Chapter 31: Half Memory, Half Reality
After that, Romeo never saw that cat again.
“Ah—”
A few months later, in the middle of the night, Romeo lay in bed, his eyes tightly shut, but a scream escaped his lips. He suddenly opened his eyes and sat up in bed.
He had had a nightmare. His pajamas were soaked with sweat.
In the days after the sheep’s death, Romeo’s life was not good, and it was all because of Peter! Romeo felt that Peter was targeting him, but he had no proof!
Peter would trip him for no reason, or suddenly push him into the pool. Sometimes he would take a book from the bookshelf, read half of it, and put it back. The next day, when he wanted to take it down to continue reading, he would find that half of the book was burnt.
But what saddened Romeo the most was that when he went to confide in his dad, his dad just said lightly, “Your brother just wants to play with you. Don’t take it to heart.”
Romeo lay in bed, his tears soaking the pillow. Sob, sob, sob, I hate it here, I hate everything here. Even his dad, once tainted by the atmosphere here, had become a stranger.
I can’t stay here anymore! Romeo thought. I have to leave this place!
With that thought, he did just that. He grabbed his alligator toy and ran to the kitchen. He had to find food. This was a lesson he had learned from the movie “Survival on a Barren Planet.”
Until… he passed by the dining room and saw a strange scene.
It was the early morning. Except for the man’s personal servants, everyone else was resting. But now, a figure was standing in the dining room. The lights were not on, only candles were lit.
Romeo heard a faint cry from the figure.
Romeo was both scared and curious. When he went closer and saw everything clearly, he was only scared.
It was Peter. The dim candlelight illuminated his face from below, casting a shadow under his brow bone, making him look like a zombie.
He was holding a cloth in his hand. Romeo’s eyes widened. A furry thing was struggling under the cloth.
A bone-chilling cold swept over Romeo’s entire body. Romeo covered his mouth and involuntarily gagged.
Perhaps hearing someone approach, Peter’s hand trembled, and the furry thing escaped from his hand at an extremely fast speed and ran away.
It was the cat from the farm. The cat had escaped.
Romeo was trembling all over, just like the sheep that had been watching the shovel. Peter turned his head and looked at him gloomily, as if he was angry that he had ruined his plan.
Romeo covered his mouth and ran.
He didn’t know when, but thunder began to rumble in the sky. A crooked, deep purple bolt split the sky, and the crack in the sky quickly dissipated.
That’s not right. Romeo remembered that the past few days were supposed to be mild, clear nights. Thunder and lightning? Impossible, right?
But he couldn’t care about that now. Peter was chasing him from behind like a ghost.
How could a child outrun someone who was almost an adult? Seeing that Peter was about to catch up, Romeo screamed, turned around, bent down, and slid between Peter’s legs.
Then he hit the corner of the table.
Peter: …???
“Ow, that hurts!” Romeo rubbed his head, his eyes red with pain. Sob, sob, sob, I want to cry, I want my dad.
“You despicable little rat,” Peter turned around and said through gritted teeth. “I’m going to kill you.”
Seeing Peter charge over, in a panic, Romeo hastily grabbed a candle from the table. He ignored the pain of the candle wax dripping on his hand and, like a fencer, thrust it at Peter’s arm.
“Ah—”
Peter let out a loud cry, not because the candle had poked him, but because of the flame!
The flame had ignited Peter’s clothes!
The fire spread quickly. The high temperature melted the cotton fabric, merging it with his skin. Peter became a human torch. The heart-wrenching pain was about to separate Peter’s soul from his body!
“It hurts so much! Water, where’s the water?!”
Peter staggered towards Romeo, as if he wanted Romeo to help him get water. Romeo was scared to death. He just felt that Peter was like a devil on fire, coming to take his life. He didn’t hesitate to turn and run. This time, he was much faster than Peter.
Seeing that Peter was about to catch up, Romeo didn’t hesitate. He used all his strength to slam the dining room door shut and turned the key in the lock.
“Ah— Romeo! You little bastard!”
Peter wailed in pain and cursed viciously. But at this moment, Romeo finally breathed a sigh of relief, because he knew that Peter could no longer hurt him.
The flames burned the fabric and wooden furniture, emitting a pungent black smoke and various noises.
The servants finally woke up from their sleep. They looked through the window and saw the dining room filled with sparks and thick smoke.
They gasped in amazement and hurried to get the fire-fighting equipment to prevent the fire from spreading. After all, the farm was next door, and behind the manor was a mountain range. If they didn’t control it, it would be troublesome.
Romeo ran frantically down the corridor. “Fire, fire!” Romeo ran to his dad’s room and knocked hard on the door. “Dad, let’s go together.”
A strange excitement echoed in Romeo’s heart. Let’s go, dad, he thought. Let’s leave this place together, don’t look back, let’s leave this place together and never come back…
His dad finally opened the door. He was dazed and didn’t know what was happening. “Ugh, what’s that smell? It’s so stinky.”
“There’s a fire!” Romeo shouted. “Dad, quick, let’s leave this place together!”
“A fire?!” His dad finally woke up when he heard the word “fire.”
“No, how can I leave alone…” his dad lowered his head and murmured.
“What do you mean, alone?” Romeo didn’t understand. “Dad, it’s me, Romeo. Let’s go together.” His voice was almost pleading.
“No, I can’t leave him behind.”
His dad clenched his fists and pushed Romeo’s shoulder away.
“I have to go find… sir. I can’t leave him behind.”
He didn’t hesitate and ran to the other end of the corridor. That end was filled with thick smoke. Perhaps the noise was too loud, but Romeo still didn’t hear the name of the man his dad had married.
He watched his dad’s back disappear into the thick smoke, like a stone falling into a deep lake. The lake was bottomless, and in an instant, the stone disappeared.
Tears flowed down his face uncontrollably.
Romeo didn’t understand why his dad would do this, why he would abandon him and run to another person. But he was the child his dad had raised with his own hands. Why would his dad leave him and run to an Alpha he had known for less than a year?
Romeo sobbed. He wanted to cry out loud, but the immense sadness was suffocating him. He was also like that stone sinking into the lake. No matter how he struggled, he would eventually sink to the bottom.
“Sob, sob, sob…”
He wiped his tears. He really didn’t know what to do. He felt so confused.
The black smoke grew thicker, but Romeo still couldn’t see his dad’s figure in the smoke. Until a piece of plaster fell from the ceiling above, reminding him that he couldn’t hesitate any longer.
To live or to die, it was just a choice.
“Sob, sob, sob…”
Romeo trembled as he wiped his tears. His dad had already made his choice, so it was time for him to make his.
He turned and ran in the opposite direction from his dad.
There was no thick smoke there. The air wasn’t fresh, but at least it wasn’t suffocating.
He ran out of the house.
From the outside, the fire was more exaggerated than Romeo had imagined. It was like a giant oven, with waves of heat rushing over like a tsunami.
Many servants had already run outside. They held basins of water or empty fire extinguishers, shaking their heads and calling for help.
Soon, a rescue aircraft arrived with tons of fire-extinguishing liquid. With the efforts of the professionals, the fire was finally extinguished.
“Yay!”
Seeing that the fire was out, everyone applauded and cheered.
Only Romeo was squatting on the ground, covering his face and sobbing.
A voice whispered in his ear:
Oh, Romeo, Romeo
Why can’t life always be as you wish?
Qiuyue was surprised. “Could it be that you’re really from the Interstellar Special Police?”
Qiuyue’s attitude seemed to have softened a little. Wen En decided to tell him the truth. “I’m a staff member of the Federal Intelligence Activity Division, F.I.A.D.”
“You’re here for Vulcan?” Qiuyue asked.
“That’s right,” Wen En said.
“Then I’m afraid you’re looking in the wrong direction,” Qiuyue said.
“Do you have any suggestions?” Wen En asked.
Qiuyue said coldly, “No.”
Wen En shrugged. “Then, can you tell me where Romeo is being held?”
“No comment,” Qiuyue said.
“Alright.”
Wen En was speechless. Qiuyue observed Wen En’s expression. Wen En had his eyes lowered, lost in thought.
“Don’t expect me to risk my life without sufficient benefits,” Qiuyue suddenly said.
“Oh?” Wen En said. “Then, what benefits did Peter give you?”
Qiuyue smiled and said, “He pays me a sufficient salary.”
“How much?”
“Enough for me to live a decent life in the lower district,” Qiuyue said vaguely.
Qiuyue continued, “You’re from the main city. You naturally don’t know what kind of life an Omega in the lower district lives.”
“Like him?” Wen En looked at the Omega leaning against the cage on the monitor and said.
“More or less,” Qiuyue twitched the corner of his mouth and said, “The Omegas in the main city have inhibitors, but we don’t have that stuff. We can only prepare food and water when the time is near, and seal the windows and doors with nails and boards to prevent passing Alphas from rushing in and doing something to hurt us.”
“…”
Wen En was silent for a moment, then said, “I’m sorry.”
After thinking for a moment, Wen En added, “The prisons in the main city are equipped with sufficient inhibitors, so you don’t have to worry.”
Qiuyue sneered, “It seems the lower district is really a terrible place. It’s better to be in a prison in the main city than here.”
Wen En did not deny it.
It seemed to be true.
“I have a sister. A few years ago, she left the lower district and went to the main city. We lost contact,” Qiuyue said.
“If you want, I can also bring her to visit you in prison,” Wen En said.
“Really?” Qiuyue finally looked interested.
“Really,” Wen En said.
Looking at Wen En’s sincere eyes, Qiuyue slapped him across the face. Seeing Wen En’s bewildered expression, Qiuyue sneered:
“I was lying to you,” Qiuyue said.
“To tell you the truth, Mr. Special Agent, I don’t have a sister at all. Put away your cheap sympathy.”
Wen En looked at him. “I was just being polite. As for you, don’t mistake politeness for sympathy.”
Qiuyue lowered his head. Wen En felt Qiuyue’s fingers lightly touch his hand, and then a cold, needle-like object was slipped into his hand.
“Say whatever you want,” Qiuyue said emotionlessly. “You can just starve to death here.”
Before leaving, he even deliberately kicked the stone-like bread further away.
Wen En: “…Psycho.”
Can Alphas and Omegas be a little more mentally stable?
