Strength I Lose

Chapter 4

Alecus walked up to the front door of his house ready to open it quietly.

"Are you sure it's not a mystery lover?" His sister's voice scared him shitless.

"Alasdair! You scared me!" He whispered-yelled holding his hand to his chest.

"Sorry, I was out and just came home too. So where did you go young man?" She waggled her eyebrows.

He felt his face hot, it really did seem like he was meeting someone, leaving at night and coming in the day. Didn't help that that someone was a demon who was helping him find hookups. "I was just dealing with some...personal things."

"Personal demons?" Alasdair questioned nearly draining the life out of Alecus with the word demon.

"S—Something like that," he hid his mortified face by turning around to open the door. When he did, there stood his brother on his way out.

"Alecus," he said distastefully, "Alasdair."

"Brother," Alasdair gave back the same energy brushing past him, bringing Alecus inside with her before their brother could corner him and yell. "Have a good day at work!" She said with false cheerfulness.

"Have a good day my ass!" he yelled back shutting the door.

"Always so grumpy," Alasdair, rolled her eyes.

"Thanks," Alecus looked down at his feet. If his sister wasn't there he'd be getting lectured and put into that trance his brother puts all people below him in.

Alasdair noticed his sad look, "Hey, cheer up, you still have to tell me all about your mystery lover."

This snapped Alecus out of his sadness, "No mystery lover Alas, it's just something I'm doing in private."

"Like what?" She pried.

"I have to wake Mother," he ignored her and went to their mother's room. Alasdair followed behind him. He went to open the curtains, "Good morning Mother." He went to her bedside and moved away her covers.

Alasdair watched not saying anything. She doesn't really see her mother often anymore.

As Alecus put their mother in her wheelchair he motioned to Alasdair to say something.

"Good morning Mother," she finally spoke. "It's good to see you." Their mother looked at Alasdair but it was right through her. It pained Alasdair to see her this way.

Throughout the whole day, Alasdair followed and watched her brother take care of their mother. She had long forgotten how much work it was. By the time he set her up for TV time, Alasdair was ready to chat with Alecus. He was cleaning the house as she followed helping here and there.

"So this is everyday life?" She sounded a bit disappointed.

"Yes," Alecus replied scrubbing away.

"I'd like to help Alecus," she really meant it.

"Alright," Alecus finally accepted.

"Wait for real? Is it okay? Are you sure?" She was surprised. After so many years of asking and he finally said yes.

"Yeah, I need to work on something so I could use your help with Mother."

"You won't regret it, I'll shadow you these next few days so she gets used to me," Alasdair smiled.

"Sounds good, you know, it's good that you aren't busy today, I actually need to go grocery shopping in a bit. Can you watch her for me? I'll try to be quick," Alecus took off his cleaning gloves and washed his hands.

"Sure, do I just let her keep watching TV?" Alasdair looked over in the distance, their mother watching TV, eyes glued to the screen.

"Yeah, maybe set the table, are you going to want to eat?"

"No, I'll just sit with you two," she declined. She never was a fan of food. It wasn't her thing and she didn't like how messy it felt.

"Alright then, I'll be on my way," Alecus made his way to the front door.

"You can count on me baby brother, again, you won't regret it!" He heard from inside the house before he shut the door behind him.

Once outside he took in a deep breath. He liked going out to the market. It felt normal. It felt like he was alive. At home, he just feels like a caretaker and he loves his mother but it drains him. He'd love to see her come back to life and start living again. He'd love to know what it's like to be normal and have friends and be in relationships. It all feels so far away. Like a distant dream. A thing of fantasies.

◉◉◉

The market was not packed, it never is. Not many beings here like to indulge in eating. Alecus was getting ingredients for dinner when a familiar face appeared before him by the pasta aisle.

"Melody!" He called surprised to see her.

"Alecus!" She gave him a quick hug, "Haven't seen you since the wedding. Speaking of, where did you run off to?"

"Oh, uh...well you see, I met a, uh...demon," he whispered the last part.

"Seth?" She gave him a surprised look.

"Actually, yeah, do you know him?" He didn't expect Melody to be familiar with Seth.

"Yeah, I met him before we text occasionally. So are you two like a thing or...?" She trailed off.

"Oh no, no. We just met at the party and I guess I got a little too carried away with the drinks and he let me crash at his place," Alecus explained.

"Oh, I see, strange he doesn't seem like the type to take care of a drunk," she laughed.

"Right, um, also I may have gotten myself into some trouble..." Alecus needed someone to tell, he needed to get it off his chest.

"What? Did you make a deal with him or something?" She joked.

"Yeah," he admitted and she stopped laughing.

"Wait, for real?" She became serious.

"It was stupid and he offered out of kindness and I couldn't say no," he tried to reason with his decision.

"What did he offer? Alecus you do know demons aren't the best to make deals with..." She pointed out as if Alecus wasn't fully aware.

"I know, I know, it's just that...well, drunk me decided to confess that I wasn't over you know who—"

"I could have told you that from a mile away," she interrupted.

"Right, right, anyway he offered to help me get over Eros," Alecus began looking at the various types of pasta in front of them to avoid looking at Melody's disappointed face.

"Okay. Wait, let me get this straight. He found out that you have this crush on Eros, so he offers to help you get over him and you say yes? What does that mean? Does that mean you two are hooking up or...?" She looked as confused as she sounded.

"Oh god no! No, we aren't hooking up, he's going to find me people to hook up with," Alecus casually explained like it made the situation any better.

Melody was in utter shock from how naive her half-brother was. "I don't want to be that person but it sounds like he's a pimp."

Alecus dropped the pasta box he had in his hand, "Wh—What?!" He turned to face Melody, "Does it really sound like that? Oh my God, did I get fooled by a demon?!"

"Well I don't know, but it just sounds weird the way you explained it all. I mean, I don't know him that well and it doesn't seem like he'd be that kind of guy, but you can never be too sure. I think you two should review the details of your deal because it sounds a little sketchy Alecus."

"You're right, I'll talk to him next time we meet." He picked up the pasta and put it back on the shelf. Am I really that gullible?