King

CHAPTER XXXIX

Al arrived at the lab and he was quickly assisted by a nurse to where Zynrick was. He entered the room and saw that Zynrick was unconscious. He was covered with deep wounds and he hated seeing it.

“Why does he look like this?!” Al yelled at the doctor standing in one corner of the room.

The doctor didn’t answer but a researcher entered a room. “Thank you for taking care of him doctor,” The researcher said. The doctor and nurse left and he was alone with the researcher.

“What happened to Zynrick?” Al asked. He was trying his best to not let his emotions get the better of him. He had his hands balled into fists and he was gritting his teeth to stop himself from throwing a tantrum.

The researcher sat on a single couch and looked at Al with a condescending expression. “Al, you’re not a researcher in this lab. Your parents were excellent doctors and researchers but you have nothing but their names attached to you.” He said.

Al was offended by what the researcher said but he was right. Al had nothing but the name his parents left him.

“I have the right to know, I’m Zynrick’s only family,” He said since he thought that it was the only way to make the researcher talk.

“The police found him passed out like that in the forest. They kept him in the precinct and checked if he was reported as a missing person. The police called us when he bit a police officer. They had no choice but to restrain him by force,” The researcher answered calmly.

Al glared at the researcher and grabbed him by the collar. “You are a f*****g asshole. If you found him sooner then he wouldn’t be in such a state,” He said through gritted teeth.

The researcher scoffed and looked at Al straight in the eyes as he asked, “He killed your parents. Why are you acting like this?”

Al gulped and let go. He didn’t know how to answer the question.

The researcher laughed and said, “I don’t get you. Are you even a normal person? Any sane person would be happy to see the killer of their family in a state like this. The victim would probably even kill the killer with its hands. But you, you’re demanding for the killer of your family to be treated properly,” He mocked.

Al took a deep breath and closed his eyes. Getting mad was useless. The researcher was just messing with his head. He knew better so he just let it slide.

“I don’t care what you think, what I want is proper custody of Zynrick,” He demanded but the researcher just laughed again.

“You’re making me laugh too much,” He said and wiped his tears away. He looked at Al and crossed his legs before answering, “You can’t have custody over this guy since your just eighteen.”

“Don’t I have the right since my parents took him in?” He asked. The researcher shook his head and stood up.

“You can only have custody of him if you’re twenty-one. Besides, how will you survive if you’re eighteen and still studying?” The researcher said and left the room.

Al sat on the single couch but he was surprised when the guards came in and pulled him away from the room.

“What the hell are you doing?! I’m his family! Let me go!” He yelled and thrashed around but the guards were strong enough to throw him out of the room.

“You,” Al said and pointed at the researcher he was talking with earlier. He stood up and pinned the researcher against the wall. “You were the one who told them to throw me out, weren’t you,” Al said.

“Yeah, everyone agreed that the lab will have custody of Zynrick. There’s already an appeal for it in the government. Since you don’t have anything, there’s no chance you’ll win even if you try to sue us in court,” He said confidently.

Al wanted to wipe the cocky smile on the researcher’s face but doing that would only make things harder for him. He decided to let him go and took a step back before saying, “I’ll make sure I’ll get Zynrick from you,” He said and left the lab.

Al dedicated himself to studying. He aimed to graduate at the age of twenty. Since his family was highly influential, they allowed him to take advanced courses.

“Al, you’ve been studying your ass off,” Tyrone said and sat in front of Al. “You’re not hanging out with me that much,” He added while watching Al answer questionnaires.

“I need to study. I want to graduate early,” Al answered as he filled the questionnaires. He was so focused on the papers that he forgot that Tyrone was sitting in front of him. He only remembered when he raised his head and saw Tyron sleeping.

“Ty, wake up,” He whispered and tapped Tyrone’s shoulder. Tyrone pushed Al away so Al decided to pass his paper before returning to where Tyrone was.

“Hey, Ty, wake up, we need to go home,” He said and shook Tyrone.

Tyrone sat up and rubbed his eyes before looking at Al. “Oh, you’re done,” he whispered and stood up.

“I want to have cheesecake,” Tyrone said as they walk to the parking lot.

“You’re such a girl,” Al teased but Tyrone just hit Al with his elbow.

“Just because I like sweets means that I’m a girl,” Tyrone said and puffed his cheeks. Al laughed and pinched his cheeks which made Tyrone blush.

“What the f**k was that?” Tyrone asked while looking at Al. He had his hands on his cheeks as he tried to calm down.

“It’s nothing,” Al answered and opened his car.

“What are you doing standing there?” Al asked when Tyrone just watched Al get in.

“I’m walking home,” Tyrone answered making Al drop his jaw.

“I’m asking you to go to a café with me,” Al said making Tyrone raise his eyebrow.

“Are you asking me out on a date?” Tyrone asked which made Al laugh.

“Bro, if that’s how you see it,” He said and drove to the café Tyrone likes to go to.

“What’s with the sudden invite?” Tyrone asked when they were finally eating.

“I just realized that I’ve been spending way too much time studying. I need to relax too you know,” Al answered and ate a spoonful of ice cream.

“I’m glad you realized that but what made you want to graduate early?” Tyrone asked.

Al was about to answer honestly when the researcher’s words came back to his head.

“Any sane person would be happy to see the killer of their family in a state like this. The victim would probably even kill the killer with its hands. But you, you’re demanding for the killer of your family to be treated properly,”

“Ah, I just wanted to continue what my parents left,” He lied instead. He didn’t want to see what Tyrone’s reaction would be because deep inside, he knew that the researcher was right.

“If that’s the case then I’ll help you. Let’s graduate together and finish what your parents started,” Tyrone said which made Al feel guilty for lying. But he felt relieved when he heard that Tyrone would help him.

Al decided that he would just go with the lie and then tell Tyrone the truth after graduate. But a certain event made everything fall apart.

It was the day of Al and Tyrone’s graduation. They were told that they would be joining the graduating batch. They were excited about it and Al was anxious about telling Tyrone the truth.

Ever since Al was denied to right to visit Zynrick, Tyrone was the person he was with most of the time. They’ve been through thick and thin so it made Al wonder why Tyrone didn’t attend the graduation.

He arrived there and waited. He was hoping he’d see Tyrone but the ceremony was over and he didn’t come. Al felt disappointed but he tried to be optimistic. He went out and saw that everyone was with their family. It made him feel lonely but he decided to just ignore the lonely and visit his parent’s grave after.

He was walking alone to his car when he saw Tyrone leaning on the hood of his car. He ran to him and saw that something was different.

“Ty, what happened to you? Why didn’t you show up? Were you late?” Al asked in one go.

Tyrone gave Al a sad smile and gave him a bouquet of flowers. “Congratulations,” He said which confused Al.

“We both graduated so why are you giving me one? You should’ve attended the ceremony even if you were late,” Al said but Tyrone just smiled.

“I want to go to your house,” Tyrone said. Al was confused but he just obeyed Tyrone’s request.

“Alright, get in,” Al said and opened the door for Tyrone.

The ride was quiet and Al was getting concerned. He kept on glancing at Tyrone who was quietly looking outside. Tyrone was a loud man so seeing him quiet threw off Al.

“Security is strong at your place, right?” Tyrone asked which made Al wonder what was going on with Tyrone.

“Yeah, no one can kill us there,” Al answered. The ride continued to be quiet after that.

They arrived at Al’s manor and Tyrone was still quiet. Al told Tyrone to follow him into the kitchen. He had a feast prepared but Tyrone was quiet.

“Hey, what’s wrong? You used to love coming here to eat every stock I have,” Al said but Tyrone just laughed but this time it wasn’t a happy one. He had tears rolling down his cheeks as he laughed.

Al stood up and wiped Tyrone’s tears away. “Tell me what happened?” he asked when Tyrone grabbed his waist and hugged him tightly.

“My parents were murdered,” Tyrone said as he sobbed.

Al froze at what he heard, “How?” He asked.

Tyrone’s grip tightened around his shirt so he wrapped his arms around Tyrone to comfort him.

“A demon came into the house and murdered them last night,” He answered.

Al didn’t know what to say. He kept quiet and waited until Tyrone calmed down.

“It was supposed to be a happy night. We were supposed to celebrate early. They were planning to surprise me and they f*****g succeeded,” Tyrone said and looked at Al.

“I’m joining the AMF, Al,” Tyrone said which made Al freeze. He knew where this conversation was going and he didn’t like it.

“Why?” Al asked. He knew the reason but he wanted to hear it from Tyrone himself.

“I want to eradicate every single magical being in this world. Us, humans, are living peacefully and here they are attacking and killing us,” He whispered and gripped the fork. “I swear I’ll kill each and every one of them,” He said.

Al was scared of the anger in Tyrone’s voice so he kept quiet. He didn’t want Tyrone to ask him to join him in entering the AMF because he knew that answer he’d give and he didn’t want to say it.

“Come to think of it, they said that your parents were murdered by a mythical being, right?” Tyrone asked and Al nodded.

The conversation was there and he was scared.

He gulped and answered, “Y-Yes,”

“Why don’t you join me? Let’s enter the AMF together.” Tyrone suggested. Al closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

“I can’t,” Al answered and looked at him. Tyrone had his eyebrows furrowed and Al immediately knew that the conversation wasn’t going well.

“Why not?” Tyrone asked in confusion. Al contemplated how to answer Tyrone’s answer so he kept his mum for a full minute before answering.

“I still have to continue what my parents left,” He answered. Tyrone looked at him with a confused expression and Al expected it already.

“I know that but I’m sure that they’d forgive you if you didn’t continue it. Let’s take revenge on the beings that killed our family. Let’s rub them of what they have just like what they did to us,” Tyrone said with an insane expression. That’s when Al understood that this is where their relationship might end. He was about to lose someone important to him but he knew that Zynrick was more important than anyone else.

“I can’t do that, I just can’t,” He answered hoping that Tyrone would stop asking and just accept his choice. If he could, he wanted to save their friendship. Tyrone has been with him all these years and he wasn’t ready to let him go.

“What did your parents leave you for you to refuse to join me? Aren’t you mad at your family’s killer?” Tyrone asked while looking at Zynrick straight in the eyes.

“Zynrick, I need to save him,” Al said and gave Tyrone a small smile. He said it. There was no turning back.

“Zynrick, that’s the boy that your family adopted, right?” Tyrone asked.

“Yes,” Al answered. He didn’t want to say anything that might trigger Tyrone. He was still important to him.

“What happened to him? Isn’t he killed?” Tyrone asked in confusion.

“He was the one who killed my family,” Al answered. He saw the shock in Tyrone’s face. He knew that this is exactly how Tyrone would react.

“And you’re planning to save him. Are you insane? You’re saving your family’s killer,” Hearing it come from Tyrone’s mouth made it hurt. It was already painful when a complete outsider said it but it was a hundred times worse when he heard it from someone close to him.

“He’s also my family! He’s the only family I have left!” He reasoned hoping Tyrone would understand.

“You don’t call the murderer of your parents, family!” Tyrone yelled.

“He didn’t mean it! He lost control! Zynrick would never kill them consciously!” He defended. He knew Zynrick that’s why he can’t bring himself to hate him.

“He killed your f*****g parents! Why are you defending him?!” Tyrone asked in confusion. He couldn’t understand Al at all. He was sure that they went through the same thing but he didn’t expect Al to act this way.

“Because he became a progenitor for my sake! If he didn’t become one then they would’ve still be with me! If I wasn’t a chicken and asked my parents for a replacement then we would’ve still be happy!” Al yelled. He’s been feeling guilty about what happened. He’s always blamed himself for what happened. He was convinced that what happened was a butterfly effect of his decision to chicken out of being a progenitor. But he didn’t know that yelling it out loud would make him feel a bit better.

“It was his choice! He made the choice to become your replacement so stop defending him!” Tyrone yelled but Al thought otherwise.

“I love him, Tyrone, he’s the only family I have left. I can’t lose him,” He whispered because it was the only reason he had left. It was the brotherly love and guilt that he felt that’s why he can’t bring himself to hate nor blame Zynrick for what happened.

“Suit yourself,” Tyrone said and turned around.

Al panicked because Tyrone was the only person he could rely on and now he’s leaving him, “Wait, Tyrone,” He called out and grabbed Tyrone’s arm but Tyrone shook him off.

“Don’t touch me, I can’t be friends with someone who would defend his family’s murderer,” He said which made Al stop.