Pet: Genesis - Chapter 46 (Patreon)

Iris 

No… No.

My consciousness is peaking into the dark abyss that I’ve grown comfortable in. I can feel my worries, my stresses, and the worst of my emotions clouding the dreamless slumber that was so mercifully bestowed upon me.

Memories bathe the inside of my skull as I come alive. The betrayal, the lies, the death, and destruction… all of it permeates my inner thoughts and I seem to have no reprieve from it. My body shivers as I try and fight the consciousness. I don’t want it. I don’t want to be pulled back into the reality of my world.

“Open your eyes, Iris.”

That voice. I know that voice. My instinctual mind is screaming at me to avoid it, but a baser part of me leans into it. I want to follow it out of here. It offers me… ease. My senses slowly come alive but I try my best to prevent it. Even when a small breeze caresses my skin, pulling me towards it. I don’t want to wake up.

Bitter agony sweeps over me until I feel the slow drip of a tear roll down my cheek followed by the warm press of a thumb, wiping it away. My eyes fly open from the contact and I’m met with a vivid pair of purple eyes. I try and suck in a breath, but pieces of my body are still paralyzed.

“Breathe,” Remus commands. He inhales coaching me through the process as I finally come down from my panic. The sound of waves fills my senses and I immediately look around, recognizing where we are. We’re on the beach. It’s the same beach I was brought to after the resistance attacked and almost killed me. Where Remus consoled me about my brother and professed his feelings for me; that he would never let humans have me.

We’re sitting in the living room, the floor to ceiling window open to reveal the soft shoreline. I take note that my body has been fully healed. There isn’t even an ache or sore from my injuries. Remus seems to have healed me during my time under the inhibitor. My gaze shifts to the waves that touch the sand lightly before dipping back into the ocean letting it calm me before I find the courage to look Remus in the eye. Discomfort coils deep in my gut as I take him in. He’s wearing light clothing that matches the climate, his white hair pulled high away from his face. His face is as perfect as I remember, not a blemish in sight on his smooth skin. Not even a bruise from battle. He’s very much alive and in front of me eyeing me with a strange expression.

“You scared me for a moment. I thought you weren’t going to come back to me,” he says softly. I don’t know if he’s referring to the inhibitor or my escape into the resistance. I can’t even tell if he’s angry. He’s terrifyingly emotionless as he looks at me. I know he should be filled with rage from my blatant betrayal and everything I’ve done, but he doesn’t seem to be displaying it as he looks down at me.

“Does the reality of the world terrify you that much? That you would hide behind an inhibitor you once loathed?” he says as his thumb runs over my cheek comfortingly. More tears form in my eyes spilling over as he watches me.

“You were dead,” I say. He stops the comforting motion, pulling his hand away from my face as he considers how to explain his miraculous survival to me.

“I was never dead. But I did realize something when you fired that weapon. You weren’t going to take my words into consideration about the freedom you seek and the people you tried to save. I needed to let you see it for yourself.”

“I assume you saw more than you needed for you to want an inhibitor.”

I look away unable to face him. Jude’s death still weighs heavily on me. I don’t know the condition of my brother and after he let Iriel take me away, I don’t care. The humans that were hiding away in that cave planned to let us all die on the outside and attempt to take the planet once the population had been thinned. Jude and I risked everything on the outside on multiple occasions, enduring hell so that the world could be free. And the people we risked it for never meant to bother. They used us. We were only disposable rats for them. Even my rescue was to protect themselves should their plans go south. The bitter reality is that human nature is vicious. And Remus let me have a front row seat to it.

“How did you survive the weapon?” I whisper trying to change the subject.

“I already told you, Iris. There is nothing on this planet that can kill me. Was it worth it? Your betrayal, your fight, your sacrifices? Were they all worth it?” he asks. I look at him now that his tone has shifted. There is anger in his eyes as he studies me and I suddenly realize what he means by my betrayal. He isn’t speaking of my attempt to kill him.

He’s speaking of Jude.

“How do you-”

“Do you remember that day in the mountains? When you tried to end your life?” he asks. His voice is strangely gentle as he speaks. I slowly nod my head, the events of that day playing back as if on cue. It was raining… he lost control and bit me.

“I didn’t just lose control with you.” He reaches up pulling the collar of his shirt aside to reveal the pulsating symbol on his chest. My eyes widen as I take it in suddenly remembering the events right before he showed up, including a similar marking showing up on my skin.

“We are bonded.”

I blink in confusion, the room suddenly feeling less comforting as he watches me.

“What does that mean?” I ask in a shaky whisper.

“When I bit you, I bonded you to me. Not only did I give you my essence, but I put in your bloodstream. You now share my life.”

I suddenly feel lightheaded as millions of questions hit me.

“When you first awoke in the resistance, did you feel sick? Uneasy? Emotions that did not make sense to you?” he asks. I slowly nod my head unable to form a response.

“Initially, I embedded your marking and blocked off our existence from one another. I planned to tell you about it once you were better adjusted being by my side. But with the attack and the weapon I was weakened and not in control of the bond, hence my emotions seeping into your mind.”

Remus continues to explain but I find myself slowly losing my grip on reality as he speaks.

“You… were in my head the whole time?” I ask. Remus laughs shaking his head.

“Not in the way you think. I cannot roam in your mind and sift through your memories and thoughts. I can, however, feel what you feel. Including your misplaced lust for another. For you, the bond is a one-sided pact. Since you are human you only receive the benefits of it-”

“Is that how you knew where the resistance was? Because of the bond?” I ask. Remus nods, once again gauging my reaction. I’m partially grateful he doesn’t just use the bond to invade my emotional space. He seems content to figure me out on his own. Suddenly, Ezra’s reaction to my presence comes to mind.

“Is that why Ezra was confused about my presence?” I ask in horror.

Remus once again nods his head.

“You carry my essence within you now.”

I shake my head in disbelief. He bonded to me? I’ve never even heard a term used in such a way and Remus did it to me. Panic begins to settle in at what this entails exactly. He said I share his life, does that mean

“Why would you do this to me… you hate me!” I shout. Remus lets out a heavy breath.

“It was a mistake. But I do not regret that it happened.”

Through my haze of panic, I feel a small sense of amusement at Remus’s words. Remus doesn’t make mistakes. From the moment I met him he has been a very calculated being pushing his emotions aside. But he made a mistake. He finally made a mistake at my expense. I feel his fingers gripping my chin as he forces my gaze to meet his.

“And I do not hate you, Iris. I’ve lived for many years. I understand your reactions, your emotions, and your need to protect all that you’ve ever known. What you never understood was that from the very beginning, you never stood a chance. There was never a point in this war when I felt humanity would take this planet back. There was never a time when I doubted my plan. I allowed them their will to fight and never unleashed my full power on this world because… well that would just be cruel.”

I shake my head pushing his hands away.

“Why aren’t you punishing me? I betrayed you, I killed your people, I fought you. I told them about the main port, I told them about the weapons. All of your problems came from me, why won’t you just kill me and rid yourself of me?” I ask in desperation. Remus eyes me in pity.

“After everything I’ve told you is it not obvious?” Remus studies me with a strange expression, his eyes roaming over my face as he comes to terms with my lack of understanding. A small chuckle escapes his lips and he shakes his head before finally responding.

“I don’t want to. I like you, Iris. Even if you are hellbent on advocating for your planet. And after this escapade, I will acknowledge that you are a very real threat for your planet.” Before I can respond Remus is up, signifying an end to the conversation.

“For now, you have a choice to make. I must admit I am very curious to know how your time among them has affected you,” Remus says as he steps towards the open glass looking out at the ocean.

“You can remain here on Earth and I will grant your desire to live under the darkness of an inhibitor… or, you can come with me to Leviathar of your own free will.”

Remus turns to face me, crossing his arms over his chest. A curious expression fills his features as he watches me.

“You’ll let me go, just like that?” I ask. He nods.

“As I said before, you are a very worthy adversary.”

“But what about… being bonded?” I ask. Remus raises a brow, angling his head to study me.

“That’s my concern if you decide to stay, is it not?”

I take hesitant steps towards the railing, looking out over the ocean as my mind tries to process what this could mean.

“And humanity… you still won’t let them go?” I ask. Remus releases a breath turning to face the ocean alongside me.

“I will no longer argue with you over their fate.”

Remus gently places his hand in mine pulling me to face him. I find myself drawn into his gaze as he searches mine. This was his plan all along. He allowed my escape so that I could see the cruelty of humanity up close. So that they could break me in the way that he couldn’t. My own brother turned on me and used me for bait. Jude was killed trying to protect me. Everything I had to live for turned out to be wrong. Remus told me this the entire time we were together but now he no longer has to tell me.

Even Sky’s words ring in my head.

“The world I grew up in was hell long before the Leviathan showed up.”

She was right. I was naive. There was never any right or wrong to fight for… Just the lesser of two evils. Remus gently grips my face between his palms, his expression holding me steady.

“Choose Iris. Me or them?”