Cursed

Part Seven

**Four Months Earlier**

"So, what happens now?" Alex asked. The desert night should have been hot and dark, but it was actually quite cool, and the moon was bright despite being only half full. But the moon could have been hot pink and the dry ground could have turned to a field of purple grass and Alex wouldn't have been able to keep his eyes off of Mitch.

Even miserable, even bowed under the weight of this grim responsibility, Mitch was beautiful. There was so much that Alex didn't understand about this world, but Mitch's beauty was a constant.

"Turn around," the General said. "Get on your knees."

How many times had Alex heard those words? How many times had he scrambled to obey, knowing the pleasure that would follow? This couldn't have been more different. When Alex went to his knees, he felt vulnerable and weak, and not in a good way.

"I never wanted this for you. I'll love you forever," Mitch swore.

Alex felt Mitch's slender arm wrap around his throat. He was more than strong enough to choke him out or snap his neck. Alex had no choice but to wait and hope that if there was pain that it was over quickly. He leaned back into Mitch's embrace and fantasized that heaven was just on the other side of this moment. It was a delusion, but he felt that he was entitled to that seconds before his death.

But death didn't come. Mitch's grip didn't intensify. Breath continued and bones remained unbroken. Alex felt Mitch's lips against the side of his face, felt his tears splashing down onto him. He felt him loosen his hold and move away, something worse than death.

"No, do it!" Alex whispered. "You have to!"

"I can't. I've spilled enough blood in my father's name. And even if I hadn't, I couldn't do that to you"

"Mitch..."

"No! Don't say my name, not anymore. Forget I existed. Run. Start over. I'll do my best to erase you from my life. Leave, and stay gone this time. If anyone gets wind of the fact that you're still alive, we both die. Tell me you understand."

"I do, but please... Let me turn around. Let me look at you one more time," Alex begged.

"I don't think I can," Mitch whispered. His voice was agonized.

"I love you," Alex said, still pleading. But for the first time since he'd said those words to Mitch years ago, there was no response. He whirled around and found that he was completely alone on the broken desert plain. If he hadn't been witness to how swiftly and silently Mitch could run, he might have assumed the boy had simply vanished or perhaps been abducted. In the end, it didn't matter how he disappeared. He was gone now. Alex was alone, his last declaration of love still hanging in the air, unreturned. As death sentences go, it was pretty sharp and thorough.

For an immeasurable amount of time, he didn't move. He sat back on his heels and closed his eyes and just...sucked air in and forced it back out through clenched teeth. Some time before dawn, he was able to stand and begin to shuffle vaguely eastward. He had no destination in mind, no plans whatsoever. No choice.

For three days, he moved and didn't stop. Without food or water or human contact, he felt himself losing his grip on reality. He wanted to die. He was too scared to end his own life, but couldn't see the point in his continued existence. To live without Mitch was meaningless. To return to him would be a death sentence for them both. No one could ever know that he had been spared. He would just keep walking into this wilderness until he couldn't walk anymore.

But he wasn't a human with fragile bones and weak muscles. He could and would survive this desert. He would make it through to civilization and then he would have the awful task of recreating himself from nothing. As the relentless June sun dehydrated him and made him delirious with thirst, he began to craft an alias for himself. With each sluggish step, he tried out new names, taking turns between ones that reminded him in some way of Mitch and ones that were free of his influence. The latter was tricky; Mitch had influence over everything in his world and had for so long.