"How is he?"
El sighed and closed the door to the room in which Ash had fallen asleep.
He had looked so scary. It was as though a demon had taken total control of him. However, El couldn't help finding him pitiful.
Before Eugenio had left earlier, he had slipped a tranquilizer which contained midazolam into El's hand. It was Eugenio's specialty drug, and El understood his cousin meant it as a resort for self-defense in case Ash posed as a threat to him.
El had however used the drug on Ash in absence of a threat.
"Won't he get furious when he awakens?" his cousin asked.
"He will." El ran his hand through his hair. "But I had no other choice. He is an animal. I... I didn't know how to deal with him. And he was mad... he..."
"What exactly was he saying?" Eugenio followed him.
"I don't know." El shrugged. "It sounded like the person we know now as Devyn isn't really Devyn, but some lookalike of Devyn called Rhys Grier. Rhys killed Devyn and took his place."
"That would be messed up." Eugenio said and El nodded. "Do you think it's true?"
El shrugged. "I'm waiting to see what Carlo discovers. Is Q with him?"
"Yeah,"
"Let me go check."
........
"Why are you crying?"
"I don't know." I forced myself to smile turning away from my brother. My heart was aching and heavy, a hollow feeling in my chest.
Nothing was going right in my life and I didn't know where to turn. Dawn was focused on her examinations and I felt terrible being around her as a distraction because I had no slightest desire to study. I had already skipped several examination sessions and I knew I had already failed the year.
But I couldn't do anything about it. I couldn't do anything about the terrible feeling in my chest. I couldn't tell anyone about it. Not Dave. He would probably think I was a bozo and blame my failure on my nights out. Javier would only encourage me to study more.
But that wasn't the problem. I still couldn't get to El. Or Ash..
I bit my lower lip to hold back tears. He had been missing for over four weeks. I... I couldn't get to him. I had gone from being sad that he had vanished without saying a word to being angry that he had disappeared right after messing with me at college and some random person's backyard.
I didn't want anything to do with him anymore. He probably got what he had wanted. And my brother...
I choked on my cries.
I felt Devyn sit up behind me and wropped his arms around my waist, clasping his hands over my belly. He rested his head on my shoulder and sighed.
Or was he just having difficulties with breathing?
"Tell me. I know you want to complain. Just say it all, my love." He sighed again. "I deserve it."
"I... You keep disappearing..." I blurted before I could stop myself, and the next words flowed easily.
"You usually check up on me every time. Even when you're on trips or at work or home but I haven't seen you for two months now and..." I bit down hard on my lip until I could taste the copper in my blood. "You didn't say hi... And you... you show up half dead."
"I know." Devyn scooted even closer and held me tighter against his chest. He buried his face between my shoulder and head and I felt the wetness that was running down his eyes. He was silently shedding tears. I didn't think it was all because of the pain. There was something else making him cry, wasn't there?
And that was another reason why I couldn't tell my brother what was bothering me. I couldn't tell him that some random guy that I had slept with had disappeared and I was suspecting my boyfriend who was some runaway prisoner that did all sorts of bad things.
I couldn't get my brother worried about me when he had his own baggage to deal with. And what if I told him I was failing at school? I know he wouldn't reprimand me but
"I missed you more. And I'm sorry for the distance, okay? I was trying to give you a little space."
"Space? Who said I wanted space?" I playfully hit his hands. "Two months of disappearance and you still don't know how to lie. Who gives space for two months?"
"Me, duh."
I smiled. There was still some element of my brother in him. It gave me some sort of comfort.
"How about this, after I get home, I'll explain everything to you. We will do anything you like for two months and I won't be allowed to refuse or say no."
"It's a deal!" I excitedly exclaimed, turning to face him.