However, Dominic still looked meager and tired, and his voice sounded softer. It was dry and hoarse. Alexander would have missed it if not for his heightened hearing. He squatted beside the older man again and inched closer to him. “How’re you feeling?”Dominic shook his head feebly before opening his mouth and choppily muttered, "Don't…let…any…out."Although he was not speaking in complete sentences, Alexander still understood his meaning."Is it very contagious?"The older man nodded but did not answer."Will I be infected?" Alexander wondered if he could escape this calamity. After the last plague almost killed him, he did not think he would face another disaster. Despite this, none of it mattered now.If Galen had gotten infected, Alexander's fear was redundant. He must stay by his son's side to accompany and care for him."Not…sure." The older man took a deep breath before raising his arms with great effort. "Look!"Before he could lift his arm to put it out of the tub, it
Alexander's eyes widened. Something was moving in Dominic’s veins, wriggling as it moved along. It was not a hallucination, as something was squirming in the older man’s veins.The hairs on Alexander’s skin stood at the sight of this despite everything he had been through. "Old man, that’s…"If Dominic had not warned Alexander from touching him before this, he would have rushed forward to hold Dominic's arm."Symbiote!" Dominic slowly uttered the word and took another long breath. Then he glanced at his arm as if nothing was out of place and put it back into the water again. His arm plopped heavily into the water once again, making a splash. This time, Alexander was ready and leaned back."Three hours…later…get Austin…that bastard…help me up!" With that, Dominic fell silent again.Alexander, too, did not speak. He knew the older man must have exhausted all his strength at this moment. Although he seemed to have passed out, it was nothing severe.After taking a deep breath, Alexan
All of Austin’s initial attempts had failed, but he immediately succeeded when Mike gave him a plan. Then Mike made no more appearances after that.‘Why would he help if he didn’t have ulterior motives? Would he be so kind as to help Austin without hoping for anything in return?’ Alexander could not believe it.After pondering momentarily, he blurted, “Mike?”Austin was stunned. “You know him too?”A moment later, he added, “It was him! He was the one who saved me! He told me how to escape the place and what I should do along the way. I shouldn’t have trusted him! If I knew this would happen, I’d be better off in there!”Alexander felt conflicted upon hearing Austin’s words as he could not determine if Austin was telling the truth.‘Did Mike really do this on purpose? Based on my understanding of Mike, he would think otherwise. However, his son is captive now, and he did not mention doing anything for Nick. Mike might’ve done that under the organization’s immense pressure or thre
Galen was in stable condition. His fever had subdued, and there was nothing much different about the little boy.Alexander did not bring up the matter of the symbiote with Austin as he was still puzzled about it too. Moreover, Dominic might bring it up once he regained consciousness later, so Alexander was in no rush.He carried Galen back into the room and placed him on the bed. Then he removed Galen’s clothes before wrapping him up in a blanket. He lifted Galen’s sleeve subtly to check on his arms carefully. Then he also checked on Galen’s chest, back, and private parts. Finally, he breathed a sigh of relief.Fortunately, he saw nothing like what Dominic had on his arm anywhere on Galen. He hoped Dominic was a special case and that nothing would happen to Galen. Even so, Alexander still felt uncomfortable about it.Recently, he only had little time to spend with Galen. He had placed Galen here under Dominic’s care for his safety, but he did not expect accidents to happen here too
“I do!” Mike tightened his grip on his phone and tried hard to control his emotions.“My men found Nick’s last known location. He’s in Yudonia.”That surprised Mike. “Yudonia?” A moment of hesitation later, he denied that possibility quickly. “That’s impossible! My men have searched all over the world, including Yudonia. I have a lot of connections there too, and none of them had ever seen Nicky there.“If he were there, I would’ve known it instantly. Your news is wrong!”Mike was disappointed. He thought he could finally find his son this time, but he immediately knew Alexander had received false news.Then again, if it were that easy, Mike would have found Nick by now. He would not have to wait for so long.“Are you sure?” Alexander loosened his tie, helping himself to breathe better. He stared into the distance; the cloudy sky appeared endless to his eyes.Since Dominic’s manor was in the suburbs and on a vast land, Alexander could practically see everything from the balcony.
Since Alexander did not respond immediately, the gears in Mike’s head started to turn. “Alex, I’m guessing it’s the medicine the organization used in Austin.”Alexander regained his senses at the sound of a crucial point. “What medicine?”“The virus,” Mike sucked in a deep breath and corrected himself, his voice low, “The organization created many versions of the virus, which I’m sure you’re aware of. There are too many types, and I don’t know their specific purposes.“When Austin was here, they injected the medication, which is the virus, into his body. His body was inflating at a crazy rate. His muscles were so overgrown that I thought he would explode soon.”Alexander nodded as he listened to Mike speak. He knew all that, but all those were just things on the surface.“He managed to get through it in the end, though. Later, I wanted to help him because he was an innocent person who was forcefully involved in this. I found a chance when we were moving to another place, so I let
“Are we going home already?” Galen asked.Alexander shook his head. “No, not yet. I’ll stay here with you.”Galen said nothing else and pursued his lips. As a child, his emotions were written clearly in his gaze.Seeing Galen troubled, especially when he was still young, hurt Alexander. He tucked Galen under the blanket and asked, “What’s wrong?”“Grandpa is sick.” Galen looked like he was about to cry.Although Galen constantly bickered with Dominic, making the older man go crazy sometimes, the two had a close relationship. Dominic adored Galen very much, and Galen had treated Dominic as his family already.Alexander was moved and said softly, “Yeah.”“Is he going to die?” Galen asked again, his voice trembling.Galen seemed to have been waiting to ask this question for a long time. It was just that he was too young and did not know how to bring the matter up. He was also afraid of the topic.Alexander did not answer right away. Instead, he briefly thought before asking, “Do
Alexander was relieved when he noticed Galen had stopped crying. He touched his son’s forehead and found it no longer hot. Then he got up and retook Galen’s temperature before asking, “Do you feel uncomfortable anywhere?”Galen shook his head lightly and said softly, "I'm a little hungry.""I'll get you something to eat." Alexander laughed. It was music to his ears that Galen felt hungry. After all, being hungry and having an appetite would help to replenish his energy.After waiting a few minutes, Alexander saw that the temperature on the thermometer was normal. It seemed like Galen was stable for now. "Lie here while I get you something to eat. You can't get out of bed and run around, okay?"Galen nodded obediently. "Can I visit Grandpa?"Alexander wagged his index at Galen and said, "No, Grandpa is sick and needs to rest. You can see him when he feels better, okay?"With the older man's situation still unknown, it was unclear how contagious the disease was. It was better to m