35. The Darkness

Alex's POV

"Alex?"

I stood up from my position before whirling in a circle, and I had a tight, defensive grip on the child. "Ally?"

I was wrapped into a tight hug, and I immediately wrapped one of my arms around his shoulders. "I missed you so much!"

"I know. I'm sorry."

"It'll be fine." When I looked up, there was another figure sprinting through the darkness, but I soon figured out that it was my father. I welcomed his embrace, and I was shocked to find that he was crying.

"I thought you were dead! Don't you ever disappear again."

"To be fair, it wasn't totally my fault. I was trying to go home, but I stumbled the wrong direction. I didn't realize how bad it was here, or I would have come back sooner. I was being selfish and nursing my wounds, and I forgot about you all. Speaking of wounds, where's Ash?"

At that moment, my child made a strange squeaking sound, and I looked down at him with the concern of a parent. "Is this your child?" Ally squealed while looking down at the bundle in my arms. "He's so tiny!"

"He is my baby. I only have birth a few hours ago, that's why he's so small."

"Isn't it dangerous for you to be out here this soon after labor?" It's been 4 months and my father is still concerned about my safety. I'm just glad that he doesn't hate me for leaving.

"Not exactly? I didn't have anywhere else to go."

"Where were you staying?"

"Some quiet pack in North Carolina. They were really nice, and I guess I just really liked not being in charge for a while. I got kicked out soon after I gave birth for doing something really stupid."

"I'm sorry to hear that, but we should get you home."

"Will Ash be there?"

"No. He's... Out."

"There's something you aren't telling me."

I saw Jackson approach us, and he hugged my father tightly against his own body. However, that wasn't what drew my attention. "Why are you wearing Ash's clip? He never took that thing off when we were together." Jackson looked like a deer in the headlights, and I had to get really up and personal to get an answer for my question. "Ash isn't just 'out', is he?"

"No... They tried to escape by burning down the building. The other three made it clear, but Ash got caught up on these very stairs by the vampire leaders. The mansion exploded, Alex, and he didn't make it out. I'm so sorry."

It took me a second to process his words. Ash... Ash is dead? This can't be right, I can feel him through the bond! Wait... Where is the bond?  Where's my wolf? "No," I breathed. I pushed Daniel into Ally's hands before sinking onto the ground. My tears splattered on the grass, and I thought about him.

The smile he wore when he knew he was right, the way his eyes lit up when I told him about baby Daniel, and the smell of his skin all floated around in my mind like a constant attack of birds. When I thought one thought was leaving, another one came to peck at my skin. I feel like I'm dying; this is the worst pain I've felt in my whole life. What am I without him but a sad blob? "Alex."

My father reached out to console me, but I lost it since I wasn't thinking anywhere near straight. "Don't touch me!"

"I know it hurts, Alex. Trust me."

Spiraling. My thoughts flew all through my mind. Memories of the short time I had him, and the threatening sadness crashing down on top of my head. I screamed for help in my mind, but no one could hear. I'm alone. I'm alone. I'm alone.

The darkness whispered things in my ear... Soothing words, and I began sliding towards him. The light begged my attention, by the other side kept pulling at my heart. He told me about how he could take the pain away; he told me that he could make me powerful on my own. I didn't have the courage to ignore his offers any more, and I slid down the slope into his preying arms.

I felt a surge of magic flow through my system, but it wasn't its normal light blue. The pitch black power curled around my heart and put a heavy fog over my emotional pain. I have no escape from the fog either, but the pain is gone.

I sat up, but there was just a crooked smile on my face. My father's face jumped back about 10 feet, and he shouted, "Allystar! Run!"

The darkness pooled and twisted around my barely upright body, and I felt much more powerful than I had before. "Tony, we need to leave. He's going to blow."

"No. I need to help him."

A group of 10 people approached us, and I felt the power go into the ground. It drained away all of the color from the natural setting, and it did a good job at frightening everyone else. "I need all ten of you to grab him as tightly as possible. As unappealing as it sounds, we need to get him an extremely secure prison, or he could go on the kill the whole world like he's doing to the grass... 3, 2, 1!"

Ten people ran at me, and even though I tried to fight, I was no match for 10 of the best trained wolves on the east coast. I was dragged through the forest, and one of the men ran ahead to let people know we were coming. I tried my best; I bit, thrashed, and everything in between, but at the end of the day, I still found myself in custody.

When we went up the front steps, I saw Allystar off to the side holding my baby. I made an extreme effort to launch at him to make sure my child was safe, but my actions were misunderstood as I was just grabbed much tighter. The little boy began crying at my behavior, but I felt no empathy. In fact, I felt nothing at all. Whatever, it masks the pain.

Suddenly, I was thrown into a room with a dull thud, and the door was instantly slammed shut. There's no metal in this place, so I can't let the magic loose. I heard the lock click into place, but I still lunged for the door in an attempt to escape. Despite my cries and scratches, no one let me out of the desolate prison. The darkness was laughing at me now. He says that he's never played with someone so fun.

No matter how much energy I emitted, nothing was happening. I'm alone again. I'm always alone, aren't I? Ash... He's probably alone in the sky, too, isn't he?

Someone carefully slid food and a blanket through the door, but I ignored the items. I deserve to be punished for trying to kill my own family. The darkness wouldn't let me go, and I regretted letting him in in the first place. My light side kept trying to launch attacks to no avail, and that's when I realized. I'm alone, broken, and evil.

Why am I here?