The Name's Alex

Chapter Nine

Just as darkness consumes his vision, blinding light quickly replaces it. Flinching at the sudden light all around him, Alex reaches up and covers his eyes till the light slowly fades away.

"Alex?" A familiar voice calls out.

Someone he never thought he'd talk to again.

"Ian?" Gasping slightly, he opens his eyes to find himself in his old room in England with his uncle standing at the side of his bed.

"Alex, why are you still in bed? Weren't we going to spend my day off at the park?" He asks, a smile on his face as he pulls the blanket off of him. "Come on, sleepy head, let's go."

Confused, he stares at his uncle for a while. Ian's smile slowly slips away and is replaced with a concerned look at Alex's lack of response.

"Unless you don't want to go to the park? We can do something else if you want, up to you."

Snapping out of it, Alex shakes his head and gives him a big smile. "No! The park sounds great!" Quickly getting out of bed, the teen practically launches himself at his uncle with a tight hug. "I'm just glad we can spend the day together."

Ian's hands reach around and hugs him tightly. "I'm glad we can too, Al."

They stay that way for a little while longer before Alex pulls away and holds onto Ian's hand, pulling him towards the bedroom door. "Let's go! We got to go to the park!"

"Uh, Alex." He turns around to Ian giving him an amused smile. "Shouldn't you put some clothes on first?"

"Oh," he glances down at his tank top and sleeping shorts, "right. Forgot about that."

Walking past him, Ian ruffles Alex's hair. "Besides, we gotta eat some breakfast too. No hurry, we got all day."

In his room alone, Alex looks around him. Everything's the same, nothing changed from when he lived here. Looking down at his clothes, he risks a chance and slowly lifts his shirt to reveal a chest without any scars at all.

'Maybe it was all just a dream. Ian's death, Yassen, Sabina, moving...everything wasn't real.'

Alex's heart aches at the very thought.

Snapping out of it, Alex quickly changes into a pair of jeans and a blue polo shirt before walking downstairs. Everything looks exactly the same as when he left it. The windows letting in the morning sunlight and a perfect view of the England weather as well. In the kitchen Ian is flipping pancakes over the stove, some eggs cooking on the pan next to it as the tea kettle starts to whistle. Seating himself at the kitchen island, he takes in the sight of Ian alive and well.

'Dream or not, I'm glad to see him.'

Suddenly his surroundings change. The walls begin to crumble and concave, the bright sunlight slowly turning dim as shadows envelop into one huge beast that threatens to consume the both of them. Heart beating rapidly, Alex turns and sees that Ian is gone and in his place stands a shadow figure. Completely solid, the shadow figure emits a wave of darkness around itself.

Struggle as he might he's unable to leave his seat. His arms and legs are strapped down by leather straps onto the chair. Clothes now tattered and bloody, his former scars slowly appearing on his skin in the same excruciating pain as when he got them. A bloody scream threatens to rip its way out of his mouth, but his lips are stuck together by an unmovable force.

"My dear boy. Look what you've done."

Alex wakes up in a cold sweat, his breath labored and heart fighting its way out of his chest. Gasping for breath, he struggles to calm myself down while taking in the soft feel of the bed beneath him. It's only when he manages to calm down long enough that he feels a sharp pain on his temple. Muffling a whimper, Alex squeezes his eyes shut and focuses on calming down again.