Remember: Alex and Aro (boyxboy)

Chapter 7

July, 2017, Present Time

My mam always taught me it's rude to stare. She may have been a bit of a loudmouth, but she was hypocritical enough to teach me manners. Don't stare. Stand straight. Don't be cheeky.

They were things that she did every day. And now, I'm disobeying the 'no staring' rule, as I can't, no matter how hard I try, I can't take my eyes away from this man's face. Aro's face. He makes himself comfortable on the foot of my bed, stretching out with a whole lack of respect for my space.

He stares straight back at me, dark crimson eyes locking with mine and we assess each other in our minds. He's a good twenty years older than me at least. Is he a hallucination? Most people with funny coloured eyes are. Sooner or later, a nurse will arrive and tell me he's not real.

He's just another stupid and irritating form like Carl that I have to deal with.

"Alex?" He muses, reaching and grabbing my hand, enfolding it in his. His eyes go blank for a second and he seems to stop moving, becoming completely still. Frozen like a sculpture. "Do you see things?" He asks curiously. "I do." He informs. "Now and then. The joys of living forever." He comes closer, whispering as if he's got a big secret.

"It takes it's toll on you. Being immortal and alone." He gets so close that the cold and pale skin, so smooth yet hard as stone, presses against my cheek as his lips brush against my ear. "It turns you....crazy." He hisses the last word before a brief chuckle escapes him.

He leans backwards, so we are face to face again. "As I have informed you in your visions, you and I are mates and I am here to take you away." He decides, completely casually as if we were discussing the weather.

"Yer can't do that." I point out, knowing how complex and heavy the security system is. Especially at night. "Guards are posted at every door and-"
"And at every possible exit." He finishes before I can. "I know, Alex. I've taken you out before." He comes closer again.

"Haven't you ever wondered why you dream of the forest?"

"It was you." I gasp, realising that the dreams were real after all. I knew it. For once, I can be credible, taken seriously. I remembered something that was real. But then, my irritation returns and I reach across to slap him. "Yer can't just take me away off on a magical adventure." I snark.

"This is Volterra's Asylum, not The Hobbit." I push back my covers, swinging my legs out of bed and waltzing into my bathroom. "I'm guessing you want me to pack clothes or something?" I sigh at him. "Of course not, my dear. Already taken care of." He assures, looking every bit as arrogant and smug.

"Right. Of course." I groan, retreating back to bed. He covers me in the blankets, tucking me in. "There, isn't that much better?" He says enthusiastically, his creepy smile plastered across his face.

"I can do that myself, thank you." I push him back, smoothing down my sheets by myself. "I don't need some....red eyed goth wannabe tucking me in like some sort of fatherly figure psycho!" I snark, but then he growls. "Do not ever insult or disrespect me." He orders, rising from the bed.

"Tomorrow morning, I will be at the reception desk, ready to take you with me. You will go along with everything I say as that is your job." He grabs the handle of my door so he can leave. "No objections. No arguments. No negotiation." He narrows his eyes at me, stepping through the door.

"You are mine, boy." He slams it despite it being the middle of the night. Great, I'll probably get blamed for that. I roll over and try to get comfortable. Boy? Who does he think he is. "I'm a grown man. I'm twenty six." I call out, though he's probably long gone already. If any nurse hears me, she won't bother checking on me.
They turn a blind eye around here. They're used to paitents talking to non existent people and seeing things that aren't there. For them, this is just another evening in paradise. I squint to see my watch on the beside table and see it's one o'clock in the morning.

I sigh in frustration. I pull the covers up to my chin, shutting my eyes in the hope of some sleep before morning. I don't want to look like a dead man when so called Aro the Prince Charming takes me away.

              *************

"So I said to him, who do you think you are?"
"Hush little baby, don't you cry...."
"Who's taken my egg? Oy, give that back!"

The number of different conversations and voices melt into one as two of the men start up a pathetic scuffle in the dining hall. "For God's sake, just eat your breakfast and shut the fuck up." One man at my table says.

Two guards rush up to them and start trying to restrain them. "He stole my egg!" One insists, tears pouring down his face while the other man, who is Italian, is screaming offensive words in his language, pointing and gesturing dramatically.

I roll my eyes at them, sniggering, before tucking into my bowl of porridge, covered with sliced strawberries. So much for a peaceful morning. If there's anything that can wake you up in this place, it's the drama that comes with breakfast every morning.

"Please, Dad," The teenage boy on my right grabs a hold of my arm. "Let me have my angel back. Please, Dad." He pleads with me, staring me in the face. I go to tell him that we haven't met before. That I don't know who his father is, but a nurse comes up to us before I can say anything.

"Paitent number #3871, your uncle Robert has come to take you home. Your time with us has finished." She informs, clearing my glass as I finish my last mouthful of porridge. I stand up so quickly that I almost knock over my chair.

"Don't go, Dad." The boy grabs my hand. "Don't go." He pleads though the nurse separates us and relaxes him. "Be quiet now Thomas." She looks up at me. "Your uncle is waiting for you, Sir."

I rush out of the hall, past the two men fighting for the egg and away from all the other lunatics. 'That doesn't make you any different.' Richard reminds. 'You're still a ravaged psycho.' He sneers. "Shut up, R. I ain't gonna listen to your shit." I brush off his comments, pushing the double doors open to see Aro standing there, ready and waiting.

"Mr. Danvers." Dr. Phillips adresses, ready to see me off. 'I've informed your uncle on your medication and times to take it. The paperwork is almost ready, I just need you to sign." He hands me a fountain pen which I admire for a second before signing my name.

"Good man." He praises, as if I'm five years old. 'Looooser.' Sandee sings, making her opinion known. Carl appears beside me, his arms on the reception desk. "Do you really want to do this?" He gestures towards Aro.

"Why not stay here? It's what you deserve. You're a criminal remember? That's why you're here." He sneers, doodling with the pen that I was just holding. "That's enough!" I snatch the pen off him and throw it in another direction.

Aro glances at me curiously. "Alex?" He looks across to the area I'm staring at. His hands clamp down onto my shoulders. "What are you seeing, love?" He looks deep into my eyes. I shake off his touch. "Nothing. I'm fine." I stalk past him to the water dispenser to pour myself a drink.
"Just get me out of here."