Chapter 84

The pain became so unbearable that it spread through his skull. It felt as if his head were about to explode. Alpha clutched at his temples and a loud scream tore from his throat. 

The sound brought a silence to Lia's cries. 

Lia looked at Alpha in shock. He knew that he had the power to reach out and calm Alpha. But the loss of his brother felt immeasurable and he couldn't bring himself to offer solace to the one who had caused it.

Alpha's breathing was becoming short. He was drowning in a sea of pain and his connection to Lia was fracturing, and with it, his very sense of self.

"L-Lia–want you…" He crawled towards Lia with a little hope but before he could touch Lia, he was pushed by Dexter. 

"Stay away from him, you bastard. Can't you see how much you have messed Lia up? What else do you want?" 

Lia looked away though his voice cracked when he whispered. "Get away from me. I don't want to see you."

Clutching his head he stumbled out of the room and collapsed on the couch in the living room. He screamed and screamed because his mind kept flashing him with the memories of the lab. 

All his life, he had followed a simple, brutal logic: eliminate threats. But now, nothing makes sense.

He didn't understand who Eve was to Lia. He never knew what a family meant, and never comprehended the bonds that tie people together. The concept of brothers is unfamiliar to him. All he knew was that Lia was different from everyone in this world. 

Lia is his light. 

He had learned to love Lia, not fully understanding what that love even meant.

So when his eyes landed on the colourful papers scattered on the coffee table his throbbing minimised a little. Just a few days ago, Lia was teaching him how to make paper stars. 

Suddenly, a smile appeared in his mind, bright eyes gazing at him and it calmed him down. 

He slowly picked up a pencil. In his own rudimentary way, he started writing. 

"Will is sorry." 

He wrote on the first star. 

"Talk to Will." 

"Lia loves Will again plseh." 

"Lia and Will." 

He wrote apologies, a few words were misspelled and barely readable but in his head, he was sure that this would make Lia happy and show his teeth again. 

But suddenly, the pain in his head intensified, searing agony that felt like it was splitting his skull. Alpha's grip on the pencil tightened and he let out a choked gasp. And then, something snapped.

His other personality surged forward. 

He chuckled bitterly looking at the stars scattered around him and mumbled to himself. "You messed up badly this time, huh?" 

He glanced back at Lia's room and could hear the muffled sounds of Lia's cries. A twisted smile crossed his face as he shook his head. 

Taking a deep breath, Alpha walked out of the house. 

◾◾◾

It had been two days since Lia had eaten anything and Dexter's patience was wearing thin. 

"Lia, you need to eat something," he nagged. "Please, come out and eat something. Starving yourself won't bring Eve back." 

He lay on his bed staring at the ceiling while Eve's lifeless smile kept haunting his dreams. 

"It's been two days since Eve died," he let out. 

Dexter was frustrated. Every time Lia speaks he just says these exact words. "And whose fault is that?" he began but he stopped himself abruptly. There was no point in blaming Lia. The situation was already messy without adding more guilt. He softened his tone and grabbed Lia's hand, pulling him up. "Come on, you need to eat something."

Reluctantly, Lia allowed himself to be dragged out of the room. When he finally emerged into the hallway, he expected to see Alpha waiting outside his door as usual. But the hallway was empty. 

A sudden fear gripped his heart.

"Where's he? It will be better that he won't show me his stupid face or-" 

"I haven't seen him since yesterday when you kicked him out."

This stopped Lia and his face turned into horror. "What do you mean you haven't seen him? Where is he?!" Without another word, he began to search the house. "Will? Will, where are you?"

"Lia, stop. Calm down and-" Dexter tried to stop him, but Lia shoved him away in panic. 

"Will?!" He searched every room and every corner. His heart was on the verge of exploding. "Alpha! Where the fuck are you-" 

When he turned another corner, he collided with a solid figure. Lia looked up to see Alpha standing there with a blank expression. 

For a moment, both of them just stared at each other. Lia didn't need long to realise that it wasn't Will who was standing in front of him but Alpha. The realisation made his heart ache, but he remained silent. 

Alpha raised his hand but Lia stepped back before he could touch him. Alpha pursed his lips and sighed though his heart ached. 

"I can't change what has happened. And I understand how you're feeling right now. But you should know that it wasn't his fault. He's like a kid who has only seen and endured violence. He can't defend himself because he doesn't know that what he did was wrong." 

When Lia didn't respond and lowered his head Alpha continued, "Thank you for loving someone like us. But you should have also considered the consequences of loving a literal monster and taking him out of his cage."

Lia's fists clenched and he glared at Alpha. "So you're blaming me now? For trying to help you? For believing that you could be more than just a…weapon?"

Alpha smiled and shook his head. "No, not blaming you. Just stating the truth. You wanted to believe in something better, but the reality is that I am what they made me. A monster. A weapon."

Lia was too fed to listen to him so he turned around and began to leave but Alpha's next question froze on the spot. 

"If you got a chance to choose between your brother and us…who would you have chosen?" 

Lia was so angry that Alpha hide himself and make him sad again so he lied. "Eve…I will choose my brother. Maybe, my life would not turn out like this and be a bit normal." 

His words broke both Alpha and Lia himself. 

Alpha took a step closer with a blank face. "If I could, I would never have let you into my life. It was your decision to bring me out and to try to make me human. You should have known that something like this would have happened sooner or later."

Lia's eyes flashed with anger. "Is it my fault for having hope?" 

Alpha's voice softened slightly though it was still sad. "I know you meant well. But you need to understand that some things can't be changed. I am what I am. And now, we've both paid the price for that."

Lia began to walk away. "You know what? Get out. Just get out of my sight. I can't even look at you right now."

Alpha didn't argue. But he asked quietly, "If I ever disappear someday, will you look for me again?"

That question made Lia's heart race because he was afraid of his own answer. Even ashamed. Not only once but the next thousand times if he has to look for Alpha, he will do it without any second thought. 

Yet his glare was ice cold. "I won't look for you. I never want to see you again. I won't repeat the same mistake again—"

Before he could finish, a pot shattered against his skull, and he crumpled to the ground making him faint. 

"What the fuck did you do?! Are you crazy?!" Dexter shouted, catching Lia before he hit the floor. 

"Take him back to his former world," Alpha let out with a calm voice. "When he wakes up and asks about me, tell him those people killed me." 

Dexter looked at him in shock. "What are you talking about?"

Alpha's gaze was fixed on Lia's face though he felt like someone was squeezing his heart. "He will look for me as soon as he wakes up. He may say now that he hates me and never wants to see me again, but I know how much he loves me. To stop him from looking for me, he needs to believe that I'm dead."

"And what about you, then?" 

Alpha looked down, a sadness in his eyes that seemed almost human. "Back to where I came from. I can't stay here. My mind won't let me survive in this world. They will come looking for me, sooner or later. I don't want any more deaths in his life."

Dexter nodded slowly but as he began to lift Lia, Alpha stopped him suddenly.

Leaning down, Alpha placed a gentle kiss on Lia's forehead. It was sad, affectionate, and everything Alpha could offer. 

"Goodbye, Lia," he whispered with water gathering in his eyes.

It was a sad goodbye but a much-needed one.

When he felt Will forcing his way out to stop Lia from going away, he whispered. "Please leave now." 

With that, Dexter turned and walked away with Lia, leaving the inhuman creature who dared to enter the human world in the hope of finding a place for himself, only to be proved wrong and left alone and isolated again.

Alpha watched them go, his heart dying with each step Dexter took. He knew this was the only way to keep Lia safe, even if it meant sacrificing his own chance at happiness. 

"The small amount of time I spend with you. I feel like I have lived my whole life. Even if they kill me now, I will die peacefully knowing there was someone in this world who loved me so much and will miss me….

….I-I love you too, Lia."