Chapter 5 : “The Truth”
A week passed by in the blink of an eye. Alex was as annoying as ever although he did bother me a lot less than before as the days passed. My friends meanwhile were growing fond of Alex, in spite of the fact that I complain about him to them whenever he isn’t in the same room. I am convinced that Wanda has a crush on him even though she denies it. She always laughs at his (lame) jokes and spends most of her time with him.
“I’m telling you, he’s the most annoying person in the world!” I complained to Haley the billionth time that week when we were working together.
“You know, Trinity, that’s kinda hard to believe…” she said, but looking at my perplexed face, she added, “but I believe you!”
“If he’s so nice to you guys, why does he bother me so much?” I asked.
“He’s just asked a few questions, that’s not really bothering…” she said hesitantly.
“Haley…” I said in a warning tone.
“Okay, okay, I’m sorry…Maybe he’s doing it to make you like him.”
“By annoying me?”
“Maybe. Not all guys are smart you know,” she said with a smirk.
“No, I think he has other intentions…” I said.
“Like what?”
“Like…” I asked myself what would Alex possibly want from me but finding nothing, I groaned, “I don’t know…but he’s fishy…”
“Hello, ladies, I couldn’t help but hear your…uh…interesting conversation,” said an uncannily familiar voice behind us.
To my horror, Alex walked towards us from the shadows.
“Well, talk of the devil! I better go now…I…I think I heard Wanda call me.” said Haley even though no one called her. She hurriedly left the stable.
“Haley-” I started to go towards her but Alex stopped me.
“No, let her go. We need to talk.”
“Look, Alex, I need to finish work. I gotta go,” I said, even though my work was finished. I sidestepped him (for he was blocking the way infront of me) and was leaving when he cried out, “No, Angel, wait!”
I stopped in my tracks, shocked. “Angel” was what my brother used to call me. But he can’t be…
“Do you remember a little boy, well not little, I guess two years older than you, who used to have a crush on you and follow you around?” Alex said in a rush.
“Yeah, he was my brother’s friend in the shelter, but how did you-”
“What was his name?” he asked before I could finish.
I racked my brains for the name and then it dawned on me.
“His name was…Alex?”
“Yeah…hi.”
I was rooted to the spot for a while, speechless. Then, I gathered up my senses, walked over to Alex and slapped him. Shock clearly shone in his face.
“OW! What’d you do that for?” exclaimed Alex, rubbing his left cheek.
“Why? You expected a kiss?” I shouted.
“Yes--No--I mean, I expected a hug, not a slap!” he replied in surprise.
“You knew--You recognized me and you didn’t tell me, for a week!”
“I-I had to be sure--”
“You were sure—you annoyed me like hell—you could’ve just asked!”
“I—I’m--”
“You should know more than anyone else what my relationship was with my brother….” I paused as I fought the tears welling up in my eyes, “My parents were killed when I was five, my brother had to take care of me when he himself was only seven years old…” I couldn’t carry on, the pain was too much for me.
Alex came closer to me and put his hands on my shoulders.
“Hope, I know that--”
“Don’t call me Hope!” I cried, pushing him away, “I gave up that name a long time ago and don’t call me Angel either, only my brother calls me that.”
“Okay, Trinity, please listen to me--”
“Do you know, ” I said, interrupting Alex again, “how hard it is to live without knowing what happens to your family? Every second that you live, every time you have fun, you wonder if they’re alive or not. Every time a new human was brought here, I hoped beyond hope, that it was my brother, and you know how my brother is and you didn’t tell me, for a week?!”
Alex was silent now, staring at the ground. I left him there and stomped out of the stable.
He didn’t call me back.
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I didn’t talk to Alex for the rest of the day. Whenever he was in the same room with me, I walked out of the room. Haley noticed my actions and on asking me what was wrong, I explained to her my encounter with Alex
“So Alex is actually your childhood sweetheart?” she said in surprise after hearing my explanation.
“Haley!”
“Oh, sorry…He’s such a jerk isn’t he?”
“That’s better.”
I was sitting on my bed, hugging my knees, thinking over the quarrel I had had with Alex. I wasn’t regretting it either, arguing with him actually felt good. It wasn’t everyday when a girl got to burst out loud about her feelings you know.
Haley was sitting on the bed beside me, thinking deeply about what I had said. Suddenly, she said, “You know, you never really told me about your past before. It seems so complicated.”
“There’s not much to tell really,” I began, “after my parents died, my brother and I lived in a shelter, you know, the underground homes used to hide from Kreons…So there were a lot of other human families there as well, and we lived peacefully for nine years over there…Alex was there and he and my brother instantly became best friends and he became my friend as well…(here, Haley gave a smirk)…okay, so we dated, whatever…Anyways, just as I turned fifteen, the Kreons raided our shelter and many of us were captured, including me. So from there, I was taken to the market where I lived for another year and then the Kreons bought me and I’ve been here for a year ever since,” I finished with a sigh.
“Wow, who says there’s not much to tell? That’s a long story.” said Haley.
“Well, duh, I just narrated you eleven of the sixteen years of my life.”
Haley smiled and once more became pensive.
“So, how’s your brother?” she asked suddenly.
“What?” I asked, at a loss, for I was immersed in thought.
“Your brother, Johnathan, how’s he doing? Isn’t that why you argued with Alex?” Haley asked again.
I was so busy being angry with Alex, I had completely forgotten about asking him about my brother.
“Uh…”
“You forgot, didn’t you?”
“Yup.”
“So what are you doing here? Go to the river, I saw Alex sitting by the bank.”
I hastily got up and as I went to the door, Haley said, “He looked pretty sad, a kiss might cheer him up, you know!”
“Ha-ha, very funny.”
I went over to the suggested place. It was nightfall and it was very dark. I walked over to the river, the moon lighting my path and the glistening waters of the river not far away acting like a beacon, for it was hard to see anything. It took me a while to find Alex but when I did, I hesitated, wondering how I’d ask him. His back was to me and he was throwing stones into the water. I stood behind him for a while, thinking. I had sworn to myself not to talk to him for at least a month, and I’d hate to break the promise to myself.
“How long are you gonna stand there?” asked Alex to my surprise.
“How did you--”
“Your reflection was on the water.”
He stopped throwing stones and faced me.
“Have you come to slap me again? The last one was a bit too hard,” he said, rubbing his cheek.
I was tempted to say “yes”, but I explained, “No, actually I’ve…I’ve come to ask you about my brother.”
The moment I saw the change on Alex’s face, I knew something was wrong. He looked away from me and I couldn’t read his expression for his face was in darkness.
“What is it? Is he sick?” I asked in panic.
“No—no, he’s definitely not sick…Well, he was a good person, so…he must be in a good place by now.”
“What are you talking about?” I asked, fearing the worst.
“Trinity…Johnathan’s…..dea—he was killed.” said Alex, looking anywhere but at me.
It was as if my world shattered. I felt like screaming and crying my heart out, but I didn’t, I held my ground.
“How?” I choked.
Alex finally looked at me, somewhat surprised to see me calm. I could see pain in his eyes.
“Ever since the day you were captured, Johnathan and I were always looking for you,” Alex started to explain, looking at me with his blue eyes, “See you were our only family and we thought we had nothing else to lose, so we risked a lot and we weren’t careful…One day, we went into dangerous Kreon territory, because we heard that you might be there. They immediately attacked us with their laser guns…Johnathan was killed, I was injured.”
Alex paused, looking at me closely. I was still listening to him intently, trying not to cry.
“Before he, finally…closed his eyes,” he continued, “he told me to find you and look after you…I escaped from the Kreons and have been looking for you ever since…He also told me to give you this…”
Alex walked over to me, took my hand and gave me something. It was a beautiful white angel. Turning it around, I saw that something was carved on the wings. With a little difficulty, I read it aloud:
To my Angel,
Always have hope in your heart.
Love,
Johnathan.
I couldn’t cry, I couldn’t think. There was a sudden emptiness in my heart, and my head was spinning.
Alex’s words were ringing in my ears.
He must be in a good place by now; We had nothing else to lose; Johnathan was killed; He also told me to give you this…
I suddenly fainted and fell onto Alex’s arms, clutching the white angel in my hand.
