Chapter 45

REID:
“One of a kind?” Venice asks soon as we both leave my room. “What does that even mean?”
“He’s gifted. A being with fore insight about things we cannot decipher. More or less a soothsayer,” I tell her, almost reluctantly. No lies, I do not really feel like talking about anything else because I know how much I had sacrificed in my time but giving her the details she needed minutes ago. And knowing Venice, she is never satisfied until she has clarified all that she wants to.
“If dad keeps warning you not to consult him, then that should mean the Elder might not be the real deal that you think he is, isn’t that right?”
“Real deal or not, I think he might have a profound solution. And since that is the case, I will be going with what he suggested. At least it wouldn’t hurt giving it a try.”
“At the expense of bowing at the feet of the Green Dales?”
A sigh, and I stop walking. Slowly I turn around to look at her, giving her the frustrated look because clearly I am getting frustrated with her and her questions.
“Are you going to be like father now?” I ask, my tone a little icy whilst directed at her. “Nobody’s bowing at the feet of anyone else. And you know that I would never do such. I have a dignity to protect. Why don’t you guys just trust my judgment instead of making assumptions that would not even encourage me to take a step further in what I want to do?”
I shake my head after that and the next thing is that I am off from her presence as I make my journey off to where I intend to go. At least I didn’t need her to follow me in the first place.
Soon I was out of the main quarters with my destination already close to the quarters of my beta which was not too far off. He had decided to move close to me because he felt it would be faster for him should in case there were matters that needed urgencies.
About two minutes later, I arrived in the quarters which has two warriors guarding the front. I had specifically placed them there because who knows what would happen should. Hunter could still go berserk and it would be their duty to handle him before I get here.
I make my way into the building after a brief nod has been exchanged with them. The living area is empty of any being except for the furniture used in it. The interior was a blend of gray and black which I would say I find odd ever since the first day I stepped my foot in here. Let us just say my beta’s taste was nothing to write home about.
Soon I was right in front of the room that we put him in. His room, specifically. And just like the entrance, there were two other warriors stationed in front of the room. The difference is that I had to place two senior warriors here because they would be better at holding him down than the junior ones if it comes to that.
“Has he made any attempt to free himself?” I ask them.
The one by the right responds, “Not at all.”
“Good,” I say and then push the door open which gets me straight into the room to see Hunter still chained down to the bed.
He looked frustratingly calm in his position because we had loosened the chains for him a little so he would get the chance to sit up. His eyes seem bland as he stares at me while I make my way to the chair by the side to take a seat.
“How are you feeling?” is the first question I ask him because I still need to know if he was not going through the phase of getting wild again. Trust me, I cannot afford to hold him down again.
He lets out a frustrating sigh as he raises his head to face the ceiling. “I feel like I needed a damn bath. I stink, man!” he says.
“You sure do need one,” I tell him. “But how are you really feeling? Tell me, so I can know if we are any close to releasing you from the chains.”
“I can’t say, for real. I don’t really know how I feel. I know I should feel good at least but somehow I feel like I have hell stored in me if you know what I mean,”
That seemed exaggerated but it was definitely enough to give me an idea of what he is going through. “You sure it’s not the silver making you feel that way? Don’t forget silver works in a funny way after it’s been used for a long period on an individual,”
“Who knows? Look, can you get me out of it pretty soon? I cannot cope with the burns anymore.”
I nod. “I plan to. But I’m not sure if I want to take the risk yet. No one is certain about your stability at the moment and I do not have it in me to even try to put you down should in case you let loose again,”
He bows his head in visible disappointment. I cannot help but feel for him because I am sure he is worried about his well-being just like I am. I do want to set him free already because it has been a full day since the incident but I have doubts. Strong doubts which are hindering me from even making a move.
“So what do we do now? Am I going to be chained down forever?” he asks, staring at me with eyes that tell how bad he feels about himself.
“No,” I disagree. “We need to find out what is going on with you first and maybe after that we can ascertain that what happened to you was a one-time thing.”
“How do you plan on doing that?”
“The laboratorians are working on something. We already found out from them and the others that have come in contact with the substance like you and I and it is believed that none of them has gone through the phase you did go through. The laboratorians believe it is your fault, though.”
He suddenly looks confused. “How is it my fault that I start having random visions that I have no explanation for?”
I adjust my sitting position first, ready to have an intense talk with him. “Tell me the truth, Hunter,” I start with that, “How worried have you been since the advent of the crisis?”
His face seems to tweak as soon as the question makes its way to his ears. First, he looks away from me and when he looks back, he looks like he is about to say everything he has on his mind due to the switch in expression.
“It has been bad, Reid,” he tells me, the worry in him heard in his tone.
“How bad?” I demand to know.
“So bad that I fear I could be the next on the list of those who could go missing.”
I think Hunter has been harboring too much in his mind for him to have such a thought. Even I who have been the mastermind in trying to handle the whole crisis have not had a reason to have such thought get into my head.
“I thought you had you had everything under control,” I state. “I thought you have figured out how to handle the pressure that gets to you. So what happened?”
He sighs again. And soon after starts to speak, “I thought I did too. But it is obvious now that the pressure easily got to me. I just became beta and since I did, I have not had the chance to go through pressure as much as this. Just when I thought I had things figured out, my mind reaches a point of breakdown. So much that everything little thing around feels like it is beyond my capability. I’m sorry that I could not be competent enough when you need me,”
I stand up from the chair and head to the window just to clear my head off a few things that have to do with his explanation about everything.
Truly, he is going through a lot. And so am I. That is why each time I cannot handle the burden of shouldering the pack’s responsibilities alone, I get in touch with both him and Ryu so we could rub minds together. He just didn’t know that he could let me in on things that were bothering him.
“Hunter,” I call his name as I stare out the window into the street which seems to be void of any being, “when I chose you as my beta, I did so because I saw that you were the only one capable of being my right-hand man. So don’t think you have failed in being competent because trust me, you have not,” I then look at him. “If you care to know, you have been handling this whole issue better than me. It’s me who hasn’t been competent enough.”