SOMA:
The feeling that comes with the curiosity is really overwhelming. I should turn back but now that I have come this far, there is no way I can do that. But something is telling me that I am going to regret what I am doing. And I am sure I will.
Although the supposed savior of mine is fast, it isn’t something I cannot keep up with. If care isn’t taken, and if I do not get hindrances on the way, then I’m certain of catching up with him.
All the way I am still trying to make out his features. I’m trying my best to link him with anyone that I know but the structure is covered by the extra-large clothing on him. Worst of all he is masking his scent which is not giving out anything for me to say I know him. Could be a woman for all I know.
Something suddenly comes in between me and him that has me stopping immediately. It is one of those masked men. Obviously a Black Lotus member with his sword directed at me to tell me that he is about to go in for a fight.
I do not even reflect on it as I go on in for the attack. He is coming at me as well so when I get to him, I stun him by going down on my knees as I slide through his side. And with my sword by my side, I cut through him from his stomach.
That was a lethal attack and I know that so I do not bother to check if he is dead as I continue to run on to catch up with the unknown savior. At this point, I am starting to think he is part of the Black Lotus. I’m sure I will find out soon enough if he is or not.
He was far ahead now, almost making me give up on the task of possibly catching up with him. That is until I see a long barricade ahead that surpasses the human height. Would take a lot of force for someone to jump over it and that would give me the advantage to catch him because of how much force comes with my jump.
Well, he surprises when he arrives in front of the barricade. He doesn't attempt to jump at all and instead stands to look up at it.
I eventually cover the distance between the two of us. But I am skeptical when I arrive there because it makes me think I have fallen into a trap. Especially when I see a part of a building with a door leading into it.
I try to stay calm. Being paranoid wouldn’t help me in this situation. It might not be a trap. I don’t think I have fallen into one.
As I still keep on looking around, he suddenly turns around. Although he does it slowly until I catch sight of him. But there is nothing to tell who he is. Because despite the hood on his head, he has something like a nose mask over his face, which makes only his eyes possible of seeing.
I start to feel nervous because as the eyes bore into me, I know that I have seen that pair somewhere. It is a pair that belongs to someone I know. Someone I'm very well familiar with. And I get my answer when he puts his hand over his face to take the hood off.
The hair. I know who this is. I know who I am standing right in front of. And it is no fluke that I am shocked beyond comprehensive about who I am seeing. I can’t believe it. I definitely can’t.
“Mark?” I force the name out of my mouth because I still do not want to believe that my best friend is here. I do not want to believe that my best friend is part of the group that took Luis. I don’t want to believe my best friend actually betrayed me.
He nods and then takes the nose mask off his face. And his face is entirely revealed, bringing me more shock than I have ever experienced in my entire existence. Didn’t shock me as much as the time I thought I had a teenage crush on my then trainer.
“It’s me, Soma,” he says, a little bit of hurt attached to his tone. But what the fuck is he hurt about?
“Can you tell me what you are doing here? Or has it been you from the scratch?”
I still feel so much hurt from saying that. I don’t want to believe that Mark has anything to do with this. I have a hope that he is not with this and I hope that I do not get disappointed when he speaks.
“I have nothing to do with this—”
“Then what in the world are you doing here?” I yell at him, feeling the urge to let out tears from my eyes. I do not want to bawl in front of me. A betrayer does not deserve to see my tears. “What are you doing here if you have nothing to do with this? Are you part of them?”
“I’m here to redeem myself, Soma. I might have made the biggest mistake of my life and that is why I am here.”
“You want to redeem yourself? From what, Mark? What is there to redeem yourself from? You already said you have nothing to do with this so what do you want redemption from?”
Hesitation floods his expression. I don’t care if he is going to insist that it is not his doing. But the fact that he actually has his presence here means he has something to do with it one way or another. And I sure want to know what it is because I am going to kill him.
“Soma, listen to me,”
“Does it look like I stopped?” I respond harshly to his statement.
“Look, I might have been the reason this whole thing came to be. And before you say anything, just know that I did not betray you. Rather it was jealousy that got the better of me,”
I cannot decipher what is going on. Jealousy? What would Mark be jealous of in me? “You were jealous? Of what exactly?”
“I was jealous of the man that eventually caught your attention! I’ve been trying all these years to make you see that I have something for you but you never looked at me. You keep calling me your best friend but do you know how much I have fallen for you? Do you?”
“How do you expect me to know how you feel, Mark? You never said anything. I could never think of you in that sense because you said it yourself that I keep calling you my best friend. I had to stick to ethics. There was no way around that,”
“But I never wanted to be your best friend!” he snaps. “I never wanted to be your friend in any way. I prayed and hoped every day that you would one day look at me the way I do to you but being unfortunate, the moon goddess gave you a mate that knows nothing about you. Nothing at all. While I was left to suffer in silence,”
The tables turn instantly. I start to feel guilty now because as much as I want to admit that it makes no sense that he actually has feelings for me that I knew nothing about, I cannot deny that he is so much hurt. And it is that part of him that I have never seen before.
“We were never meant to be,” I start to say, looking for a way around this whole scenario. “If we were, then I’m sure the moon goddess would have done something about it. All these years, Mark. All these years and yet I felt no single spark for you. It’s enough to let you know it was never meant to be between us,”
“And you think that wolfless man is the one that is meant for you? You think?”
“I did not decide that for myself. Destiny did. And I cannot change it,”
I watch him as he suddenly grabs his hair in frustration. He has kept it so long in him and letting it out now, he must have thought I would have a change of mind. Evidently, there is no way around any of this and he should have thought through it.
“So that is why you told me that he is not deserving of me, right? That is why you made me feel like I was about to make the wrong decision by ending up with him. I trusted you. I trusted you by confiding in you. And when I needed you, you made a mess out of everything. What kind of a friend are you, Mark?”
“I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I was stupid, I know. I’m really sorry.” he apologizes, getting down on his knees as he bends his head in disappointment. There was no doubt about this that he did mess up real bad.
“I think we’ve had enough of your little fight,”
The strange voice that I hear has me looking to the side to find out where it came from. I see no one around here until I look up to locate the owner.
It is just at the top of the building by the side that the owner of the voice is standing. A masked man like the others but oozing an aura far stronger than anyone I have encountered here. And the mask on his face was different from the others too which would lead me to call him a too dog here.
“Do you know him?” I look at Mark who is still on his knees.
“I don’t,” he says, shaking his head.
I look back at the man above and then say in a loud voice, “Why don’t you come down here and say what you have to say to us,”
A chuckle comes from his direction, and it is so infuriating to hear. “I will,” he announces, “but that is after we spice things up a little,”
And all of a sudden, I feel the pull with Luis ignite. He is somewhere around here and I realize that when the door to the building opens.
“I present to you your lovely mate, Alpha Soma!” the man on the roof declares and at the same time, Luis comes out through the door.
But there is something different about him.