Lost in their Past

Chapter 33:- Alain Van Black

He was quite surprised when Ailsa Oak decided to hold a video call. After all, she didn't like seeing his face when he was present in person what in the hell would've made her want to see his face when he was on a sensitive mission?

But then his father had come in between the mother and son like a knight in shining armour. The sudden romance had made him want to puke his guts.

He was still cringing by the time he reached his hotel room, the coldness of Joliet County was legendary. He was wearing three layers of wooden clothing inside the hotel and still feeling cold.

He found Grace at the edge of the bed, sharpening her dagger 'Deathany' like the villain of those Kanto Cowboy movies he used to watch with his father.

"What the— you're not planning on murdering Alain are you?"

The glare in her eye was answer enough.

"Grace," he said calmly, "he's your nephew. I'm sure there is a reasonable explanation."

She threw her knife towards the plasma screen in front of them, it landed swiftly on the tiny visible part of switch board behind. Charlus was sure he wouldn't be able to make that shot in a hundred years at least.

"He's a Van Black," she got up, "Van Blacks are evil. And that little fucker, he once destroyed Kalos as we know."

She pulled back the knife with a grunt.

"You're a Van Black," he tried to talk sense into her, "Serena is a Van Black, you're not evil and neither is she and as for the latter, didn't he later save Kalos?"

"Who said I'm not evil?" she pulled up her green cargo pants and safely hid the dagger somewhere around the ankle, "and as for Serena, she's part her father."

He couldn't help but snort. "Like her father was all good? And Alain attended the academy, he was our junior."

She shook her head. "Her father is— was an asshole," she picked up a piece of paper from the bed and slammed it on his chest, "but his honour's damn legendary. And Alain's father... he's a grade A asshole."

Charlus sighed as he looked down at the picture, it was from the footage of a videocamera which showed a cloaked entering the bathroom at midnight and returning at four in the morning.

"He's... James thought of him as his brother," he argued, "he liked him."

"James thought of you as his brother too," she said bitterly, "need I remind you of what you did to him?"

He stared at her with surprise in his eyes.

"I'm sorry, it wasn't nice of me."

A frown appeared on his face as he started at Grace who was lying flat on the bed, her hands wrapped neatly around her belly, her eyes were fixated on the ceiling and there was an ominous expression on her face.

"He's been here since four days," she said, "everyday he stays at his room and at night he sneaks out precisely at 12 and comes back at four before the prep for skiing starts. Except..." she stopped.

"Except what?"

Grace sighed. "He didn't come back yesterday."