Alek

Chapter 38: Mae Kazimi

Chapter 38: Mae Kazimi

I suppose I should feel guilty for feeling relief. But it's hard to feel anything when Alek begins to look for his brother inside the car.

"Where is Enzo?" he asks feverishly, slamming the car doors. "Did you seriously fucking forget him, Deigo?"

Diego stands a few feet away, skin pale. His fingers shake by his side and his eyes...my god his eyes...they are so red.

"Avery," I whisper, falling to the ground on my knees beside her. "Avery, are you okay? What happened?"

Avery lets out a loud sob, her body shaking as she grips her face, blond hair covering her face as she bends down. She ignores me as I engulf her into a hug, my fingers digging into her skin.

"Where the fuck is Lorenzo?" Alek yells.

I catch Kai folding his arms, eyes straying to the trunk of the car only briefly before flicking back. I see the hint of dried blood under his nails at the same time Alek catches the small movement and he pulls the trunk open so hard the entire car shakes.

And then there's silence.

The silence stretches on for so long and even Avery stops to look, eyes wide as Alek staggers back in shock. I feel my stomach flip and the look on his face drives my curiosity forward.

"I'm sorry," Avery cries as she gets to her feet. "Alek, I-"

Alek turns to her and I take a protective step forward. I swallow as Alek's eyes meet mine, his usual calm black eyes are now wild with a raging storm. He looks broken almost as if whatever it was in the trunk had scarred him.

"What's in the trunk?" I whisper. "What's in the trunk, Alek?"

"Who's in the trunk," he whispers back, correcting me.

Deep down, I know who it is. I also know I should stay far away from the trunk if I want to spare myself any further pain. But I don't want to spare myself the pain, not when Alek is slowly breaking apart in front of me. I don't deserve peace when this mistake could have been easily avoided when all of this could have been fixed.

I take a step towards the trunk at the same time Alek's hand wraps around my wrist. It's almost as if he wants to pull me away from seeing whatever-whoever it is that is inside.

I take another step forward anyway and peek inside.

My breath catches inside my throat.

There, wrapped in a large blue plastic bag are bits and pieces of a burned and scarred body. I make out a hand with peeled skin and missing nails. I notice the locks of familiar hair, broken glasses and charred cloth. I see separated limbs as if Diego and Kai peeled parts of the body off of the road and put it in a bag to bring back home.

I think I hear my heart crack.

The smell hits me next. I smell burned flesh and dried blood. It's so strong that it forces me to stagger back, eyes looking over and over, searching for a sign...anything.

Avery stops beside me, empty eyes staring inside the trunk. I want to slap my hand over her face and hide it from her to save her from the nightmares that would come, but it is too late.

And as we stare at the remains of Lorenzo's body, I think I hear Alek disappear back into the house.

But I don't think it matters anymore.

Nothing matters anymore.

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It's been ten hours since Diego and Kai brought Lorenzo's body to the mansion in the trunk of their car. And in the past few hours, nothing has changed.