"Thank you for the advice, but I don't need it, especially coming from someone like you," Alex retorted with a scowl, his tone sharper than intended.
Atticus only laughed, tilting his head as if Alex's defiance amused him. "Kids will always be kids, anyways," he murmured, shrugging his shoulders. Then his eyes gleamed faintly. "Well then, let's head back to the school. My dear brother is probably waiting."
He raised his hand, fingers sketching patterns in the air. Space rippled like water, cracked, and tore itself open.
Alex's eyes narrowed. "You… you can do that too?"
"Of course," Atticus replied casually. "Though, his control is stronger. But strength is another matter — I outclass him in that regard. You can ask if you doubt me."
"There's no need." Alex looked away, unwilling to give Atticus the satisfaction of seeing his curiosity. His heart was already burdened enough.
"Suit yourself." Atticus clicked his tongue, then gestured to the unconscious teachers lying around them. Dark-furred beasts emerged from the shadows at his call. With ease, they lifted the teachers onto their backs and filed one by one into the shimmering crack in space. "You two next," he instructed.
Alex exchanged a glance with Raphael, then stepped forward. Passing through the portal was like stepping from one room into another. The oppressive forest was gone — in its place, the familiar stone walls of the academy's inner grounds. They stood just outside the Dean's office.
"This is called Space Manipulation," Atticus explained smoothly, brushing his hands together. "We brothers were forced to learn it. It's not an innate gift — it can be taught. Our true innate abilities are different. Mine, like the Dean's, is sight beyond human eyes."
Alex tilted his head slightly. "So… someone like me could learn this?"
Atticus studied him closely. A sly smile curved across his lips. "Interested?"
"I don't know," Alex muttered, uncertain. "I'll think about it."
"If you change your mind, find me with this." Atticus slipped a sleek black card into Alex's hand, then crouched so his eyes were level with the boy's. His voice dropped to a whisper. "I've developed a certain… liking for you."
Alex's expression tightened, but before he could respond, Atticus straightened and strode away with his beasts.
Raphael's gaze burned holes into Atticus's back until he disappeared from view. He turned to Alex immediately. "What did he say to you?"
"Nothing important. Let's head to the dorms." Alex walked off without waiting.
Raphael lingered, fists clenched, his chest tight with an anger he couldn't name. He forced himself to follow, though each step felt heavier.
---
Back at the dorms, Alex collapsed onto his bed without a word. His body lay still, but his mind was in chaos. Atticus's smirk. Damon's cryptic words. Klein's laughter echoing faintly in his memory.
He drifted into a restless sleep.
Hours later, a frantic knock jarred him awake. Groggy, he stumbled to the door. Raphael stood there, panic scrawled across his features.
"What is it?" Alex muttered, rubbing his eyes.
"Klein is missing!" Raphael blurted.
The words struck Alex like a blade. Sleep vanished from his mind in an instant. "What did you say?"
"The school's been searching for him for hours. No trace. They only just realized he wasn't among the students rescued."
Alex's chest constricted. His stomach twisted violently. "No. No, he can't be—"
"I have to find him," he said, shoving past Raphael and sprinting down the hall.
They reached the Dean's office breathless. Derek was there, pale but awake, speaking quietly with the Dean. Both stopped when they saw the boys.
"Alex," Derek said sternly. "Why are you here?"
"Klein's missing. We came to help search," Alex replied, his voice firm despite the dread creeping into it.
Derek's eyes flickered toward the Dean. For a moment, silence hung in the room like a blade suspended by a thread. Finally, Derek spoke.
"Klein isn't missing," he said flatly. "He's dead."
The words hollowed Alex's chest. For a heartbeat, the world tilted. He stared at Derek in disbelief, his lips parting. Raphael froze beside him, his face drained of color.
"You're lying," Alex rasped. In an instant, he closed the distance, fisting Derek's collar with trembling hands. His eyes blazed with a mix of fear and fury. "What did you just say?! How can Klein be dead?"
Derek didn't flinch. Calmly, he pried Alex's grip off his shirt. "Come with me. You'll see his body yourself."
-----
The infirmary smelled of iron and medicine. As Derek led them deeper, Alex's heart pounded louder with every step. Along the hall, white sheets covered lifeless shapes — classmates, faces he recognized but would never hear laugh again.
And then he saw him.
Klein.
Half his body was gone. His chest unmoving,his hand limp at the bedside.
Alex staggered forward and collapsed to his knees, his hand grasping Klein's cold fingers. "No…" His voice cracked. "No, no, no!"
Tears burned his eyes. He lowered his head, his whole body trembling.
"How did this happen?" he croaked.
"Lucien's monster," Derek replied grimly. "The same kind that attacked us before. Atticus said the beast was after a student. Klein ran after it… to save them."
Alex froze. Slowly, realization settled like a stone in his gut. His throat tightened. "…It was me, wasn't it?"
Derek's silence was answer enough.
A sob tore out of Alex's throat. "He… he died for me. He should've let me die. He—he trusted me, and I killed him!"
He pressed his forehead against Klein's hand, tears dripping onto pale skin. His voice broke with anguish. "I killed him…"
"You killed no one," Derek said firmly, kneeling beside him. "This is who Klein was. He would've done it for anyone. Protecting others was his strength. Don't twist it into guilt."
But Alex couldn't hear him. Klein's smile burned in his mind. His unshakable optimism, his confidence... Burned in his head. He was nothing special to him yet, he died for his sake.
Suddenly, Alex's grief hardened into rage. He wiped his tears, eyes blazing crimson. His fists clenched so hard his nails drew blood. "Lucien killed him so I'll kill Lucien. I swear I'll rip him apart!"
He turned to storm out, but Derek caught him. With one swift motion, his palm cracked across Alex's face.
The sound echoed.
Alex staggered, crashing to the floor, clutching his cheek in shock.
"Wake up, idiot!" Derek's voice thundered. "Do you think rage makes you strong? You couldn't even touch Lucien's weakest lackeys. Even the Dean couldn't fight him! Who the hell do you think you are?!"
Alex's chest heaved. His throat tightened.
Derek pointed at Klein's corpse, his own voice thick with grief. "Look at him! That's what happens when you're weak! If you rush in blind with nothing but vengeance, you'll end up the same way — dead, useless, and forgotten!"
Silence swallowed the room. Alex's eyes stung, but no tears came. Just emptiness.
Without another word, Derek turned and stormed out, leaving Alex alone beside Klein's broken body.
Alex sank down once more, his forehead pressed against the bedside. His voice was a whisper, cracked and raw.
"I'll become strong, Klein. Stronger than anyone. Strong enough that no one I care about will ever die again. I swear it."
But deep within, another voice sneered. You said that before. And still, you failed.
Alex clenched his fists tighter, ignoring the mocking echo in his head. His vow lingered in the cold air of the infirmary, heavy and desperate. It was a promise made to the dead.