Chapter 11: Apollyon

"Leo," Alex asked, sitting next to the boy who was sitting on the concrete, leaning against the brick wall behind him, playing a game on his phone.

"Yes?" He asked, his tongue out a little bit as he concentrated on his game.

"Why did you attack Tannis the way you did?" Leo basically jumped onto his feet, his phone clattering to the ground as he looked at Alex like she had grown a second head.

"What're you talking about?" Alex narrowed her red eyes at the boy in front of her, crossing her arms over her chest, which Leo didn't look at it to his credit.

"She flew through the metal gate, a METAL gate. She was also bleeding rather heavily and it looked like her face was hit by a garbage truck that was going eighty on the highway, she looked like a dropped lasagna." Leo looked at her with surprise and amusement.

"That's quite a creative picture you've drawn," He said, causing her eyes narrow even further, getting him to take a step back, his hands in the air as he waved them frantically. "She tried to hit me and my butler, Phineas, beat her up a bit!" He said quickly, his mind going a mile a second.

"And he sent her through a metal gate?" He shrugged, his eyes wide as he feigned innocence.

"He hits the gym every day! Never skips leg-day too," He muttered the last sentence but was stopped from his rambling when Alex grabbed him by the collar of his school shirt and pushed him against the brick wall, her red eyes meeting his hazel-brown ones, his glasses threatening to fall off his face.

"I do not appreciate getting lied to," She whispered angrily. "Tell me the truth!"

"That was the truth," Leo yelled, acting scared. "I don't know what you want me to tell you!" Alex looked into Leo's eyes, searching for any signs of deceit or lies, but found none. She let out a long, tired sigh as she let him go, his feet touching the ground once again.

"I'm sorry, I'm just a bit stressed out." Leo picked his phone up, checking the screen, and saw a 'Game Over' on his screen. He clucked his tongue and slipped the phone into his pocket.

"What about?" He began, cocking his head to the side slightly. "If you don't mind me asking, that is." Alex glanced at the brunet in front of her and the tension in her shoulders lowered slightly, dropping her guard around him.

He looked genuinely concerned, but that could be fake, but for now, she'd give him a chance.

"It's my dad," She started. "He lost his job as of recent, and my mom is busy taking care of my siblings so she can't get a job, I'm the only source of income in the family at the moment, hence why I took the job." Leo's eyes widened at the girl. She seemed so. . .vunerable. It wasn't right.

"Your father needs a job?" Alex nodded before Leo began laughing, getting her to glare at him.

"There's nothing funny about this!" She shouted. Leo stopped suddenly, his eyes wide as he suddenly shook his head.

"No, I'm not laughing at the situation." He poked himself in the chest with his thumb, grinning. "I can give your father a job!"

She looked at him suspiciously. "Are you messing with me? How could you get my dad a job?" Leo rolled his eyes.

"I'm a billionaire, calm down."

"No, you're not." She countered.

"I can pay you a thousand a week, I'm loaded and can give your dad a job."

"But don't you have enough servants?" Leo looked at her weirdly.

"Who said a servant? I'm giving your dad a job at a well-respected company," Alex rolled her eyes again.

"And which one is that?" He chose not to answer as he began walking in the direction to his house, causing Alex to get irritated. "Hello, you gonna answer?"

"Can you take me to your house? I wish to speak to your father." Was all he said, getting Alex to stop walking next to him, her hair shadowing her eyes.

"Why?" She hissed. Leo gave her a look that told her that she was stupid.

"What have we been talking about for the last three minutes? I'm going to offer your father a job," He explained as if it were the most simple thing in the world to him.

"You don't get it," She said, grabbing her wrist. "He won't accept it, he's too proud." Leo let a tense silence reign the air for a few seconds before he pulled his wrist away from her grasp and turned around completely, meeting Alex's eyes, which, to his surprise, had tears welling up in them.

"Alex," He spoke softly, his voice gentle and kind, something Alex has never heard before. "Let me talk to him, I promise things will only turn out good." Alex wiped her eyes with her sleeve and nodded.

"Okay," She whispered in return. Leo nodded as they began walking again.

"I didn't know the Red Reaper cried."

"If that goes out to anybody, I'll kill you and rob you."

Leo grinned. "Who would I tell when you're my only friend?"

Alex paused for a moment, but quickly continued walking, a tiny smile on her face.

"Well you can't screw this up can ya?" She dished out, closing her eyes as she grinned at him, her hands behind her back.

He rolled his eyes. "Apparently not," The mood had shifted from sad and somber to playful and happy, something Leo appreciated greatly. They passed his house and kept walking several more blocks, each block they passed made Leo's eyes narrow further til his eyes were now squinting.

"'I only live a block and a half away,' " He mocked, mimicking Alex, who gave him a small sheepish smile.

"Sorry, I don't wanna trouble you further,"

"My eyes are gonna roll right out of my head because words cannot express how much sarcasm I want to put out," He groaned. His response was a peal of muffled laughter that Alex let out, her hand over her mouth.

They approached a small brick that had three visible windows, two on the right and one on the left, a small patio made of concrete that took one step to reach as the door that was made of dark brown wood in the middle of the house, making it look quite cozy.

There were two cars parked to the side, a small grey truck that had one door on each side, the wheels dirty as well as the rims. The other car was a white minivan, two doors on each side, the back two were obviously the kinds that could slide to the side.

"Well, we're here," Alex said with a sigh. "Here goes nothing," Leo rose an eyebrow but they descended up the tedious one step and opened the door. They stepped into the house and Leo marveled out how simple, yet pretty the interior of the house looked. Alex glanced up at the teen.

"Take off your shoes, please." Leo nodded frantically as quickly took off his shoes, almost tripping as he took off the second shoe, getting Alex to laugh softly.

"Alex, dinner is almost ready," Leo looked a bit alarmed and glanced at his phone, seeing that it was only five o'clock, the usual time he ate dinner was seven, or he skipped it completely. The food did smell good though.

"If I was a cartoon character I think I'd be floating towards the food," He whispered to Alex, who rolled her eyes at his childishness.

"Alex!" He heard a small scream come from a toddler that couldn't be older than Hayden as they latched to her leg. It was a little girl with pigtails, bright purple eyes shining with innocence.

"Hi, Zoe," Alex said, patting her sister on the head affectionately. "How was your day with mommy?" Zoe beamed at her older sister.

"It was great, we even got playdough at the store today! I had to stop Landon from eating it though, it's yucky!" Alex nodded.

"Very yucky indeed," Zoe then noticed the stranger in the room then squealed and ran away.

"Daddy a stranger is in the house!" Leo felt death grip his heart as terror filled his chest.

"Perhaps that was a poor choice of words," Alex said as she walked into the kitchen, greeting her mother.

"Hi, mom. I brought a friend over, he needs to talk to dad." Leo slowly followed Alex into the kitchen and was greeted by a friendly face that was Alex's mom, who wore a checkered red and white apron over a plain red long-sleeved shirt and black pants. She had light purple eyes and dark brown hair that was in a braid that went down to her back.

"Hi, I'm Debra, nice to meet you!" She exclaimed happily as she held out her hand, which Leo took nervously as he gave her a smile.

"I'm Leo, nice to meet you as well," Debra glanced at Alex and shook her head.

"Your father is going to be angry you got a boyfriend without his approval," Alex's and Leo's faces suddenly went white.

"We're not dating, we're only friends ya see!" Leo said nervously, tugging at his collar, sweat crawling down his neck. "I'm too young to be in a relationship, plus she wouldn't be interested in me!"

"We're not dating," Alex protested as she covered her mom's mouth with her hand, a heavy blush on her face. "He's just a friend from school!" She spat. Debra removed her daughter's hand from her mouth and let out a healthy laugh.

"I'm just teasing dear, you take things too seriously." She chided as she set dinner on the table, which was a triple-layered lasagna, the smell that had filled Leo's nose since he had stepped foot inside the house.

"We have a guest?" A man said as he walked into the kitchen, towering over by at the very least eight-inches, causing him to take a step back. He had jet black hair, much like his daughter with bright red eyes that pierced Leo's soul. He was very muscular, almost rivaling Timothy.

"Yes, father," Alex said timidly. "He's here to talk to you,"

"And not stay for dinner?" He yelled as if he had just been stabbed. "That's nonsense! He will eat!" Leo's eyes widened as he shook his head and hands at the same time quickly.

"No no no, I don't want to impose, I can wait while you all eat!" He got out as he stammered a bit. The man shook his head as he stuck out his hand.

"No, I will not leave a boy your age to starve while there is five-star quality food right in front of him!" Debra smiled at her husband, the compliment obviously pleasing her. "My name is Matthew Rivers, nice to meet you!" Ah, so that was Alex's last name!

"Nice to meet you, my name is Leo." He grabbed the older man's hand and shook it, squeezing it with the same pressure he squeezed his, which was enough to make a normal man want to stop. Matthew grinned.

"I like this boy, he has a good handshake!" Leo laughed nervously as Alex narrowed her eyes at him again, but decided to keep quiet.

A little boy, with dark purple eyes like his mother and black hair like his father, walked into the kitchen and made a few signs, getting signs in return.

"Oh, you're either mute or deaf," Leo whispered quietly, getting weird looks from the family excluding Zoe, who did not understand what was happening. Leo then made a few of his own hand signs.

"Hi, my name is Leo," He signed.

"Hi, I'm Dylan," The little boy responded. "Who are you?"

"I'm Alex's friend from school, I've come to talk to your dad." The little boy nodded and got into his respective seat at the dinner table, where the lasagna emitted a small stream of steam.

"I didn't know you knew sign language," Alex stated. Leo shrugged.

"You never asked, nor did it ever come up." Matthew slapped Leo on the shoulder, making the teen grit his teeth as it had felt like he had been shot by an arrow.

"Now I really like him!" He bellowed as he sat at the end of the table. Leo waited for everyone to sit in their seats. When everyone did, a single seat was left that was between Landon and Zoe, who was glancing at him nervously.

He sat down and grabbed a plate that was handed to him by Matthew.

"Well, it looks delicious honey, let's hope we can continue to eat this good," Matthew whispered into his wife's ear, but Leo heard him and frowned.

They ate in relative silence, only a few signs coming up here and there to appease Landon, who was asking about what was in the lasagna.

After they finished, Leo offered to help with the dishes, but Debra insisted he go talk to Matthew while she did them.

Leo sat across from Matthew on the couch, Matthew sitting on a recliner, meeting the boy's brown eyes with his red, staring him down.

"So, what did you need from me, Leo?" Leo took a deep breath, looking at Alex, who nodded before he began.

"I've heard of your troubles," He began but was immediately interrupted.

"Which are none of your concerns, next topic please," Matthew stated without missing a beat.

"And I've come to offer you a job," Leo said, not backing down by the man's intimidating presence.

"Then I'll apply like everyone else, and get interviewed like everyone else, and get called back if I get the job like everyone else. I will not accept any special treatment." Leo sighed, but Alex nodded and he nodded back.

"Sir, I could hear you speaking to your wife at the dinner table, please allow me to give you this job." Matthew rose his eyebrow at Leo, glancing at his daughter before meeting Leo's eyes once again.

"What would this job entail?" Hope! Finally, some progress.

"It would be easy work, and it is good money-wise. You'd be co-managing a rather large factory along with the current manager. It's a lot of paperwork, but not enough to where your hand hurts," He had done the job, it wasn't fun, but not boring either. "It'll keep you on your toes,"

"Where is this factory located? And what is this factory's name?"

"It's downtown in the cleaner part, and it's called Apollyon Industries, the factory itself specializes in making different types of knives, arrows, swords and such."

"So a weapons factory?" He asked, getting Leo to nod.

"Yes, the factory only delivers to the military, which is guaranteed business."

"And who are you to offer me this?"

"The CEO of Apollyon Industries," Leo answered easily, getting surprised looks from both Alex and Matthew. "We specialize in many products, weapons, school products, food, clothing, all types of things, we also donate to charity quite a lot so that is also a noble cause to work with." He explained.

Matthew took a deep and long sigh.

"It sounds too good to be true, but I will have to decline. I will not take any handouts," Alex looked down at the ground, saddened by her father's predictable choice.

"How could you be so selfish?" Leo uttered, trembling with anger. Matthew's eyes widened as Alex looked at the teen with shock in her eyes.

"What did you say?" Matthew growled, standing up, making Leo stand up in response.

"You can't swallow your own pride and take a gift!" Leo said passionately.

"Get out of my house!" Matthew roared, pointing at the door.

"Is your own pride worth your family starving? Or making your daughter work to put food on the table? Perhaps you'll reconsider when you're on the streets!" Leo shouted angrily. "Take the offer, Mr. Rivers, I'm begging you! Saying no to a job that can save your family from hard times is not something that makes a man!"

Matthew looked at the ground as Leo's words struck true, hitting the man so hard that it felt as if a bullet train hit him at full speed. He sighed again.

"I apologize, for my rash actions." He said in a sorry tone. "If the offer is still up, then I'll take it," Leo grinned as he held out his hand.

"Of course it is, you won't regret this, Mr. Rivers, the Apollyon will always be at your aid should you need it!" Matthew took Leo's hand and they shook, Matthew's eyes widening as they did.

"Then its all settled, I'll be leaving now." He glanced at Alex. "My house is only a block and a half away, so I'll walk." Alex deadpanned at the teen but kept silent. He waved to Landon and Zoe, who were hiding behind their father's legs in fright, but they waved back anyways

Leo shut the door behind him and grinned.

"That went well," He spoke aloud to himself as he began walking down the sidewalk to his house.

Matthew looked at Leo's slowly fading form, a small grin on his face, getting Alex to look at him curiously.

"What's with that grin?" She asked. Matthew turned to Alex, the grin still there.

"He out shook me." She rose her eyebrow.

"Come again," Matthew's grin only widened.

"He squeezed my hand far harder than I could his! It was like he could've broken my whole hand with ease!" Alex nodded, an 'O' forming in her mouth as she looked out the window, Leo was now gone from sight.

"Is that so?"