Who Are You?

Arc 1.27 - Alex McGuire

Eric had been frustrated all week. Alex's things had all disappeared and the man himself had only maintained minimal contact with Eric which has been lessening. His mood has been getting worse as the days passed and all those working under him could feel it.

Leo had kept bothering him by showing up every now and then talking about Alex and when he's coming back, about how much he accomplished by making Sherry and Brendon's company suffer. After the Leo had released all those things, Roland Enterprises had immediately cut off all contact with them while blacklisting them. Seeing Roland Enterprises actions, other companies had followed suit and completely pushed the Versal Company down to the ground.

Sherry had disappeared completely, no one could find her at all. Eric had kept her tied up in the forest and had his men do what they wanted with her. Brendon is currently in prison awaiting trial. He had been foolish enough to ask for Eric's help only to be refused. Even if Brendon and Eric were friends before, that ended the moment Brendon helped drug Alex.

Eric finally couldn't get more annoyed. He had tried to sort out all the questions he's been asking himself about Alex. The only conclusion he could come up with is that he actually fell in love with him. But he can't do anything with this realization if Alex himself isn't even here.

So he decided to push all his work for the next 3 months to his dreaded uncle, Vasco.

He made all the preparations. He found out exactly where Alex is living and somehow got himself a duplicate key for Alex's house. Packing his bags he left for Porgeon and finally arrived in front of Alex's house.

"I'm here. What do I do now? Do I just go in? What do I tell Alex? That I like him?..." Eric got out of the luxury car and walked up the stoned front porch, to the two tall oak entrance doors. He rang the doorbell but there was answer even after a few minutes, so he just took out his duplicate key and walked in.

Dropping his bags to the side he called out for Alex or anyone but it seems that no one's home.

Walked around a little, went to the fridge to eat some food. He decided to make some food for when Alex comes back so that they could eat together.

It took some effort and some time, but he finally finished making everything. Looking at his results with satisfaction he brought his bags upstairs and found a bedroom, figuring it belonged to Alex from the messy bed, he put his bags on the ground and took out a new pair of clothes so he could get changed.

Walking into the bathroom, he switched on the light and immediately froze. He couldn't believe what he was seeing. There was blood everywhere. All over the sink, splatters all over the mirror, dripping down from the counter, pools of blood on the floor... there were even some suspicious chunks in the sink. Even the shower area had signs of blood on the glass doors and signs of going down the drain.

Immediately dropping his clothes, he ran downstairs and took out his phone. He called Alex and just stood in place hoping the phone would connect as each beep rang by...until arriving at voicemail. He could hear Alex's voice but it wasn't comforting at all. That amount of blood was abnormal. Who knows what kind of situation Alex could be in right now!?

Putting shoes on in a rush, Eric tried calling Alex again several times...but they never connected.

Eric sat in his car, but he didn't know where to go. He didn't know what kind of business Alex had here or anything of the sort. He was worried and extremely tired but he couldn't rest until he found Alex safe and Alive. Just as he was thinking of this, someone called him. It was one of his people that he had placed here when Alex said he would be coming here.

Eric picked up the phone.

After hearing what the other side had to say, he wordlessly hung up. He just stared at the garage door and let his phone drop out of his hand. Slowly his lip trembled as he opened his mouth to take a deep breath. Only for him to choke out a sob. His breath came out unsteadily and fast, he pursed his lips hard. Tears fell out of his reddened eyes, his hand clenched the steering wheel with a tight grip and whitened knuckles. His face dropped down and his tears kept flowing. He hit the door at his side weakly until he put more strength and hit the door again, harder and harder. He couldn't believe this. It wasn't true!

"NOOOOO!!" His voices cracked out a wail as he let out all of his tears and sobs. He couldn't stop.

Eric suddenly turned on the engine of the car and headed straight to the area of the accident that his subordinate had told him of. He needed to see it for himself.

He finally arrived at the scene and stopped his car at the side. He went under the yellow tape.

"Sir! Hey! Sir! Your not allowed here! Sir! Stay out!"

Eric ignored the voices and walked right up to the burning car flipped upside down. Many officers had held him back from going any further. He struggled and pushed them away-

"How could you just- your not allowed to die!.. why? Why? WHY!! ALEX!!"

The officers realized that he is a grieving man. He must've known the victim. Giving him looks of pity and sorrow, they forcefully held him back from pouncing on the car and dragged him away with some serious effort.

They explained that the incident was a hit and run. The hadn't been able to find the culprit yet but it's under investigation and that they needed Eric to tell them of their relationship and any information he had on the victim.

Eric couldn't hear anything but the sound of the burning car. He couldn't see anything but the burning car. He couldn't feel anything but the heat from the burning car.

The officer could see that the man in front of him wasn't registering anything he had been saying, so he just left him.

Eric had been sitting there, looking at the car, not taking his eyes off of it even once for almost half an hour when an underling of his came and stood one foot behind him.

"Where's his body?" Eric spoke out with a hoarse voice.

"They were able to recover most of the corpse. However...Sir, I don't think it's-"

"Where is Alex's body?" Eric stared straight at this small fry with his piercing bloodshot blue eyes.

"A-At the hospital."

Eric silently got up and walked towards his car, throwing his keys at the underling so he could drive him there.

Eric sat in the backseat and the underling began driving towards the hospital. Eric was expressionless the whole time, but you could see from his clenched fist that his emotions were bubbling.

When Eric walked into the morgue, his eyes immediately found Alex among all the other corpses. He saw how charred, dried up and withered the man on the table is. How much did he have to suffer? Being burned alive is one of the most painful deaths!

Tears again flowed from those eyes... he took the burnt arm with no hand into his own hands delicately and held it close as he cried harder. There was nothing he could do. He regretted not coming earlier. He regretted letting Alex come here. He hated everything. He hated Alex! NO! He could never hate Alex, he hated himself!

"Why did you leave? Why would you leave me? I like you...I like you Alex! So come back! Come back to me! I-I..." Eric cried out all his sorrows and his only desire,

"I need you Alex!"