Neither One

Neither: Thirty-Seven

Leo

"What were you thinking?" Mum screamed as Damian, Elle and I sat down, our heads bowed. She didn't just scream at all of us, it also felt like her anger was directed towards me. Reason? Easy, because Elle had told her it was all my idea to go into the forest.

I spoke up against it but she didn't believe me because apparently, her beloved Damian who supported her also beloved lying child of angel would never tell a lie.

"I didn't no anything." I sobbed. Dad say beside Elle as he glared at me with disappointment written all over his face. He said nothing. "Mum, he's lying." Damian bore against me. "It was really all his idea." Elle defended him pointing to me. I just stared at them in disbelief.

"Your brother and sister almost got ripped to shreds by a wild animal because of you...." She paused, glaring at me with disgust. "...If I hadn't stepped in at the right time, who knows what would've happened to them?" She yelled.

Them? Them? I was literally in as much danger as they were. I screamed mentally. "It's okay mum. Damian and I stood our ground." Elle smiled at her. "We gave the monster a good beating." Damian punched his fist in the air proudly. I rolled my eyes, they didn't care about me at all. None of them. "You did well my perfect, strong children." Mum patted their heads

"Leo, go to your room." Mum ordered after a while. "But I..." I tried speaking. "To your room. Now!" She cut in. Body seething with anger, I got up and screamed; "I hate you. I hate you. I hate you all." And I began walking away but I stopped in my tracks when my owb mother who was supposed to love me no matter my flaws replied; "Good, I can never lovea defective child who would put his own siblings in danger."

Those words sank deep and broke me into pieces. I was seven. Was I defective? Why did she make it sound like I wanted to hurt Damian and Elle because they were perfect? I looked at that, he didn't even spare me a glance. Oh, no one cared. That's right. I cried, I shed tears. I ran away that night, no one even bothered to look for me. Tired and hungry, I passed out beside a lake not remember much except my lingering hatred for them.

But I woke up to something warm. Not just something, warm people were around me. A couple, just like mum and dad, but they weren't mum and dad. They were different. Every touch, every word, every smile, it all raidiated kindess. I want to be with them forever. But the universe wouldn't have it that way, they had to take me back home.

Going back into my house, I cried as I turned to look at them sorrowfully, they had no what was going on in my life. I couldn't be selfish. They had their own lives to live. I was someone else's kid. People that didn't care about me.

I looked up at my family, not one even relieved that I was back home safe and sound. They just continued on with their life like I was never existing. I hate you all. I thought. I wish you would all die.

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My breath hitched as I rose up like a dead person, beads of sweat trickling down my forehead. "You okay?" A voice asked by my side and I turned to see Lucy rush beside me. Tears welled up in my eyes and she noticed and pulled me into a tight hug as I cried repeatedly onto her shoulder; "I hate them. I hate them. They should all die."

"Shh! Shh! It's gonna be okay." She assured me. I wasn't goings to save them. I wouldn't. Two days left, I wasn't going to do anything. Anyone who comes in my way would die. My parents, Damian, Elle... For all I cared, they could die happy deaths. Good riddance. Why? Because I do not give a damn about what happens to them.

I started laughing. My body jerking. "What's funny Leo?" Lucy asked, softly running her fingers through my hair. "It's all funny. They all laughed at me f-for being weak. Now l... look at them. They all need my help. They..." I paused laughing more and continued; "...they are relying on me. You know what I'll do? I'll forget them. I'll leave them to die. They all deserve death. A fate worse even. After all these years... This is what they get."

"Leo, don't be like that..." Lucy tried speaking further but I heard her voice hitch in her throat as something warm fell on my lap. Tears, Lucy's tears. She was crying.

"What's wrong?" I asked her. She nodded. "please tell me." I begged. "T-They.. took them." She cried profusely. I gradually recuperated from my own sullen state and sat upright to listen to her. "Who?" I asked keenly.

The moment I did that, I felt nothing but instant regret because my worst fear came to reality to crash my world down as she said: "E-Emily and L-Liam. They were taken. He said if you don't come, they will die." She broke down.

My heart shattered. All that was left in it's wake was a shadow. A shadow that detested everything but could only care about the ones closest to me. The ones that had just been taken from me. I got up slowly, wiped my tears, used a cleansing spell to freshen up and put on a shirt.

Turning to Lucy who wiped her eyes, I smiled and said; "Don't worry. I will get them back I promise you. My family was nothing. But when you mess the ones I have actually come to family, you'd better be ready to dine with Satan himself."

"Where are you going?" Lucy asked. "To visit some old friends. The first people to love me." I said and swore. "I'll get Emily and Liam back, even if it's the last thing I do."

*******
Elle:

I was being bound by chains. I couldn't move. I was exhausted, my wings broken so that I could neither use nor retract them. The chains around my wrist and ankles fastened with magic so that I couldn't move. Far from me, Damian lay trapped in the middle of a magic circle.

His mana was depleted and was not regenerating. Dad was holding mum in a cage that they were both locked in. He was asleep, but even in his sleep he would not let her go.

I looked around. Where are we? Is this hell? Everywhere was filled with flames, brimstone, rocks, skulls and magma. It was boiling hot but not as much as we couldn't handle. From what I could see, the walls were lined with torches, chalk drawings and bones while skulls were littered across the floor. I could also hear the hissing of snakes but I was ascertain as to where they came from.

"You know don't you?" Mum asked. I could hear her voice clearly through the myriad of orange and smoke. I had a hunch of what she was going to say, but I just asked; "what?" "That he's not going to come." She answered weakly. Knowing that she meant Leo.

I mean. Why would he? After all how we had all treated him? If it were me, I'd leave me to die. We used to be close. All three of us. If only we were just mature to own up to our mistakes instead of blaming them on him, maybe we wouldn't have been this way.

It was all my fault. As the Angel, I was still the one rotten to the core.  He was going to abandon us. My chains tightened, he had returned. His demonic aura making my throat dry before he even came into view. The demon that was behind all this. Our principal.

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Soooo what do you all think? Now we know why Leo is always cold and seems heartless. Honestly, I understand his pain. Well I'm the one writing it,😂😂.

I almost cried writing his flashback though. My boy suffered so much at the age of 7.