Immortal

05. Alaric

Eliam didn't return that night. It didn't seem like he would be coming back anytime soon. I was on my own. I was stuck with Alaric. Alaric who was now snoring lightly and  tightening his fetal position.
He would shift in his sleep every so often as if he was looking for something go latch onto. He would then would mumble something inaudible. He slept with his mouth wide open and it made him look kind of dorky.

My stomach churned and my chest ached, I didn't want to think about the sort of complications Alaric being here now created. I had to go to the lab at some point, but was it really okay to leave this kid unattended at home? I didn't know anything about him wether he was smart, or stupid. I couldn't really judge him asleep. I thought of waking him and telling him to leave and go wherever he wanted. Although, part of me knew doing that wasn't a good idea, he was only a kid after all.

I sat down on the ground and just watched him for awhile. He seemed to eventually stir awake, rubbing his eyes and stretching his arms. Hs popped his back and neck. His appearance looked, Carefree. Unlike me, Alaric's eyes were ice blue. He seemed to mutter something to himself absentmindedly. "Chewy Water pods" is what I could make out that he said. He licked his lips slightly, looked sideways catching sight of me. He was scratching the lower side of his back when it seemed like a light went off in his brain. Thats when his calm demeanor changed completely. He jumped off the couch in a spastic thrashing motion trying to land smoothly behind it  but got caught on something and fell backwards with a hard thud and poked his out from the back side of the couch.

He rubbed his head with one of his hands. He's a slow one. I mentally commented. Although his stared at me suspiciously his mind was instantly preoccupied with something else. He rose his nose to sniff the air and looked at the table were the fruit basket was. "Don't. You. Dare." I said coldly and he made eye contact with me again. He sat very still for a few minutes and then bolted toward the basket.

"Alaric!" I screamed at him and he didn't stop. He poorly managed to grab hold of the basket before I was next to him grabbing the other side of it. "Put it back." I stated firmly, he didn't let go. He didn't look like he wanted to let go. He had claimed ownership to something that was never his to begin with. The basket broke between us and fruit scattered all over the floor. Alaric nose dived and managed to grab two pieces and ran.

The next thing he did was weasel his way into one of the tightest spaces found in our home. He curled up in that tiny cramped space and watched me from the small opening. I could hear him chewing on the fruit and spitting out pieces. It wasn't until now when I picked up the remaining fruit that I realized  he was kinda short. Although he was still just a kid he was smaller than average.

"You don't have to hide." I muttered in annoyance. "But food is shared here, you can't take all of it for yourself." I began explaining the rules to him.
He didn't trust me. He made a sort of "nyaa" sound from his spot as if he were mocking me or trying to make himself more comfortable. It seemed like he was struggling, and I walked to the opening. "You can come out of there." I told him, my tone was calmer.

He looked at me wearily, untrusting but he did do something I didn't expect. He stuck his hand out and gave me a piece of the fruit he was eating. He left it for me on the ground. I picked it up, it looked different than the actual fruit. I wearily put it in my mouth and bit down then winced at the flavor. It was sour. Liquid gushed into my mouth, the texture was unfamiliar to me. There was a mild sweetness to the end of it and I smiled at him. I guess fruit was something he had the luxury of eating wherever my mother had brought him from.

My stomach growled louder, but I couldn't eat anything else. I just left Alaric in his corner and flopped onto the couch. I could feel him watching me walk away. My back felt tense and achey. I unfolded my wings slowly, followed by doing so I heard rustling. "You have them too." I heard his voice clearer. It was shaky, a few deep notes but quiet.

I turned toward him. "Have what?" I asked and he pointed at my wings. "Yes. I have wings." I extended one feeling the muscles stretch and built up tension release. He stared at them wide eyed and then scrambled a bit like before. He jerked at his hoodie and managed to get it off himself without falling over. Underneath he had a thin t-shirt with an odd design and some holes and then he extended something from behind him.

It was colored in hues of blue, dark to light rich colors both extended out from behind him. No doubt this kid had his own pair of wings. The feathers were smooth and clean, his wingspan was shorter than mine. "Yeah, you've got wings too." I said and he looked like he wanted to touch mine to confirm if they were real. It was pretty uncommon for any of us to have wings, the only other person I'd ever known to have wings besides myself, was my brother Eliam.
Alaric had them too though. Could he actually be a sibling? Nah it was a coincidence.

"Don't touch." I said to him and his hand recoiled back. I moved the tip of my wing closest to him away from him. His wings seemed to flop in a downward motion giving his body language a look of being sad.
He sat down on the floor. It seemed it was his turn to stare at me. He watched me intently trying to make up his mind on who I was or could be to him.

I wondered if she had told him anything, or if she'd dragged him all the way out here heavily sedated. The latter seemed more likely. "You're wondering who I am." I said out loud and I felt him twitch, his face turned red. He had a look in eyes as if I had the power to read minds. I almost laughed at his expression. He stared at the ground waiting for an answer to the question I had said. He had a sense of dread unsure if he wanted to know.

"The person who brought you here told me, that you are my brother." I sighed.

"Brother?" He repeated. The word sounded foreign to him. He stared blankly almost as if he knew the definition to the word, but not the emotion behind it. I didn't blame him. "We're brothers." He said again.

"Yeah. Im not your only brother though." He stared shocked at the news. "You have another brother besides me." I said. "You haven't met him yet."

He looked at me wearily, terrified of the idea of another person. His expression looked like my mothers. Like my own, when I stared at myself in a mirror trying to tell myself to keep going forward. He really was my sibling.

"His name is Eliam." I told him. "And, I'm Sam." He nodded slowly understanding for the first time that we were family.