Chapter 62: Secrets Unveiling 2
Alex stood by the broken earth, silent.
His breath was slowing. The power inside him had settled, but it still lingered at the edges, like smoke that refused to clear.
A twig snapped behind him.
He turned sharply, eyes scanning.
A man stood there. Civilian clothes. Mid-forties. Nervous hands. He hadn’t made a sound until now, probably frozen in fear. He must’ve been nearby, maybe camping, maybe just passing through. Wrong place, wrong time.
Alex didn’t speak.
The man took a step back, eyes wide. He had seen everything.
"I didn’t mean to watch," he said quickly, hands raised. "I was just— I saw you— You brought things out of the ground. You—"
Alex held up a hand, not to threaten, but to stop him from saying more.
"Who do you work for?" Alex asked.
The man shook his head. "No one. I swear."
Alex didn’t believe him.
The man turned and ran.
Alex moved.
He caught him easily, knocked him to the ground. Held him there, just long enough to check his pockets. No ID. No weapons. Nothing.
Still, the risk was too high.
He needed to disappear, and this man had seen too much.
Alex looked into his eyes for a long time before he placed a hand over the man’s chest. The necromancy answered immediately. The body stiffened. The energy drained, quiet and unseen, like breath in the cold.
When it was over, the man didn’t move again.
Alex stood, wiping his palm on his coat. He turned to leave.
"Captain."
He froze.
The voice came from behind him, too familiar to ignore.
He turned slowly.
Ace stood a few feet away. Zia was just behind him. Both of them staring. Neither said anything right away.
Then Ace spoke again, softer this time.
"We saw what you did."
"You killed an innocent man," Zia said, her voice low, barely above a whisper.
"He had seen a lot, I needed to keep him shut," Alex replied, his voice void of any regret or remorse.
"By killing him?" Zia asked, unsure if truly is was the same person they know, the same captain they looked up to.
Alex tilted his head. "What should I have done?" He asked them. "Let him go and expose my secret? I can’t do that."
"Y-you have changed captain," Ace whispered with a shaky voice. "You not only use a demonic power but you have just killed an innocent person, this is not what a hero does."
"Ace, let’s go, we can’t continue to stand here," Zia said and dragged Ace as they turned to leave.
"Where do you think you are going?" Alex suddenly asked them.
They halted.
The voice was still the same but had changed.
Intent— So much intent.
They refused to turn just yet, legs shaking even while trying to stand firm.
"What do you mean captain?" Ace asked. His legs were visibly shaking but he didn’t want to be seen as weak. "We are leaving here of course," he said and made to take another step again.
"Not so fast."
Ace halted once more. Sweats were beginning to gather on his forehead but he didn’t want to show his weakened state.
"Do you think I’ll let the two of you leave after seeing everything?" Alex asked.
Ace and Zia widened their eyes. Shocked.
Zia turned her head slightly, just enough to glance back.
"Captain... no," she said quietly. "You’re not thinking straight."
Alex stepped forward, slow and measured. "I’m thinking clearer than ever."
Ace positioned himself between Alex and Zia instinctively. "We’re not enemies. We’ve followed you into fire. You taught us to question orders when they were wrong. Now you’re the one crossing the line."
Alex didn’t stop moving. "You crossed it the moment you saw what you weren’t meant to."
Zia’s voice cracked. "So what now? You’re going to kill us too?"
Silence.
Then Alex stopped.
His eyes shifted, dark like the power still coiled inside him.
"I don’t want to," he said. "But I will—if you force me to."
Ace raised his hand slowly, not in threat, but surrender. "We won’t tell anyone. We walk away, we never speak of it. That’s what you want, right? To protect your secret?"
Alex looked at him for a long time, unreadable.
Zia’s voice came next, steadier than Ace expected. "Please. Don’t make this a line you can’t return from."
Alex’s jaw tightened.
Something inside him wavered. Just for a second.
He looked at them—their faces. The fear, the betrayal. But also the hope. That maybe something of the man they followed was still there.
He turned away.
"Go," he said.
Neither of them moved at first, unsure.
"Now," Alex said. "Before I change my mind."
Zia grabbed Ace’s wrist. They moved.
Fast. No looking back.
The forest felt colder as they left him behind.
He sighed.
How did things out like this?
Alex never wanted or expected any of this to happen. No one apart from the headquarters knew about his powers — He made sure to hide the affect that he can drain lives out of things and raise the dead. This way, no one saw him as demonic.
But now that both Ace and Zia had seen him use his real power, how will he face them?
What will their reaction be starting from now?
While he was still in thought, his phone rang.
He picked it up and placed it in his ear.
"What’s up, man, where are you?"
Peter.
"Busy," Alex replied.
"Come, let’s have some drink. It’s been a while."
Alex didn’t feel like doing that but then he needed something that’ll help him think straight.
"Hey, are you there?" Peter asked, not receiving any immediate response from Alex.
"Send me your location. I’ll be right there."
Alex hung up and then walked to his bike.
He started the bike, the engine’s hum almost too soft for the noise in his head.
The forest behind him was quiet again. You wouldn’t know anything had happened here. No sign of the man he drained. No sign of Ace or Zia. Just the wind threading between trees, like nothing had changed.
But it had.
He rode without thinking, following the map Peter sent. The roads blurred. The bike moved on autopilot. His mind kept circling one question—What happens now?
Ace and Zia weren’t just teammates. They were the only ones who still looked at him like he was human. Until today.
He pulled up outside the small bar Peter had dropped a pin on. Low-lit, tucked between a gas station and a shut-down bookstore. The kind of place nobody asked questions.
Peter was in the corner booth, same as always—back to the wall, half-empty glass in hand. He looked up as Alex walked in.
"Took you long enough," he said.
Alex didn’t reply. Just slid into the seat across from him.
Peter studied his face for a moment. "You used it again."
Alex nodded once.
Peter gave a small sigh, like he’d been expecting it. "Who saw?"
"Zia. Ace."
Peter leaned back, letting that sink in. "Damn."
"They followed me. Saw everything. The drain. The kill."
Peter whistled under his breath. "Guess there’s no more pretending."
"No."
"Do they know you’ve done it before?"
"No. They thought they knew me. But they don’t."
Peter gave him a long look. "And now?"
"They don’t know what to think. But they’re scared. And perhaps hurt."
Peter nodded slowly, turning his glass in his hand. "So what now?"
Alex didn’t answer. He stared at the table, jaw clenched.
"You going to wipe them out too?" Peter asked, not with cruelty—just blunt realism.
"No."
"Then you better have a plan. Because if you leave it hanging, they’ll talk. Maybe not right away, maybe not on purpose. But it’ll come out. And when it does..."
"I know."
Peter motioned for another round, then looked back at Alex. "I told you this would happen. Power like yours doesn’t stay hidden forever."
"I didn’t want to use it," Alex said, voice low.
"But you did."
Alex looked up. "What would you have done?"
Peter didn’t answer right away. Then: "Probably the same. But I don’t pretend I’m better than what I am."
The drinks arrived. They sat in silence for a while, the weight of the day pressing down.
Finally, Peter spoke again.
"They’ll never see you the same again. Doesn’t matter what you say. You crossed a line in their eyes."
Alex finished his drink. "Then maybe it’s time I stopped trying to be the person they thought I was."
Peter raised his glass. "To finally being honest."
Alex didn’t toast back.
He just stared ahead, already thinking of what tomorrow would bring.
-----
"It’s past twelve already," Peter noted, taking a glance at his wrist watch.
"It’s time to return," Alex sighed.
"Uh huh."
Alex rose, followed by Peter.
"We’ll talk tomorrow then," Peter said and left first.
After he was gone, Alex climbed into his bike and drove off immediately.
Two hours later, he arrived at the apartment and after packing his bike, he went in.
But as he walked into the apartment, the place felt oddly quiet.
He furrowed.
Why was it so quiet?
He went to their rooms — Ace’s and Zia’s.
No one. Not even their property remained.
He rubbed his nose as he returned to the sitting room.
As he glanced around, he noticed a paper on the table there. He walked over to it and picked it up.
"We are sorry captain but we can no longer stay with you — Live in the same house as you.
Secondly, we are sorry but we can not pretend like we didn’t see what you did. By the time you will be seeing this message, we are probably on our way to the headquarters."
Ace and Zia.
