Family
Long walked down the stairs to go talk with his mother. The first thing he wanted to explain was why he was back, but as soon as he got down there she demanded to know who his guest was and why he hadn't poured her a cup of tea yet. So he walked back over to the stairway and called for her to come down, his mother casting him a dissaproving glance for raising his voice instead of walking back up.
"Lan duo.*" she mutered in a scholding tone, before going back to her cooking.
"Wu, juan.*" he excused himself. Meanwhile Alica came back down stairs.
"What is it?" she asked. He lead her into the kitchen and pulled out a chair in front of a small square table for her to sit at.
"Tea." he answered. "You can't walk into a Chinese home without being offered a cup of tea... most of the time." Then he glanced over at his mother. "I've often been told that my manners are deplorable."
"Ah, I see..." she replied, taking her seat. Long walked into the kitchen and got a few cups and saucers to set down on the table, then he poured three cups of tea and he and his mother sat down to sip at it as well. They started talking in Chinese again once they sat down, but Alica was only able to catch a few words here and there. Not really enough to figure out what they were talking about. She noticed how they sipped their tea slowly, savoring the taste sweet of it in their mouths. She tried to keep up pace with them, and by the time the tea was done they seemed to be finished with their conversation as well. Long nodded politely to his mother and said something before getting up from the table and motioning for Alica to do the same. His mother also got up and bowed a bit before returning to her work in the kitchen. Long lead Alica back up the stairs.
"You can't remember much about what it was like when you used to live here, can you?" he asked.
"I was only ten when my father took me away..." she reminded him. "And once I got to Tylon he immediately had me taking all these classes in English. Just about everything I knew was quickly forgotten so I could memorize all the new information. It went on like that for nine years before he died. I guess it's a surprise I can remember anything at all. Memories of my old life all seem so distant now... and I feel like a stranger in the land where I grew up."
"I have noticed that you've been acting like a foreigner here, which is the only reason I asked." he explained. "But although your hair is mostly white you still have a quasi-Asian appearance, and it is easy to see that you belong here."
"You think I belong here?" she asked. "I don't know if I belong anywhere anymore, except for Tylon."
"I suppose we both belong there." he agreed. "But that's a terrible place to belong, I don't like to think of it that way. I will always belong here, with my family." Alica nodded solemnly, wishing she could find her own family to go back to.
"I've got to go and get some packing done now, but maybe tomorrow we can stop by that halfway house." Long offered, as though reading her mind.
"I... I just have to know if they're still here somewhere." she added.
"You don't have to explain yourself to me." he assured her. "The two of us are not so different really, you don't want to believe that Van is the only person left that you're related to, and I would like to forget my father. We both have a mother and sister who love us, but you have to find yours first. It must be hard for you, having been away from them for so long."
"I can barely remember what they're like anymore." she worried.
"You will remember once you see them again." he said, patting her shoulder. She gave him a smile and they both continued walking towards his room. Long insisted that she go first up the narrow passageway and when they were almost there the door next to him opened and he was ambushed by his sister. She rushed right into him, throwing him off balance and nearly onto the floor. Her arms wrapped around his waist and she held him tightly as he struggled to right himself and brushed off his clothing. "That was unexpected." he complained. "Mei mei..." She got off of him and asked where he'd been and why he'd been gone so long as Alica curiously watched from his bedroom doorway. It was all in Chinese of course, which Alica didn't seem to understand. He explained himself a bit while looking over at Alica, and his sister noticed her as well and started asking all sorts of questions about why she was there.
"What's she saying?" Alcia asked.
"She's teasing me." Long grumbled. "She says you're my girlfriend." Alica snickered a bit at the comment. "It's not funny..." he insisted, trying to explain the situation to his sister. She didn't listen though, and kept insisting that there was no other reason to bring someone to their house. Then he told her that Alica was a co-worker, but she still insisted that he needed a girlfriend, subtly nodding towards Alica while making the suggestion. Long shook his head in frustration.
"What is it now?" she prompted.
"She says I need a girlfriend." he explained, his sister interrupted him with another comment. "Badly." he added, giving her an annoyed look of resentment.
"Maybe she's right." Alica teased.
"I would have to disagree..." he mumbled, at which his sister picked up her teasing again.
"You should listen to your sister, Long. She's obviously concerned for you."
"Knock it off!" he cried, turning to Alica. "You are humiliating me!" then he turned to his sister said that she was as well, which confused her since she didn't know what he was talking about because he'd used English. He shook his head, sighed, and brushed past Alica to get back into his room. Alica stood there for a moment, looking at the dissapointed look on his sister's face and shrugged.
"Sorry mei mei." she said, immediately the girl started laughing. She heard a bit of snickering from behind her in Long's room as well, she turned to question him. "What did I say?"
"That's not her name, Alica." Long answered, sitting on top of his bed with a mirthful smirk across his face. "You must have forgotten nearly everything you ever knew if you can't remember that mei mei means little sister."
"So... I just called her my little sister?" Alica assumed, turning back towards the laughing girl. "Heh... sorry." Long's sister continued to chuckle a bit before dissapearing back into her room.
"I don't suppose you used the expression much." Long decided. "Since your own younger sister was so much younger than you were when you left, you couldn't have known her for long."
"I used to just call her bao bei... baby." Alica remembered, surprised that she'd remembered that much. "I'm not even sure if I can remember her name."
"You will remember when you see her again." he assured. Then he got up from his bed and opened his suitcase, which she noticed not was almost empty. After thinking about it, it made sense. He wouldn't need to pack any clothes if he was going home to get more clothing to bring to his dormitory at Tylon. He cleared an area and sat down on his floor, picking up and examining one piece of clothing at a time and dividing them into two piles, one clean and one dirty. She sat down on the bed and watched him for a while, looking around the room disinterestedly and trying to remember anything she could about her own lost family.
The first thing that came to her mind was her abduction to Tylon, and how her father forced her to take so many classes and stuff her mind with information. It had all happened so quickly, and it seemed so long ago. She wasn't sure she could remember anything about her old family at all. She knew her father had a purpose for the teaching, and suspected that it had been to train her for something, but what was it? It was so easy to suspect him of using all those classes to cloud her mind, to make her forget about her old family so she would never want to go back. Still, she didn't really suspect him of that. She didn't think he would have done such a thing intentionally, though unwittingly perhaps. Her father had been a good man, perhaps not the best, but he had played fairly. He was nothing like the monster Van had become once he'd gotten control of the company. It was a shame he had been killed, but who had killed him? Alica often wondered if she really could have done it. She was certain she would never be capable of such a thing, but there was always a shred of doubt.
Recent events came to her mind immediately, though she willed them away they plagued her until she was forced to accept their presence. In her heart she knew she was crazy without her medications. She couldn't help what she did when she didn't have them, and she hated to depend on them. She had stopped taking them once just a short while ago, and ended up attacking Long, her good friend. She looked down at him for a moment while considering the consequences, she hadn't really hurt him afterall... but Long was a skilled assassin, who had easilly evaded and countered her attack. How much worse would it have been, or had it been, if she had done the same to her own father? She shook her head to clear the thought, unwilling to admit that the conclusion was even a little bit possible. I did not kill my own father! To some extent at least, she had a good reason to believe so. Although bringing her to Tylon in the first place had initiated the process of going insane, she hadn't been nearly as bad back then as she grudgingly realized she was now. But had she been crazy enough to murder her own father?
"Alica, if you're bored you can go downstairs and entertain yourself." Long offered, interrupting her thoughts. "Now that you've been introduced no one will mind if you make yourself at home here. Both my mother and sister want you to feel very welcome."
"Thanks, but... I think I'll just stay here." she answered. He picked up on a hint of sadness in her voice and turned to look up at her.
"Alica... perhaps it was a bad idea to bring you here. Seeing my family makes you miss your own."
"I can't even remember them Long, how can you miss something you can't even remember?"
"Your lonely heart yearns for the love of the people you once knew, I can see it plainly on your face. You don't need to remember what they were like to wish that you still had them here to call your own."
"Long..." she trailed off, her throat tightening with the emotion she felt. He was right of course, at least about this, he was completely right. He put down his work and climbed up on the bed in front of her, bending down to kiss her gently on the forehead.
"What I'm doing now is not so important that it can't wait. If it will make you feel any better, we can leave now and go out looking for your lost family."
"Yes... thank you." she replied. Those were the only words she was able to get out of her mouth as she sniffled and rubbed her eyes. She didn't want to cry again. She wrapped her arms around Long and held him close for a moment, then she let go and he helped her up off the bed. They went down stairs and Long gave a brief explanation to his mother, along with requesting the use of her car. Her consent was given easilly enough and they left right away. Alica tried her best to guide him through the streets. She did actually have the address of the place she was looking for, but that didn't help with directions. The city was enormous and the streets very numerous and confusing. Finally she ended up just giving Long the address to see if he could find it any better. Even then it took them quite awhile to find the place, a little halfway house crowded between other buildings along a fairly peaceful street. Alica and Long both got out of the car and stared at it for a minute. She walked up to the door, her heart filled with so much hope and expectation. Only to be crushed when she found that the place was deserted, as well as a note on the front door condemning the building.
"I'll never find them now." she said quitely, to herself. She felt a strong hand grip her shoulder in response. "How can I remember them if I never see them again?"
"Alica..." he trailed off, his voice full of concern. She turned from the building and buried herself in his chest, sobbing.
"I'll never..."
"Shh..." he stood there and held her, patting her back and feeling useless because there was nothing else he could do. He blamed himself of course, if he hadn't have made such a big deal about her remembering them once she saw them again it might not have been as bad. Most likely, they should have expected something like this. It had been ten years afterall, and no one stayed in one place for ten years anymore. He felt deplorable for getting her hopes up so high, when instead he should have kept his mouth shut and realized that the chances of finding her family were indeed very slim. She sobbed into his chest for several minutes until the pain died down. She felt as if she would die, as if all the hope she'd ever had were dead. She felt useless and lonely without a real family to call her own. The only comfort she found, was in the embrace of her friend. When she was finally able to wipe away her own tears they started walking back to the car. She turned and took one last look at the place before she left, and then turned back away, never to set eyes on the building again.
Long drove them right back to his mother's house, keeping a constant eye on Alica to make sure she was alright. He didn't really fathom what it was like to actually lose your entire family, though it had been something he'd been dreading ever since he came to work for Tylon. He'd done everything he could to prevent it. Even if it meant sacrificing his own soul and the lives of so many people, he could not bear to see them hurt. Sometimes he still wondered if the sacrifices he'd made were worth it, but if he ever doubted himself all he had to do was look into the eyes of his mother and sister, and remember how precious they were to him. He felt it was his duty, and his alone to save them from the horrible fate constantly looming over their heads. His father couldn't save them, he couldn't even save himself. All he ever did was cause anyone more pain. He had been with Tylon from the beginning anyway, he had been the very reason they were all caught up in the monsterous company's grasp. The man could never be trusted.
He looked back at Alica again and wondered what it must be like to know that her family was gone, and that she'd never see them again. He consoled himself with the thought that they might still be alive somewhere, and thought about doing the same for her, but something in her eyes told him that his reassurances wouldn't help now. It was different with him, if anything ever happened to his family they would most likely be dead. He hated to think what would happen if he somehow managed to fail them. They were the entire reason for his persistance, the only thing keeping him going, keeping him alive. If they were gone then he was dead as well. He had already decided that if anything ever did happen to them he certainly wouldn't be able to continue in his work. He couldn't do it only to save his own worthless life. He supposed he would die one way or another, perhaps by the hands of Tylon for disobeying his orders. If he tried to quit he would certainly be hunted down.
He glanced back at Alica again, wondering if she felt the same way. Her family was gone, but they could still be alive. She could do nothing to find them, but that didn't mean they were in danger. He didn't know if Van knew much about her family, and assumed that after her father had passed most of the knowledge about them had passed as well. So Van couldn't use them against her, and even if he could he really didn't need to. He already had her under his control, subject to his command in order to save herself from whatever fate awaited. There were fates worse than death at Tylon, and he supposed that she'd rather become a killer than be turned over to the labs as a test subject. He wouldn't let the same happen to himself, but he wouldn't keep killing either. He had already decided that he'd kill himself before becoming one of Tylon's guinea pigs. When they finally arrived back home Long parked the car and went to open the door for Alica, gently helping her out. She looked completely dead to the world, her face shrouded in a blank look devoid of feeling. It was then that he chose to try and comfort her.
"They could still be alive you know, they probably just moved somewhere else."
"Yes..." she nodded despondently and sighed. "but I'll never find them."
"As long as they're alive there's still a chance."
"Not if I can't even remember their names."
"But at least you can take comfort in the hope that they're still out there."
"I suppose..." He sighed and took her hand, leading her back up to the house. He gave his mother a brief greeting as they entered and then went straight up to his room. He didn't see the use of moping around about things when there was work to be done, so he immediately went back to looking through his clothes. He also took care to involve Alica in the task, asking her to fold the clean cothing and set it in his suitcase. It really wasn't much of a job, but it was just enough to kep her busy, and maybe distract her from thinking too much. After awhile she realized what he was doing and was thankfull for it, even if it didn't help her much it was still very considerate of him. She showed her appreciation by doing the best job she could, folding the clothing neatly and arranging it in distinct categories inside the suitcase for him. They spent hours going through his clothes and soon the suit case was full, at which point he brought out another and they proceeded to load it up as well. By the time his mother came up to call them to dinner she figured he had more than enough clothes to see him through several years at Tylon, as long as he did his laundry.
Dinner was fairly quiet. Long and his mother and sister only talked a litle bit, while Alica said nothing at all. She felt it was useless to talk on all accounts. For one thing, she couldn't even say anything to anyone besides Long, and for another she was too gloomy to talk anyway. Even if she had anything to say, it probably would've only made the situation even worse. When the meal was finished Long excused them both and they went quietly back up to the room. He was talking to her about something, but she could barely hear his words, lost in the depressing thoughts that clouded her weary mind. He lead her to the door and she stood there dumbly and watched as he quickly made his bed, and then allowed him to lead her to it and lay her down. She hardly felt his soft kisses on her forehead, or the warmth of his body as he wrapped his arms around her. Yet it seemed that his touch was the only thing holding her, tying her down to this world as her thoughts wandered off into oblivion. Before she knew it he was gone. She was laying down on his bed alone, in the dark.
*Lazy.
*No, tired.
"Lan duo.*" she mutered in a scholding tone, before going back to her cooking.
"Wu, juan.*" he excused himself. Meanwhile Alica came back down stairs.
"What is it?" she asked. He lead her into the kitchen and pulled out a chair in front of a small square table for her to sit at.
"Tea." he answered. "You can't walk into a Chinese home without being offered a cup of tea... most of the time." Then he glanced over at his mother. "I've often been told that my manners are deplorable."
"Ah, I see..." she replied, taking her seat. Long walked into the kitchen and got a few cups and saucers to set down on the table, then he poured three cups of tea and he and his mother sat down to sip at it as well. They started talking in Chinese again once they sat down, but Alica was only able to catch a few words here and there. Not really enough to figure out what they were talking about. She noticed how they sipped their tea slowly, savoring the taste sweet of it in their mouths. She tried to keep up pace with them, and by the time the tea was done they seemed to be finished with their conversation as well. Long nodded politely to his mother and said something before getting up from the table and motioning for Alica to do the same. His mother also got up and bowed a bit before returning to her work in the kitchen. Long lead Alica back up the stairs.
"You can't remember much about what it was like when you used to live here, can you?" he asked.
"I was only ten when my father took me away..." she reminded him. "And once I got to Tylon he immediately had me taking all these classes in English. Just about everything I knew was quickly forgotten so I could memorize all the new information. It went on like that for nine years before he died. I guess it's a surprise I can remember anything at all. Memories of my old life all seem so distant now... and I feel like a stranger in the land where I grew up."
"I have noticed that you've been acting like a foreigner here, which is the only reason I asked." he explained. "But although your hair is mostly white you still have a quasi-Asian appearance, and it is easy to see that you belong here."
"You think I belong here?" she asked. "I don't know if I belong anywhere anymore, except for Tylon."
"I suppose we both belong there." he agreed. "But that's a terrible place to belong, I don't like to think of it that way. I will always belong here, with my family." Alica nodded solemnly, wishing she could find her own family to go back to.
"I've got to go and get some packing done now, but maybe tomorrow we can stop by that halfway house." Long offered, as though reading her mind.
"I... I just have to know if they're still here somewhere." she added.
"You don't have to explain yourself to me." he assured her. "The two of us are not so different really, you don't want to believe that Van is the only person left that you're related to, and I would like to forget my father. We both have a mother and sister who love us, but you have to find yours first. It must be hard for you, having been away from them for so long."
"I can barely remember what they're like anymore." she worried.
"You will remember once you see them again." he said, patting her shoulder. She gave him a smile and they both continued walking towards his room. Long insisted that she go first up the narrow passageway and when they were almost there the door next to him opened and he was ambushed by his sister. She rushed right into him, throwing him off balance and nearly onto the floor. Her arms wrapped around his waist and she held him tightly as he struggled to right himself and brushed off his clothing. "That was unexpected." he complained. "Mei mei..." She got off of him and asked where he'd been and why he'd been gone so long as Alica curiously watched from his bedroom doorway. It was all in Chinese of course, which Alica didn't seem to understand. He explained himself a bit while looking over at Alica, and his sister noticed her as well and started asking all sorts of questions about why she was there.
"What's she saying?" Alcia asked.
"She's teasing me." Long grumbled. "She says you're my girlfriend." Alica snickered a bit at the comment. "It's not funny..." he insisted, trying to explain the situation to his sister. She didn't listen though, and kept insisting that there was no other reason to bring someone to their house. Then he told her that Alica was a co-worker, but she still insisted that he needed a girlfriend, subtly nodding towards Alica while making the suggestion. Long shook his head in frustration.
"What is it now?" she prompted.
"She says I need a girlfriend." he explained, his sister interrupted him with another comment. "Badly." he added, giving her an annoyed look of resentment.
"Maybe she's right." Alica teased.
"I would have to disagree..." he mumbled, at which his sister picked up her teasing again.
"You should listen to your sister, Long. She's obviously concerned for you."
"Knock it off!" he cried, turning to Alica. "You are humiliating me!" then he turned to his sister said that she was as well, which confused her since she didn't know what he was talking about because he'd used English. He shook his head, sighed, and brushed past Alica to get back into his room. Alica stood there for a moment, looking at the dissapointed look on his sister's face and shrugged.
"Sorry mei mei." she said, immediately the girl started laughing. She heard a bit of snickering from behind her in Long's room as well, she turned to question him. "What did I say?"
"That's not her name, Alica." Long answered, sitting on top of his bed with a mirthful smirk across his face. "You must have forgotten nearly everything you ever knew if you can't remember that mei mei means little sister."
"So... I just called her my little sister?" Alica assumed, turning back towards the laughing girl. "Heh... sorry." Long's sister continued to chuckle a bit before dissapearing back into her room.
"I don't suppose you used the expression much." Long decided. "Since your own younger sister was so much younger than you were when you left, you couldn't have known her for long."
"I used to just call her bao bei... baby." Alica remembered, surprised that she'd remembered that much. "I'm not even sure if I can remember her name."
"You will remember when you see her again." he assured. Then he got up from his bed and opened his suitcase, which she noticed not was almost empty. After thinking about it, it made sense. He wouldn't need to pack any clothes if he was going home to get more clothing to bring to his dormitory at Tylon. He cleared an area and sat down on his floor, picking up and examining one piece of clothing at a time and dividing them into two piles, one clean and one dirty. She sat down on the bed and watched him for a while, looking around the room disinterestedly and trying to remember anything she could about her own lost family.
The first thing that came to her mind was her abduction to Tylon, and how her father forced her to take so many classes and stuff her mind with information. It had all happened so quickly, and it seemed so long ago. She wasn't sure she could remember anything about her old family at all. She knew her father had a purpose for the teaching, and suspected that it had been to train her for something, but what was it? It was so easy to suspect him of using all those classes to cloud her mind, to make her forget about her old family so she would never want to go back. Still, she didn't really suspect him of that. She didn't think he would have done such a thing intentionally, though unwittingly perhaps. Her father had been a good man, perhaps not the best, but he had played fairly. He was nothing like the monster Van had become once he'd gotten control of the company. It was a shame he had been killed, but who had killed him? Alica often wondered if she really could have done it. She was certain she would never be capable of such a thing, but there was always a shred of doubt.
Recent events came to her mind immediately, though she willed them away they plagued her until she was forced to accept their presence. In her heart she knew she was crazy without her medications. She couldn't help what she did when she didn't have them, and she hated to depend on them. She had stopped taking them once just a short while ago, and ended up attacking Long, her good friend. She looked down at him for a moment while considering the consequences, she hadn't really hurt him afterall... but Long was a skilled assassin, who had easilly evaded and countered her attack. How much worse would it have been, or had it been, if she had done the same to her own father? She shook her head to clear the thought, unwilling to admit that the conclusion was even a little bit possible. I did not kill my own father! To some extent at least, she had a good reason to believe so. Although bringing her to Tylon in the first place had initiated the process of going insane, she hadn't been nearly as bad back then as she grudgingly realized she was now. But had she been crazy enough to murder her own father?
"Alica, if you're bored you can go downstairs and entertain yourself." Long offered, interrupting her thoughts. "Now that you've been introduced no one will mind if you make yourself at home here. Both my mother and sister want you to feel very welcome."
"Thanks, but... I think I'll just stay here." she answered. He picked up on a hint of sadness in her voice and turned to look up at her.
"Alica... perhaps it was a bad idea to bring you here. Seeing my family makes you miss your own."
"I can't even remember them Long, how can you miss something you can't even remember?"
"Your lonely heart yearns for the love of the people you once knew, I can see it plainly on your face. You don't need to remember what they were like to wish that you still had them here to call your own."
"Long..." she trailed off, her throat tightening with the emotion she felt. He was right of course, at least about this, he was completely right. He put down his work and climbed up on the bed in front of her, bending down to kiss her gently on the forehead.
"What I'm doing now is not so important that it can't wait. If it will make you feel any better, we can leave now and go out looking for your lost family."
"Yes... thank you." she replied. Those were the only words she was able to get out of her mouth as she sniffled and rubbed her eyes. She didn't want to cry again. She wrapped her arms around Long and held him close for a moment, then she let go and he helped her up off the bed. They went down stairs and Long gave a brief explanation to his mother, along with requesting the use of her car. Her consent was given easilly enough and they left right away. Alica tried her best to guide him through the streets. She did actually have the address of the place she was looking for, but that didn't help with directions. The city was enormous and the streets very numerous and confusing. Finally she ended up just giving Long the address to see if he could find it any better. Even then it took them quite awhile to find the place, a little halfway house crowded between other buildings along a fairly peaceful street. Alica and Long both got out of the car and stared at it for a minute. She walked up to the door, her heart filled with so much hope and expectation. Only to be crushed when she found that the place was deserted, as well as a note on the front door condemning the building.
"I'll never find them now." she said quitely, to herself. She felt a strong hand grip her shoulder in response. "How can I remember them if I never see them again?"
"Alica..." he trailed off, his voice full of concern. She turned from the building and buried herself in his chest, sobbing.
"I'll never..."
"Shh..." he stood there and held her, patting her back and feeling useless because there was nothing else he could do. He blamed himself of course, if he hadn't have made such a big deal about her remembering them once she saw them again it might not have been as bad. Most likely, they should have expected something like this. It had been ten years afterall, and no one stayed in one place for ten years anymore. He felt deplorable for getting her hopes up so high, when instead he should have kept his mouth shut and realized that the chances of finding her family were indeed very slim. She sobbed into his chest for several minutes until the pain died down. She felt as if she would die, as if all the hope she'd ever had were dead. She felt useless and lonely without a real family to call her own. The only comfort she found, was in the embrace of her friend. When she was finally able to wipe away her own tears they started walking back to the car. She turned and took one last look at the place before she left, and then turned back away, never to set eyes on the building again.
Long drove them right back to his mother's house, keeping a constant eye on Alica to make sure she was alright. He didn't really fathom what it was like to actually lose your entire family, though it had been something he'd been dreading ever since he came to work for Tylon. He'd done everything he could to prevent it. Even if it meant sacrificing his own soul and the lives of so many people, he could not bear to see them hurt. Sometimes he still wondered if the sacrifices he'd made were worth it, but if he ever doubted himself all he had to do was look into the eyes of his mother and sister, and remember how precious they were to him. He felt it was his duty, and his alone to save them from the horrible fate constantly looming over their heads. His father couldn't save them, he couldn't even save himself. All he ever did was cause anyone more pain. He had been with Tylon from the beginning anyway, he had been the very reason they were all caught up in the monsterous company's grasp. The man could never be trusted.
He looked back at Alica again and wondered what it must be like to know that her family was gone, and that she'd never see them again. He consoled himself with the thought that they might still be alive somewhere, and thought about doing the same for her, but something in her eyes told him that his reassurances wouldn't help now. It was different with him, if anything ever happened to his family they would most likely be dead. He hated to think what would happen if he somehow managed to fail them. They were the entire reason for his persistance, the only thing keeping him going, keeping him alive. If they were gone then he was dead as well. He had already decided that if anything ever did happen to them he certainly wouldn't be able to continue in his work. He couldn't do it only to save his own worthless life. He supposed he would die one way or another, perhaps by the hands of Tylon for disobeying his orders. If he tried to quit he would certainly be hunted down.
He glanced back at Alica again, wondering if she felt the same way. Her family was gone, but they could still be alive. She could do nothing to find them, but that didn't mean they were in danger. He didn't know if Van knew much about her family, and assumed that after her father had passed most of the knowledge about them had passed as well. So Van couldn't use them against her, and even if he could he really didn't need to. He already had her under his control, subject to his command in order to save herself from whatever fate awaited. There were fates worse than death at Tylon, and he supposed that she'd rather become a killer than be turned over to the labs as a test subject. He wouldn't let the same happen to himself, but he wouldn't keep killing either. He had already decided that he'd kill himself before becoming one of Tylon's guinea pigs. When they finally arrived back home Long parked the car and went to open the door for Alica, gently helping her out. She looked completely dead to the world, her face shrouded in a blank look devoid of feeling. It was then that he chose to try and comfort her.
"They could still be alive you know, they probably just moved somewhere else."
"Yes..." she nodded despondently and sighed. "but I'll never find them."
"As long as they're alive there's still a chance."
"Not if I can't even remember their names."
"But at least you can take comfort in the hope that they're still out there."
"I suppose..." He sighed and took her hand, leading her back up to the house. He gave his mother a brief greeting as they entered and then went straight up to his room. He didn't see the use of moping around about things when there was work to be done, so he immediately went back to looking through his clothes. He also took care to involve Alica in the task, asking her to fold the clean cothing and set it in his suitcase. It really wasn't much of a job, but it was just enough to kep her busy, and maybe distract her from thinking too much. After awhile she realized what he was doing and was thankfull for it, even if it didn't help her much it was still very considerate of him. She showed her appreciation by doing the best job she could, folding the clothing neatly and arranging it in distinct categories inside the suitcase for him. They spent hours going through his clothes and soon the suit case was full, at which point he brought out another and they proceeded to load it up as well. By the time his mother came up to call them to dinner she figured he had more than enough clothes to see him through several years at Tylon, as long as he did his laundry.
Dinner was fairly quiet. Long and his mother and sister only talked a litle bit, while Alica said nothing at all. She felt it was useless to talk on all accounts. For one thing, she couldn't even say anything to anyone besides Long, and for another she was too gloomy to talk anyway. Even if she had anything to say, it probably would've only made the situation even worse. When the meal was finished Long excused them both and they went quietly back up to the room. He was talking to her about something, but she could barely hear his words, lost in the depressing thoughts that clouded her weary mind. He lead her to the door and she stood there dumbly and watched as he quickly made his bed, and then allowed him to lead her to it and lay her down. She hardly felt his soft kisses on her forehead, or the warmth of his body as he wrapped his arms around her. Yet it seemed that his touch was the only thing holding her, tying her down to this world as her thoughts wandered off into oblivion. Before she knew it he was gone. She was laying down on his bed alone, in the dark.
*Lazy.
*No, tired.