Chapter 146: The Aftermath
Alex’s POV
Groggily waking up, the first thing I see is a wall of smooth stone only a foot or two away from my face. Thinking that this wall looked familiar and that I had seen it at some point before, I sat up without haste, expecting to feel pain deriving from my torso where Scar had gashed me with his dagger, but no pain resonated.
Looking around the room, I realized it was the same square room where I had woken up handcuffed before, or at least it looked identical. I also registered that, unlike last time, I was now comfortably lying on the bed, under the covers and all. Throwing the covers off to the side, I was wearing a pair of fresh-smelling black trousers, a long grey shirt, and a pair of black socks.
I smiled briefly, recalling how I complained about not sleeping in the bed the last time I had woken up at this place. But then, I remembered that Zeris stopped me from killing Scar and avenging my family, and my smile dropped immediately. Looking down beside me, I saw a bottle of water and a folded piece of paper on the ground.
What now?
Grabbing both items, I unscrewed the lid and chugged down the water, the refreshing liquid soothing my parched throat. Exerting a long gasp as I thrust the quarter-filled bottle away from my mouth, I unfold the paper and realize it’s a note.
Alex, once you wake up, come find us. After you leave that room, go straight and take a left. We’ll be in a room two doors down on your right-hand side. I only ask that you give us a chance to explain – Zeris
Crumbling up the paper, I gulp down the last of the water. Tossing the empty bottle and wad of paper on the tiled surface, I march over to the door and wrap my fingers around the handle. After taking a deep breath, I pull down on the handle, and a metal sound ‘clinks’.
Storming out of the room, there was a straight hallway and a hallway branching off to the right. Following Zeris’s directions, I head straight and take the closest left turn. Trekking down the new hallway, I arrive at the second door on the right and throw the door open. Another ‘clink’ chimes.
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Marching inside, the room was similar to that of a lounge area. To my left, a few couches were set close to one another, and a long coffee table was placed between all the sofas, offering a place where people could set down their food or drinks. A television was mounted on the wall, presumably for entertainment, while people relaxed on the couches. To my right looked to be a mix of a kitchen and a bar, as bottles of alcohol and other drinks were lined along the countertop while a double-door fridge occupied the far corner of the room.
Seated across from one another on the couches, Zeris and my father quietly examined me. My father was holding a bottle of beer, and his expression was blank.
“Evening, Alex. Good nap?” asks Zeris, breaking the awkward silence.
Snapping my fingers, a fireball is quickly cast out of my right hand, flying directly toward Zeris. But Zeris doesn’t even bat an eye as my father steps in to block my attack, his hand enveloped with a shining, translucent golden glove. Furying eating away at my insides for what the two of them did, I move my fingers into position, ready to snap them once more.
I wait to see what Zeris and my father do now as my eyes spark in and out of a fiery orange, my countenance wrinkled into an emotional flux of despair where I don’t know what to think. As my father steps toward me, I snap my fingers and emit a fireball at his chest, but his golden armor quickly enwraps his chest with protection, negating my attack once more.
With my father standing before me, the two of us now stood at almost the same height… I was maybe only an inch or so shorter. That said, even though my build was strong, I was muscularly small compared to my father. We met each other's gaze briefly, but I quickly averted my eyes.
“What? You going to beat me up again?” I ask, not addressing him as sir on purpose.
“Depending on how you act, I might consider it,” replies my father.
“Why are you here?”
“Your eyes… they don’t have the same glow now,” says Kane.
I spark my eyes with a side-eye, “I think they glow just fine. Now, why are you here?”
“Alex…" my father nudges his head to the couches behind him. "Please have a seat.”
Remembering the note I read when I woke up, I contemplated whether I should give them a chance and listen... or if I was going to defy the two most powerful individuals I knew.