"Fuck me, this sucks…" Alex groaned.
He was now all alone in the alley, leaning on the wall for support. He glanced at his now cracked phone and was now convinced that whoever received his call at the police station earlier needed to be fired immediately.
Thinking this, he laughed under his breath in ridicule before lifting himself up.
Tuugs~Tuugs~
Alex's ears perked up. The city nightlife was loud as always and the disco music drummed loudly in the air. Bet everyone was having fun right now, he thought. And when he looked at his surroundings, there was no one but him.
'Did I win?' he joked to himself. Then he remembered the girl, and went silent, 'I didn't even see her face clearly because it's dark, but hmph, I'm the one who told her to run. What am I even hoping for?'
He glanced at the streets and thought whether he should visit a clinic or something. But he quickly went against the idea. He decided that he would rather go home.
As he passed by the lamppost, he really looked like the victim of a one-sided assault. Due to this, he could not stop stumbling on his footsteps.
'It stings. It felt like I got hit in the head too. It's like my skull had cracked.'
When Alex arrived in his apartment, he went straight to the bathroom after turning the lights on.
'Those bastards got me good.' He thought.
He then removed his shirt, but as the fluorescent lamp of the bath fell upon him he turned his head slowly to the mirror.
'...'
There was a brief moment of silence, until a violent flush of blood surged to his head.
Without warning, his fist collided with the mirror in front of him, shattering the reflective surface into a kaleidoscope of shards.
Bang.
Bang.
He incoherently cursed angrily beneath his breath as he punched hard in quick successions. Seconds passed and his blood now dripped to the floor endlessly. Yet he remained standing there motionlessly, as if rage was boiling hot in his pupils.
Then upon closer look, he caught himself staring at the man in the mirror.
The man's appearance was slightly overweight, had long unkempt hair, as if he had been stuck in a cave for years. There were noticeable outlines of a few muscles to his frame, remnants of an ancient past of staying active. But compared to what he used to look, it looked very ugly.
His face? One wouldn't even see through the hair to judge fairly. Yet Alex knew it was the most familiar face he'd seen but at the same time, he could not even recognize. His skin was sickly pale. Face acne plagued his face and dark circles hung heavy like lead under his eyes.
This person was naturally his own reflection.
"-..."
Gulp.
Moments later, Alex suddenly noticed moist tears streaming down his cheeks.
'Why is this happening to me?'
'…'
'H--huh? Why is there too much blood? Oh shit…'
In the next moment, Alex felt his mind spinning and his eyes closing by themselves. He felt cold and weak.
Before he could do anything, his eyeballs then rolled back and his body collapsed right there and then.
'I'm so stupid.' He thought and collapsed to the floor.
Alex's life actually wasn't that bad compared to really poor people. This was because he had inherited all of his family's earnings since they died in the province he grew up in nine years ago.
The Carlchesters wasn't a rich or poor family. They were farmers. They also had no family heirloom, no historical secrets, no connections, no backings, and no big businesses. But they possessed enough land to support an idiot like him for his entire life despite being dead.
Alex didn't care about the money to be honest. He could probably use the money for something worthy of respect and even give it to charity if he wished. But he didn't want to touch anything of it. He promised to himself that he never will.
He had hardly even visited the province since he lost his family. Going back there just makes him even angrier about what happened and most especially, at himself.
'…'
Gradually, Alex's felt his eyelids flickering.
'I'm still alive…'
Unfortunately, he was indeed still breathing fine even if his body was sprawled across the bathroom floor for hours. He immediately remembered what had happened and gritted his teeth. But when he felt his emotions spike, he felt nauseated and dizzy.
After getting up, Alex groaned in pain repeatedly as he treated himself with the remaining bandages in the medicine kit.
Then after thinking hard, he decided to let his emotions control him and eventually found himself on board the first and fastest bus headed to the province – back home – even surprising himself.
After several hours, he could see the iconic giant banaba tree as big as a skyscraper in the middle of the highway.
I'm back in Fengston.
Fengston was the first region in the country. It had a total population of twenty million, but it paled a lot in comparison to the Capital Region. Yet it was the place he grew up. It was the best city in his eyes.
The skies had soon turned orange.
And Alex could be seen walking across a vast field of greenery. Their place wasn't near the streets. According to his memories, his grandparents and parents were too proud and wary when the government requested they make a road in their property and too cheap to spend money to construct roads themselves. Thus, walking was his only choice.
After several minutes, Alex was panting so hard and heavy he could feel his heart trying to escape from his ribs asking him to let them go. The right side of his stomach also started getting tense, making it harder to walk. That aside, Alex had to admit he had gained too much weight. Back then, he wouldn't even break a sweat walking the same path. He rolled to his back and decided to rest.
Contrary to belief, he actually used to play like a crazy monkey around these parts. He used to be agile, nimble, and durable. With all the running and jumping he was doing, most of the farmers around these used to call him the crazy kid.
Now, he was lying down exhausted because he walked for five minutes.
The area was vast, with small rivers to cross here and there, but there were pathways to follow, and nothing much changed as well, making it easier to navigate, but it pained him to know that he still had to endure much more. Due to uneven terrain, one also had to spend more energy so it was quite the challenge.
Dark started to arrive quicker than he wished.
Alex was soon spotted dripping with sweat from head to toe. But then his steps soon slowed with each passing moment. His eyes trembled. Each step and breath seemed to get heavier, and it was not due to exhaustion.
Despite the darkness, the moonlight was sufficient enough for him to see the sight of their burned family house that seemed to loom larger in his vision. As he approached closer, his legs only faltered even more, trembling under the weight of grief and exhaustion.
As Alex found himself stopping in front of where the entrance used to be, his knees finally collapsed. The memories of happier times involuntarily seemed to echo in the deafening silence, mingling with the acrid scent of the burnt house that lingered in the air.
But then as if he was brought back to the past, a scene of disaster played in his sight.
Their house was engulfed in the most ferocious flames he could remember, brightening the area with a crimson color. Crackling flames were resounding everywhere. Their farm animals could be seen howling and whimpering to get away.