Chapter 42

Sage's gaze held a blend of distress and disbelief as his eyes were fixed on River, his mind was a storm of confusion. He couldn't understand what's happening. He doesn't know what this room was, what and how Alpha was there, and he doesn't understand why they were all calling River a doctor. 

"Who are…you?" he inquired River with a trembling voice. 

River's silence was deafening, unable to answer anything. And before he could attempt to break the silence, the principal's voice exclaimed. "What are you waiting for, Doctor? Why haven't you killed him yet?"

River glared at him and said firmly. "I won't take his life, let's get that clear first! His actions don't warrant such a severe punishment."

"Ah, playing favourites, I see. Quite remarkable how you can kill all those innocent kids without any remorse, yet you hesitate to harm your precious roommate." he let out with sarcasm, talking about the deaths that happened on the month's sacrifice which were blamed on Alpha. 

Alpha never killed them, and River was ordered to do so that the lab could fill the fear in students for Alpha. 

"Marco was far from innocent," River made it clear, rolling his eyes. "He was a monster."

"Or maybe you killed him because he r@ped your helpless little roommate?"

Sage suddenly flinched, principal's words making him remember that agonising night when he was forcefully trapped to be a part of a harem. The unbearable memories leave his mental state in shattered pieces. 

"Shut the fuck up before I break your old bones!" River's voice quivered in anger and desperation, glancing at Sage's shaking form. 

He tried to free Sage's tied hands, but a guard tried to stop him which fueled his anger further. In a swift forceful movement he grabbed the guard's neck effortlessly and pushed him away. The room erupted into chaos and more guards tried to approach them.

"Touch him, and I might accidentally give Alpha a wrong lethal injection," His warning was directed to the principal, his eyes burning with wrath. 

"Stop, no need to go near them," The principal managed to halt the guards. 

Ignoring their existence, River solely turns his focus to Sage, his grip on him firm yet protective. Sage was looking down while tears silently fell as he sniffled softly. 

River immediately became gentle. He reached out for Sage's face. "Ziggy, look at me." 

As Sage's hands were finally freed, River closed the distance between them, hiding him in his arms, scared of the world who wanted to harm his Ziggy. Sage's entire frame trembled as he weakly gripped River's back. 

His eyes poured out his anguish, while he sobs "What else are you hiding from me, R-River? Why am I being referred to as a 'subject'? Where are we? Why is my heart pounding so fast that it hurts? Why does it feel like... I..I don't even know myself? Why does nothing of this feel real?"

River's eyes blinked with unshed tears as he held Sage in a desperate grip. This was the situation he never wanted to see himself in. 

"The day you'll uncover the answers to your questions will also mark your final day in this world," His voice was solemn, his eyes locking onto Sage's as he cupped his trembling face. "And I won't let you see that day. So, you need to forget everything that happened today." 

A sudden beep pierced Sage's ears making him startled and alert. But before he could react, he was forcibly pushed onto a bed by the guards and an electric device was attached to his head, his panicked cries echoing through the room. His struggles were in vain, his strength no match for their hold.

"RIVER–!" 

River's gaze remained locked on Sage, his heart aching as he watched him helplessly struggling, his chest tightened with an unbearable sense of powerlessness, self-loathing gnawing at his soul.

 A bitter reminder of his past failures and his current inability to protect the one person who meant the world to him. He burned with the regret of not being able to save his family in the past, and now, he felt the same crushing pain as he stood helplessly while watching Sage's suffering.

"River please don't do this to me! I will always listen to you! Please, I'm scared!" 

Sage's painful cries for help reached his ears, each call a stab to River's heart. His gaze shifted to the principal silently begging to help Sage in any possible way. 

"I know why you gave Alpha a roommate out of nowhere. Don't think I'm a fool," River's words of negotiation took the principal aback. River glanced between Sage and him. "Release him this time, and I'll keep your secret. I won't tell the lab about Eve." 

But the principal's response dashed River's hopes. "I don't have that power. Whatever happens to these kids here is beyond my control. Tell whoever you want because you and I are just insignificant pawns for them. You already know that, so why are you making things difficult for yourself, kiddo?" 

River could see the sympathy in his eyes for him as well as for Sage. 

"River! Ask them to stop! Let me go!" He choked and the audible screams echoed through the room yet no one helped him. He cried between the hiccups. "P-Please…River ta…take me a-away…" 

River closed his eyes, his heart probably crying more than Sage. He turned around and reached out, his hand brushing against Sage's wet cheeks, wiping away his miseries. With his free hand, he intertwined their fingers, trying to soothe some of his pain. 

"It hurts," Sage could barely make out a whisper. River's eyes blurred for a second because of the tears that threatened to fall from his eyes. 

"I know, baby. But don't worry once you sleep all the pain will go away. You'll feel so much," River whispered, intertwining his hand with Sage's and squeezing it to tell Sage that he's there for him. "And when you'll wake up, I'll be there in front of you, holding you in my arms just like you love."

"A-Are you killing me?" Sage was shaking, feeling scared. His nerves were about to explode; he wanted all of this to just end. He wanted to go back in time and stop his past self from leaving the dorm. He should have listened to River and not left the room.

He now understands why River always stops him from going anywhere alone. Why River always looks nervous, why he never lets anyone approach Sage.

River looked broken, he looked weak, and he looked scared, as if Sage's words stabbed him in the heart. He sniffled because finally a tear slipped out of his bloodshot eyes.

"No, love, never," River shook his head desperately. "No one is killing you. No one can, as long as I'm alive. You'll just sleep for a while, you'll feel much peace," River waved his free hand to the other doctor without Sage noticing anything, to start the procedure while he kept caressing Sage's hand and speaking to him. "I want you to be brave for me. Can you do that for me, love?"

"Please d-don't leave me…" His eyes soon began to close as he felt something gripping his head so tight he thought it was going to explode.

"I won't, baby," Sage closed his eyes as his hand went limp in River's hand. 

And that's when River cried.

 [2 hours later]

River carefully lifted the unconscious Sage into his arms. However, before he could leave he was stopped by the Principal. 

"The lab would soon be expecting a report on Alpha's status," He reminded. 

River shoots him a glare of frustration. "Fuck you, fuck Alpha, and fuck your lab!" 

But it wasn't the only obstacle waiting for him. As he went outside someone was waiting for him. 

"I don't have time to argue with you right now," River exhaled deeply and told Nick. 

"I'm not here to argue," Nick announced casually, eyes narrowing on the unconscious Sage in River's arms.

"Don't..don't inform the lab about what happened," River almost begged. "Please."

Nick stayed silent for a moment before he finally responded. "I won't, but on one condition. Give him to me." 

If River's hands were free he would have punched Nick to another dimension. 

But Nick continued. "He's not yours to keep. He's the lab's property, he belongs to us. You can't be involved in an affair with a subject, they'll kill you." 

River laughed humorlessly. "And you can keep him?" 

"Yes, I can," Nick affirmed, his eyes telling River just how right he was, "Because I can bear the cost, and you can't. You already have a lover who's been waiting for you for three years. Do you really want to risk the life of that person you love? Remember, you'll eventually have to leave Sage once your mission is done. You'll eventually be able to meet that person. The day Alpha completes his training, you'll be forced to leave both Sage and Sanford. So, why are you making things complicated for yourself?" 

River knew everything Nick was saying was true, yet the moment he looked down and saw the redness under Sage's eyes, he lost all his senses. The person who has become his everything, who almost controls his life and emotions. How could he just let this person go? 

"Give him to me, and I promise I'll keep him safe. I'll keep him…alive," Nick added. 

River couldn't say anything but his grip tightened around his Ziggy. 

"I've already lost so much to your lab. My family, my principles, my humanity – I've become a killer, forced to take innocent lives for reasons I can't fathom. But him...he's the one thing I can't lose. He's the only reason I'm still holding on to this life. Please, don't take away my reason," River whispered in a low voice as if he was talking to himself. 

A sorrowful sadness crossed Nick's expression because he was feeling the similar pain. "He's my reason too," he admitted quietly. "I can say the same thing to you. We are both selfish but you already have a lover, don't you? While I only have this person you are trying so hard to take away from me." 

River's heart raced, Nick's words stirred conflicting feelings within him, he didn't even want to listen further. 

'Nicki, you look really funny when you get angry,' Sage's playful voice echoed in Nick's thoughts, a memory of their shared moments in the past. 

"I'll help him remember once he'll go with me-," he began but was cut off by River's sudden outburst. 

"Don't be ridiculous! It's not that simple," River's retort was sharp, his frustration turning into anger. "I know you came here to take him away. Do you think I'm a fool? You hate Alpha, and you say you came for him. Don't repeat the past, Ziggy is fine with me. So, just leave and don't make things more complicated than they already are." River told him angrily. 

With an indifferent expression, River walked past him leaving him standing there with an ominous expression. 

"The past will repeat itself." Nick let out. 

[6 days later]

The door of the mirror room creaked open, and a tall figure entered, staring at the scene in front of him. Taking a deep breath, he bent down, his strong hands reaching out to check the neck of the unconscious body on the ground. 

"Still alive," he let in a deep and bored voice before carefully lifting it up. 

The fragile body lay in his arms, which seemed to have lost a lot of weight since he didn't drink or eat anything for almost a week. 

"I thought I made it clear when I warned you about trying something funny," Alpha's lips curved into a wry smile as he looked at the passed out Eve. His tone was amusing. "You really enjoyed yourself while I was away, huh?" 

"But don't you dare to die, your body is mine." 

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