RISE OF ALEXANDER CAGE

There was a voice—faint, urgent, calling his name. Then nothing but darkness.

The hospital ward was dimly lit as the only source of light was the lamp beside the bed. The ward was like any other hospital ward just extravagant.

Xander lay on the bed unconscious and he had bandage wrapped around his left arm and right leg. He was in this position since his minor surgery an hour ago. The night breeze from the open window gently brushed past his skin and he slowly felt his arms and legs, including the pain that follows.

He groaned and squeezed fingers into a weak fist as he tried to feel his body. The muscles on his arm ached so he released the fist and tried moving his legs. His legs felt more heavier than usual so he gave up and tried opening his eyes. It felt like a task to keeping his eyelids from closing but was glad that room was dimly lit as he slowly adjusted to it.

This was strange to him as he had never been in a place like this. The beeping of the heart monitor caught his attention and was confused for a minute as he realized it was connected to him.

He turned his head to inspect the other part of the room. The movement caused him a slight pain that he was willing to endure to ensure his safety.

"Where am I?" he asked no one in particular as he was the only one in the room, his voice was hoarse and it felt hard to speak. He sighted a clock hanging on the wall across from his bed but couldn't make out what it said.

Judging by the sky outside the window it was night as the stars decorated the navy blue sky. Who knew the night sky would be filled with stars after a heavy rain, he thought mindlessly to himself and the memories that led to this moment flooded back to him, tightening his chest, as if he hit a truck of emotions.

Memories—disjointed, hazy—rushed back like a wave slamming into the shore. A road. Headlights. Screams. Rain. Then—nothing.

His chest clenched. He reached for it instinctively, his good hand pressing against his ribs as though that could stop the crushing weight inside.

Tears pricked his eyes before he could stop them. His breath hitched. He didn’t know who he’d lost—but he knew something had been ripped from him.

"How could she do this to me" he whimper and turned on his side, not caring he was straining the IV attached to his hang. It was little pain compared to his bleeding heart. How could his life change in less than 48 hours.

He admitted that his life hadn't been perfect - it was terrible but it was all that he had, and he wanted to cherish it.

He didn't notice he low sobs had turned into a full blown cry and this caught the attention of a man in his late fifties that came to check on him.

"Young master, are you alright" the man asked as he sticked his head through the slightly opened door.

Xander didn't respond because he didn't know the older man was referring to him as young master, meanwhile he was backing the door.

"Xander, are you alright" the older man tried again, this time stepping into the room fully and closing the door behind him. The older man remembered the little kid he watched from afar. Now, standing close, he saw the damage life had inflicted on him.

The sobs coming from Xander stopped as he slowly turned to stranger and clenched his jaw to endure the pain in doing that.

"Sorry, stupid question, you are in pain, don't move I would help you sit up" the older man said sadly to Xander, who made no move to speak as he lay on his back. The liitle kid he knew had a happy lit in his eyes but the man in front of him looked crushed.

The older man approached the bed and pressed a button on the bed repeatedly. The upper half of the bed rose slowly, adjusting Xander into a comfortable sitting position.

The older man took a step back when he was done and stood beside the bed lamp. This gave Xander the opportunity to view his face. He reconsidered him that was the last face he saw before he became unconscious.

"Who are you" Xander struggled to say. The man noticed his discomfort and poured him a glass of water from the jar placed beside the lamp.

Xander collected it with a grateful look. This pleased the older man as he watch him drink it eagerly. He released a sigh as he felt water soothe his throat and down to his body. He regained more control of his body as he felt less suffocated.

"Who are you?" he asked again

"Call me Max, you just underwent a very necessary surgery on your leg" Max said, his voice mixed with concern and professionalism. Xander looked at his bandaged leg and shrugged.

"The doctor stated that you left your leg untreated for two months, why didn't you fix it" Max continue, noticing Xander non chalant behavior.

"It was not important" Xander shrugged and looked away from Max.

"How could you say it was not important!" Max stated as he looked shocked at the young man. "Every part of your body is important, I don't want to imagine what would have happened if I haven't seen you laying unconscious in the alleyway" Max said and cleared his throat as he noticed his emotions is getting in the way.

How could he not feel when he saw a well grown adult beaten to the point of death. No one noticed him and if they did they left him to die in the alleyway.

Death was preferable to Xander's current life. He had this thoughts before but he held on for his wife and daughter. Now there was no reason to live.

"Maybe you should have let me die!" Xander shut back, shocking Max. The older man shuddered at the thought of letting Xander die.

"Daddy" Xander remembered the way his daughter called him anytime she was brought back from the nursery and he felt disgusted with himself. How could he be at peace in death knowing his daughter was still out in the world with nobody to protect her.

Xander balled the sheets in his fist as his eyes got blurred with tears. The vein on the hands that he had used to fend for himself propped out, causing the skin around the needle to swell.

"I want to live, I don't want to die, I have a daughter to protect but so useless and incapable of doing that" Xander said, use his good hand to dry tears but they don't stop as flashes of humiliation and maltreatment he passed through came back to him.

He remembered the look of disgust on their face. He remembered his wife hurtful words as she left him alone every night. He remembered being throw out of the house in the rain. He remembered as five thug beat him up while spewing abuse.

Xander heard the older man smog his sniff and turned to him. Max had removed his glasses to wipe his tears with an handkerchief. Max assumed that Xander had a happy family life, which kept him from informing his boss about finding his son.

"I'm sorry for everything you pass through, I didn't want to tell you until tomorrow but you are no longer poor, you are not a waste of space and it would be an for someone to pity you because your father is the owner of XL conglomerate" Max said and put on his glass. He struggled to Xander's unknown past but it wasn't his to share.

Xander smiled sadly at him.

"Thank you for saying those things, they mean a lot but I don't have a father" Xander said, his voice mixed with gladness and sadness. He never had a father, a mother any family member of his own and had long accepted his fate of being a orphan.

"How could you not have father, even the egg of a python has a father" Max chided

"I don't recall having a father, I'm a orphan" Xander said and Max chuckled lowly.

"You have a father, he had been searching for you since you left the orphanage, let me introduce myself again, I'm Max Welder, personal assistant to Cameron Cage, the chairman of XL conglomerate and also your father" Max said in an outburst and for the first time in a long time Xander felt hope as he saw a light at the end of his tunnel, he was too shock to speak.

"You know who The Cage is right?" Max asked tilting his head to look at the long lost young master.

"I only saw him on TV" Xander responded. The head of the Cage Family was refered to as The Cage and was feared for it.

"Imagine all the power he has, I don't think you need to lift a finger to do anything in this lifetime again but what would do with all that much power?" Max inquired suggestively.

Xander gaze drifted to the floor and he caught sight of the disappearing on his knuckles as memories of the sleepless night and nights he spent locked outside the house in winter, crept his mind like shadows reclaiming their place on the wall.

Xander chuckled bitterly, causing chills to run down Max spine.

"I would make them pay for everything" he said and smirked wickedly.