Angels with Newfound Hope
Act 2 Chapter 2: Reminder
Alex stepped out into the sun first, taking the scenery in again. Those same children played without a care in the world, adults of all forms stared at him, even the buildings of the city seemed untouched by time.
It was as if time had simply reset. Either that, or he was in a different timeline from when he'd entered. He prayed for the former. More prayers were sent out that he'd get everything again before the confrontation with that psychopath. If he was going to do this again, he was going to do it right.
Reza Izquierdo was a dead man twice over.
The human's disturbing thought bubble of how he'd murder his once-aquaintance was popped when he heard small footsteps rapidly approaching. He executed a side-flip right as the kid was about to bowl him over again.
"Hey! Be careful, will you?!" Alex shouted to her as soon as he hit the pavement again. A few kids cheered at the successful maneuver right as Sebastian came out for him.
"What happened out here?" Was all he asked, a concerned glare shooting towards him specifically.
"Some kid nearly ran me over. Guess they were in such a hurry that they got tunnel vision." The human explained with his own glare going to where the child disappeared.
"That seems to happen more and more often in this town. Kids are always in such a rush these days..." The officer mused. That was weird, though. The same thing happened last time Alex was outside the cafe.
"God, I should be glad that only happens in the parks in my town." The taller male thought aloud, trying to remember what happened after he and his escort started walking.
"In any case, you're okay. Let's get going before people start swarming you." Sebastian ushered him along with some haste.
"Alright, alright! You don't have to push me." The brunette tried to get him to cool down to no avail. All he could do was match his escort's pace and hope he wasn't shoved along again. That was, until someone came up to them...
"Hey Sebastian. How's everything going so far?" A certain earth dragon's deep, rumbling voice filled the air, and Alex's heart with a whirlwind of emotions. His mind succumbed along with it to the mighty vortex.
"It's going just fine. Alex's schedule is all done for the day. You just walking your beat right now?" Sebastian took one look at the human and became fraught with worry. In mere seconds, his previous mourning had utterly engulfed him. All that was left was a broken man staring tearfully at the ground.
"Uh yeah... is something the matter with him? He's shaking like a leaf." The chief addressed with just as much concern.
"I... don't know. Alex, are you okay?" The target of their worry shook off the hand placed on his shoulder. He didn't even look back when he finally spoke up.
"I need to go..." Alex stated in a shaky voice before starting off in a swift jog. The two officers were quicker to follow, keeping up with ease.
"Was it something I said?" Bryce tried to address the tension within. His attempt was blocked out completely by the fleeing man before him.
"Alex, please. Maybe we can help you with whatever you're going through." Sebastian offered with little success as well. There was just no getting through to this man. They continued on like that for a moment before their escortee ran into his apartment, locking the door behind him.
Alex slumped against the door. His head fell against his knees as everything fell apart in a typhoon of agony. The dragon he once knew, the one he fell in love with, was gone. All that was left was a husk devoid of recollection.
"What even happened just now?" He heard Bryce ask through the door.
"I don't even know. He seemed fine until you came up. Did you hear his voice before he started running?" The smaller officer questioned himself. The brunette seemed to upset the two, and it made him feel even worse. He didn't want his dragon feeling bad like that.
"Yeah. It was really shaky, like he was about to start crying. I hope it wasn't anything I said..." The chief's rumbling voice rang clear with worry. The last thing he wanted was to upset anyone.
"I... You think something happened before he came through?" Sebastian busied himself with that concern as his boss sat down to think.
"I... don't know. I just hope that isn't the case. You know how I am.." Bryce worried he may have been the trigger for everything happening to the human behind that door. Little did he know just how much he was.
"Either way, something's definitely wrong. We should keep a close eye on him whenever he's around." A silent agreement was made between the two of them as his dragon walked away.
"I'm sorry, Bryce..." Alex mumbled through his tears. Getting up, he quietly plodded over to the sofa before lying back down in a fetal position. He hugged his knees to his chest as tightly as possible. No matter how hard he tried to comfort himself, it just wouldn't work. Those memories were too invasive. Images of the chief's bloodied corpse flooded his mind as the whole world faded...
Ringing. Something was ringing. It only lasted a second to the human, but it was still enough to bring him back to reality. He peeled himself from the one spot he actually felt comfortable in to stop that incessant noise from coming back.
"Hello there. Could you please sign here?" The postman from last time greeted him with a clipboard and a cheery smile. As nice as it was, Alex just couldn't muster the energy to return it. Not even a single line came to mind as he mindlessly scribbled his name down.
"Alex, is everything okay? You don't look in good shape." Sebastian pointed out his disheveled condition. The brunette might have appreciated the sentiment if he weren't so blunt about it.
"I'm fine." With that, he borderline slammed the door in their faces. A hard 'Thud' followed immediately by a pained yelp caused a bit of commotion.
"Shit, you alright?" The runner could be heard attending to the poor postman who was unintentionally injured. The stormy-eyed man decided to take a peek through his window and see what was unfolding.
"Ugh... I think so. What was that even about? That hurt like nothing else." They groaned, holding a bleeding nose.
"I'm sorry on the ambassador's part. Something must've happened before he came here. I can't even get him to talk, period." The officer tended to them to the best of his ability. The sight of such an injury made him cringe. Just another person he drove away thanks to his mourning.
"You could say that again. He just slammed the door in my face. Ugh, I need to get this taken care of. Just tell him to meet me at the bar if he wants to apologize." With that, the poor injured postman fluttered off. Alex couldn't help but feel a pang of guilt strike through his oblivion...