Alpha Belt
Point of Convergence
2014
“I’m only here because Giselle asked me to do it.”
Amy told him bluntly, her scarlet eyes piercing into his. Miles kept his gaze
cool, mouth set into a flat line. “And since
your assignment knows mine.”
“How long can you resist the urge to kill me, Coquelicot?”
the Original asked. Amy sent him an icy look, but Miles’ expression didn’t
falter at all. “I just wanted five minutes of your time. Five minutes. And then
you can go back to watching Giselle. I’m taking nothing else.”
“Five minutes. Five minutes to fuck it up–”
“I didn’t do it.”
Amy stopped, her expression turning from irritated
to shocked. She was so shocked that she couldn’t say anything else. Taking
advantage of her silence, Miles continued.
“That night? That event? None of my doing. If I
could take you back to that night, I’d do it in a heartbeat just to prove my
innocence.” Miles looked away. “I know it’s unbelievable to you. After years of being in pain. I know. I know
that–”
The brunette suddenly staggered back, clutching his
cheek. Wide-eyed, he looked at Amy, whose scarlet eyes were burning with rage.
Her hand was in front of her and she was almost shaking.
“You don’t know anything, Gabriel,” she hissed, but Miles cut her off.
“But I do.” he cringed as he touched the sore area
on his cheek and set his hand down eventually, Amy spotting a reddening mark.
She felt pleased – internally – at the sight. “I know. Living with pain? It
eats you on the inside. It almost reduces you to nothing but an angry shell.” She
sent him daggers but he ignored her and went on, “Same with guilt. It’s been
eating me up. I can’t take lying anymore, Mary!” he yelled, unable to hold
back.
Amy stopped at the usage of that name.
Miles took a deep breath and continued.
“I’m sorry for lying that night. For lying for the
past hundred years and not telling you what really happened, why it happened, who exactly did that. But I had to. If that
same person came to you asking for help, then you would help too. I know you
would,” he said softly.
“…how do you know?”
“Because that person was my best friend.”
Her eyes widened and she covered her mouth, shaking
her head slowly. “You’re lying. You’re lying – he – he’d never,” she stammered,
but Miles merely looked at her with a pained expression, years of covering up a
single, fatal mistake taking its toll on him – on both of them.
“He just wanted you to be safe, Mary. We all did.
But it went the other way around.”
Amy looked away, hiding the expression on her face.
She couldn’t believe what he was telling her. It’s a lie, her logical side reasoned, but deep down, she knew that
this time…
This time, Miles was telling the truth.
“Why you?”
“He was my best mate. He trusted me to cover him up
if he needed – I trusted him, we
trusted him. I knew him. He wouldn’t do anything bad, anything that would
endanger those he loved, but…” Miles struggled to form his words. “But he didn’t
think all of it thoroughly. And I owed him a favor. I couldn’t say no to him.”
It all crashed down on Amy.
That night – the night where she thought she finally
got what she wanted –
It wasn’t of Miles’ doing. It was never of his doing.
Of
course.
Both of them stood there in silence, with the winds
less harsh than they were before. Miles waited for her to speak; briefly
touching his cheek and feeling the soreness go away with a simple touch. Momentarily,
he wondered if this was the right choice. He wondered if telling Amy really was
for the best.
“You should stop being such a fucking martyr,
Gabriel.”
He looked at her. She was still looking away, yes –
but that cold look in her expression was gone and the venom in her voice had
lessened. “Look what it got us into. Into this mess.” Amy looked at him at that point, “So all this time, I was…”
She couldn’t even say it. Miles let a weary smile
come to his face.
“Putting the blame on me. And even getting revenge
on me for it.”
Amy Coquelicot suddenly felt a pang of shame.
“Gabriel–”
“Miles,”
he corrected her. “It’s Miles now. And I don’t need an apology, Mary. It’s
okay. You might just be saying it for the sake of saying it and making me feel
better,” he deadpanned, and she rolled her eyes. “I know you’re sorry. Deep
down. And that’s enough for me.” He gave her a final glance and turned to
leave, but Amy’s voice suddenly cut through the air again.
“Just a question.” He waited. “Why Miles?”
“Same as why we used to call you Mary and why I now call
myself Miles. Some of us want to escape the person we once were.”
…and
some of us want to be miles away from that.
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