A L E J A N D R O

I closed my eyes, trying to calm the fury running through my veins.

Why I hadn't killed that monster yet was beyond me.

And with each passing day I allowed her to live she became more troublesome.

My frustration had reached its peak when now I had to even hold a celebratory banquet for her, for killing her mother.

A knock sounded on my door and I wondered who'd come to meet me. I had already handed most of the company works to Stephen and I rarely came to the office.

And when I did, I made sure no one would bother me.

"Come in."

When I saw who the intruder was, I knew my day was officially ruined.

"Robert." I greeted, regardless. Even though I didn't like the man I couldn't refute he was wealthy and had enough power to deserve my time of the day.

"Alejandro, long time no see." He smirked, his eyes glinting with malice. "How's everything going for you?"

"Just cut to the chase already." I interrupted, not sure I had the presence to hear any more of his bullshit.

"This is an acquaintance of mine," he gestured to the man that had walked in after him.

"Azazel." The man provided.

"Alejandro." I nodded. I liked the man for some reason. He looked like he was destined for great things despite his young age.

He carried himself well, he was tall, barely in his mid twenties. His short curly black hair would cover his eyes if not for the sunglasses already hooding them.

"What do you want?"

"To make a deal with you." Azazel responded, taking off his sunglasses in the process. "To offer you a proposition."

"How did you lose your eye?" I asked instead. He had a contrasting pair of eyes, one black and the other made of glass. But somehow the glass one had more emotions than the real one.

"My sister gauged it out." He answered calmly. "With her bare hands." The corners of his lips lifted a little as if recalling a particularly happy memory.

'At least now, we can safely conclude that the guy is batshit crazy.'

"What about the scar?" I inquired, gesturing to the big scar that ran through his synthetic eye.

He narrowed his eyes, annoyance flickering in them for a moment.

"She missed the first time." He answered regardless.

"What's the deal?" I asked, liking his honesty.

"We want your youngest daughter." He went straight to the point. "Aylin Black."

"Why?"

"Intelligence, we value it." He shared. "And she seems to have a lot of it."

"And how would you know that?"

When he simply shrugged in return, I turned to Robert, the pieces joining together. "You planted spies in my house?"

"That's despicable, Robert." I snickered in distaste. "Even for you."

"Intel is valuable." Azazel decided to come to his rescue. "The means to gain it doesn't matter."

"What exactly do you need her for?"

Opening the briefcase he was carrying, he fished out a couple of documents before handing it to me.

"I work for a research institution." Azazel informed. "We scout children with high intellect all over the globe. Children with no family, to be more precise."

"We help them hone their talents to perfection. To make their worthless lives mean something."

"Aylin has a family." I growled, furious at his implication. "What am I, dead?"

Azazel smirked, his eyes mocking me. "You are not dead, I know. But you wish she was, don't you?"

"Look, Alejandro." Robert cut in. "If you are concerned about her safety, don't be. I'm sending my eldest daughter, Chloe, as well."

"Don't compare me with you." I scoffed. "I'm not desperate enough to sell my daughter for a few thousand bucks, just so they could torture her to death."

"I don't think you understand what we do, Mr.Black." The smirk in Azazel's face turned into a sinister grin at my words.

"We are scientists not murderers on loose."

"I find it hard to believe you."

"Why not?" He refuted. "Have I been anything but honest to you up till now?"

"Forgive me if I find it hard to trust a man whose own sister wanted to gauge out his eyes."

"If that's your reason then you have no reason at all." Azazel assured. "She was crazy, my sister. She believed I wanted to kill her. Trust me when I say, I didn't want to kill her. I wouldn't dare dream of it."

What shocked me was that there were no traces of lies in his words.

But I had failed to realize a twisted version of truth counted as a lie too.

"You're a patient of schizophrenia, aren't you?" He asked. "My intel says you were a child prodigy too."

"Aren't you afraid your daughter might have inherited it from you? I'm sure you'd want her to get the help she needs to fight it."

"It's just a possibility." I affirmed. "I don't see why I should be bothered about it."

"It's still a possibility." He emphasized. "All we want is to help her. She will never be able to reach her true potential if you insist on keeping her in a mediocre environment."

"We have reasons to believe she has inherited the gene from you. All we want is to do research on it, find the triggers so we could find a cure."

"And if the day comes when our suspicions are confirmed and she is indeed diagnosed with it, we have medical experts there who knows how to help her."

"Human experimentation is illegal. And if you waste one more second of my time, I will be forced to call the authorities." I threatened. "So leave while you still can."

"If the entirety of mankind had the same perspective as you, Mr.Black, then science wouldn't have come this far. We wouldn't be where we are today."

"If we want to progress, sacrifices are vital. You will only be helping her to be a part of something great, divine. Everything we do is for science, for answers. For the greater good."

"My daughter is not going to be one of those sacrifices." I denied. "You and your ideologies can fück off. Fuck the greater good while you're at it, too."

"I never said she'll be." Azazel chuckled. "She's way too precious to just be a sacrifice."

"You have my word, Mr. Black, I won't let any harm come to her."

"No."

"Just think about it." Azazel grinned, getting up to leave. "I'm sure you have room for reconsideration."

He turned out to be right.

For not even week later, I found myself signing the admission papers, sealing her fate.

... ... ...

I leaned against the doorframe, my feet refusing to move.

I wanted to hear the rest of the lullaby Kai was singing to her.

Selene used to sing that.

How he managed to sound so awfully similar to her was beyond me.

I remember how difficult Kai was as a child, not that he got any better growing up.

He was always quiet, too quiet.

He didn't cry when he got hurt, didn't voice out his complaints, didn't respond when called.

All he would do was stare blankly at the sky, detached from rest of the world.

The child specialists we took him to wasn't sure what was wrong with him either.

Some said he had alexithemya, some gave a diagnosis of personality disorder.

Few even went as far as saying he was a sociopath.

That was the first time I ever had a fight with Selene.

Usually, during disagreements, I would give in before it got out of hand. But that time I had refused to.

Selene was against the idea of taking him to psychologists. There's nothing wrong with my child, she would say.
He's just special. Unique.

While I understood where she came from, I still believed she was wrong. There's nothing shameful about seeking the help one needed.

One can't possibly heal if they keep pretending they aren't hurt.

But she couldn't take it when they said he didn't know how to feel emotions.

It would have been better if he was completely emotionless but the only other emotion he knew to express was hostility.

He regarded the whole world as his enemy, and even now I feared the possibility of him inheriting my demons.

The lullaby stopped abruptly.

I watched as Kai leaned forward, placing a kiss on her forehead before whispering something to her ear.

I wanted to know what they were talking about.

I walked inside, my curiosity getting the better of me.

"What if he really sends me away?" I heard Aylin ask, fear edging her voice, her eyes wide open without a trace of sleep.

"He won't." Kai assured, gently caressing her hair so she would go to sleep. "I'll talk to him."

"What if he doesn't listen to you?" She continued to resist against his comfort.

"He will." Kai spoke with so much certainty that even I had to second guess my decision.

I would give up half my fortune just to know what made him so sure he would be able to change my mind.

"How do you know for so sure?" Aylin asked in my stead.

Letting her stay here didn't seem such a bad idea anymore.

"I never asked him for anything before. He won't be able to deny my first ever request, will he?" He reasoned. Aylin vigorously nodded, agreeing with him.

"Bedsides he loves me. I know it." He added, when she still didn't look convinced.

"But he doesn't love me." Aylin mumbled.

'Why does this bitch always make everything about herself?' the voice scoffed inside my head.

"I love you more than all of them combined." Kai pacified, pulling the blanket to cover her.

"What if one day, you stop loving me too?" Aylin asked, fear lacing her tone.

"What if the sun doesn't come up tomorrow?" Kai asked back.

"That can't happen, silly." Aylin giggled at the ridiculousness of his idea.

"Exactly." Kai beamed, kissing both her cheeks. "That can never happen."

And I wondered how anyone ever claimed he was emotionless, incapable of love.

... ... ...

I left before either of them could sense my presence.

Kai came to my room ten minutes later.

"Are you busy?" He asked, peeking his head inside through the slightly opened door.

"No, I'm not." At my approval he came inside, his eyes flickering to the mixtape playing in the room.

"That mixtape," he gestured towards it, his face blank, betraying no emotion whatsoever. "Mom made it for you, right?"

I wondered how a 12 year old was so good at masking his emotions, or maybe they were right, he didn't feel emotions.

"Yeah." I nodded. "It was the first gift she ever gave me."

"Can I borrow it?"

I looked up at him in suspicion. He was distant to everyone, even his mom. He never previously bothered to know about her.

"Sure." I agreed regardless, handing it to him. "It's fragile. So be careful with it." I warned.

"I know."

I patiently waited for him to start talking, knowing exactly what he came here for.

"Can you not send Lili to a boarding school?" He asked, his mask cracked, desperation finding it's way to his features.

"I already finalized everything. I can't do anything even if I wanted to." I told him.

"Send me instead." He pleaded. "She doesn't want to go. I know you can do something."

"Tell me, Kai." I started, pouring myself a glass of whiskey. "Did you love your Mom?"

"Do you miss her?" I continued, taking his silence as yes.

"I have Lili."

I scoffed at his words. "That monster is just pretending to be your sister. Trust me, Kai, she's not as innocent as she seems."

"Did you know how much pain your Mom had to go through because of her?" I recounted. "Don't you want to get her justice, Kai?"

Kai clenched his fists by his side, his eyes flashing with anger.

"Don't you want her killer to be punished?"

It's working, I noted.

"Monsters deserve to suffer, don't they?" I asked, and the way his jaw ticked in fury I knew I had suceeded.

"They do." Kai agreed. "And trust me, Dad, you will suffer."

I looked at him, my eyes wide with shock, not expecting my plan to backfire like this.

Was it really possible for a twelve year to hold so much hatred and that too for his father?

"You asked me if I loved Mom." He reminded. "I didn't. I never did."

"The only person I love is Lili." He smiled, all his previous hostility gone at the mention of her.

"You'll regret it, son."

"Maybe." He replied nonchalantly. "But if you send her away, I'll make sure you regret too."

He left after saying that.

I shrugged off his threats. What could a twelve year old do to me anyway?

Kill me in my sleep?

I shouldn't have though.

Because he really did stay true to his words, reminding me that not everyone is bad at keeping promises.

... ... ...

If I ever had a doubt whether my son was a sociopath, I no longer did.

Well, that is on the basis, sociopaths were heartless creatures.

Kai was crying, full on sobbing as he refused to let go of Aylin, tightly holding her against him.

I wondered where the composed kid who came to threaten me last night was. Surely his resolve couldn't be that short.

Aylin on the other hand wasn't sad at all, no traces of fear or despair in her face.

Maybe they exchanged souls?

'True.' the voice agreed. 'Its not unlikely the witch knows black magic.'

I was disappointed. I wanted to see her suffering as she cried to let her stay here.

I approached them, if she was not going to put on a show, I saw no point in delaying any longer.

"Why are you still crying?" Aylin asked, confused. "I already told you, Ezra promised he wouldn't let me go."

"Ezra, tell him." She turned to Ezra when Kai didn't listen to her and continued crying.

Ezra looked away, his eyes filled with guilt. "I'm sorry." He muttered in a low voice. And if the room wasn't so silent I doubt anyone would be able to hear him.

"Why are you sorry?" Aylin inquired, tilting her head to the side. "Did you do something wrong?"

'Could she be any more gullible?'

"Kai, stop crying!" She repeated. "I told you I'm not going anywhere."

"Yes, you are." I interrupted.

"No, I'm not!" She shouted, narrowing her eyes at me. "Ezra, tell him."

"I'm sorry." Ezra repeated.

"Why do you keep saying that?" Aylin asked, getting agitated all of a sudden.

I sat back in the sofa, deciding the show was worth it. I would gladly be late anytime for it.

"I-I lied to you." Ezra confessed. "I don't have a way to stop Dad."

"But you said you will find a way." Aylin pointed out, as if that meant anything at all.

"You promised me you would. You can't break promises, silly." She nervously laughed.

At this point, I think she was talking to herself mostly.

"Tell him, Kai. We can't break promises, right?" She cried, the tears I longed to see finally streaming down her eyes.

"But-but you promised!" She turned to Ezra again, her eyes screaming betrayal.

When she realized, Ezra wasn't going to help she ran to where Stephen stood.

"Don't let him take me!" She hugged him tightly, barely reaching his waist. "I won't steal candies anymore. I'll be a good girl. I won't even pester you to play with me."

"Didn't you say I have a sweet heart? Didn't you say you will always protect me?" She whimpered. "Then why aren't you protecting me?"

Stephen picked her up in his arms and her eyes lit up with hope.

"I'm sorry, sweetheart." He kissed the top of her head, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. "But I'll bring you back again. I promise. Just give me some time, okay?"

The hope that had lit her eyes went away just like it came.

"Come on, it's enough." I announced, trying to separate her from him.

"No!" She screamed, clinging closer to Stephen. "I won't let go!"

"Lili, stop wasting my time." I scolded, forcefully snatching her from Stephen's arms.

She thrashed against my hold, striking my shoulder with her small fists but miserably failed.

Just when I thought she had stopped struggling, she bit on my arm, making my hold on her loosen and instantly jumped down from my arms.

She made a beeline to Eve.

"I won't try to copy you anymore, I swear." She promised, grabbing her hands. "You can take all my hidden toys, too."

"Will you convince Dad to not send me? He always listens to you."

"I tried already, Lili." Eve looked down in sadness. "I really did. He didn't listen."

"Try again." Aylin pleaded. "He'll listen this time."

Eve nodded, raising her head to look at me. "Daddy, please don't send Lili."

"No." I refused immediately.

"Noah?" Leaving Eve's hands she grabbed his instead. "If you help me, I'll let you be my knight. Always."

"I don't want to be your knight. You're pathetic."

Freeing his hands from her hold, Noah pushed her. Hard.

She fell down immediately, her eyes filled with shock he would do that to her.

"Go away!" He screamed. "We don't want you here."

"Noah! You can't do that!" Eve shouted from beside him, stretching out her hand for Aylin to take.

"I just did." Noah rolled his eyes before running back to his room.

I expected her to approach Diego next, but she didn't. Neither did she take Eve's outstretched hand.

Instead she just numbly sat there, her eyes filled with nothing but betrayal. Betrayal from the people she called family, the ones supposed to love her, protect her.

I almost felt bad for her.

But clearly not enough to take back the verdict.

Walking to her, I picked her up in my arms again and this time she complied, all the previous fight gone from her eyes.

Even after we reached the car, she didn't get down instead buried her head into my chest.

"All I asked for was a little bit of love." She mumbled. "Was I being too greedy?"

"Yes."

"How?" She inquired. "Everyone else seems to have it without even asking."

"It's because you are not worthy of love."

"And they are?"

"Yes."

She coldly laughed at my words. "Who gets to decide whether I'm worthy or not?"

"Your sins."

"I didn't commit any." She instantly denied.

"You did. Maybe you don't remember but I do." I told her. "You killed your mother. You hurt me. You hurt them."

"Then what about your sins?" She softly smiled. "Aren't you people hurting me? Shouldn't you be punished for it as well?"

Maybe it was those exact words that had sealed my punishment.

Because years later, my sins did come back to haunt me, in ways I never imagined.

When we finally reached the institute, I put her down, kneeling down to her level.

"You'll be happy here." I assured. "I only want the best for you. It's for your own good, trust me."

Something in me felt obliged to say those parting words even if I knew she would never believe them.

But maybe a desperate part inside me still wanted to come out as the good guy, create an admirable image to make her believe that everything I ever did was for her.

Even though it never was.

That night, after I returned from dropping her off, Kai knocked on my door. He didn't wait for my permission and came inside.

"I wanted to personally return it to you." He said handing me a wrapped box.

I frowned, wondering why he went through so much trouble to wrap it in such a fancy way.

I got my answer a second later.

Inside the box was the mixtape he took from me last night, broken into tiny shards, beyond recognition.

"What the fuck did you do?!" I screamed, enraged.

This mixtape had been with me for more than thirty years. If a fire