Chapter 83

"E-Eve…" 

"Eve…wake up…" 

Lia slowly fell near Eve's lifeless body. 

Everything seemed to hold its breath as if nature itself mourned the tragic loss of such a young life. 

Eve's body lay crumpled on the ground. His face was serene, almost as if he was merely sleeping, but the unnatural angle of his neck and the vacant stare of his eyes told the harsh truth. 

Lia gently shook the cold and lifeless body. "Eve, wake up...please."

But when he didn't get an answer his whispers turned to desperate cries. He shook Eve more brutally. "Eve! Come on, wake up! This isn't funny!" He hugged Eve's body while sobbing. "You can't leave me like this! Wake up, Eve! Please, wake up!"

Standing a few paces away, Alpha wore a look of confusion. It was hard for him to understand the meaning of the pain Lia was feeling. Or why would someone even cry at someone's death? 

"Lia," Alpha called out to him and stretched his hand to touch Lia so that Lia make him understand why he was crying over a death. But Lia's agony quickly turned to anger and he shoved Alpha away violently. 

"Get away from him!" he screamed in Alpha's face. "You did this! You killed him!"

Alpha stumbled back, bewildered by Lia's reaction. He didn't understand why Lia was so angry. In his mind, he had protected Lia from a perceived threat. The logic was simple, the execution precise. But the emotional fallout was something he couldn't grasp.

"Why?! Why did you do that?! You damn monster! Asshole!" He began to punch Alpha non-stop, landing blows on his face, nose, stomach—anywhere he could reach. Alpha didn't fight back because even in his sick mind, he was at least aware not to hurt his Lia. 

Suddenly, Dexter appeared, his eyes widening in horror when he saw Eve's still form on the ground, and the colour drained from his face. 

"What the hell happened here?" he shouted, rushing forward. His eyes locked onto Eve's and his voice snapped with fright. "Why is Eve on the ground? Eve, get up!"

Dexter tried in vain to wake Eve, but Eve's body slipped from his hands. Dexter's eyes widened further, the reality crashing down on him. He called for Eve again and again but all his pleas went unanswered.

Meanwhile, Lia continued to beat Alpha, his fists raining down on Alpha. "Why did you kill my brother? Why—" 

"It's your fault for bringing this monster into our lives!" Dexter stood up with tears and rage. He glared at Alpha whose face was now smudged in blood. "I warned you he wouldn't bring anything good. Now look at what he has done!"

Lia, still sitting on top of Alpha, hitting him repeatedly, barely registered Dexter's words. 

Dexter's voice broke as he continued to blame him. "You killed an innocent child who just wanted to see his brother! What justification do you have now? You said you could control this monster, so why didn't you? Why didn't you protect Eve?"

Lia's punches slowed, his strength ebbing as Dexter's accusations pierced through his outrage. He looked down at Alpha who just lay there with not even an ounce of regret or guilt in his eyes. 

Lia's heart shattered into million pieces as he finally realised his mistake. Mistake of taking this monster out! 

A single tear fell from his eye, landing on Alpha's bruised cheek. 

"You killed him! Do you k-know how many times he has…saved me?! And…you fucking…killed him! You killed m-my brother! I hate you!"

"L-Lia…" Alpha reached out to wipe those tears. He wanted to say don't cry but couldn't find the right words. All he could do was repeat Lia's name again and again. 

"No! Don't touch me," Lia screamed, aggressively pushing him away. He stood up and looked at Alpha with hate and despair. "Don't come near me."

Alpha, still unable to comprehend Lia's pain, felt a severe pain in his chest. He didn't understand why Lia who had always been his source of warmth and safety was now looking at him with such hostility. He wanted the old Lia back, the one who smiled at him and made him feel loved. 

Not this one, who made him feel scared. 

Slowly, Alpha rose to his feet too. Blood smeared his face but he didn't mind the physical pain. It was nothing compared to the emotional agony he was experiencing. 

"Lia, why you… he was trying to hurt you. He…he, I don't understand…"

"When have you ever understood anything?! You are fucking dumb! You are stupid. That's why nobody wants you! You're a mistake. A mistake that I committed by taking you out!" 

Alpha froze. "Lia…it hurts.." 

Lia laughed bitterly. "You should hurt. You know what? I don't want you either. You are cursed. They're right about you. Everyone is right about you. Whoever comes near you, whoever loves you, they're doomed to be destroyed."

Alpha flinched hard. Lia's voice now sounded like those of his tormentors from the lab, but even their cruel taunts and beatings never hurt him this much as Lia. 

"I shouldn't have loved you! I shouldn't have taken you out of there! You killed my brother! Get lost! Go away! I don't even want to see your face. Go! Go! Go!" 

Alpha stepped back in dread, each word from Lia pushing him further into a state of confusion and sorrow. He couldn't bear the sight of Lia's hateful eyes. It was too much. With a final, heart-wrenching look, he turned and ran away into the bushes. 

"Yes, go away! Never show me your face! I hate you! Go! Run away and never come back!" 

Alpha ran, his heart shattered by the one person he had ever loved. As he disappeared into the forest, Lia stood there with his body shaking with sobs. 

In the blink of an eye, everything can change. One moment you have it all, and the next, it's gone. No matter how tightly you hold on, some things are beyond your control. 

🖤🖤🖤

Two days later - 

"Lia open! Lia open!" Alpha's fists pounded against the door, his voice had gone hoarse from days of begging Lia to open the door. 

But not once had Lia come out of his room since the tragic death of his brother. He didn't even come out to say a final goodbye to Eve when Dexter laid him to rest. 

Alpha had remained outside Lia's door slamming and banging his fists. And he was losing his mind. Lia is like his medicine that was keeping him sane from going crazy. He needs Lia, needs to see him, touch him to reassure himself that they are still connected despite everything. 

And now without Lia, that sanity of his is dwindling every passing second. 

"Lia open! Open! Open!" Unknowingly using a bit too much strength, he one last time slammed his body against the door which splintered under his force. 

But the sight that greeted him inside made his heart stop. 

Lia was lying on the floor with blood smeared around him, soaking the floor and his clothes. A small knife clutched in his hand and his arms were marred with old and fresh wounds. 

"Lia, No!" Alpha's breath caught in his throat as he rushed to Lia's side. His hands trembled as he pried the knife from Lia's grip and flung it across the room. He gathered Lia's frail body into his lap, feeling the alarming coldness of his skin.

Lia's eyes fluttered open at the shake of his body. Some dry tears rolled down his temple as he looked up at Alpha. "Every time I tried to hurt myself, Eve would always come to help me...to treat my wounds. But this time...he didn't come. I waited a-and waited but…but he didn't come. Will he ever come again?"

Alpha's heart ached with an indescribable sorrow and he didn't know why. He cradled Lia closer while he stayed silent. 

Lia's sobs grew more intense. "You ruined everything. It would have been better if I hadn't taken you out of there. Then...my brother would still be alive. I shouldn't have taken a monster like you among humans."

Every word was like a knife stabbing in his heart. It's as if he really understands Lia's hate towards him. 

Lia pushed him away. "You killed my brother. He helped me get to you, and you killed him. I shouldn't have loved you. You deserve to be alone and rot there! They were treating you the right way and I was a fool to show you kindness! You deserve to suffer!"

Alpha's own face was paralyzed. He had never fully understood human emotions, but the look in Lia's eyes, the pure resentment. He gets it now. Lia also hates him, like those people at the lab. The only difference is those people hurt him physically and Lia hurt him mentally with words. 

Still, Lia's words hurt more than any beatings. He's ready to take any punishment or beating as long as Lia can go back to his former self where he would look at Alpha with big twinkling eyes and show him teeth. 

He doesn't like this Lia who scares him and makes his chest hurt. 

Alpha felt as if his world was collapsing around him. Alpha understood that no words or actions could make Lia like his older self. He had become the very monster Lia accused him of being. 

"Lia?! Just what the hell did you do to yourself?!" Dexter burst into the room, his eyes wide with panic as he looked at Lia. 

Without a moment's hesitation, he shoved Alpha away and enveloped Lia in a protective embrace. 

"Lia, it's okay. I'm here. Just some breaths–" 

But Lia fought against Dexter. "Alpha killed my brother, Dexter! He killed Eve! Tell him to disappear. I hate him! I don't want to see his face–ahhh!! It hurts Dexter! It hurts everywhere!! I want to die! Please—" 

Alpha watched and just watched. And the more he watched, the more his own head began to throb violently.