-Endless Summer-

- XIV | Last Night On Earth -

Warning: this chapter will contain mild to moderate mature language. Viewer discretion is advised. (I did it again 😆😁)

C h a p t e r  F o u r t e e n
L a s t  n i g h t  o n  e a r t h

A stunned silence fell over the group, so thick, so heavy that it suffocated you, drowned you in its secrecy, smothered you with its lies and encased you in its deception.

Raj was the first to break the hold the lack of words had on you, and had to speak through a gaping jaw and with eyes practically bulging from his skull. "Whaaaaaaaaaat?"

Everett Rourke was Aleister's father.

The man who built this place, brought us all here, trapped us, made us part of his sick game, was Aleister's father.

Father, of all people.

Like, now is definitely not the time, but what a way to rip off Star Wars.

Just in real life.

With a lot more of a twist.

"So it's you." Estella growled as Craig took a seat.

"Did not see that coming." He mumbled to himself, placing a confused hand on his throbbing forehead.

Your brain itself felt like it was about to miraculously implode like the Death Star.

Even that wouldn't hurt as much as the headache this conversation was giving you.

"I kinda did." Zhara shrugged, and it shocked you to the core to see that she seemed unfazed by the news, as if we'd announced something as obvious as that it had been a sunny day.

"You... you've been lying to us?" Grace asked, betrayal dancing behind her chocolate brown eyes. She looked so weak and vulnerable, her tiny frame shaking with shock from head to toe.

"Grace, I'm sorry, I - I never meant to hurt you." Aleister pleaded meekly, desperation lacing his voice.

He reached for Grace, to pull her close, a comfort for them both, but she hastily pulled away.

She looked horrified, on the verge of tears.

Jake broke your train of very confused thought by pushing you behind him slightly, and you had to lean around him to see what was going on.

"So wait... you're the boss man's son, and that's supposed to make us trust you? What's the deal?! Did he plant you here to spy on us? Is he listening right now?" The ex-pilot demanded, growling angrily and glaring at the pale man, who had never looked more like a boy in his entire life.

"No! For God's sakes, I'm not a spy!" Aleister snapped, but there was clear desperation in his voice.

Desperation for you to believe him.

Desperation for you to understand.

And you did, in a way.

You couldn't help who your parents were, or what they did. Just because they did some sick and twisted stuff in their life doesn't mean that Aleister was anything like the man who had held them hostage on an island full of unimaginable danger.

But you know what they say: the apple doesn't fall far from the tree.

"I dunno... I think he sounds sincere..." Sean said uncertainly, staring at Aleister as if he was trying so solve the hardest puzzle known to man kind.

He wasn't that far off, come to think about it.

"That's what spies do! That's, like, literally their basic job!" Jake argued exasperatedly.