Journey Home

Alec walked faster and faster, trying to get to Spert, yet it just kept out of his reach. Every time he got closer, it would run away, meaning that it was like a game of cat and mouse, with that mouse being some skilled evasive artist.

Of course, this wasn't actually the case. He was just walking towards Spert, but to him, he was walking much faster than he was in actuality. It was like he was in a trance. He was just focused on getting to his house, so he just saw it as it moving away. He was certainly confused, and he needed to sleep, but he could sleep once he got home.

There were guards stationed at the entrance, and all they could see was a child stumbling along with the dark fields. It was a strange sight. At presumably ten in the night, watching a child slowly walk along a black field of grass without any parents. The guards were confused, but they had their guard up, just in case. Alec watched the city get closer and closer until he finally passed through the gates, bags beneath his eyes. He had never stayed up last night, as he was always trying to get a good amount of sleep before going to work, so being up at ten in the night was taboo for him.

The guards didn't see him as a threat, and this was for two reasons. The first one was that he was somewhat recognisable as Alec Benjamin, and the second one was because he looked so tired. If they had stopped him from getting a place to rest, who knows what would happen to him? It would weigh on their minds for quite a while.

Alec stumbled through the quiet city, its nightlife almost non-existent. It was almost as if it was simply quelled to have peace. Alec tripped over his own feet, looking around as he lay on the ground. He wanted to sleep, but he knew that he should get home first.

His footsteps created echoes amongst the quiet city, almost as if someone had died. Alec walked past the row of houses, which either held a single-family or multiple, such as apartment buildings that we know. He looked for his home, but he couldn't find it. Alec started worrying about forgetting where his home was, awakening him from his dazed state. With his newly-cleared mind, he looked around for his house, noticing it in the distance. Alec tried to run towards it, but his legs were like lead. He had only now noticed the sheer weight of his legs due to his tiredness.

He slowly made it towards his house, dragging his legs behind him with all of his might. He slowly made his way towards his home, trying to get there as fast as he was able, but he was limited by his legs. They were too heavy for him to do much. After around fifteen minutes, he finally reached his destination. His front door. With a smile, he opened it up, expecting to see his family asleep, but all he saw was a large man in black clothing.

"Hello, and also goodbye." The man stated before pulling a bag over Alex's head, which had a spell mixed in with it. The threads would cause people to wake up an hour after being afflicted with its effect. Alec fell unconscious as his body became limp. He couldn't do anything to stop the oncoming rush of numbness, so he just decided to embrace it. After all, it was much easier to take in something than to fight against it, especially if such a thing is more powerful than you.

Alec's body was lifted up and carried over the man's shoulders like a sack of potatoes. "We've got him, boys. You can come out now." The man stated as two other men in black outfits came out from the two doorways on opposite sides of the room. One of them held Alex's mother, and the other held his kid brother. "Thank god. It was getting annoying just standing there." One of them complained, to which the other one nodded in agreement. The main one, the one holding Alec, got a little bit annoyed at that.

"Listen! I got us this job for the money! The pay is exponential compared to our other jobs! If we want to get more money, we need to work with them, and then they'll pay us. The more they pay us, the closer we get to creating our own business, ok?" The main guy explained, showing off why he took this. The other men looked slightly embarrassed as the one who didn't lodge the complaint spoke up.

"Sorry about that, Joseph. We're just tired, is all. We've been here for a few hours now, just waiting. How did you know he was going to come home?" He asked, causing Joseph to smile. "Well, I have a little tracker implanted in his neck. I put one in every one of you, just to make sure that you are alright when I saw him heading home, to here, I realised that this was our chance to strike. That's why we took the job right now of all times." Joseph proudly stated as the two other men touched their necks, finding a small lump in the exact same spot. They just thought they had gotten a bump from some form of bug bite. It just goes to show you how humans rationalise things.

"So, all we have to do is return these people to the customer, and then give Alex to the boss, and we'll be golden! I'm telling you when they see that we've gotten them all at once, we'll be sure to get a raise!" Joseph exclaimed, drawing excitement from the others. A raise? It was something every worker dreamed of getting! It allowed for people to receive extra pay for a job that they are good at!

And they didn't even have to work too hard for such a raise.