, dropping her arms to her sides, clenching her fists in irritation.
"Killing him was what he had to do?" She snapped angrily. I glared at her, but I wasn't going to justify what my father did.
Nicholas was dead.
My father killed him.
He had his reasons, and even if I disagreed with them, nothing I said would change what happened. It wouldn't change the fact that Nicholas was dead or that my father was guilty. I saw the look on his face when he sent us off. He wasn't just sticking around to look for Newell. He wanted to be by himself to beat himself over what happened.
He killed Nicholas because he knew Nicholas was binded and he knew Newell would get away. Nicholas had no choice and he was about to kill me to be with Alexander, even if it meant getting himself killed. The thought made me grimace as I went into the kitchen to escape Amber, but it didn't work because she followed close at my heels.
"You destroyed the whole reason we went out there," Amber fumed, slamming her fist into the marble counter, sending bits of marble flying into the air, "Alex expected to come back with Nicholas!"
"And you don't think we expected it either?" I demanded, whirling to face her. Amber narrowed her eyes hatefully as she pushed away from the counter, taking a few steps back as she held her hands up, shaking her head.
"Forget it. Trying to get through you people is impossible."
"You people?"
"That's right. You people. I won't argue with you anymore. I just hope that every time you see Alex, you'll remember what your father did. I hope every time he sees Alex, he wants to kill himself." Amber spat, then whirled around and stormed out of the room, leaving me to stand there stiffly.
I shouldn't be angry with her, I reminded myself, taking deep breathes to calm down. She was angry because I had hurt her brother. Anyone would be defense of their sibling. Yet, something about the way she said that last part irked me. My father already carried heavy burdens. This was just another thing that would weight down on his shoulders. He was carrying a load almost as heavy as Atlas'.
I just drank a large cup of blood, almost enough to get blood drunk, but managed to stop myself before that happened. I went upstairs to my room, pausing as I looked down the hallway at Alexander's. I nibbled my lower lip for a moment, then took a deep breath and continued down the hallway to his room.
I hesitated in front of his door before knocking gently. I didn't receive a response, which worried me, so I pushed the door open and peered inside. The lights were off and Alexander was lying in his bed with his back to the door as he faced the window, the curtains thankfully pulled shut to avoid the sunlight outside that peered through the darkening clouds.
"Alexander?" I asked quietly. Alexander didn't make a sound. I frowned and stepped inside, avoiding the piles of laundry on the floor. I hadn't expected someone like Alexander to have a messy room in all honesty. I picked my way to the bed and peered down, sighing in relief to see that he was fast asleep. His eyes were red and puffy from crying, his cheeks still flushed. He was hugging one of his pillows, the blankets tugged up to his chin.
I frowned, staring down at him for a while before reaching out, brushing his cheek with my fingertips before retreating. I suddenly felt guilty.
Alexander hadn't done anything wrong this whole time.
He'd been trying to make me happy, Mark happy, everyone else, but himself. The one chance he had for happiness was literally ripped right away from him and I was defending the person who did it and I hated myself for it. I defended my father because of what he did. He was protecting me. I was his son... But at the same time, part of me wished that I could hate my father for what he did to Alexander.
My head began to ache as my thoughts clambored over each other to the surface. I shook my head quickly and withdrew from the room, closing the door silently behind me. I crept down the hallway and got to my room, peering inside to see Mark lying on his back on the bed, wearing an oversized long sleeve navy shirt and boxer briefs. He was holding a book over his head, frowning at it seriously.
It was one of my copies of "Three Folds and More". It was a book with rules about our world and facts that they should teach in special schools, but humans were too nosy.
"What took you so long?" Mark asked quietly, tilting his head to look at me as I shut the door behind me.
"Just... didn't feel well." I answered under my breath. Mark cocked his head and sat up, closing the book and setting it aside as I came over and sat on the bed, resting my elbows on my knees as I buried my face in my hands. My muscles ached and my bones protested anymore movement. My headache only grew until I felt Mark's hands on my shoulders. I blinked and lowered my hands as Mark pressed his hands against my shoulder, rubbing his thumbs in slow circles.
"It wasn't your fault." Mark said softly near my ear, the hairs on the back of my neck rising at the attention. I didn't say anything, though, just looked down at the floor. Mark reached around under my arms and pulled my shirt off over my head slowly, tossing it to the floor at the end of the bed.
He touched his warm hands against my bare back, massaging it gently. His breath was hot against my neck. I shivered a little as Mark kissed my shoulder lightly, his cheeks flushing.
"What happened?" He asked quietly. I grimaced and reached up, touching my hands over Mark's for a while, relishing at the feel of his smooth, flawless skin. I squeezed my eyes shut for a moment, then glanced in Mark's direction, but not at him. I suddenly felt too filthy to look at him.
"Nicholas was going to kill me."
"But he's just a halfblood, right?"
"A halfblood bent on protecting his lover... Newell was threatening Nicholas. If Nicholas didn't kill me, Newell would kill Alexander. Nicholas had no choice and he thought he could kill me, but my father told me to take Alexander and run.... I should've known what he was planning at that moment, but I wasn't thinking correctly. I always did what my father said, no matter what. It was when I saw him going for Nicholas when I realized what he was doing." I cut myself off to look away, dropping my hands from Mark's, waiting for him to get angry or protest, but he surprised me by wrapping his arms around me tightly, resting his head against the back of my shoulder.
"It's all right." Mark's voice murmured. I gritted my teeth in pain and just melted under Mark's touch. I let him pull me back onto the bed. He crawled to the end of the bed, sitting on his knees as he tugged my shoes and socks off, tossing them aside. He unzipped my pants and threw them on the floor before pulling the blankets up with him as he crawled on top of me.
His body was small and hot against mine. My body reacted instantly, but my mind wasn't in it. I was still conflicted. I let Mark kiss me and touch me, murmuring that everything would be all right. Then I was surprised as he said something else.
"This Goddess you guys talk about so much... She knows there was nothing bad behind what happened... She'll do something about it." Mark assured softly against my throat, his lips touching me there for a moment, making me sigh. I put my arms around him tightly, feeling his heart pound against his chest and my own.
I fell asleep to our heartbeats catching up to each other.