His To Save

42) Sibling grudge

    It had been about four hours since I regained consciousness. Zack had left after his disturbing revelation. He was damn serious about his plan and had asked me to ponder over the decision carefully as who between us would have to lose their memory.
At least he wasn't going to kill me...not right now.
    But it was impossible to see through his plan. He might have seemed like a blabbering psycho, but in truth, he was quite opaque to figure out.

I stared at the worn-out girl in the mirror and she stared back, her eyes dimmed from the exhaustion caused by the whole abduction and mental fatigue. She was holding on to a thin thread of hope that her knight in shining armor would eventually show up.

    'Pf! Night in shining armor? He is a demigod,' my devil voice corrected.

"He'll save me. He always finds a way through all kinds of challenges," I comforted my drained self, tears wetting my cheeks.
I was crying, not due to the abduction, but because my life felt like a shit hole. Just when things seemed to be going right, more trouble popped out of nowhere and slapped my reality brutally. From Pattie's pregnancy to Daisy's painful death, and now Jack's halfbrother(whom he had never mentioned).

    "God, why me? I've tried to live my life as righteous as humanly possible. I'm only a human, how much more can I take?" I whimpered, shutting my throbbing eyes.
  I just wanted to live life without worrying about a thing for once since I took over Black Blood.

              ****3rd POV****

A tall figure in a white suit walked into the darkness of the room. There was no fear on his face nor in his heart. He was aware of the fate that awaited him, yet it didn't bother him.
    As soon as the darkness swallowed him, the door was banged shut and the room suddenly lit up in a terrifying scarlet from the LED lights lined above the walls.
      There was a wooden chair at the center of the room, and a large screen facing it.

Without any invitation, the man walked over and lowered himself. He cleared the curly brown hair out of his vision, removing any obstruction as he waited for his superior to show up on the screen. It didn't take long for the once black screen to light up, revealing a man behind a red devil mask.
           "Zack Hyde..." The man on the screen spoke, his voice had been distorted that it sounded unnaturally deep, a measure to safeguard his identity. "Why are you deviating from your mission?"

  Zack pinched his nose to get rid of the little sting in there before pushing his back comfortably on the seat. "I haven't."

    "I know you kidnapped his girlfriend."

Zack frowned. Which moron had betrayed him? He'd deal with them later, mercilessly.
  "It's all in my pla-"

"You don't get to plan!" The odd voice shouted angrily. "Your job is to follow my orders. You have no permission to alter the original plan."

Zack's nose flared unnoticed, his eyes hardening on the man hiding behind that devil mask. If not for him having rescued Zack when he was dying, Zack would have run five bullets through his head. He reminded him of his biased father. A father who chose to blame him for his mother and unborn sister's death.

    "Do you understand?"

Zack's jaw clenched as he answered through gritted teeth, "Yes, Lord Devil."

***30 YEARS AGO***

A delicate wind blew over the trees surrounding a proud mansion like giants. It swayed their leaves, making them dance gently as if to distract them from their work.
    It lessened the scorching heat being blasted down by the midday sun but wasn't enough to prevent some sunburns on the two boys happily playing in the yard.

Dressed up as their favorite novel characters, Knights of Eastward, they sparred using wooden swords and blocked each other's attacks using wooden shields.
    Jack swayed his sword and Zack ducked. But he attacked again, not giving his brother any time to counter it. The wooden sword struck Zack's left shoulder and his shield dropped.

    "Ha! I win," young Jack celebrated, and lifted his sword in the air like a true knight.

  "You cheated!" Young Zack suddenly yelled, tears glistening in his emerald eyes.

   Jack panted slightly as he faced his younger brother, a smile on his face. "We made the rules. First to be stabbed or cut loses."

   "That was unfair."

Jack bent over to collect Zack's shield like any good big brother, but Zack took the chance to attack him blindly. He groaned descending his sword on Jack's back with all his might, too much force than was necessary for a game.
  
  "Aah!" Jack cried out crumbling on the carpet grass, pain shooting from his spine.
He groaned and writhed there, but Zack watched him through dark eyes, his expression unchanged even though his brother was in such horrible pain.

    He instead threw the sword beside Jack and ran off towards the barns, his curls bouncing vigorously to his fast motion. He smiled as the wind blew against him. Smiled at his evil deeds without feeling a string of guilt.

From the mansion's countless windows, a man in his mid-thirties spectated the whole show. His face contorted in sheer displeasure and his blue eyes hardened with rage. The boy hadn't changed. He still had no warmth towards even his brother.

       "What has the doctor said?" A feminine voice asked as the owner joined the man at the window. Together, they watched their son being tended to by one of the servants.

   "He says he needs time. But I only see Zack growing worse by the day," the man said, a heavy sadness on his face. He sighed out loud, feeling confused about how to handle his younger son and save him from himself.

The beautiful woman took his hand and placed it on her round belly smiling.
   "Maybe having this baby will make him less violent. Zack might be acting out because of his recent revelation of Jack being his half-brother."

    The man shut his eyes, exhaling another sigh. He was about to speak when a sudden sharp movement came from under his hand. His eyes lit up instantly, suddenly forgetting about Zack. He glanced at his smiling wife and smiled himself. "Is that...?"

    "Yes, honey. Our little Angel is kicking," the attractive woman answered. Her smile widened to her husband's joy.
They had been married for over nine years and their love for each other had never faded even once. She had raised Jack as her own before finally giving birth to a son. It had been the most joyous day in their lives, little did they know that he would turn out to be such an insensitive vengeful brat.

   But they still had hope of saving him from himself, as do all parents.

----------------------------

"...it means that a man should uphold his dignity and morals," young Jack said.
   His father chuckled lightly and patted his head lovingly.
  
"You'll be a great man my boy. The future is yours to rule."

Jack grinned and leaned forward on his father's lap to read the book lying on the desk. He bathed in the lamp's golden light, enjoying the warmth of his father. It felt just perfect.
   As he continued reading his father's novel, his eyes caught a face peeping through the crack of the office door. He ignored him and went on impressing his father, not caring what Zack would think or feel. After all, he only knew how to hurt and act hostile toward him since forever.

    He had tried his best to make Zack feel like his real younger brother, but to Zack, Jack wasn't supposed to exist. He wanted all the love and attention of his parents for himself. He hated that Jack got to have their father's attention more than himself.
     And now another sibling was on the way, less love for him.

He unconsciously ran his nails on the door, leaving little scratch marks as he glared at the father-son moment which he wanted as well.