Universal Heroes- Book 3

9~0

Sub
In a rush, Blue had asked me privately to check on Alex as his condition was deteriorating. I decided to keep this to myself because the idea of it alone was enough to make me cry again, and I didn't want anyone to see me break down, much less have it happen while my friends are feeling the same way. I could tell Ethan had minor insight on it as he was mildly duller than the rest, but like them he was also all filled with at least an ounce of hope. Who was I to destroy it?

That being said, I finally got some time to myself when I was mentally stable to go check on Alex. Keep in mind that Blue told me he was getting worse, so imagine the sheer surprise and confusion I felt as the door was not only open, but inside someone was alone and quietly drawing.

"Alex?" I asked. Before he could look up and reply I had already ran toward him and my arms were around his body. "Don't ever do this to us again." I said in a softer tone.

"Hm, maybe I was wrong and you did miss me." he replied quietly with a small laugh at the end.

"'Miss' is an understatement." I pressed my lips against his forehead. It was still slightly hot but I assumed it was less of a fever than before. I know he was blushing and I wasn't going to lie, I kinda was too.

"How're you feeling?" I asked after a moment of silence.

"I still have a headache but it's not as bad as before...and most of my cuts are gone. Apart from these ones though, that's why I changed the bandages and started drawing on them." he said while showing me his left arm. He then sighed and asked, "What about you guys?"

I know he was bracing himself for the truth as well as expecting me to be painfully honest. Knowing that he could handle it, I started.

"Well Denis is scarred from Nyeka's actions and your death, Ethan almost lost his brother twice and speaking of which you kinda like took Elijah's soul and almost killed Corl and left me without a leg." I said quickly.

Alex seemed to be left speechless at the summary of what happened which made me glad that I didn't include the other details such as roping Star into this and Nyeka killing them both. "And you guys still care about me?" The pain in his voice was heart wrenching.

"Of course we do! You're our best friend!" I said. "Wait, you don't think that.."

"Everything points back to me. The possessions, Nyeka, everything. You all could have died because of me, and the worst part is that I knew it was coming. All I fucking do is bring you down I would've been better off dead." Alex vented.

"Dude this isn't our first rodeo. Sure it was the worst we've ever faced but we're all living and healing."

"But if I had control over myself earlier things would've turned out differently."

He was so fixed i'm blaming himself for everything and making me believe he deserved to die that I was confused with whether to let my temper get the best of me or be overly sympathetic.

"Your problem is that you're holding onto the past. You never 'got control' of your demon because you didn't want what happened then to happen now." I said.

Alex was slowly breaking into tears as items started to float before us. "Don't...mention it." he stated shakily.

"You wanted me to be honest and now I am. And what I want you to know is that you can't keep worrying about things that we've moved past. I want you to stop putting a value on your life because of what happened then."

"But..I just can't. It is a mental scar. All of the things I did in the name of lust. In the name of getting non existent sanity.."

"And what did you promise Denis after it all?"

Alex set everything down and wiped tears off his face into their original place as the truth sank in. He was left in dead silence, as if he wanted to know how I knew of their private promise or he was still trying to process everything. Denis had told us about it a couple days after Alex had died and we were struggling to take all of it in.

"I wouldn't hurt myself. And he wanted me to do it for me." Alex said while looking at the bandages on his left arm again. There were beautiful images drawn on which I hadn't registered before but left me astounded by how he came up on it on the spot.

"This whole thing starts with you wanting to become better. The way I see it: you got a second chance at life for a reason. This isn't really "fixing" your mistakes, but it's more so a restart. I know you have it in you, you just let the guilt and fear eat you alive."

"I've always wanted to be on good terms with my demon, Sub. But as you said it's all too overwhelming and I was just pushed to that point where I didn't know what to do. I couldn't think straight and none of my thoughts were clear. Anything seemed sane, and honestly it still does."

"That's why we're here then. You need and want help, and even if we don't know what's going on in your head, we can and will try to help you as much as we can. You wouldn't let us suffer alone and neither would we."

Alex was way calmer now that we talked everything out. He then hugged me which led me to think about one thing which probably was the root of all that happened. That whole speech I came up with about holding onto the past was based on my past experiences and I forgot to mention having a good closure. That being said, I gently pushed Alex off of me before kissing him. It lasted for like 10 seconds, but I knew that this was special to him, and moreover his demon.

Alex smiled gently after I broke from the kiss.

"Thanks." he said softly.

"Still friends though right?" I asked.

"Of course."

"Awesome. Now I do know some other friends who will be psyched to see you."