"Carl behind you!!
Carl dodged, and he made a run for his life. The Crokuns had been chasing them for almost an hour now.
Hordes of Crokuns had attacked their base on the fairy planet, and the leader of their base had abandoned them, leaving them to become a feast for the Crokuns.
And everyone wondered why he hated fairies. Filled with deceit and betrayal. Out of ten refugees, only four remain. Powers drained, no food or safety in sight, running for their life.
Carl had healing powers, and he was drained from healing too many people at the same time. His legs couldn't run anymore as they were numb.
"Carl, keep running,' Kalin roared as he noticed Carl falling behind. But Carl had no chance of escaping the clutches of the Crokuns.
He tripped and fell.
Just as the Crokuns were about to pounce and devour him, a strong light beam engulfed the whole valley, as an approaching bomb was about nuke the area.
A piercing sound suddenly rang in their ear. Carl could hear his teammates not far away screaming on top of their voices, adding to the aching sound.
He mentally couldn't handle it anymore as he felt himself slip into the darkness.
......…
"Noone can locate him, Mr. Ashford,' Sally reported calmly. She watched Omen Ashford grit his teeth in frustration.
Right now, they were in the most secure base on the werewolf planet. The zombies haven't arrived yet, but soon they will.
"Just like he wanted. He wants us dead,' Omen's face reddening with pure rage.
"We'll keep searching,' Sally bowed, then turned and left without looking back.
Omen quickly clicked on his communication pad.
"Father, we can't find Bram; he has left us to die.
There was a pause at the other end of the line.
"Pathetic,' A cold voice emerged from the communication pad, the tone was condescending and degrading.
"Just hear yourself acting like a desperate beggar.
Omen trembled with anger. "Father, this is not the time to be disappointed. We need a solution to these strange things crawling out of nowhere.
Omen seethed; none of them has changed. He bet his mother won't pick up his calls.
"Father, we are still your children,' Omen tried to reason with the man. He was in pain right now, and he was afraid of abandonment. "You can't sit there and watch us die like this.
"You all refused the future I prepared for you,' The tone void of empathy sounded like a sharp knife to Omen. "You all swore an oath, years ago, never to ask anything of me. I'm keeping my part of the oath by not disturbing you all with my incessant demand to follow in my footsteps. Except for your brother, you are all a waste of resources. If only I had agreed with your mother to end your lives, I wouldn't be wasting my time like this.
Omen wasn't shocked to hear such a thing coming from a man that he calls father. He was used to it now.
"Father, please,' Omen whispered, crying in desperation.
There was silence for a while at the end of the line. "I will send in a spacecraft within ten minutes, only you and your siblings, no extra. I will feed you to a crokun if you do otherwise.
The line cut immediately. Omen sighed in relief as he held his beating chest. He suddenly felt guilty abandoning these people here. He didn't doubt what his father said he would do to him if any extras bordered the spacecraft.
Sometimes he suspects his father, despite always praising Bram, he indirectly gives one percent of his attention to the rest of them. But that might be his illusion.
Being born into a wealthy military household, he was expected to exceed his parents. His Older brother Zest had a very righteous personality. His parents were disappointed in him. Zest was ready to bring in a beggar he saw on the way into their home. He also decided to join the temple of the gods and serve them all his life.
Their parents then faced him, since their first useless son had removed himself from the family before they could end him themselves. But Omen knew he wasn't any different from Zest. He wanted to be an actor. But he couldn't say it directly to people like his parents, so he ran away from home at age sixteen; at that time, his parents had other children. They didn't bother looking for him; he was forgotten.
He couldn't endure the suffering outside of home anymore, so he came back home. His parents ignored his existence. But he was at least happy to eat and enjoy the things he didn't when he ran away.
He found out he had a younger sister who always looked at him with curious eyes. Then, a brother who was born in a lab. He wasn't surprised since his father is a scientist. His mother was obsessed with Bram. Coming from a military family, their mother was a military general. She taught Bram personally how to fight and defend himself.
But as time went by, their mother had twins. She expressed her disgust when none except Bram was useful to hrr. She pampered Bram but despised the rest.
Omen lived his whole life revolving around Bram, who was more than a psychopath. He was being compared to Bram everywhere he went, and even his friends talked about how Bram excelled in the exams only made for high officials at age eleven.
He was angry and jealous of a small boy who rarely looked his way. Bram never considers any of them as siblings. The boy's interest was always his goal. He watched Bram enter the military when he lost interest in politics. He was there, Bram switched to the scientific station, where he conducted horrible but beneficial experiments.
The Ashford rules have always been absolute and simple. Do not stand in anyone's way and do not let anyone stand in yours. Not even the emperor had the power to say a thing about the Ashford household.
Bram carried weaves as he progressed. Omen felt he was left behind and forgotten. It was only his indifferent sociopath of a father who suddenly noticed him out of the blue. The man had given him a once-over before sending him on a suicidal mission.
He almost died, and that broke the camel's back. He swore an oath never to come back to the Ashford household. This brought joy to his mother and did nothing to affect his father.
"Brother?'
Omen looked up towards the door, a beautiful woman stood elegantly with her arms folded, dressed in a tight, long crimson gown, her ebony black hair cascaded as water falls around her, which complemented her porcelain skin. Worry was evident on her face.
"Did you find Bram?' Amelia softly inquired.
For a moment, Omen could visibly see the resemblance of Bram clash with her face.
He shook his head, a margarine building up slowly.
"No, he seems to have vanished off the radar,' Omen sighed in exhaustion. "I called father insisted.
"What?' Amelia reacted strongly to this. She can't believe Omen would do this to them. After everything they have been through.
"It was the only way, it's no different from calling Bram,' Omen tried to reason, but Amelia was already having a mental breakdown.
"You just can't call that monster to save us,' Amelia yelled in a deranged manner.
Omen watched as she was breaking down, reacting crazily. At this time, he wondered if that's how their parents saw them.
Unstable children?
In his opinion, Bram was more of a monster than their father, who had a softer way of dealing with people. Even if they managed to find Bram, the monster would cut their connection and erase his existence as he had done once before.
With a weak sigh, he made his way towards Amelia, who was still trembling. Biting her fingers as she squatted against a brown cabinet, her lavender pupils darted around without focus. She flinched as Omen's shadow swallowed her being.
'I'm sorry.