I Can Do Anything To You
Pairing: Alex/Yassen
Summary: Sequel to Make It Last Forever. Five months have passed since Alex last saw Yassen. Are things still the same between them?
Warnings: Slash, underage sex where Alex is seventeen in this (no sex in first part though), violence, character death.
Disclaimer: I do not own Alex Rider. Anthony Horowitz is the genius who came up with this boy and the books.
A/N: Here's the sequel. If you haven't read Make It Last Forever, I suggest you do that first. This story will be made into two parts, this is the first one. I always planned on making a sequel and what scared me the most was how alike AH and I thought about some certain things - when it comes to the last AR book and this fic, that is. You'll know what I mean when you read on. I'd probably throw in some meaningful words about how much AH and the Alex Rider series have meant to me during my growing up, but I simply can't find the words.
Anyway, enjoy.
Part 1
When Alex is captured in Greece and taken to Santorini, he knows he's in deep trouble. The look in the Greek men's eyes is the look of desperation. And it's no secret that desperate men take to desperate measures. Alex doesn't even know who he's up against this time, but he's sure it isn't Scorpia. It can't be Scorpia. Alex is taken to the island in a motorboat, with his hands tied behind his back and guns pointed to his head. The Greek men won't underestimate him.
They don't ask him anything and Alex realizes they are under strict orders from someone higher up. Whatever organisation this is it's definitely a well-organized one. Nobody on the island notice something is up when they arrive. One of the men holds on to Alex and his gun is hidden under the jacket he carries over his arm. To everyone else it only looks like the teenager is being helped off the boat – they probably assume he's seasick or something. And it's not necessary for the men to tell Alex what'll happen if he shouts for help – Alex has been in this scenario many times before.
Alex's taken to a house and thrown in a cell in the dark cellar below it. The men leave him unwatched. Alex isn't surprised. There's a barred window in the cell, but even if he managed to get himself out of it somehow, there's still sharp cliffs and water waiting for him on the outside. There's nothing Alex can do but sit down and wait for something to happen.
And he does wait, for many hours. And each hour it gets hotter in the cell. Alex was dressed completely in black, to make him invisible in the night, when the Greek men found him. Now he has pulled the black jacket off, in need for some slight cold on his skin, and left are his white t-shirt and black trousers.
He gets extremely tired in the heat, but doesn't dare to shut his eyes. He falls into a daze and when his mind finally starts working again, he realizes he's thirsty. Very thirsty. And hungry. The sun is up again and Alex figures he hasn't drunken or eaten in at least a day. Immediately Alex gets what the Greek men are doing to him. They're starving him to make him talk. Alex panics, but then reminds himself they can't let him die. They can't. They need him alive if they want information. Alex fixates on the door to the cellar and waits for someone to come in and give him food, but no one comes. It gets dark once again and this time Alex begs himself to fall asleep and make his hunger and thirst disappear. For at least a few hours. He tries not to think of the fact that the starvation will be much worse when he wakes up.
And so someone finally comes and wakes him up in the middle of the night, and Alex is filled with a small hope. Alex sits on the dirty cellar floor, like a child, and stares up at the Greek man outside his barred cell. The man is holding a food tray and his dead eyes meet Alex's.
"Tell me who you're working for", the man demands with a rough English.
Alex opens his mouth, but closes it quickly. He can't. He can't say who he's working for. Not yet. He has to hold on, he has to wait.
"Tell me and you can have the food", the man says.
Alex stares at the bread and tsatziki on the tray and smells the food in the air. His stomach churns. But he can't. He remains silent and then the man gives up and leaves. Alex has to restrain himself from calling out after him.
The man comes back twice the next day. At one point he offered Alex some water, if only he said his first name, but Alex shook his head. There isn't enough determination in his declines now, but he continues with the hope that the Greeks won't let him die.
It's on the night of the third day and Alex sits in the moonlight, on the floor with his back against the wall. His knees are pulled up and he's resting his arms on them. He plays with his hands and tries to think of everything but food and water. He dozes off every now and then, and dreams of being home with Jack, to only wake up to the nightmare he's in.
That's when something suddenly happens. Loud voices are heard outside the cellar, and Alex wouldn't have bothered if it wasn't for the fact that it's always deadly quiet outside (and inside) the cellar with only the waves outside being heard against the cliffs.
The cellar door opens and Alex doesn't believe his eyes when he sees the blonde man get inside. A Greek man is following him and seems to be protesting about something. The assassin stops outside his cell and looks down at him. Alex meets his eyes, and while people might think he should feel hope, the only thing he feels is dread. What is he doing here? Who are these people? Is it Scorpia again after all?
Alex looks away, closes his eyes, and hopes this is only a dream. He has fallen asleep and this is only a dream. If Yassen is here, then it means these people are very powerful, and then it means the chances of Alex surviving this are very slim.
Alex hears Yassen say something to the Greek man and understands he's opening the door to the cell. He opens his eyes slightly to see Yassen wait until the Greek man has left them before he gets inside. He closes the door after him and Alex immediately feels like he's trapped in a cage with a beast. Yassen walks over to him and crouches down next to Alex. The seventeen-year-old refuses to look at him. He can feel the Russian's intense eyes on him, and when Alex finally gives in and looks at him he imagines seeing concern in Yassen's eyes. The Russian places his hand on Alex's thigh, but Alex quickly pulls away like he has been burned. He looks away again. He's so tired.
"What are you doing here?" Yassen asks.
"You know what I'm doing here", Alex says with raspy voice and thinks the question is unnecessary and stupid.
Yassen silences and it confirms that he knows. He has known all along that Alex would be here. Has he been here the whole time upstairs? Watching and monitoring him, waiting for him to crack? It doesn't make sense though. Yassen already knows who he is and could've just told the Greeks. There would've been no reason to starve him. As Alex thinks deeper, there also would've been no reason to keep him alive. Is that what Yassen's been doing? Trying to keep him alive? Well, at this moment Alex would've preferred immediate death than this torture.
"Is it Scorpia?" Alex wonders and knows that if it is, then this might just be them having their fun while watching him slowly die.
"No", Yassen answers, but Alex isn't sure he believes that.
Alex stares at the wall in front of him and imagines dying here in the warm cell. It's not at all the death he has always imagined. Another bullet in the chest or someone stabbing him has always been his safest guesses.
It takes ten long and quiet minutes before the assassin says what Alex has come to understand by now.
"I can't let you out of here."
And Alex thinks back of the last time he saw Yassen, five months back at Heathrow, when he told Yassen he loved him. Yassen had been pressuring him to realize it, had been pressuring him to say it. Alex doesn't need any pressure right now to realize he hates the older man. He hates him more than anyone he has ever hated before.
Yassen cups his cheek and leans in for a goodbye-kiss, but Alex turns his head away. He won't let him have that. Instead the Russian presses a kiss to his temple and holds on for a moment. Alex's eyes burn, and if he had any strength right now he'd punch Yassen. Scream at him. But instead he waits until Yassen lets go of him and leaves the cellar, then he falls asleep.
oooo
Alex got saved by MI6 somewhere on the fourth day. They got worried when they didn't hear from Alex and after a long search they finally found him. His state was critical and he had to be held in hospital for weeks. Yassen was long gone when the agents stormed the house in Santorini. Alex wasn't surprised.
Alex has been back in school for a month when he hears of a mission from Crawley. A journalist has been assassinated in Israel. It all just screams Yassen. But Alex isn't interested. At all. He doesn't want to get near Yassen ever again. The next time he sees him he won't be able to keep himself from killing him. They have been through this before, but Alex honestly believed things had changed. He believed Yassen wouldn't put his life at risk like that again. Not after the last time when Yassen put a gun to his head, aiming to kill him.
Alex is granted a break. He hasn't had one all year and the MI6 would like to see Alex graduate with his classmates. Graduation. Alex hasn't been thinking once of it. (Not since Heathrow when Yassen told him to finish his studies before they could be together.) Still, it's one year into the future, but it's slowly approaching and Alex doesn't know what'll happen with him then. He'll be eighteen and MI6 won't have any hold over him. He thinks. But deep down inside he knows MI6 will always find a way to control him.
Alex hangs out with his best mates Tom Harris and James Hale and tries to act like a normal teenager. They play football and moan about A-levels. They go to football games and Alex is particularly aware of keeping his phone in a zipped pocket. He wouldn't want someone to steal it again.
It's the first time on a break that he tries really hard not to think about his other life – the life where he's in constant danger. He wants to forget everything he hates and just be happy, but that of course is only bound to fail. Both Tom and James notice he's not feeling very well and Tom, who knows about Alex's life as a spy, tries to talk to him about it, but there really isn't anything Alex can say. He can't tell Tom he has believed he's in love with a murderer for the past six months. He can't tell anyone.
When it's Jack's turn to ask him what's wrong, Alex doesn't tell her either. It's different with her because she knows about Yassen, but she doesn't understand it. Not that anybody would ever understand it. Alex slowly understands that a break was a bad decision and it only makes him think of all the things he tries to forget. A week passes and then Alex can't take it anymore. He gets sent to Israel.
The assassinated journalist's name is Sebastian Fall and the MI6 believes he got killed because he found out some important information. Alex is supposed to find out what kind of information it was. Alex gets the cover as a transfer student and is placed with a family. The family really consists of people working with the MI6. They all want to find out why the journalist was killed. It's a slow investigation work and nothing happens for almost ten days. Then a bomb detonates in the middle of Jerusalem and all hell breaks loose.
People are panicking everywhere and running in different directions to get away from the threat. Alex seems to be the only one running towards the bomb and not away from it. He steals the gun of a member in the fake family before leaving. He knows that whatever he's running towards will be dangerous and he'll be a fool not to be armed. He keeps running through the masses of people, fights to get through, and then he suddenly stops. There, among hundreds of people running, stands Yassen and he's looking straight at Alex. An explosion and Alex with a gun in his hand. They have been here before, but last time it was in the Sahara desert.
Alex cocks the gun and raises it, and then he fights his way closer to Yassen who's standing still on his spot, like he's waiting. Alex lets his rage control him and doesn't only think of himself right now, but his uncle who Yassen killed, and all the other victims of Yassen. He stops and points the gun at Yassen. They lock eyes and the assassin doesn't look intimidated. After everything, the Russian still doesn't believe Alex is capable of killing him.
And Alex thinks of the five months since Heathrow, the five months since Yassen promised him they'd be together, and remembers feeling both dread and anticipation for their next meeting. Alex told Yassen he loved him, and gave him some of the little trust he had left inside him. But then the five months passed and Yassen left him for dead in Santorini.
Alex pulls the trigger without hesitation and watches as the bullet hits Yassen's chest. Some of the people around him start screaming louder and run away from him. Alex sees the older man fall to the ground, like in slow motion, and sees a pool of blood beginning to form. It's done. He has finally done it. And Alex feels like he's free.
(Except he isn't free, because in the last minute he pointed the gun to the left and hit the right side of Yassen's chest. He was never aiming for the heart.)
He watches Yassen's still body on the ground, like he's making sure the assassin won't come after him, and then he turns around and walks back the same way as he came. The mission he was really sent there to do is almost forgotten.
oooo
"Did you shoot Yassen Gregorovich?"
This time it isn't Crawley who's debriefing him, instead it's Alan Blunt and Mrs. Jones sitting in front of him in the interrogation room. Alex smiles and thinks back of the days when he was allowed inside Blunt's office when they debriefed him. He guesses they don't trust him as much anymore as they did back then.
Alex's shooting had been caught on security cameras, at least twenty witnesses had seen him and the Israeli police had caught him with the belief that he was the terrorist with the bomb.
"Yes", is Alex's answer to the question both Blunt and Mrs. Jones already know the answer of.
"Why did you shoot him, Alex?" Mrs. Jones asks and her voice is gentle, almost concerned.
"I thought it was about time someone from our side did, don't you think?"
Mrs. Jones and Blunt shoot each other a brief glance. Both of them obviously dislike the casualty in Alex's voice.
"Did you aim to kill him?" Mr. Blunt asks and goes right for what he really wants to know.
"No", Alex answers honestly and sees no point in lying. A flash of Yassen's body, lying on the ground in Jerusalem and people running around like the end of days was coming, hits Alex hard. He clasps his hand in front of him on the table and stares out into nothingness. He doesn't hear the next question Mr. Blunt asks him.
I think a man like Yassen Gregorovich can't be loved.
John Crawley told Alex that after he and Yassen had been located by the FBI in New York. Alex never understood what he meant by that back then, but now he's beginning to realize the meaning behind the words.
The gunshot echoes in his mind, just as clear as the gunshot from three years ago when Scorpia hired a sniper to take him down. He shakes his head and tries to gain control again.
"Does Jack know about this?" he asks and raises his head.
The chief executive of the Special Operations division's face remains completely blank and expressionless, but his second in command squirms barely noticeably in the chair next to him.
"We haven't talked to her – yet. You're still underage, Alex, and we think it's highly necessary if she knows what happened, especially considering the relationship between you and Gregorovich. She needs to know this can have a traumatizing effect on you", Mrs. Jones says.
The relationship. Alex just loves how his bosses are unable to put what he and Yassen had into words. But it doesn't matter. Alex would like to think he and Yassen never had anything anyway. He'd like to think he didn't make Sabina hate him by being with the man who tried to kill her father. He'd like to believe he didn't betray the memory of his dead uncle to be with the assassin who murdered him. He'd like to think he didn't do such unforgivable things for nothing.
"He's still out there, Alex. He was already gone when we came to the scene in Jerusalem and the Israeli police know nothing. We've been searching everywhere, but we can't find him. We've never heard of Gregorovich being a vengeful man, but we can't know that for sure. He may be out there, waiting for you."
"I don't care", Alex says. He isn't afraid of Yassen and never will be. Mr. Blunt sighs.
"But we do. As underage and one of our agents, we're still responsible for your safety – and your housekeeper's. You have been targeted in public before and we think it's best for everyone's interests if we send you to a safer place for a while. Your housekeeper may join as well, in fact it might be better for her safety to join. You say you don't care, but at least think of her. Make the right decision for her", Blunt says.
Alex isn't stupid enough to not notice when he's being manipulated. It's not the first time Blunt and Mrs. Jones try to manipulate him into doing what they want – Alex has almost grown used to it by now. They're not the only ones though. Alex has noticed a lot of governments and authority figures tend to take a rough situation and spin it in their favour, and Alex guesses this time isn't any different. Blunt and Mrs. Jones want something from him, there's a bigger reason to them wanting to send him away.
"What's the mission?" Alex wonders bluntly. He doesn't want them to play with him and try to make it like they care about them. There's no one in this world, except for Jack, who cares about his well-being. Especially not the MI6. In the end they only want to use him, like everyone else does.
"There's no mission, Alex", Mrs. Jones says and blinks slowly like she had trouble to even understand his question in the first place.
"Really? What about Cairo? I was sent there to be safe and do some easy investigation of a school. It ended with me almost being killed because you two wouldn't tell me from the beginning that you were sending me on a mission", Alex says coldly.
Blunt presses his lips together in such a thin line it looks like he's grimacing. Mrs. Jones doesn't look pleased at all and quickly pops a mint pastille into her mouth, probably to get some time to think out a good answer. Mr. Blunt sighs that typical sigh every grown-up shares when they're getting annoyed of a defiant teenager. Alex ignores him.
"We know that you're hurting and that you're angry right now, but please leave the past out of this. We know what we did back then was wrong and we continue to regret it deeply", Mr. Blunt says seriously, but it only sounds fake and rehearsed in Alex's ears.
"Let us do this for you, Alex", Mrs. Jones says, "Let us help and make up for those past mistakes."
Blunt doesn't seem to like her choice of words, but doesn't say anything. They wait for Alex to make a choice.
If Alex had been completely alone in this with no one else's safety to think about, there would be no question about it to turn MI6 and their help down. If Yassen wanted to get revenge on him so badly then Alex would gladly let him have a go at it because he really couldn't care less. It has to end somewhere, right?
But that isn't the way things are right now. Alex has to think of Jack, has to think of how easy it has always been for Yassen to get inside their house, has to think about how Yassen always seems to know exactly everything Jack is up to. If Yassen wants revenge, then he can easily get it through Jack.
Alex considers all the possibilities in his head and then gives a short nod. "Okay. Let's do this then."
oooo
There was a time when Alex would've considered life pretty easy. There even was a time when Alex would've considered himself happy. Of course, this was all way back when his uncle was still alive and Alex had something called family still in his life. Even though his parents were dead he still had someone in his life that he was tied to – tied to by blood. Jack has always been more like a sister to him than his housekeeper, but it still isn't entirely the same thing with her. Their relationship lacks that special family bond.
Imagine falling in love with the man who took away that last family bond Alex shared. Imagine trying to be with someone who took away something that special, something that irreplaceable. Sometimes Alex thinks there's something wrong with him, that he's insane or something, because what sane person can love someone who takes something that dear to you away?
In his very worst moments Alex has blamed Ian Rider, even blamed his own father, for the way things are. The two brothers who became spies and, although maybe unwittingly, forced their loved ones into this life. Ian trained him early on for this life and this profession, and wanted him to follow in their footsteps. If it wasn't for that then Alex wouldn't be in this situation right now with Yassen breathing down his neck and trying to catch him. He'd be actually free.
"You're being awfully quiet, Alex", Jack says and sends him a concerned look, ripping Alex away from his thoughts.
"Sorry", he says and manages a smile. He doesn't bother to start a conversation though, and goes back to look out the window on his side of the car. They're back in USA, visiting Jack's hometown actually. Alex ignores the memories of the last time he was in this country and tries to focus on something positive like meeting Jack's family for the first time. They had come to an agreement that they would be staying there for a while. Jack has only been back home in Washington DC once since she moved to London and she's been missing her family a lot. Alex figures this place will be as safe as any. At least Jack is happy.
They got picked up by a limousine at the airport and they didn't have to guess very long to figure out MI6 had ordered it for them. Alex doesn't need a fancy car, but he has to honestly say that it's comfortable. He can rest his feet on the seat in front of him without giving a care even though Jack had given him a disapproving look at first.
"Look Alex!" Jack exclaims and points at a café lying on the street they're driving on, "I used to go there almost every day with my friends… I wonder what they're up to nowadays."
"Perhaps you should take the opportunity and find out", Alex suggests.
Jack nods and seems deep in thought. "Maybe."
The car slows down and Alex figures it's because of the slow traffic – the roads in the city are very busy during this hour when everyone is about to get home from work – but then the door on Jack's side suddenly opens and someone gets in. Alex loses his breath and thinks for a short moment that he's going to faint – that's how shocked he gets.
"Hey, what the hell are you doing?" Jack yells at the man sitting in the seat in front of them. The man taps the window behind him and the chauffeur starts driving again. The Russian man ignores her and seems to only have eyes for Alex. Of course. It's stupid of Alex to get shocked in the first place. Wasn't it obvious this would happen?
"Stop the car!" Jack yells next to Alex and actually reaches over to bang on the glass, but the chauffeur ignores her. She keeps on yelling and even tries to open the car door, but no luck there either. Alex remains frozen.
"There's no need for you to yell at him", Yassen Gregorovich says without his eyes leaving Alex, "He's not working for your side anyway."
Jack listens to his words and gives up. She sits back in her seat again and keeps a watchful eye on the assassin, waiting for something to happen, waiting for an explanation.
Yassen and Alex's eyes are still locked and Alex tries to look for any emotions, any anger, anything that might tell him if Yassen's here to kill him or not. The Russian's face, as always, remains blank.
"What are you doing here?" he suddenly asks.
Alex refuses to answer. Yassen looks completely healthy, like the bullet in his chest never happened and it has long been forgotten, and it annoys Alex more than anything.
The teenager can feel his housekeeper's eyes shift between him and Yassen as she's trying to read the situation and understand what's going on. He realizes his silence isn't making anything easier for her either. She knows about Yassen and who he is, but she's never been shown a picture of him. She also knows he's mostly the reason they're here right now in her hometown trying to keep themselves safe. Blunt and Mrs. Jones had spent a few hours explaining to her in their best possible way. When the conversation was over Jack had simply told Alex to pack his bag because they were going home, to her home. They never spoke of what Blunt and Mrs. Jones had said.
"You shouldn't be here. You should've stayed back home in safety", Yassen continues.
"It's because of the need of being in safety I'm here", Alex forces out, and he can't possibly tell how crazy he sounds.
"You're not here for work?" Yassen asks slowly and seems to make the last pieces of puzzle fit together.
"Wait a minute", Jack interrupts, "Is he-? Alex? Alex, who is he?"
Yassen knocks on the window behind him again and the car smoothly comes to a halt. He nods at the door on Alex's side and Alex understands he wants them both to get outside. He considers refusing, but guesses that if Yassen really wanted him dead then he would've killed him by now. He opens the door and gets out on the sidewalk with Yassen following closely behind.
"Alex!" Jack yells behind them and she also gets out.
"Jack, just wait. I can handle this, it's okay", Alex tells her.
She doesn't look very convinced. "I'm standing right here", she says and leans her back against the car door and crosses her arms stubbornly.
Yassen pulls Alex with him to put some distance between them and Jack – keeping her away from hearing anything she might regret hearing and to get some privacy. He's still holding on to Alex's arm when he stops and turns to face him until Alex pulls himself away from his grip. He gives the man in front of him a dark look, filled with hatred and loathing. He feels a tug in the lower pit of his stomach. It burns and it grows, and Alex wants to cry, wants to hit Yassen over and over, wants to scream at him. Fall apart. He wants to snatch Yassen's gun, which he knows rests just inside the older man's jacket, and shoot him all over again. He'd even shoot himself, only to make them both feel something else besides this horrible feeling. Because Alex knows Yassen feels it too, he's just better at covering it up. The only thing stopping Alex from going completely crazy is Jack, standing right behind him. She's the only reason.
Yassen moves, reaches out and softly cups Alex's cheek. Alex immediately slaps the hand away, continuing to glare daggers at the man.
"I'm sorry", the Russian tries, but Alex doesn't care for sorry, hasn't been caring for sorry for a very long time now. He keeps quiet again.
"Listen to me, just listen to me and then the chauffeur will take you wherever you want to go", Yassen continues and ignores the spy's silence, "You can't be here. You can go wherever else, but you can't be here."
"Why?"
"I can't tell you why. You know that. I'm telling you this because I need you to be safe and this is not the right place to be for that. Go back home, now. Don't even think twice about it, just go", Yassen commands in a rough voice, "Promise me that."
Alex stares at him blankly and shuts everything off. His mind goes completely black and he turns around and walks back towards Jack.
"Alex!"
It's Yassen's turn to call for him, but he barely hears him and he doesn't care anyway. "Alex, you have to promise me."
The teenager climbs back into the limousine with Jack following. She's kind enough not to say anything, but instead gives Alex time. The car starts moving and they head for the place they were originally supposed to go – Jack's parents. Alex makes a quick phone call to Mrs. Jones office and tells her everything Yassen said.
He doesn't choose Yassen's way to keep him safe. He chooses his own.
oooo
It takes less than a week, perhaps only three days or something, until the media has a frenzy over someone trying to assassinate the President. Someone had planted a bomb in one of the President's personal cars and a suspicious man with a sniper rifle had been caught. Alex doesn't think much of it, barely cares anyway because it doesn't have anything to do with him, but then he gets a short call from Mrs. Jones and she simply tells him he did well. He understands his call when they arrived in Washington DC had been valuable. All is well thanks to Alex and he barely had to lift a finger for this one. Whether the reason he was granted to be sent to this city was only because of the possibility to get some information on the assassination, Alex doesn't care or want to know. He considers this a freebie for MI6 and that they owe him now.
Three weeks are spent in the US and Jack finally starts to loosen up a little. She got very twitchy and tense after their small encounter with Yassen. She almost exposed Alex's secret identity to her parents when they asked him what he usually does in his spare time. She had quickly gathered herself again after that and returned to normal.
"Alex, are you okay?" she had asked one evening after dinner, her back turned against him making it impossible for Alex to see her face. He worried that she might be crying.
"Yeah", Alex had said and forced himself to smile, even though she didn't catch it.
She eventually lets Alex go into town by himself after making it clear that he keeps his phone on.
Alex is enjoying himself and he likes Jack's family. They're kind to him and at times even spoil him by buying him clothes and other things. Jack jokes that they're only sucking up to him so he'll allow Jack to stay in the US instead of going back to England. Alex can't help but think there might just be some truth in that.
Yassen hasn't been seen at all, and Alex is relieved. For once it starts feeling like some of the weight resting on his shoulders is beginning to disappear. He thinks the worst might be over, that Yassen actually will leave him alone and not try and get any revenge on him. But he still can't know for sure, he can never know for sure. He's trying though to move on and he's glad he has already made some new friends in the city. A new family recently moved into the house next to the Starbrights' and Alex quickly made friends with the daughter, Sarah, only one year older than him. Making friends and forget. Yes, that's what he needs to do.
Alex buys himself a few new movies, while he's in town, which he decides he'll watch with Sarah later. He also buys a cake for Jack from the café she used to visit with her friends. He wants to do something nice for her and he figures this is the least he can do. He owes her this.
The Starbright family lives in a typical suburban house with a white picket fence. It fits the family and the image Alex has of Jack and her childhood. He likes it. Alex sleeps in the guestroom while Jack stays in her old bedroom. She had started crying when she saw her old room is still exactly the same as when she left.
Alex carries the white chocolate cake in his right hand, while the holds the bag with the new films. He takes the local bus back to the family's house, enjoying the normal feeling of it all. Alex is so deep into the feeling that he doesn't notice something is wrong until he finally enters the house. It's quiet, deadly quiet, and it's never quiet in the Starbright house. Either their dog is barking or Jack's father is playing some of his old music. It's never quiet. Alex can hear his heart thud in his ears, can feel his blood start to rush, and he's hit with a sudden wave of nausea as he slowly takes a few steps further into the house.
"Hello?" he calls out, "Jack?"
He walks into the kitchen which is empty, but still as clean as Jack's mum always insists to keep it. Then he spots something on the floor, in the doorway to the living room, and Alex is afraid to look any closer. He forces himself to move to see better and he instantly wish he hadn't. The nausea wells up inside of him again as he recognizes the substance on the floor as blood. His steps are hurried now and he quickly gets into the living room.
"No", he whispers. He pales and stares down at the two bodies lying close on the living room floor and covered in blood.
"No", he repeats and his breathing quickens. It's Jack's parents. And blood. Lots of blood. His mind starts to spin because this can't be happening and he tries to gather himself and reach for his phone to call for help, but then he spots the third body. He feels his tears already burn in his eyes and he just knows, he knows. He feels his legs give in under him and he shakily begins to fall, like in slow motion. He needs to do something, but he can't. What can he do? Then he feels arms around him from behind, keeping him from falling and holding him tight as he screams and fights and his tears starts to fall. He fights and claws his way away from the arms around him and he turns and this time he actually faints.
"No", he whimpers before his mind goes blank, "Not you. Not this."
Everything is black in front of him and he feels something sting into his left arm and suddenly he stops feeling anything.
"I don't…", he mumbles and then he blacks out and falls into some kind of blissful coma.
oooo