When It All Ends (COMPLETED)

Chapter 29

#WIAE Chapter 29

Augustus Voltaire Ostenhaimer

"We only need one heir."

My father looked at us both. Ayo shifted uncomfortably on his seat. I knew he hated this day. He wasn't tailored for this kind of life, but what could he do? It's what he was living for... to continue the legacy that was Ostenhaimer.

"Ayo."

And as soon as my father mentioned his name, fear crossed his eyes. Ayo had always been my father's favorite. He was smart and very talented. He could think of tactics that even I couldn't think of. He was the brains. And I? I was more on the side of being feared... my earliest kill was when I was eight years old. I could still remember the power that I felt when I pulled the trigger. And the rush it gave me when I saw blood flowing in the middle of his forehead.

That was why people avoided me. They feared me. I didn't have control... not much, anyway.

"Yes, father?"

My father looked at him and I could see that he didn't want this, either. How could he, anyway? How could he send his favorite child in that hellhole? Everybody knows that Academia de Mondragon was nothing but a piece of shit. Equilibrium, they said. Peace, they promised. But how could we have peace in this kind of life? It wasn't even a possibility. Not even at the slightest. It was like one of the promises parents make in order to control their children.

It was bullshit. Every family in the business was mandated to send at least one kid. It was supposed to bring harmony—at least in some crooked up way—in our society. That as long as every family has a child inside that school—from the poorest to the most powerful families—we wouldn't completely self-destruct, because who doesn't love family, right? And everyone agreed to it. Well, my stupid ancestors, anyway.

"Your mother and I agreed to send you to the school," he told Ayo. "The school's pressuring us to send your brother, but we can't do that. Avo is the future of our family."

Of course. I was the heartless one. I was the perfect heir.

"We'd send you in place of Avo, but you have to use his name."

Ayo's face fell. The colors in his face drained. I felt bad for him, but what could he do? In our life, lineage was the priority in all things. And Ayo knew himself that he couldn't lead the business. It was mine. I was born for it.

"Are we clear on that?" father asked. And Ayo, unable to do anything but agree, nodded his head. "Very well, you will be leaving at dawn tomorrow."

When father left us, I stood in front of Ayo. His fists were clenched. He was enraged, I could see, but he wasn't doing anything.

"You could've said no," I offered.

"You know I can't."

I shrugged.

"You never tried asking. The worst thing you can get is a no."

He raised his head and looked at me.

"Am I supposed to act like you?" he asked.

I shrugged.

"Don't kid yourself, Ayo. You're an angel; I'm a demon."

He smiled.

"You are. That's why father will sacrifice me for you."

He was right. He was father's favorite, but he was still being sacrificed. This was how family works... at least, in our world.