5 When Will You Let Go?

After Alice finished her sentence she fainted and almost fell on the floor. It was a good thing that Douglas was just an arm length near and caught her before she kissed the floor. This was not a surprise anymore for it was already a typical occurrence. But it was just unexpected that she did not last long this time.

"Alison!" Everyone was terrified. This young lady never considered her health. And it was such a big pain in the head. Just as expected of her stubbornness. Douglas lifted her and brought her in to her private office wordlessly. The room was neatly decorated with minimalistic blacks, greys and whites.

Douglas carefully placed her on the bed while Ivan hurriedly took his medical kit and run a full body check up. It was just so great that he insisted on having medical apparatus inside the headquarters. He can't just really understand why Alice was so scared just by hearing the word "Med" but never learn how to take care of herself.

"How is she?" Sabrina asked with her eyes full of worry. This is the first time she saw her faint after so long.

"She fainted because of fatigue, don't worry she just needed some rest to regain her energy. By the way, she injured her right leg so don't let her move so much if it can't be helped then tie her down." Ivan was worried about her health but he was more worried about her headstrong personality. Tsk! She still had the idea of entertaining-an-important-guest thingy but at the end… sighs.

How many headaches will you gave us young lady?

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In Alice's dreams…

A girl about eight years old was wearing a black and white Lolita dress running aimlessly after a teenage boy. The boy was in his casual homey tees and pants. He was walking in long strides without any sign of slowing down. Because the girl had short legs, she had to exert more effort to level his pace.

When she realized that the boy was intentionally ignoring her, she blurted out in fury. "Brother! You promised that you'd bring me to the ranch today."

She put her little fists on both her waist and mustered a fierce expression but still failed. She had already spent days after days to muster an expression of a tiger but she always ended with a kitten one. Simply all her expressions and movements were just so cute and adorable!

He wanted to turn deaf ears to her however if he ignored in another second she would cry a waterfalls. So he stopped from his tracks and immediately turned around reluctantly and smiled widely. "Little Hera, please don't be angry. Your nostrils are showing!"

"You said that you'll bring me there!" the little girl was in the verge of throwing a tantrum.

"Little Hera… the ranch is kind of… dirty. Yes! It is dirty and smelly. So… I can't let my princess to be coated by mud and unidentified germs. You hate that, do you?"

He hardly constructed a reason to let her surrender the idea of horseback riding. She was too precious to him like a rare gem so if he let her ride a horse and an accident happen, it would break his heart to pieces.

He knew that she hated to get dirty so he was confident that she will agree with him this time. "But…you promised…" And as expected she said no more and turned around. Her shoulders fall as well as he her spirit fell tremendously. The liveliness in her eyes was gone and was replaced with loneliness. The sight was just really unbearable.

He can't bear to seeing her this way so he decided to crumple his principle and throw it away. His sister's happiness is the most important than anything else.

"Fine… fine my little Hera. Brother would bring you there." He chased after her and offered his hand like a prince in Disney characters. All of the gloominess was gone and her eyes shine like a star and beam at him.

"Really? Thank you Brother!" Her mood was indeed infectious. He was really amazed how he can't resist even in a millisecond when it comes to this little sister of him. Sigh.

But he was more amazed on how fast her mood change in short period of time.

Just as the boy and girl hugged each other, the surrounding suddenly turned dark. The clouds are forming a greyish vortex up in the skies and swallowed everything around them. The swirling in the skies was in an unravelled speed and loud crackles were heard. The boy shielded the girl and whispered so many words but only one thing was clear. "Don't be scared my Hera… Brother is always here to protect you Alison."

After he uttered those words everything turned into hush. No more crackles, no more vortex, there are nothing left, just her. Everything was in deathly stillness.

"Brother?" the girl stands in the middle of nowhere. Everything was in black, no sign of light. She was scared but she needed to find her brother.

"Brother… where are you?" Her voice was loud and it echoed to her surroundings. She took a step and heard some sound like someone is running somewhere. It was a very heavy step. But who was chasing after him?

That might be brother!

She run as fast as she could to catch after them. However, she didn't mind her steps carefully and slip on the floor. Her feet ache so much, it was an unbearable pain. Just as she was taking her time to soothe the pain a loud bang was heard.

She was stunned. Alice automatically stood forgetting about the pain. As if her feet have its own life it stepped forward where the sound came from.

A figure of a two person registered on her sight. It was fogy so it's hardly to identify who it was. Until a familiar voice of a man was heard.

"You… how come it was you?" The voice was really weak but she still heard it clear.

"What do you think?" The other man sounded like crazy. She was scared of it.

Alice found herself stepping near to where they are. Gradually, she recognized the man facing her. I was her brother!

Alexis! Brother!

She wanted to shout his name but she can't manage to utter any word.

"Any last word?" The man who was facing his brother raised his gun and pointed it on his forehead. Out of the blue she quickly noticed the potential danger that was going to happen.

"Brother run! Brother!"

She run toward their direction as fast as she could but before she can reach them a sound of BANG loudly resonated. She can't comprehend what happened. Her eyes started to wet.

This is a dream! No! Please wake me… please

When she arrived where her brother was, Alexis was already lying on the cold ground, lifeless. His eyes closed while his face was facing his right.

"No… No… Brother…" She hugged him tight. So tight like she never wanted to part with him. She wanted to revive him but she didn't know how. She wanted to call help but no one except her who was conscious.

"Brother wake up! You can't do this to me. You said you'll always be at my side… you promised…" tears flooded her cheek. All her spirit seemed to evaporate. Seeing her brother not moving an inch was like hell. It was like everything split into pieces.

Her memory only registered one scene and it was when she saw the man shot his brother at the forehead. It plays over and over again. The pain was unbearable. She felt helpless.

"No! you can't die. Brother!" Her howl was getting louder and louder. She can't believe what happened.

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At the room, everything was unbearably still. Everyone was listening to the wails of Alice. She keeps on saying 'brother' over and over again while tears silently seeping out of her eyes.

The scene was so painful. Alice was in her most vulnerable state. She was like a fragile glass that would break anytime.

This scene was already a normal occurrence. Every time Alice lost consciousness, her nightmares always haunted her. And those nightmares would always be related to her brother Alexis.

"No… No!" Alice suddenly gets up from her sleep. Everyone was startled because of her shouts. Eyes were fixed on her, not leaving any movements unnoticed. Alice prop her knees and buried her hear. Her back slowly rise up and down. Alice painfully cried out.

Melina stepped forward and hugged her. Alice leaned on her shoulder. She cried and murmur word bit by bit.

"Brother… He killed him. Brother is dead…" Alice said repeatedly until she falls asleep.

"Clio, Alice can't be like this forever." Sabrina was worried about Alice.

"We have to find out who killed Alexis if we wanted her to recover." Clio replied with his eyes fixed on the pale Alice.

"We need to believe that Alice can move on from that tormenting past of her." Douglas added.

Alice when will you let go?