Here we are again, hopefully until I take this one to the end.
I want to thank my followers for their support, and my haters... please stop wasting your time.
This is a work of fiction: any resemblance with actual entities or individuals is pure coincidence.
This is the first time I give this kind of warning: you may want to skip Alexander's part in this chapter, as his words and behavior could hurt some sensibilities.
Credit and especial thanks to Red_Sky_Reader for her editing and her overall help in creating this chapter, I hope we can keep it going for a long time.
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"He is not one of us, the tests have made it clear".
From the haze between slumber and vigil. Rich heard an unknown man's voice.
"Then the tests must be wrong. I know what I felt coming from him, and you know as well as I do that no normal person could have saved us the way he did. He ripped off the damn seat belt with his bare hands, for God's sake!" The answer came from an equally unknown voice, this one from a woman.
After a sigh, the man answered. "You know as well as I do that humans can achieve that level of strength during extreme situations, it's not the first time." While the woman have been speaking vehemently, the man just sounded tired... and sad?
Muffled steps sounded on the carpet, and the man's voice sounded lower and softer: "I know he made you feel the pull, and I myself wish that the tests were wrong; after all I'm your father and I wish for your happiness over anything else, but if you stay close to him you will only feel pain and despair. Just to be sure, additional tests are being made to make sure he's not another thing. You have to get away from him and hope that the pull will wear off with time."
Richter felt a sudden and inexplicable fear grip at his heart, followed by an equally inexplicable anger. As he was trying to understand his own emotions, Rich heard the family conversation stop when the father suddenly hushed his daughter.
"Don't say anything else, I can hear a change in his breathing and heartbeat, he's waking up". After walking up to his bed, the man spoke to Rich in a soft voice, but with confidence and a certain tone of authority. "Take it easy, boy. For now just try to open your eyes slowly".
Richter opened his eyes slowly as he was commanded, and when his sight cleared up, he found a good looking middle-aged man standing by his bed. His dark black hair had a blueish shine to it, though it was starting to whiten at the temples, and his honey-colored eyes looked at him amiably from behind his black wellington glasses.
Rich tried to raise himself to a sitting position, but the man put a hand on his shoulder pushing him down kindly but firmly.
"You are suffering from malnutrition, and the exercise you did last night didn't help. You've been out for more than eighteen hours due to exhaustion".
The man moved a chair to sit by the bed before going on with a frown on his brow. "Don't take this amiss, my daughter and I are thankful as you can't imagine for saving us, but I hope you understand that precisely because of the state you were in when you found us, I need to know who you are and what were you doing there so late at night. If you are in a tough spot, or you need any kind of help, don't doubt we will do anything we can to help you; we owe you or lives after all, but we need you to tell us the truth".
Rich moved to stare at the ceiling instead of the man, his mind racing to find the right answer. Obviously, he could not tell anything about the incident with the fat pervert in the alley, given that even he couldn't believe he had killed a man ripping his throat with his bare hands. All the while, his gaze was attracted to the blond woman in the corner.
After a few more seconds, Rich decided to go with the bare minimum and come up with something to cover the rest: "I turned eighteen years old a few days ago. When that happened, my foster family kicked me out of their house because the government no longer payed them for having me there. I've been thinking about what I could do since then, though I was almost convinced that my only choice was going to a recruitment office to join the army tomorrow... or today, I guess. Last night I was at the park waiting for the closing hour of the restaurants because an older homeless woman told me that if you're lucky you can get scraps before they throw them into the trash".
A loud bang was heard in the room, and Rich saw that the blond woman had beaten the table by her side. "They are inhuman! How can anyone do that kind of thing to another person and live with a clean conscience?"
She looked genuinely furious, and for some reason that pleased Rich, but he found it strange that her complexion seemed to have gotten pale instead of going red. He discarded it as a visual trick of the dim lighting in the room.
Her father intervened with a conciliatory tone, "Judd, I understand and share your ire, but right now that doesn't take us anywhere".
He moved to look at Rich once more. "Now that I think about it, we haven't even introduced ourselves, right? Please pardon my rudeness. My name is Benton Curwin, and the lovely lady by the door is my daughter Judecca".
"You can call me Judd". She added with a bright smile that made Rich's heart skip a beat.
Rich nodded and answered, "I'm Richter Maynard, both of you can call me Rich".
"Then, if we are going to treat each other by diminutives, you can call me Ben". Added Judecca's father with a warm smile, though it didn't last long as he returned to the main topic. "Rich, as I've told you before, my daughter and I owe you our lives, so you can ask from us anything you need, within reason of course. If you still want to enter the military I'm not going to stop you, but know that I'm a high ranking civil officer, and my daughter is a university teacher. You have other choices".
Richter raised himself to a sitting position, noticing for the first time that he had been bathed and dressed in expensive looking pajamas. This time Benton didn't move to stop him.
Rich thought about the meaning of these words. If what had happened in the alley last night was real, he didn't want to involve the Curwin family. It was the best for all, the logical thing to do, but for some reason he couldn't say the words. No, he knew the reason: it was a feeling that grew stronger inside him by the minute, some kind of compulsion that pulled him to Judecca; a combination of protective and possessive feelings so strong that threatened to break his heart when he thought of parting ways with her.
Rich looked up at the ceiling again, sighed and gave an answer when the feelings won over the prudence. "The army has never really been my first option. I need a place to live and a honest way to pay for it. Beyond that, maybe I'll improve my education one day, when I have settled down and can afford it by my own means".
Benton frowned at that. "Are you sure? As I've already told you, while we are not rich by all means, we still are what is commonly known as a well-off family. For us it wouldn't be a big sacrifice to get you into a university and pay you an education, which would give you a much better starting point when you want to become independent".
The offer took Richter completely by surprise. For a few minutes he could just sit there, mouth agape, while he processed the meaning and the possibilities derived from such a generous offer.
Finally, Rich answered while lifting his head. "It's a tremendously generous offer, but thinking on it, you are offering to spend thousands of dollars on my education. If that wasn't enough, the offer includes economical support during at least four or five years... even if I left my pride aside, it's a favor I couldn't repay in my whole life".
Benton placed a hand on Rich's shoulder and gave him a friendly squeeze. With a smile, he said, "Sorry to repeat myself, but you saved my daughter and me, and that one is also a favor we couldn't repay in our whole lives".He stood from his chair and straightened his jacket before going to the door and ringing a bell. "In any case, you are going to need a few days of rest and good meals to get back to top condition, make use of that time to ponder your options".
Someone knocked the door, followed by a female voice. "Excuse me". The door opened and a brown-haired woman with Asiatic features dressed in black and white entered the room. After placing her hands at her belly, she bowed her head to Benton, and asked, "You called, Sir. What do you need of me?"
"Yurie-san, why don't you help our guest refresh himself? After he has had a shower and gotten comfortable serve him dinner here in the bedroom, he can join us for meals starting tomorrow, when he's more rested." Then he turned to Richter. "If you need anything, don't be shy and ring the bell, Yurie-san will take care of it".
"Certainly". She agreed with a wide, friendly smile. Rich was surprised to notice that she had blue eyes, despite being pretty obvious that she was Japanese.
A few minutes later, Judecca and her father were walking along a corridor when she suddenly asked her father with a smirk on her face. "What was that? You were talking about splitting us apart and now you offer to send him to university?"
Without turning around, Benton answered, "Who said I was going to send him to a university in
this
state? Even if he insists on just getting a job, I'll make sure it's one that takes him away from here".
Benton finally turned around when he noticed that his daughter was no longer following behind his steps. The hurt look in her eyes broke Benton's heart. "Honey, don't look at me that way". He pleaded. " It breaks my heart to make you suffer like this, but I'm doing it for your own good. I've already told you that the tests are negative, a union between you two is impossible".
Her face looked serious and her emotions under control, but when Judecca answered her voice sounded strangled for a second. "Have you made
all