His eyes looked at the vast nothingness in front of him.Well, it wasn"t really "nothing" as in, that it was empty but rather, there was no civilisation. They were at the start of some highway. All Alex could see was a straight road and trees at the sides. It was as if the road cut through a forest.
His father had parked the car by the side of the road, putting on its blinkers and was waiting at the guard rail for him. He had taken off his jacket, and Alex frowned.
Without the jacket, Alex saw that his father"s s.h.i.+rt was sleeveless and it showed his tattoo.
Or rather, tattooes in this case.
When did his father have that red and blue intertwining dragon tattoo?
Wait.
Where was his other tattoo?
That phoenix thing?
While Alex was wondering this, he slowly came out from the car.
"Pull up your turtleneck and cover your mouth and nose," Kyle told him, "Concealing your ident.i.ty is the most important thing right now."
Alex pulled at his turtleneck and did what he was told.
So that was why this was the only difference he had with his father"s outfit. While his father"s s.h.i.+rt was like a black singlet, his was a short sleeved turtleneck s.h.i.+rt.
The material wasn"t wool, but something soft and cooling. He found that he had no trouble breathing through it, and it was not uncomfortable.
"What about you?" Alex asked, his voice slightly m.u.f.fled.
Kyle shrugged, "My ident.i.ty as Ice is already well-known. No one really a.s.sociates Ice with Kyle Smith."
"That"s stupid," Alex said, "What? Are you like Superman? Take off your gla.s.ses and no one can recognise you?"
Kyle laughed, not perturbed at all.
Though it sounded like Alex was making fun of him, there was no malice or disdain in his voice towards Kyle like before. There was, however, disdain and disbelief about the fact that he was never recognised as Kyle.
"In the beginning, I did have some slight disguise," Kyle told him, "Even went out in a mask like you. Later on, a disguise but just to make myself look older. As time went by, Ice"s reputation got such that no one really had the guts to look at me in the face. Something about being cursed to death if they did. In the end, I was like the boogey-man to them so they saw what they wanted to see."
Kyle showed off his fake tattoos, "My ident.i.ty is more connected to this, and any image captured on camera is taken care of by Auntie Kay."
Kyle didn"t mention that 99.99% of the time, his face was never captured on camera either. That would be something to be revealed later on … if Alex joined him on this path.
The little bit that Kyle was revealing now was just the tip of the iceberg and it was to test the waters. So far, Alex was taking it well - just as Kyle thought he would.
Locking the door, Kyle crouched and told Alex, "Climb on my back. I"ll carry you to where we are going."
Again, Alex was going to retort that he could do it when he literally had to bite his tongue to stop himself from doing so.
His rational mind told him he would be crazy to try and walk the distance since there was nothing that could be seen for miles.
His instinct to reject his father, however, came naturally and a part of him was still struggling to accept the fact that he could not do this without his father"s help.
Gritting his teeth, he stomped slowly towards Kyle and climbed on.
"Hold on tight now," Kyle warned him.
Alex had barely wrapped his hands around Kyle"s neck when Kyle ran off, full speed.
Alex barely managed to hold on, his mind screaming that what his father was doing was impossible.
The speed was already something insane, but then, his father jumped off the side of the road.
The road was elevated, while the sides appeared to be several feet lower. Hence, when Kyle jumped to the side, he was also jumping down to the forest below.
Alex screamed, closing his eyes and held on for dear life. He felt his father land on something, jump, and then cold wind, before landing and the cycle repeated. When Alex finally had the courage to open his eyes, he found that his father was jumping through the trees like he was some monkey.
It was only then did Alex feel that his father"s back was st.u.r.dy and strong.
As Kyle "flew" through the air, the fear in Alex"s heart dissipated as he trusted his father fully. He even started laughing.
It really felt like they were flying!
Finally, after what seemed like ages, they reached a small clearing.
Kyle jumped down, landing noiselessly on the ground despite the dry leaves about and the additional weight that Alex gave him.
Alex noted this, and the admiration in his heart grew.
He knew his father was skilled, but not this skilled.
All the moves his father had been teaching him and Rory just seemed like exaggerated martial arts but now, seeing them being used to its fullest, he knew that it was something more.
Would he be able to do what his father did?
He could balance on a tightrope well now but to jump from tree to tree, fall down without getting hurt or make a sound … now, that was really like from the movies.
Alex got down from his father"s back and went to a little marker on the ground.
He didn"t ask anything, but stared at it while Kyle brushed away some leaves from the small marker. Crouching, Kyle looked at Alex and said, "This is the grave of the person that tried to kill your mother, you, and Rory."
Immediately, Alex saw red.
He wanted to smash the marker. He wanted to kick and stomp on the ground. Why was his father being so polite and even respectful to the grave of such a person?
Alex glared at his father, his breathing heavy as he gritted his teeth.
Kyle ignored his glare, and he talked to the marker, "Sarah, this is my son, Alexander. The same one you tried to kill before."
A small breeze flew about then, and Alex imagined it was the spirit of Sarah acknowledging Kyle"s words.
Preposterous, but it was truly coincidental for it to happen.
"Alex, what do you want to say to her?" Kyle turned to his son, "Imagine that she is in front of you. What would you say?"
"No words," Alex said, fuming, "I have no words."
Kyle smiled.
"Then what do you want to do?"
"I want to stomp on her. I want to kick her. I want her to feel 10x the pain she put Mummy through," Alex hissed.
"So much bloodthirst for someone so young," Kyle said, "Are you really able to do what you say you want to do?"
Alex growled low, staring at his father, "YES!"
"Really?" Kyle asked again.
"YES!" Alex roared, feeling like his father"s eyes were bluer than normal. He was so angry that he hardly noticed that his surroundings had become dark and all that he saw were those blue eyes, and then …
Alex fainted.
Kyle caught him deftly.
Sitting cross-legged on the ground, Kyle placed Alex tenderly on his lap and hugged him close.
"Good luck, my son," he whispered.
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Alex felt like he was falling.
There was nothing in front of him and nothing below. Everything was dark.
Alex panicked.
Where was he?
What happened?
Where was his father???
Then he felt his fall slowing down until he was floating, and his surroundings were slowly lighting up. He felt his feet touched the ground as a soft voice said, "I heard you wanted to see me."
Alex head whipped up, trying to find the source of that voice.
A blurry image formed until eventually, a female figure was seen. She was not solid at all, for Alex could see through her, but she appeared to be solid.
"h.e.l.lo, Alex," the figure said, "My name is Sarah."
Seeing the shocked expression on Alex"s face, "Sarah" nodded, "Yes, I am that Sarah. Your attempted murderer."
Alex clenched his fists tightly.