Blood

The room was as dark as midnight in a country cemetery. When Alexander entered, he only heard the sound of his own footsteps on the creaky wooden floor. He wrinkled his nose as he smelled something awful. He paced towards the window and opened it to let some fresh air in as the moon bathed the room in just enough silver light to see a silhouette of a person sitting in a chair.

"Pete?"

Of course it was Pete...and Alexander knew it, but the darkness, like hands of the Grim Reaper pulling the young man away, somehow made the Guardian call his name...again and again. Was that Petra or a mere replica of the boy he once knew?

"Alexander?" he finally replied. The low and sore voice got into his soul reverberating through his celestial body...filled with intensity but no emotion at all.

The Guardian turned around, to stare out into the empty streets rather than face the person Petra had become-a strange, foreign and complicated creature. He tried to ignore the aura emanating from the odd being, but he couldn't, it was like a black hole sucking in all of his light. Alexander felt a cold breeze caressing his face and sensed it came from Petra's mouth.

"I changed the Aesterdis," he admitted.

Petra didn't respond right away.

"And what did you change exactly?" he finally asked.

Alexander clasped his hands tainted with guilt and replied slowly, "That's what I wanted to talk about."

His calm voice was interrupted by Petra's explosive reaction-an outburst of unreasonable rage.

"Then talk! WHAT DID YOU CHANGE?!"

Alexander took a deep breath, still looking out the window.

"I... I don't know."

Petra sat up in his chair, then, looked at the black cloak Alexander was wearing, making him seem more like a shadow melting into the floor.

"Naturally, Alexander" he said quietly, the fire of rage suddenly extinguished. He got up from the uncomfortable chair and adjusted his shirt. "You served me all these years..."

Alexander frowned, not knowing why he would use the word serve, nonetheless he let the boy finish speaking.

"You even made me think that I was going to be in charge of the Icarus Mission...that I was going to be part of The Twelve when Heron fulfilled his cycle there."

Alexander's breathing became shaky-his hands working hard to remain steady in the window frame. For a second, fear turned his stomach upside down and flooded him with the emotional acid of anxiety.

"But I realized something curious, something I didn't expect and it's because deep inside I always knew the truth-you can't trust anyone other than yourself with important responsibilities. So, Aexander, my dear friend and master, from now on I will do everything on my own."

"What are you talking about?" Alexander probed as he turned around. Before he could finish what he had to say, Petra had turned the light on. What he saw curdled his blood. Every surface was covered in photographs, notes, and mounted dissected butterflies. Alexander's heart froze.

He focused on one of the walls painted in white, black, and blue acrylics. It was Cassie, an odd version of his brother's apprentice. Darker, her soulless sapphire eyes watched his every move...just like Petra.

"Do you like it?" the boy asked without giving Alexander a chance to reply he added, "I love it."

Alexander shook his head and got back to asking him why he was so upset.

"What do you mean you're going to do everything on your own?"

"I don't need you anymore, except from one little thing...but we'll get to that later. My mission won't have anything to do with Icarus anymore."

"Explain yourself?"

"You don't understand, Alexander...you never paid attention. You never cared about us. It's just our job, right? We protect humans. But who's there to protect us? The apprentices and every Guardian who's not part of The Twelve-I don't think so. Who will protect us, then, if you are only interested in Icarus?"

"Look, I hear what you're saying...lately I have been preoccupied with the Icarus Mission but-"

"Alexander, don't say another word. You are no longer part of my plans for myself."

Alexander placed his hands on his temples, trying to massage the stress out of them.

"What plans?"

"The only thing you need to know is that in a few months the new Twelve will raise."

The Guardian looked at him concerned, his brows furrowed and his eyes piercing the boy, who had a smirk of victory mixed with revenge on his ambitious and proud face. Alexander tilted his head and took a step backwards when it came to him what Petra had planned.

"You are going to kill the Twelve," he declared.

"Eleven actually...you have a seat reserved. I would never harm the person who raised me, now would I? After all, I'm not a monster."

That's exactly what you'll become if you go through with this, thought Alexander, wondering how he went so wrong guiding the boy over the years.

"I-"

"Of course... to be part of my new generation of Guardians it will cost you."

Petra laughed as if he'd just delivered the best joke ever, instead of what he actually did which was to lay down the gauntlet of a dark blackmailer's threat. His continued nefarious laugh echoed through the room and sent a chill down Alexander's spine.

"Go ahead, tell me now...what do you want in exchange for my life?" he hissed, knowing something bleak was coming.

"Take away the human part of me and make me a full Guardian. Make me...immortal."

"But it's not your time yet. I can only make you a Guardian when Cassie is no longer assigned to the mission. Her deadline is next week. Can't you wait a few more days?"

The boy glared at him with a stern look of impatience. "Are you really going to insist on following the rules to the letter of the law now after everything you've done to disregard them in the past?"

Petra had a point, but Alexander knew he couldn't afford to break any more rules or there would be serious consequences.

"I can't appoint someone to be a Guardian if don't have Heron's permission, and Heron's agreement was to make you a Guardian next week and not before."

When he saw Petra crossing his arms and raising an eyebrow in defiance, he added, "They'll know something is terribly wrong if I try to make you a Guardian and your plan will be ruined."

"I see..." he nodded, reluctantly understanding his power play had just been thwarted by a reality neither of them could influence. "I need you to vow that you'll make me a Guardian soon, or else I'll tell the Twelve Guardians myself that not only did you changed the Aesterdis...but...that you had a child with a human."

"And just how do you know that?"

"Do you think I'm an idiot?"

Alexander sighed...giving up.

"You have my word."

"You know, Alexander? You used to tell me that everyone had at least a pinch of darkness in their blood," said Petra pulling a knife out of his pocket.

The blade reflected the moon's light into Alexander's eyes, who took a step back, running into the wall and making some dead butterflies fall to the floor.

"And I always thought you said our prime directive was to protect humans from evil...that was until I realized that we aren't much different."

"Different?" Alexander replied as he watched Petra come closer.

"There are two kinds of evil...and if you think people have a hint of darkness in their souls then mine is pitch-black."

Pete took the knife in his hand and slashed Alexander's throat. A mix of blood and golden dust spewed from the cut. Alexander opened his eyes wide in terror and covered his neck with his hands, falling to his knees.

"Take that as a warning or a threat-whichever you like," said Petra while watching Alexander's skin closing around the wound as he healed spontaneously. Petra cleaned the blade with his shirt, leaving a trace of golden blood.

Alexander was beaten and he knew it.

"You'll be made a Guardian very soon... you have my word."