Alex

Alex tells Sienna his story of how he arrived in such a situation at such a young age, and it may be more innocent than it seems...

I motioned for Alex to sit on the couch closest to the heater, underneath the house was freezing, and he'd lived there for seven years. And I was about to find out why.

He sat on the couch, flashing me a smile as he did so. I stood awkwardly, registering whether I should sit or not. I shrugged it off and sat on the couch opposite him.

'Okay…I know you're probably extremely confused, and I'm going to explain everything. It'll all make sense soon.' He said, confidence striving in his every word.

'I hope so,' I muttered under my breath.

'Okay...well. Seven years ago, when I was 12, my family and I moved here from London, where I'd lived my whole life. My father got a job, but he never told mum or me what it was. Well, he did say that he worked in an office somewhere in the city. It was my first day of school when mum went searching for him, claiming he'd left his briefcase at home, which he needed to work. She searched every business along the lines of what dad told her he was doing, and he was nowhere to be found.

'That night, when dad arrived home, he seemed...different. Distant, somehow. Mum instantly started questioning him, demanding where he'd been and why he lied. dad denied everything, saying she was overreacting. Of course, my mother thought he was having an affair which is a load of bollocks. She followed him the next day, claiming he had gone to some dark warehouse down near the docks.

'She told me all about it, of course. My mother and I were like best friends, we'd tell each other everything. I didn't mind hearing about my parents marriage though, which is what she complained about most of the time. It wasn't weird, or awkward at all. My mother and I were closer than siblings.'

I snorted, and Alex's dark gaze met mine. 'What?'

'Oh, nothing. It's just...I've never been that close with my mum, it's like we live on different countries.' I explained.

He grinned. 'A lot of people are like that. But not us. Anyway, I could see mum was deeply hurt by dad's lying and sneaking around, so the next day I pretended I was walking to school with some new friends, when I actually never made any friends. I followed my father that day, hiding in the trunk of his ute until we arrived at the warehouse my mother had told me about.

'I snuck in behind dad, after he swiped a card through a door, which granted him access. Everything was very high-tech and security was tight, but I remained in the shadows, listening to my father as he greeted his workmates. Everything seemed legit...until I heard my father say "Who needs to be killed today?"

'I almost fainted when he said it, I mean, I was only a child. Instead, I had to sit in the shadows, unable to move without being seen and listen to the horrific ways, in detail, of who my father was to kill, and how. It all dawned on me, my father was a hired killer, a professional hit man. I was the son of a killer.

'As soon as the room was empty, I ran to the nearest desk and stole the phone, calling the police to tell them the location of the warehouse and what it was. They came almost instantly, and raided the place. Unfortunately, my father was then nowhere to be seen. They arrested everyone in the place, then asked me for my address so they could nail my dad when he got home that night.

'I was scared, not only for my fathers life, but for my own. You see, if these people found out who I was and what I'd done, they'd kill me in a heartbeat. But, nevertheless, I gave the police my address, and went home to await painfully for my father to return home and get arrested.

'After that night, I never thought I would see my father again. But, I did. About two months after he was arrested, he was awaiting trial when he escaped custody and came home. My mother screamed and screamed, before dad had a mental breakdown. he collapsed to the floor, yelling out only two words. "Top drawer". Mother stopped screaming long enough for me to race into dad's old office and raid his top drawer.

'I don't know why what I found surprised me, it was obvious now that my father was a bad man.' He paused.

'What was in the drawer?' I asked eagerly.

'The worst thing you could possibly imagine.' Was all he replied.

I stared at him expectantly, but his eyes were fixated on his feet.

'What was it?' I asked, breaking his silence. 'Porn movies or something adultery?'

The corner of lip twitched into a tiny smile, but he quickly pulled it back down. 'No, not quite. What was in the drawer...was the end of the world.'

 My mouth dropped open in shock; the look on Alex's face told me he was not joking. 'W…what do you mean?' I asked with a slightly high voice; I wasn't too sure I wanted to know the answer.

'A substance,' he replied warily, as if he wasn't too sure himself. 'It was what my dads company was working on when they didn't have specific people to kill, of course. The company, I later found out, was one of those groups which believe that the end of humans would benefit everyone.'

'Did you take the substance out to your father?' I asked.

'No. Of course, I was still young. I didn't know what the hell it was. Actually, I thought it was drugs. So, I ran back out only to find the b*****d being beaten by my mother. I pulled her off him, I was quite strong for a boy of twelve.

'Dad, now recovering from mums attack, explained that he was blackmailed into working for "The Company" and that he was secretly against him. He claimed he destroyed every sample of the substance ever made.'

I sniggered. Alex eyed me cautiously. 'Sorry, please continue.' I mumbled.

'Thanks,' he muttered before continuing. 'Well, I think he was telling the truth. At least, I hope so. My whole teenage life was lost if he wasn't.

'The cops arrived shortly after, my mother must have rung the cops while I went into dads office. They took him away, and I followed. They took him just a few streets away, so it was easy to keep up.'

'They took him to prison?' I interrupted.

'No, they took him here,' he replied, pointing to the floor. 'I took refuge behind a tree out the front of the house and watched as they hauled him inside. It took me about an hour to figure out what I was going to do, before deciding I had to break my father out of that godforsaken place.

'So when the sun went down, I picked up the sharp stick I'd been eyeing off and raced up to the house, only to find that as soon as I was on the front lawn of the place, a silent alarm had gone off, and three men were on me in less than two minutes.

'I was placed in a small room that looked like it should have been a kitchen. I guess, now it probably is. They had me cuffed to a chair and questioned me. I broke down and told the b******s everything. Hey, I was only twelve,' he added when he saw my dumbfounded expression. 'After that, I was placed in the underground prison and well…you know the rest.'

'Um…no I don't.' I admitted quietly. 'That guy down there? The skeleton dude across from your cell? It was your father, wasn't it?'

He bobbed his head down shamefully. 'Yes.' His voice was quieter than a pin dropping in dead silence.

'How?' I asked cautiously.

'He um…had some kinda heart attack when I’d been there for about a year. I'd have to say though, the time before he died was the longest I’d ever spent with him. When he carked it, I was completely alone. Except for the effing guard who annoyed the crap outta me. He'd turn the TV onto some Indonesian news channel, point it toward my cell on full blast and walk out of the room for a few hours.'

A smile twitched at the corner of my mouth. This guard was smart, but I still felt sorry for Alex. After all, he was the victim of this ingenious torture.

'Then, all was going well. I mean, as well as it could, obviously. It was prison, after all. There was some sort of tunnel the guard used to go through to get supplies and stuff. He didn't start to use it until a little while ago, which is when I'm guessing the old man died. Before that, the guard would just go upstairs to get out of the prison.' He took a deep breath, like he'd already said too much about his little experience. Well, big experience. 'Then he died. A week later, you found me. And here I am.'

'Um…right.' I said, staring at the floor. I had absolutely no idea what to say. I was thinking, okay, well that's great. See-ya! Instead, what came out was 'Do you want a cup of coffee?'

He seemed delighted at the idea. 'Yeah, sure.' He grinned as I stood up and headed for the kitchen. Just as I hovered outside the door, my hand on the handle, I heard a horrible crash, and I felt my feet tear away from under me. I screamed as I fell with the shards of wood flying around me. What the hell was happening? My eyes closed from the impact as I hit a sharp piece of wood that dug into my arm.

I screamed again and felt wind hitting my side. The realisation suddenly hit me harder than I hit the wood had: My house just collapsed.

I cried out, and a voice from not far above answered. 'Sienna? Oh my god. Can you hear me? Grab my hand!' Alex voice was yelling from above. I moaned loudly as I tried to move my arm upwards, but a shot of pain blasted through my wrist to my elbow and kept it pinned by my side.

'I…I can't!' I yelled, fighting back tears. I tried to move my legs, anything, but everything was pinned to the slab of wood I was on by other bits of wood. My floor.

'You didn't fall all the way to the ground, Si, I might be able to reach you but don't move or the wood you're on might come loose and you'll fall.' He called. I heard him get on his knees and felt a hand tearing at my free arm. I tried to move it so he could grab me, but a loud creak from the wood I was stationed on warned me to stop.

'Oh god, Alex, I'm going to die, aren't I?' I cried. Stupid goddamn top floor collapsed under me. Well, it was only a matter of time. Did he call me Si?

'No, you're not gonna die! Not if I have anything to do with it.' I felt his hands clasp the wood that had my chest pinned, and suddenly it was ripped off me and I heard it crash to the floor. I opened my eyes and stared above. I could see the dark night sky, the stars were awful bright tonight. Wouldn't this be a nice way to die, I thought, laying here looking up at the beautiful sky on a beautiful night with a gorgeous guy trying to rescue me. Yep, this was the life. Or, death.

I opened my mouth to tell him to stop, and not bother, I wanted to die under the stars, but as I did so, a firm hand gripped my shoulder and pulled. I cried out in pain-my shoulder was dislocated which I found out the hard way-as he reached out with his other hand as well, and pulled me up slowly. I heard him groaning as he pulled my body weight up. Gosh, he must have been strong.

I could feel his strength as he pulled me high enough to grab the floor, which hadn't collapsed, with my good hand and he helped pull me up to safety.

He collapsed on the floor next to me and I could hear his heavy breathing through the now silent night.

'Whoa.' Was all I said before I lost all consciousness and fell into a dream where Jason and Alex were fist-fighting for me. Hah.

---

The blinding light awoke me, which told me it was midday. Isn't it strange how you sleep so well after a traumatic experience? Well, I personally slept the best I had slept for years. I guess I had to thank my crummy house for that, eh.

My eyes fluttered open and all the numbness I had felt while I was asleep washed away like a giant wave, and the pain hit me with force. I cried out as I keeled over to my left side. My right shoulder, as far as I could tell from the excruciating pain, was dislocated. I could feel dry blood covering me, and when I glanced away from my misshapen arm, I could see the bright sky high above me, and a huge hole next to me full of broken wood, tin, and collapsed kitchen appliances. A huge chunk of my house had fallen down, including the goddamn roof.

'Sienna?' I heard Alex stir next to me, I hadn't even known he was there. 'Are you alright?' I turned to look at him. Dried sweat and blood was on his shirt and his blonde hair was wild and poking in ever direction possible.

'My…shoulder…' I whispered. I noticed my voice had changed, it was cracked and broken like I had been screaming or crying. Then I remembered I had been doing both when the kitchen collapsed.

His blazing blue eyes darted to my left shoulder and he whistled. 'Looks painful. I've seen people pop those things back into place before. D'you want me to…you know…try?'

Another surge of pain sent me keeling over again, and I nodded while keeping my eyes squeezed shut. I pushed myself closer to him and held out my arm, with much pain, and I felt his hands grip my shoulder. The pain was excruciating, and tears leaked from my eyes.

'It's going to hurt, Si. A lot.' He called me Si again? A smile twitched at the corner of my mouth, relaxing me a bit before I felt the huge pain that was sent through my shoulder suddenly, accompanied with a loud CRACK! I screamed and fell to the floor. 'Oh, god.' Alex whimpered.

Tears strolled down my cheeks and pain was pulsating from my neck down to my toes. 'I'm okay…' I whispered through breaths. I could feel his doubt as he stroked my hair with his thumb I couldn't say a damn thing at that exact time, because I passed out again, and the darkness consumed me.