**Chapter 3**

Moon stared at the boy, horror filling up her senses. Evil? Her?

Another boy came up behind the strange one. He laughed at the strange one, "Much like you, Alex!" Though his words were harsh, affection glimmered in his eyes.

Anger flashed in Alex's two-colored eyes, but was quickly replaced by his emotionless demeanor.

"Felix, what are you doing here?" Alex hissed through pearl white teeth. "They could figure us out,"

"Alex! The girl! She can hear you!" Felix gasped, slapping Alex's arm lightly.

Moon let out a creepy giggle, not knowing where that had come from, she covered up her mouth.

Alex just shrugged and said, "She won't tell. She can't."

"Alex, how can you be so sure? You literally just met her." Felix reminded his stubborn friend.

Alex simply glanced at Felix, an evil smirk playing on his lips. "Felix, oh clueless Felix…" Alex chuckled softly, shaking his head. "She is on our side."

"What..?" Moon croaked, staring at the two strange boys. Alex whirled around and stared Moon in the eye.

"Listen, Moon," He hissed slowly. With a gulp, Moon met his gaze with equal sass. Alex didn't waver his gaze as he continued, "Think: the guy that attacked you…"

Moon thought back to the strange boy. Boy? He was a kid. Just like her. "What about him…?" Moon asked tentatively.

"You see…he only did," Alex gestured towards Moon's bandaged wrists. "that, to you."

Moon furrowed her now-scarred-forehead. "I…don't really understand,"

Alex clucked his tongue and continued to explain. "Well, while only hurting you…" Alex stared Moon in the eyes. "He killed everyone else." Alex paused and leaned back, letting that sink in.

Moon sat silently until finally speaking, with a determined look plastered on her face, "That is simply because Ocean attacked him before he could do anything!"

Alex narrowed his eyes, he knew he would win this argument, he never lost anything. "Mmm, and what about the bodies?"

Moon blinked. "The…bodies?"

"Yes, do the bodies have scars just like your own?"

Moon flexed her jaw, exasperated, "I do not know."

Alex chuckled loudly and said, "Of course they do not! I know who attacked you, they leave no scars when they set out to kill."

Moon scoffed, "Oh yeah? Did you ever think of mistakes?"

"Mistakes?" Alex stopped laughing and widened his eyes comically, "Mistakes?"

Moon gulped at his sudden change in heart. "Yes."

He paused and glanced back at Felix, who at this point was just watching the entire thing unfold in front of him. Heck, he even considered grabbing popcorn!

Alex continued, "Do you really think he made a mistake?"

"Yes of course! All humans make mistakes."

Alex leaned in closer and whispered loudly, "But he's not human, is he? Just like you."

Moon gasped and reached up to push Alex away when Felix popped up and pulled him away. "ALLLLright, I think she gets it Alex…"

Moon's regular stubborn demeanor came back as quick as a flash and she snapped, "No, no I don't think I do get it."

Alex hissed and narrowed his eyes. "You will never be human again! Not after that encounter…"

"You mean the weird shadow-boy?"

Alex breathed out a strained sigh, "Yes. The… the shadow-boy."

Moon refused to say anything and waited for Alex to continue.

His blue eye twitched but he continued, "He used magic to make you one of them."

"One of them..?" Moon implored.

"YES." Alex snapped. Felix put a hand on his shoulder which caused Alex to start slightly. Glancing back at the boy, he cleared his throat. "Yes. As in one of his kind."

"Why, though?" Moon pushed.

Alex flared his nostrils and reached up to his shoulder, where Felix's hand still sat. He grabbed it and planted a kiss on it, making Felix squeak and blush. "He wanted you to be with him."

"ME?" Moon gasped.

"Mmhm." Was all Alex said, he was too occupied with Felix's stuttering and flushed face.

"But I don't even know him!" Moon recalled, throwing her gloved hands in the air.

"Yes, yes, I know." Alex murmured, eyeing Felix greedily.

"AhEM." Moon cleared her throat and Alex tore his gaze away- almost regretfully- away from his "friend".

"He wanted to take you to…"

Moon leaned forward expectantly, "To…?"

Alex looked into Moon's expectant eyes. "He wanted to take you to the Dark Kingdom."

Moon felt her breathing stop. After a second, she let it out with a yowl, "WHAT?!"

Felix flinched but stood up straight. "The Dark Kingdom isn't that bad, you know, it has its-"

Moon cut him off with a furious hiss. "No. NO. I don't wanna hear it! The Dark Kingdom- THE DARK KINGDOM."

Alex grabbed Moon's hands and stated calmly, "He wanted to love you, Moon."

Moon gaped at him, "What? But-"

Alex cut her off with a decisive shake of his head, "He wanted you to be happy with him. He wanted to be happy with you."

Moon couldn't believe it. It was ridiculous. Ridiculous? No. Insane? Absolutely.

Alex continued, "He couldn't leave his family, do you understand that? So his only option was to bring you there."

Moon had had enough, "But I have a family too!"

"Yes, but would your family really take a Dark Kingdom citizen? It was much more likely his family would accept a…" Alex paused and blinked thoughtfully at Moon, "A non-citizen." He seemed to decide that was the only name for her "kind".

"He was going to kidnap me! He was going to force me to love him!" Moon reminded Alex, snatching her wrists back with a huff of annoyance.

"He would never force you to do such a thing!" Alex snarled lightly, making Moon pause her inconsistent ranting. "He only did what he had to do."

Moon's eyes flashed. "He didn't have to kill all those-"

"HE DID."

Moon and Felix both started. Moon had never heard that intensity of emotion in his voice.

"He did." Alex whispered again.

With a gulp, Moon tried to find a different way to word what she wanted to ask. Moon treaded carefully on the words she chose, "Why did he have to kill them?"

Alex's one blue eye was filled with sadness. His yellow one remained emotionless, though. With a breath, Alex stated, "He was forced to."

"Why?" Moon tried again, eyes shining with confusion.

"How would you react, if the only way you could live was if you killed a bunch of people…and had to bring your soulmate back home with you?" Alex left the question hanging in the air, while Moon just replayed the words he had spoken- trying to make sense of them.

'Oh.' Moon thought. "OH." She gasped as it finally sunk in. "I- I'm his soulmate?"

"Yep." Alex yawned.

"But…but how did he know?" Moon stuttered, shaking her head in disbelief.

Alex had a knowing glint in his eye as he explained slowly, "Some people are born with healing powers- as you know- but others…that's not their only power. Like me, I can heal, see the future, kill with a flick of my wrist, read minds, and basically be completely and utterly silent when… uh, hunting, we'll say. But one that rarely anyone has is the power to see soulmates. I myself have that one. So does your soulmate. But there is no telling how evil other people can be once they know another has these powers, I will not name names, but someone had forced your soulmate to act when neither of you were ready." He paused and watched Moon as she gnawed her lower lip.

Finally, she asked, "But why? I mean, what, exactly, if any, was the purpose?"

Alex furrowed his brow and leaned backwards. "Actually…" Alex flicked his gaze back down to Moon. "He had no goal."

Moon pursed her lips and said, "Then…why?"

Alex shook his head, golden locks falling down into his face, brushing them away, he stated flatly, "Some people like entertainment."

Moon felt dumb, for

she had a hard time understanding. Before she could ask yet another question, Alex spoke up to the boy behind him, "Felix, you know more about this part then I do, care to explain?" Alex purred silkily with a wink directed at Felix. Felix's face turned another shade of red.

'The guy who forced my soulmate to do that stuff isn't the only one who likes entertainment,' Moon thought drily.

Felix ducked his head and tried to shimmy his way past Alex towards Moon, but Alex wasn't done tormenting the poor boy. Alex snatched Felix's shoulder's with a smirk. Felix squeaked and stiffened visibly. Moon watched with interest and quirked an eyebrow up at Alex's next move.