9. Alexander

NINE

alexander

"I'm talking to my friend," I admit.

Alexander looks around. "Where is he?"

I kneel face-to-face with the immortal child. "How old are you, Alexander?"

He shrugs, looking away. "I don't remember." It's obvious he's lying.

"How long have you been with Mother?"

"I'm the oldest." He looks behind me. "They smell funny." I turn to find a group of lycan standing on the sidewalk not far away. "What are they?"

I close my eyes, not sure if I should tell the truth. What if he attacks everyone around us? I take a deep breath before deciding not to lie. "They're lycan."

"What's a lycan?"

"We're werewolves," Luna says from behind me. I stand, moving between the immortal child and my friend .

Alexander's eyes turn black. "Mother doesn't like werewolves."

Luna moves to my side. "We're not here to hurt you or any of your brothers and sisters."

"Why are you here?" he asks. The energy flowing from him is powerful and dark.

"To help you."

Alexander cocks his head. " I don't need help."

I pull the immortal child away from the crowd of humans toward a more secluded area. "We need Amelia," I send to Thorne. Seconds later, they're both standing in front of us. Alexander hisses, sensing their power.

"Alexander, these are my friends, Thorne and Amelia." He continues to hiss. "They're not going to hurt you."

"I don't like vampires," he continues. The lycan join us, and his teeth become visible. "They smell so good." He pulls slightly against my hold.

"Alexander," Amelia says, sitting on the ground cross-legged. The boy ignores her call. "Alexander," she calls again. "Will you sit and play with me?"

He looks down, calming slightly. "Play what?"

She draws a picture pedestal and a row of lines in the sand. "Hangman. Do you know how to play that game?"

He looks at the lines. "No."

"Good! I get to teach you how." She smiles warmly. "The lines are a word. You guess the letters of the word you think it is, and if you get one right, I add it to the correct line. If you get it wrong, I draw parts of a man. If you figure out the word before I add all the pieces of the hangman, you win."

"R," Alexander says.

"No R's." Amelia draws a circle for a head.

"T," he continues.

"There are two T's." She draws the T's in their correct spot.

"Tarantula," he announces.

Amelia's smile disappears as she fills in the rest of the word. "Excellent. Let's try another one."

His eyes return to their blue hue as Amelia starts another game. This time the word is longer. "S," he says, staring intently into the sand. Amelia fills in four S's. "Mississippi," he announces before she's drawn the last s.

"That's correct!"

"He's smart," Thorne says.

"Aye. Maybe that's why he's able to control the vampire side of him."

"Alexander," Amelia says after three games. "I have a ton of games back at the beach house. Would you like to see them?"

The boy stands up straight. "Mother wouldn't want me to go." He turns back toward me. "Mommy and I are here to find food."

"We can take them food." She turns toward the crew of otherworldly creatures behind her. "Can't we? "

"Sure," Thorne agrees. "I'm sure your mother won't mind."

What we're doing feels wrong on so many levels. What are we doing? Alexander looks up at me. "What do you think, Mommy?"

"I think you would love the games at the beach house. Maybe we could stop by for a quick minute, then come back and hunt."

Alexander pulls back slightly. "No. Mother won't approve. We need to feed my family." He straightens his already perfect sports coat. "If you'll excuse us." He laces his fingers back through mine. "Please don't talk to Mommy in her head anymore."

Thorne's eyes open wide. I shake my head, silently begging him to stay quiet.

Alexander points at an older man standing against the wooden fence. His arms are crossed in front of him, and his boot is propped on the pickets behind him. "He just shot his wife and children."

"What?" Luna and Micah ask in unison.

"That man, he killed his family," Alexander repeats. He sighs. "He says his wife was a cheating whore, and the kids weren't his." He stares at the man a few minutes longer. "He's planning on taking that woman." He points at a young woman dancing with a group of friends. "He's going to rape and kill her."

Hearing those words from what appears to be a child is hard to accept. "Are you sure?" Amelia asks .

"Yes. He keeps replaying the images of her screaming in his mind."

"You're not seriously considering this?" I ask the group around me.

"It wouldn't be a great loss," Topher answers for the group. He moves toward the human, with Micah in tow. The lycan tower over the man, and the three of them speak for a few minutes.

"What are they doing?" Alexander asks.

"Searching for the truth," I answer.

Movement happens quickly as Topher pulls the man's hands behind his back. The human fights back, not getting very far with the two lycan holding him in place.

"Where are they taking him?" Alexander asks.

"I'm not sure." His hand is still wrapped inside of mine as we follow them out of the crowded area, into a more secluded part of the beach.

"What the fuck, man? Let me go," the man argues.

"My friend asked you a question," Topher spews inches from his face. "What did you do to your family?"

"Fuck you." He spits in Topher's face, hitting him right in the eye.

Amelia's face transforms into something similar to Kragen's. She moves between the men. "My husband asked you a question." Her eyes are dark, and her face has contorted into a monstrous form.

"What the fuck, bitch. What are you? "

"Your worst nightmare." Fangs protrude from her face as she moves even closer.

"I killed them," he whispers. "She was a lying whore and had it coming. Damn kids, too."

"He'll do," Alexander says, looking up at me. "I don't like to take the good ones. That's what Mother does. She takes the good ones."

"Are you talking about the children?"

He looks down, kicking the sand in front of him. "I…I couldn't eat from them. I refused the food. They were just kids."

I pull Alexander away from the spectacle in front of us. "What if I can help you to stop killing?"

Large tears well in his eyes. "You can't." His moment of weakness has passed as he puts the stoic killer back on the throne. "I'm a killer. It's what I'm made to do."

"Alexander, you don't have to be." I soften my voice, hoping to break through his wall of protection.

"Mother will be expecting us." He straightens his perfect coat once more, signifying that he's finished with our conversation.

Squatting to his level, I put both hands on his shoulders. "There is another way. We can survive off animal blood."

He wrinkles his nose. "No, thank you. I don't eat rats."

I laugh. "Me neither." Just thinking about drinking from a rat makes my stomach boil. "My friends drink goat's blood."

"Goat? Is it good?"

I focus on not making a disgusting face as I speak. "It's drinkable, and it keeps them alive and strong."

Alexander looks at the sand surrounding us. "What about my family? I can't leave them."

"There's enough for everyone."

"What about Mother?" He wipes a silent tear. "I can't leave her alone with the others. She needs me."

"Are there others like you?" I ask.

"What do you mean?"

I sigh, not sure how to ask what I'm asking. "Others that don't have to be chained in silver."

He nods. "Autumn and Everly. The rest are…"

"I know."

"I can't leave them there." He looks past me at the human man attempting to fight off the lycan holding him. "I don't want to go back," he whispers. "I want to go to the beach house."

"Okay," I agree. "We'll go to the beach house."

Behind us, Topher has the disgusting human man in a choke hold, leading him away from the crowd, while the rest of our group is in deep discussion about how to feed Patrice and her horde of immortal children. I take Alexander's hand into mine and lead him back to my friends. "I'm taking Alexander to the beach house."

I look into each of their eyes, begging them to understand. Amelia smiles. "That's a great idea." She looks at our group. "I'll come with you."

"What about…" Fynn starts.

"We'll figure it out," she answers with a smile.

Minutes later, the three of us are standing in front of the stilted home. "It's lifted to protect the house from the hurricanes," Alexander says, staring up at the large house. "Is this where the games are?" he asks Amelia.

"It is. Would you like to come inside?"

He nods, moving up the stairs at vampire speed. Amelia gives me a look that I'm not sure how to interpret. We move behind him, opening the door, and the three of us enter the opulent home.

"This is nice," Alexander says, looking around the room. Thorne walks in behind us, startling the young boy. "Why is he here?"

"He's staying here with us. So are the lycan," I add.

"I don't like the lycan," Alexander hisses slightly as he speaks.

"No one here will harm you."

"I know," he answers, moving toward the television. "I've seen these before. How does it work?"

I push the button on the remote, filling the large screen with a game show. Alexander walks behind the TV with a puzzled look on his face. "Are they inside there?"

"No. It's been recorded."

He lifts his nose in the air. "The lycan are here. "

"Alexander, how long have you been with Mother?" Amelia changes the subject.

He shrugs, running his hands along the television screen. "I was the first."

"How did Mother find you?" I ask.

He's so quiet, I decide he's not going to answer. "At the circus. I was lost." His words are soft.

"Did she hurt you?" Thorne joins our conversation.

"I don't want to talk about it," he answers, moving toward the kitchen. "What happens in here?"

"That's where the magic happens," Luna answers, coming inside the house. "We use that room to cook our food."

"Are we eating from you?" he asks.

Luna's eyes grow several sizes. "No. At least I hope not. That's where we cook for the lycan."

Alexander nods in understanding. "I don't need to be chained."

"No one is going to chain you up," Amelia says.

"He's thinking about chaining me in one of the bedrooms on the third floor." Alexander nods toward Topher.

"It's for our safety," Topher says softly. "I would never hurt you."

The immortal child stops moving and turns toward Topher. "You couldn't hurt me, even if you tried."

"No one is going to try," I interrupt. "We want to help you. "

"My maker was like you. An immortal child," Amelia distracts him.

"Was?" he asks. "Did he kill her?" He nods toward Topher once more.

"No. He loves her. She's still alive, but no longer an immortal child."

Alexander fully turns his attention toward Amelia. "Tell me how."

"I will. I promise. But first, we have to stop Mother. She cannot take any more children."

"I know." He sighs. "We have to save my sisters."

"Autumn and Everly?" I ask, remembering the names he told me earlier.

"They're like me. The others aren't."

"What do you mean, the others aren't?" Thorne asks.

"They're killing machines." Alexander's words are far more mature than his body appears. "They can't survive on their own. Autumn and Everly can."

"We'll save them," I promise, receiving confused glances from everyone in the room.

"Mother will not let us go," Alexander says, straightening his coat for the tenth time.

"How do we get to them?" Micah asks.

"I have a plan." Alexander moves to the television, staring at Wheel of Fortune. "Pick a peck of peppers," he says, solving the puzzle with one letter exposed. He turns toward me. "I'll take some of that goat's blood now, Mommy."