Utopia

The young necro halfbreed stared down at the bodies of his new friends. They would be fine, both of them, after they got some sleep, but he still did not like the sight of them laying there so lifelessly. It set him on edge and made him fidgety. Seeming them lying unconscious and motionless gave them the appearance of death, which brought unpleasant memories to the forefront of his mind.

They looked much the same as his parents had that awful night. Stephen slumped over Trina just as his father had been over his mother, his last act had been in attempting to protect her, to give her a few extra moments of life. Both were drenched in Trina's lifeblood. As he was so young that night, much of it was a blur, but that image would forever be burned into his mind.

Without even realizing what he was doing, Alex slid to the ground, an uncontrollable shaking taking over his body. He put his head into his hands, and dug the heels off his palms into his eyes until his vision began to turn red. It was too much.

A gentle hand brushed across his shoulder, trying to comfort him. "Alex," she whispered, her voice simultaneously confused and consoling. "It's okay, honey. They are both fine. Everything is okay." She continued to speak such comments to him, leaning close and whispering into his dark hair. Although she did not know what was upsetting him, she felt the need to be there for him as best as she could.

"Alex?"

He looked up at Willa hesitantly, eyes brimmed with tears he was unwilling to shed. He looked utterly miserable and defeated.

"Oh, Alex!" She could not bear to see him like this. Before she could stop to consider her actions, she threw herself into his arms. "What is wrong?"

It was several long moments of silence before he responded. For a few brief moments Willa was convinced he would not answer, but when he did his voice sounded rough, as if he had not used it years.

"This is too much. Far too much. It is so much like their murder... and once more it is all Raven's fault..." there he faltered as his tears finally fell.

"What murders? What does Raven have to do with any of this? Alex, talk to me." Willa sounded just a bit panicked right now. She clearly did not know what Alex was talking about, and it worried her to see him sounded so hysterical. Something was wrong. Very wrong.

"Them... my parents. Oh, God, Willa. They were murdered. Raven murdered them... right in front of me. How could he do that?" He did not wait for her to respond, but instead continued with his frenzied rant. "I was only eight, Willa. Eight years old! It was a normal night, we were just sitting down around the table. We were celebrating my mother's birthday... my father and I had spent all day preparing our little party for her... everything was so perfect..."

He paused for a moment to catch his breath, he was beginning to sob so hard that breathing was becoming difficult.

"Then suddenly Raven and so many other guardians burst in... they broke down the door. There was so much confusion... my father shoved me to the floor and jumped between me and the angels. He couldn't protect us against so many, though... in a matter of minutes he died... and then my mother... I was so sure that I would be next... The angels wanted me dead... the kept referring to me as an abomination... saying that it would be doing the world a favor to kill me. They wanted to kill me, Willa. But Raven wouldn't let them."

Finally, for the first time since he began to speak, Alex dared to meet Willa's eyes. His were wild with emotion and hers were wide in horror. "They wanted to kill me, but Raven wouldn't let them. I wish every day, every damn day, that he would have."

Willa's mouth dropped open. She had never suspected that Alex had had such a traumatic childhood. She knew his life had never been easy, as a half-breed that was pretty much guaranteed, but she had never once imagined the nightmare he had lived through.

"Alex..." She trailed off as the expression on his face abruptly changed. The misery and self pity instantly vanished, and the tears seemed to dry immediately. Alex had a lot of practice controlling his emotions.

"I'm sorry," he muttered as his head once more dropped into his hands. "You didn't need to hear all of that. I am so sorry, Willa, I did not mean to tell you that. I just... I have never told anyone that before."

"Look at me." He slowly looked up, meeting her eyes once more. She grabbed his face with both of her hands. She did not look directly into his eyes, that would be stupid as a Necro's eyes could be deadly, but she did look as closely into them as she dared. "Do not ever apologize for speaking to me."

And then she kissed him.