Trampling One's Pride
Raphael later left the room after making peace with Alex, and when he returned he saw the boy sleeping soundly under his thick blanket. He sighed and went over to his bed to wake him up but just as his hand touched him, the latter caught his hand from under the blanket.
Raphael gasped and dragged the blanket off but to his surprise, Alex was still sleeping. ' What is this? ' He thought in his head and tried to free himself but the sleeping boy was firmly holding him. He began to tap him to wake him up because it could seem that he wasn't aware of what he was doing.
"Huh?" Alex grunted as he opened his eyes. He looked by his side and saw that he was tightly holding Raphael and that the latter was frowning in pain. He abruptly let go and stood up immediately. "Damn it. I'm sorry, I didn't know," he said to him and looked at his hand. Seeing the bruises, he frowned deeply. ' Arthur! ' he yelled in his head because he knew that was his doing.
"I was only playing with him," Arthur replied and chuckled.
' Stop it! ' Alex warned him.
"Or what?" Arthur asked him back.
' I cease to be your vessel! ' Alex replied and that was it. Arthur stopped talking and didn't mutter any more words. Seeing that he became quiet, Alex sighed and came down from the bed. He approached Raphael and took hold of his hand, "Let me see," he said to him and began to examine it. ' Is this what he calls playing?' He thought with a frown.
Seeing that he wasn't happy, Raphael pulled his hand away and began to move it in the air. He was indicating that he was fine but Alex wouldn't buy it.
"Come, let me take you to the infirmary so that it would get treated," he said and dragged him along.
Raphael was surprised but he quietly let Alex drag him along with him as they made their way to the infirmary. When they got there, Alex took him to see the nurse in charge, a very fair lady with red hair and full curves.
"Miss, please would you mind checking his wrist and treating him?" He asked the lady who was busy writing some things down on a pad.
"Sure, let me see it," the nurse said and dropped what she was holding. Alex dragged Raphael and when they went to where she was sitting, he pulled out the hand and showed her. "This?" She asked him in surprise.
"Yes, treat it," Alex requested, not minding how surprised the lady looked.
"But it's not that bad," she said and Raphael shrugged his shoulders in agreement with her.
But Alex didn't care. "But it could get infected," he persisted, and seeing how he was determined to get the wound treated, the nurse finally agreed.
After cleaning the wound and dressing it, she sighed. "I'm done," she said to Alex who thanked her and left with Raphael walking closely behind him. "What a powerful dark energy I sense inside of him," she mumbled after the boys had left and then picked up her phone to make a call.
When the boys got outside, Raphael tapped Alex on the shoulder, and the two of them stopped. He placed his hand on his stomach and it growled that instant.
"You are hungry?" Alex asked him and he nodded. "Oh, so which way is the canteen?" He asked him while looking around for any description.
Raphael signaled him to follow him and then turned around and began to head in a particular direction. Alex followed behind and the two of them soon arrived at the school canteen. They went in and ordered their meal before joining the other kids who were on the table.
It was a long hall with a large table in the middle, and about forty chairs were placed around it for the students. Alex and Raphael found two empty chairs and went over to sit there but before they could sit down, the boy who had insulted Alex earlier stood up from where he was sitting and made his way to them.
"What are you doing here? This place has no space for you!" He said to Alex.
"What do you want?" Alex asked him.
"Take your food and leave! You aren't welcome here!" The boy replied and spat away.
Irritated by him, Alex turned and began to walk away silently. Unknown to him, Raphael was silently following him until he heard the boy yell again in anger. He halted and turned around only to see the boy's hand on Raphael's collar.
"What are you doing with that boy? He almost killed you, right?" The boy yelled at Raphael, jerking him as he spoke. He knew very well that Raphael could not talk freely like them but he kept jerking him and yelling at him the same time. "Answer me!"
"M-my friend!" The boy muttered and as soon as he spoke, he coughed out a mouthful of blood that spilled over the boy and the food he was also carrying.
"What—" The boy yelled furiously and raised his hand to hit him but before his hand could touch Raphael, someone caught it, halting his action immediately.
The sound of plates smashing on the floor filled the air and when they turned, it was Alex's own.
"Don't touch him," Alex said to the boy while holding his hand.
"Guys, did you see him leave that spot?"
"No, I didn't. I only heard the sound of his plates shattering."
"How did he—"
"I won't touch him only if you agree to fight with me now!" The boy replied to Alex as he slapped his hand away from his.
Alex has been trying to avoid this so much but from the way things are now, he could no longer continue. He glanced at Raphael who nodded at him, telling him to go ahead, he was quite taken aback that he also agreed with the fight but then, who wouldn't? Especially when your opponent is as proud as the one before him.
"Okay," he muttered. Turning to Raphael, he showed him three of his fingers and a smirk curved up at the end of his lips.
"Huh? Do you think you can beat me in three min—" The boy proudly said but before he could finish his statement, he was suddenly blown away. No, Alex pushed him forward until he went into the wall.
"I didn't say three minutes but three seconds," he corrected and dusted his hands. He glared at the boy who was inside the wall and then walked away. "Let us go," he said to Raphael who nodded and abruptly followed closely behind.
"Did you guys see what I saw?"
"Yeah, he stuck Jerry inside the wall!"
"Is he this strong initially or he just became strong some seconds ago?"
"Don't know, you should ask him."
Alex and Raphael ignored what the other kids were mumbling and left the canteen. As soon as they walked through the door, a large ball of flames made its way toward them. Raphael reacted quickly and pushed Alex out of the way but he ended up getting hit by the attack; the ball of flames hit him at the back and then erupted, causing his clothes to catch fire.
Seeing Raphael in flames, he rushed to him and tore his shirt so that the whole clothes won't get burned. Luckily, Raphael was wearing another one inside and so it was no problem.
"Are you okay?" Alex asked him and he shook his head and showed him the part that was already bruised because of the flames. "I'm sorry," Alex apologized immediately with a frown on his face.
"How was that?" Jerry taunted as he walked out of the canteen, dusting his clothes with a wide smile on his face. "What makes you think that a small attack like that would hurt me? You got to be kidding me," he said and laughed hard.
Alex turned and saw him. The look on the boy's face reminded him so much of Damon when he was killing his entire family and thus, this got him provoked.
"Fight?" Alex replied to him and began to walk towards him.
"Yes, let's fight and see who'll get the last laugh!" Jerry taunted as he also walked towards him. He opened his two palms and two balls of flames formed on both sides. "Take this!" He yelled and hurled the flames at Alex, one after the other.
Alex dodged the two attacks quickly and rushed at Jerry. He didn't have any ability to use like the boy and so he couldn't do a long-distance attack; he could only close to the space between them to enable him to fight head-on.
Seeing that he was coming, Jerry began to gather more flames in his hands but before they could get completed, Alex caught him on both hands and then gave him a knee blow on his belle. As the boy was lowered in pain, he used the opportunity to drag him down to the ground, and then send him flying away with a powerful kick. The boy slammed his back on the wall and fell, he curled up in pain for a while and when he tried to get up, he fell back to the ground. Alex walked up to him and stepped on his face, he tried to stand up but couldn't as a force was pressing him down.
Alex gazed at him for a while and then spoke. "Next time, I will kill you." He then left him there and walked back to where Raphael was waiting for him. When he got there, Raphael gave him a thumbs up which he responded by nodding his head at him. "Let us go," he said to him and the two of them left and returned to the dorms.
When they got back, they settled down and took their baths before changing into new clothes. As Alex was putting on his clothes, Raphael was busy writing down something and when he was done writing a full page, he gave it to him. Alex collected it, gazed at him curiously, and then went to sit down to read it.
After he was done reading it, he raised his head and looked at Raphael. From what he read, he came to realize that the boy's ability wasn't bad like this initially but that it became this life-threatening because of the curse he was placed under by his family. Someone in his family with the ability to use curses placed him under a curse and no one else can break it except for the placer. Funny enough, the placer is dead, leaving him to live and also die under the dreadful curse.
After knowing all this, Alex felt pity for him and wished he could somehow lift the curse so that he would regain freedom and be able to live a normal life like everyone else. Also, from the paper, he learned that the boy's family chased him away from their lives after he had unintentionally killed two of his younger siblings and some of his friends in the process of conversing with them. It was something they couldn't live with and so they drove him away, and it was while he was wandering endlessly on the streets that Kelvin saw him and decided to bring him to the school.
Standing up, Alex folded the paper and then approached Raphael who was staring at the ground with a sad look on his face. "Don't worry, if no one will accept you, I will do so. After all, we both have been abandoned by our families, we are just the same," he said to him and patted him on his shoulder.
"Th-thank you—" Raphael muttered but his words were followed by a mouthful of blood.
"You should not have bothered to talk," Alex said with a frown on his face. Since Raphael could not talk properly because of the curse, he made up his mind inwardly to keep an eye on him and make sure he does not end up hurting himself the more.
Soon after they both relaxed, a knock came on the door and when Raphael went to open it, he saw Kelvin standing there with two plates of food.
"I heard you boys didn't get to eat something and so I thought it wise and cool to do so," he said cheerfully and walked into the room even when he knew very well that he wasn't invited inside. The two boys stared at him with frowns on their faces but he ignored them and continued what he was doing. He dropped the plates of food on the table and then went over to one of the beds and sat down. "Eat the food while it is still hot," he said to them and looked away.
Raphael and Alex glanced at themselves, they initially didn't want to eat the food but after hearing the sounds their stomachs were making, they no longer had any choice but to swallow their pride and eat.
They went to the table and sat down before they began to eat.
Seeing how they were enjoying the food, Kelvin chuckled and then looked away again. He could not help but feel happy knowing that the two boys were getting along with each other.