Unique

Chapter 21

  Broken. Yes, that's the word, they are broken into a million pieces. They are breathless, paralyzed, bewildered and most of all, devastated.

  Alex's blood heats up. His anger turns into rage. His eyes are red, and his palms are sweaty. He closes his fists tightly and his nerves protrude. "I WILL KILL YOU!” He screams and charges towards Kayla.

  Before he could attack her, Aiden pulls Alex back. "Alex! Calm down! Killing her will not do any good to Bess. We need to find a way to bring her back to consciousness, and that is our most important goal right now!" Aiden grabs Alex's face and stares into his eyes. "Alex, focus, calm down. Bess will be alright"

  Alex cools down. He takes in deep breaths. He feels he can believe Aiden, but deep down, he feels different. He feels anguished and hopeless. 'Kayla said that Bess can't be brought back, so what more is left? Hope? No, that got over long time back', Alex thinks bitterly.

  Aiden's trying to be the hope-giver here, but he knows that he is failing miserably. Deep down, he too feels totally hopeless. Tears escape his eyes and roll down his cheeks. He quickly wipes it off before Alex could see.

  Aiden takes a look at Bess's still body. Suddenly, guilt takes over his mind. His legs get weak and he falls. Before he could touch the ground, Alex takes hold of him. "Aiden! Aiden are you alright?", Alex screams, but Aiden's mind is occupied with the guilt of being the reason of Bess's death. Suddenly, Aiden's view gets dark. His pain and guilt blacks him out.

  After a few hours

  Aiden opens his eyes slowly. He's lying on a sofa, in his house in the woods. The sunrise fills the room with beautiful colors, but Aiden is not in the position to enjoy it. He looks around and spots Bess lying on the couch next to his. Her chest is still and she looks pale.

  Aiden stands and starts moving towards her. He removes a strand of hair off her face and gently rubs her cheek. He stares at her still face. 'She's so beautiful even when she's asleep', He thinks to himself and smiles, but then, another thought crosses his mind, 'What if she's going to remain like this forever?'

  Just before he could attack himself with more horrible thoughts, Alex comes in.

  "Oh, you're awake" Alex looks at Aiden, then his eyes shift to Bess, and then back to Aiden. "Follow me"

  Aiden slowly follows Alex. He still feels weak, but he manages to walk. Alex leads Aiden to the garden.

  Aiden spots Owen and Kayla sitting on the blue chairs. His thought shifts to the blue chairs Bess made on Minerva.

  "How are you feeling now?", Owen cuts Aiden from his thoughts.

  "Me?" Aiden asks blankly. How does his state even matter when Bess is unconcious?

  "Yes, how are you feeling?" Owen rephrases his question.

  "Um not bad, I guess" Aiden replies sadly.

  Alex pats on Aiden's back. "Hey, remember few hours back you were the one who calmed me down?" Alex tries to give an encouraging smile. "Cheer up buddy! There's always hope!"

  But both of them knew, that they were searching for light in a cave without any opening.

  Aiden takes a look at Kayla. Her face is totally disheveled. Her eyes are sore from crying. He also notices a bruise near her mouth. "What happened?" He asks and points at the contusion. "The bruise?"

  Kayla looks down. Tears fall from her eyes to the ground. "Nothing"

  "I hit her" Alex confesses. "After you got unconscious, I couldn't hold it anymore"