*BANG* *BANG*
The gunshot sound echoed in the building's empty floor, and 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 difficult by the second. His lungs were 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 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 lingered on Steve, who he promised to attend his daughter's birthday party, now gone- lying lifeless on the cold floor, leaving an 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 continued, 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.
--------
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. They woke up feeling like they slept in concrete. The morning was freezing with the winter season, and the kids dragged their aching bodies to get 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 lies 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 usually stern face, stood in the doorway with her hand on her hips.
Her grey hair flowed elegantly to the side, framing her slightly wrinkled face, which didn't take away from her beauty. Anyone looking at her might think that she was still in her forties. Only the wisdom in her eyes, which 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 before her and couldn't help but shake her head slowly.
*SIGH*
'Brilliant mind, but so distant.'
She thought to herself as she continued to head to the hall, used to serve out meals, leaving behind a young Alex who was also preparing to head to the hall.
Alex got himself out of the room. Although he was reluctant to be around the other kids, he could still feel that his stomach was protesting.
As he slowly approached the hall, the noise of kids mingling 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.
"Good morning, Mother."
He said as he got in front of one of the nuns.
She looked at Alex with 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 were smiling at him. He noticed an empty table in one corner of the hall and went toward it.
As he got closer and closer to the table, some of the kids around him started to look at him as if they were about to watch a good show. This puzzled him because he knew that the kids in the orphanage never paid attention to him, not that he was complaining.
He got to the table, placed his food on it, and sat down. As soon as he sat, it was like a mute button was pressed, and the hall got eerily quiet.
'What's going on.?'
He looked around and was even more confused as every kid in the hall looked 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, which looked devoid of life.
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 seat."
And for Alex, that was the start of the relationship that changed everything for him.