Gave Up Saving..

"𝐼 𝑤𝑎𝑛𝑡 𝑚𝑦 𝑚𝑢𝑚 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑑𝑎𝑑.. 𝑃𝑙𝑒𝑎𝑠𝑒.." 𝑐𝑟𝑖𝑒𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑖𝑥 𝑦𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑠 𝑜𝑙𝑑 𝑚𝑒 𝑖𝑛𝑓𝑟𝑜𝑛𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑚𝑦 𝑢𝑛𝑐𝑙𝑒 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑎𝑢𝑛𝑡 𝑎𝑓𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝑗𝑢𝑠𝑡 𝑔𝑒𝑡𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑠𝑙𝑎𝑝𝑝𝑒𝑑 𝑎𝑐𝑟𝑜𝑠𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑓𝑎𝑐𝑒.

"𝐹𝐼𝑁𝐸! 𝑆𝐼𝑁𝐶𝐸 𝑌𝑂𝑈 𝑊𝐴𝑁𝑇 𝑇𝑂 𝑆𝐸𝐸 𝑇𝐻𝐸𝑀 𝑆𝑂 𝐵𝐴𝐷𝐿𝑌!" 𝐻𝑒 𝑦𝑒𝑙𝑙𝑒𝑑, 𝑑𝑟𝑎𝑔𝑔𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑚𝑒 𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑐𝑒𝑓𝑢𝑙𝑙𝑦 𝑏𝑦 𝑚𝑦 𝑎𝑟𝑚 𝑤ℎ𝑖𝑙𝑒 𝑚𝑦 𝑎𝑢𝑛𝑡 𝑓𝑜𝑙𝑙𝑜𝑤𝑒𝑑 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑎 𝑠𝑐𝑜𝑓𝑓.

"𝐻𝐸𝑅𝐸 𝐴𝑅𝐸 𝑌𝑂𝑈𝑅 𝐷𝐸𝐴𝐷 𝑃𝐴𝑅𝐸𝑁𝑇𝑆! 𝐻𝐴𝑃𝑃𝑌 𝑁𝑂𝑊?!" 𝐻𝑒 𝑝𝑢𝑠ℎ𝑒𝑑 𝑚𝑒 𝑡𝑜𝑤𝑎𝑟𝑑𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑔𝑟𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑠𝑡𝑜𝑛𝑒𝑠 𝑤ℎ𝑖𝑙𝑒 𝑡𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑠 𝑠𝑡𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑚𝑒𝑑 𝑑𝑜𝑤𝑛 𝑚𝑦 𝑓𝑎𝑐𝑒.

"𝐵𝑢𝑡 𝑡ℎ-"

"𝑇ℎ𝑒𝑦 𝑑𝑖𝑒𝑑 𝑎𝑔𝑒𝑠 𝑎𝑔𝑜 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑙𝑒𝑓𝑡 𝑢𝑠 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑡ℎ𝑟𝑒𝑒 𝑏𝑢𝑟𝑑𝑒𝑛𝑠! 𝑀𝑎𝑛, 𝑤𝑒 ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑡𝑜 𝑡𝑎𝑘𝑒 𝑐𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑜𝑤𝑛 𝑐ℎ𝑖𝑙𝑑𝑟𝑒𝑛 𝑡𝑜𝑜!"

"𝐼𝑓 𝑖𝑡 𝑤𝑎𝑠𝑛'𝑡 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑚𝑜𝑛𝑒𝑦 𝑓𝑟𝑜𝑚 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑐ℎ𝑖𝑙𝑑 𝑤𝑒𝑙𝑓𝑎𝑟𝑒, 𝑤𝑒 𝑤𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑑 ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑟𝑜𝑤𝑛 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑦𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑠𝑖𝑏𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑔𝑠 𝑎𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑡𝑟𝑒𝑒𝑡𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑑𝑎𝑦."

𝑀𝑢𝑟𝑚𝑢𝑟𝑠 𝑠𝑢𝑟𝑟𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑑𝑒𝑑 𝑢𝑠 𝑎𝑠 𝑠𝑜𝑚𝑒 𝑝𝑒𝑜𝑝𝑙𝑒 𝑤𝑎𝑡𝑐ℎ𝑒𝑑 𝑖𝑛 𝑝𝑖𝑡𝑦.. 𝑠𝑜𝑚𝑒 𝑤𝑎𝑡𝑐ℎ𝑒𝑑 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑑𝑖𝑠𝑔𝑢𝑠𝑡..

𝐴𝑛𝑑 𝑦𝑒𝑡, 𝑎𝑙𝑙 𝐼 𝑐𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑘 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒 𝑤𝑎𝑠 ;

𝑾𝒉𝒚 𝒅𝒊𝒅𝒏'𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒚 𝒕𝒂𝒌𝒆 𝒎𝒆 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒎? 𝑾𝒉𝒚 𝒅𝒊𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒚 𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒎𝒆 𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆.. 𝒂𝒍𝒐𝒏𝒆, 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒔𝒆 𝒑𝒆𝒐𝒑𝒍𝒆 𝒘𝒉𝒐 𝒅𝒐𝒏'𝒕 𝒘𝒂𝒏𝒕 𝒎𝒆?

I found the answer to that question the day I met Alastor. Just one glimpse of his smile would make every struggle feel worth it, like the world wasn't as dark as I had once believed. And every time I saw the tears he tried so hard to hide, it was like a quiet plea; a reminder that I had to become better- not just for myself, but for him. I wanted to be someone he could lean on, someone who could make him smile even on the days he felt he couldn't. Someone who could be his reason to hope again, the way he'd unknowingly become mine.

𝐼 𝑑𝑜𝑛'𝑡 𝑤𝑎𝑛𝑡 𝑡𝑜 𝑙𝑜𝑠𝑒 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑡𝑜𝑜, 𝐴𝑙..

𝐵𝑢𝑡...

Maybe I'm not enough..

Maybe I don't have it in me to save him.

Maybe he deserves someone stronger, someone who doesn't stumble, who doesn't feel like collapsing under the weight of his absence..

Maybe I should just... 𝗴𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝘂𝗽.

𝗡𝗢𝗥𝗠𝗔𝗟 𝗣𝗢𝗩

The officer lowered his head with a sigh while watching Alex in sympathy as he dropped down on his knees in front of the two graves, his hands placed on each of the stones with a lowered gaze.

𝑀𝑎𝑟𝑐𝑢𝑠 𝐼𝑣𝑜𝑟𝑦..

𝐴𝑙𝑒𝑥𝑖𝑎 𝐼𝑣𝑜𝑟𝑦..

His parents.. whom he doesn't even remember how they were..

He felt like the worst son and the worst partner ever..

Meanwhile the poor feline boy was panting underneath the ground, barely able to keep his eyes open. "Alex.." He tried knocking on the wooden surface but his arms trembled and he whimpered while closing his eyes. His entire body was aching.

Suffocation and heat were also slowly killing him.

"...it was quite a delight to watch."

The vampire sighed. "But it is going to be dull to wait for another 2 hours. So I better keep myself entertained and make sure the other police forces don't interfere my show." He then grabbed the officer through the darkness in the blink of an eye, keeping the mortal's mouth shut with his powers as he began to satisfy his blood thirst. In the background he cast a spell; a barrier that didn't let anyone pass through nor see through nor hear through.

Alex, noticing the sudden quietness and absence of the officer, immediately stood up, "Officer..?" then he curled his fingers into fists, "Aiden! I know you are here! Stop hiding already!"

A low chuckle went through Aiden's throat as he replied from the darkness where he was lurking in, "Go ahead and dig up all the 536 graves, Alex..."

"Shut up.." Alex's fists were clenched so tight that they were almost shaking.

The vampire chuckled again and stepped out of the darkness. The moonlight casting an eerie glow over his figure. "What happened to your tone, mortal? Giving up already?"

"I.." Alex paused for a moment, clenched his fists tighter and lowered his head as he whispered after a sigh,

"...yes."

Aiden tilted his head, his eyes flashing red. "Yes?"

Alex sighed and rubbed his face, "Yes, you are right.. I am just a human, I can't find him.. but I can live without him, dammit. Everyone moves on someday."

The vampire hummed in response as he stepped closer in skepticism. "It seems odd.. After all your love and loyalty for him, you are simply.. done?"

Alex kept his gaze fixed on the ground, his jaw clenched. "What else am I supposed to do? I've been fighting to find him, trying to keep his safe from the others, from you. But it seems like.. I was never capable of anything!"

Aiden's lips curled into a sinister smirk, amused by Alex's seemingly defeated confession.

Then he tilted his head, scrutinizing Alex's anguished expression. "A pity, really. I thought you'd have more spirit, Alex."

Alex's fists started to tremble and he buried his face in his hands. "I can't do this anymore.. I see no hope.."

Aiden's red eyes narrowed, skepticism flickering behind his amusement. He started to circle Alex, like a predator appraising his prey. "You really expect me to believe you'd give up so easily?"

Alex dropped his gaze, his voice a whisper, "Believe whatever you want, Aiden. I just… I just need to know he isn't… in pain.."

The vampire's lips twisted into a smirk again, "Oh, he's not exactly comfortable, I can promise you that. You'd be surprised how close he is to you, even now."

Alex raised his head with tears welling up in his eyes. "I don't want to know anymore.. I can't save him.."

Aiden chuckled, his lips curling into a sadistic grin, "You're lying, Alex. Part of you aches to know, doesn't it?"

"Of course it does.." He gripped his hair while sniffling, looking around at the gravestones once again. "But even if I knew where he was, it wouldn't matter.. I'm powerless and he is dying. You buried him in one of those coffins like he was some plaything of yours.."

"Ugh, why do humans act so spineless in the end? I thought you would be different from the rest but you disappointed me too, Alex." Aiden sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. "You lose your soul as the deal, then my precious Alice is also gonna be dead. End of story and no amusement for me." He looked at Alex again while his eyes flashed red in frustration, "What a waste.."

"Right.."  Alex sighed, wiping his eyes. "Everything is for amusement to you, isn't it? Life and death is just a game and we are your players.. but.."  He raised his head and looked at the vampire straight in the eye. "You have no right to call Alastor precious after burying him alive.."

Aiden let out a low growl, baring his fangs."Don't preach to me! You useless creature! You think I am foolish enough to let Alice die after searching for him all these years?"

"I don't know!" Alex replied, clenching his fists. "He was yours anyway! Do whatever you want!"

The vampire scowled and clenched his right hand. "You filthy human.. When you desperately screamed for him, I thought that maybe you will be able to save him, prove your so-called love! I was ready to sit back and watch, to enjoy your struggles! If i hadn't had my second plan to save him myself after you fail, that stupid cat would surely die under that willow tree! After all, you are nothing but a spineless, selfish, greedy and pathetic coward!"

Alex's head snapped up and before the vampire could say anything more, he spun on his heel and sprinted forward.

"You-" Aiden's eyes widened a bit in realization before he paused and watched as Alex ran towards the one and only willow tree at the right side of the cemetery.

But then.. he started to laugh.

Seeing how he got tricked by a mere human and how desperately Alex was digging up the soil with his bare hands, knelt on the soil was both ridiculous and amusing to him.

His laugher slowly died down and his eyes flashed red while a sinister smirk returned back on his lips before he spoke in a low, deep voice. "Well played, Alex.. Well played indeed."