*BANG* *BANG*
The gunshot sound echoed in the building's empty floor. The smell of gunpowder and iron filled the air.
The sound of footsteps getting further away could be heard, leaving only the sound of a dying man grasping for his last breath behind.
'Ugh'
Alex looked at the silhouette of a man he grew to trust as it got further away from him. He could feel that breathing was getting more and more difficult by the second. His lungs drowning in his own blood and slowly suffocating.
'This is what I get for trusting you?'
He struggled to sit up and leaned against the unfinished walls of the building, his slight movement draining the minuscule strength that was left in his body.
His eyes drifted across the scene—the bodies of his crew sprawled in front of him. The ones he'd trusted, now cold and lifeless, as if to remind him of the consequences of trusting someone again.
His eyes lingering on Steve, who he promised to attend his daughter's birthday party, now gone- lying lifeless on the cold floor leaving and unfulfilled promise behind.
'After all that we've been through, and this is what I get?'
He thought to himself as though he was facing the perpetrator himself. His vision blurred, and the light in his eyes began to fade but even then, you could still see the pure hatred he had for the man who placed him in his current state in his eyes.
'Why? WHY?'
He screamed in his mind trying to force his voice out, to make his once-best friend hear him. But only a bloody cough escaped.
*Cough* "….hy?"
As the fading sound of the footsteps got even further, Alex felt the isolation that came with the betrayal.
His chest burned with every shallow breath. The blood pooled at his side was warm, but the floor beneath him was cold—too cold. It reminded him of that night. That winter night, when he was eight… and he first met HIM.
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The winds were howling outside the building, which seemed like it was doing its best not to fall over and collapse
It was another routine morning for the kids in the orphanage, waking up feeling like they slept in concrete itself, the morning was especially cold with the winter season. Kids dragging their aching bodies to get some breakfast to start their day.
A young Alex was just like any other child in the orphanage, drained by the circumstances they find themselves in but optimistic about what lays ahead.
"Alex"
A shout of his name got him out of his stupor. He turned towards the door of his room to see her, wearing her usual black and white Nun uniform, Mother Terrisa with her usual stern face, she stood in the doorway with her hand on her hips.
Her grey hair flowing down elegantly to the side, framing her slightly wrinkled face that didn't take away from her beauty. Anyone looking at her might think that she was still in their forties. Only the wisdom in her eyes that only comes with maturing with age betrayed her.
"Get ready for breakfast young man or you will miss it again."
She instructed with her usual stern voice, but you could hear hints of concern behind her tone. She looked at Alex in front of her and couldn't help but slowly shake her head.
*SIGH*
'Brilliant mind, but so distant.'
She thought to herself as she continued to head to the hall used to dish out meals leaving behind a young Alex still preparing to head to the Hall as well.
Alex got himself out of the room, although reluctant to be around the other kids, he still could feel that his stomach was protesting.
As he slowly approached the hall, the noise of kids mingling amongst themselves and eating could be heard. The hall was massive with kids filling it out. With just a glance one could see close to two hundred kids.
With great familiarity, he went to the nuns distributing the food without anyone paying attention to him.
"Good morning, Mother."
He said as he got in front of one of the nuns.
She looked at Alex with a disinterest in her eyes but masterfully hidden behind a holy smile
"Good morning child."
Alex observed as he usually did when he came to get his food or interacted with the other Nuns in the orphanage.
'That smile again,'
He thought to himself as he looked for a seat in the crowded hall. As if lady luck was smiling at him. He noticed an empty table in one corner of the hall and the went toward it.
As he got closer and closer to the table, some kids around him started to look at him as if they were about to watch a good show, this puzzled him because he knows that the kids in the orphanage never pay attention to him not that he was complaining.
He got to the table and placed his food on it and sat down. As soon as he sat, it was like a mute button was pressed as the hall got eerily quiet.
'What's going on.?'
He looked around and was even more confused as every kid in the hall was looking at him like he was the bravest soul to ever grace the earth.
Whispers filled the halls as the kids talked among themselves in disbelief.
'What is he doing?' One kid whispered.
As the confusion deepened, a shadow loomed from behind him. As he turned around, he saw the face of a young handsome but cold face. The young man had short silver hair and sharp eyebrows that emphasized his light grey eyes that looked devoid of any life in them.
He looked around and could see that the other kids were avoiding eye contact with this kid. They even stepped further away from them.
The young man looked at his and in his cold voice he spoke,
"You're in my sit."
And for Alex that was the start of the relationship that changed everything for him