Flakes of Brutal Reality

Looking at the trigger being pulled, my only reflex was to stand in front of him. I could not lose him now or ever. That’s when I felt like being stabbed by a knife straight into my abdomen. Everything just seemed to freeze and fade away. It was only a matter of a few minutes when I found myself lying on a bed passing through a lane to the ER. As I was passing through the blinding lights, my mundane soul seemed to attain a state of peace, and my body was consumed by lust for death’s kiss. The pain was infuriating but demanded to be felt. The lights, fading away in the atmosphere and my soul evaporating from my body. That’s when I saw his face and passed out. Maybe forever this time.

It all started back when I was just a mere high school junior with huge aspirations and not to forget the “rich parents” part which was misapprehended by most people. It seemed like my parent’s status defined me. Actually, it did. The fact that I wanted my own identity, become just a lost thought in my messed-up mind. My father was a politician, that’s what they said. But, I knew him. He was a sketchy guy dealing with drugs and other criminal activities. I had known this for a long time now. I just needed solid proof to get his egoistic self to jail. However, my mother was a sweet and humane person. She was a journalist and I wished to walk on her path too. Being from rich roots was a hassle. Everything was presented to me as a 5-year-old. I wanted to live my own life so I worked at an ice cream parlour on the opposite side of town to earn a living. I had been working there for a long time. I had always wanted to move out of our house and start over. What was holding me back? My mom. She knew about it. She told me I could move out when I would graduate high school. I disagreed with her a lot of times but she always managed to emotionally blackmail me through the excuse of my dead sister, Claire. I might have forgotten to mention, I had a dead sister. Apparently, she died from leukemia, which was found out late. Well, moving on-

“Amber Green, I am talking to you. Pay attention.” 

That’s me. I had black hair with a blunt cut. My eyes were sea blue with rose skin and an average body shape. I was a boringly studios nerd with a rebellious attitude towards her folks, to be precise.

“I’m listening, father.” Apparently, my father had some news to share with me.

“As I was saying, elections are coming up and you may get threats from various people as I’m standing for mayor. Therefore, I have decided to assign you a personal bodyguard-” 

I started laughing and said, “ No. I’m not letting you invade my privacy. And to hell with your threats!” 

“Let me complete my sentence Amber Clarissa Green. I don’t care a bit about your safety. To ensure I have a good reputation around here for protecting my family, I am going to assign you a bodyguard. And for a matter of fact, I’m informing you rather than asking you.” 

Empty silence pervades through the dining room and I make my way towards my car. 

There I saw a white guy with hot biceps and muscular body shape with blonde hair and black highlights. It seemed like he wasn’t a natural blonde. He had these deep blue eyes, almost similar to mine. But he seemed like a year elder than me.

“Hi there, I’m Luke. I’m your-” 

“Bodyguard. I’m Amber.” I tried to keep it as short as I could. I saw my mom emerging from the garden. 

“Amber dear, this is your new bodyguard and I have asked him to enroll in your high school so that you don’t feel uncomfortable with having a bodyguard around.” At least someone thinks good for me in this world. 

“Okay. Thanks, Mom.” 

Luke and I drove in silence. When we reached our campus, he told me he would maintain his distance. 

Well, this didn’t seem that bad. After a dull afternoon at the school we headed for my football practice and from there we went home. We tried to keep our interaction to a minimum.

I figured that Luke would be staying in the guest room at our place. 

I sneaked out of the house to the place I work at. I had evening shifts. There were fewer customers today. I spent most of the evening trying to pass time by reading a book. As I locked the door of the shop, a few guys came towards me and demanded ice cream.

“I’m sorry, the parlour is closed. You may come back tomorrow-” 

“Oh, sweetheart. I won’t go back empty-handed. Are you on the menu?” 

“Excuse me? Please, leave.” The proximity between us increased. Their intimidating look terrified me. I locked the shop frantically and was about to leave when the guy held my hand. I tried to free myself out of the tight grip but eventually failed. 

That’s when I felt someone’s hand on my shoulder and I turned my face. 

Luke to the rescue. 

“Leave her,” Luke said, in an infuriating manner. 

“Who are you to tell me that huh?” The guy was really getting on my nerves. 

“Her boyfriend. Now get lost or I would beat you up so hard that you would find it difficult to even get back home.” 

“F-fine. We’re leaving.” 

The guys ran off and Luke towards me with a face saying ‘any explanations?’ while I made the ‘I am sorry’ expression. We got back in the car and Luke decided to break the silence. 

“Why do you work in this sketchy area? Secondly, why do you even work?” 

“Well, I have an explanation.” 

I told him about it. My plan. Considering the fact that he just saved my life, I trusted him a bit. 

“I would accompany you here every day.”

“You don’t need-”

“I will. And don’t worry I won’t tell Sir about any of this. My lips are sealed.”

“T-thanks.” 

He seemed like a good guy. Moreover, he was quite handsome. The rest of the week was a blur until Max, an acquaintance, invited me to a party. Apparently, he was also friends with Luke. I told mom that I would go to this party and be back by midnight. Father wasn’t in town so she wasn’t bothered by the idea of a little enjoyment.

I wore a knee-length black dress with my sneakers. Luke was wearing a leather jacket with some tight jeans which showed off his perfect legs. 

We reached Max’s house and Luke tried to maintain the distance by entering a few minutes later. 

I saw Suzie, my football mate, and my closest friend. I wouldn’t call her my best friend since we never really shared secrets. 

“Hey, girl! It’s been ages since you came to a party!” 

“Yeah.” 

“Let’s have some fun, shall we?” 

Suzie made me have vodka shots which tasted pretty weird. I was never really a party person, but I would play along sometimes. The liquid spread through my whole body like poison and made me crave it even more. That’s when Max came. 

“Enjoying huh?” 

“Your party is epic, Max!” I was clearly out of my mind. I started dancing with some random stranger and just lost control of my body. It felt like I was floating in ecstasy. Max came back again and started dancing with me. 

“Let’s go to my room Amber.” 

I didn’t know what was happening around me. So, I just followed whatever he told me. As we started to go towards his room, Luke came towards us. 

“Hey, Amber. I think it’s pretty late. I’ll drop you home.” 

“Back off, blondie. She’s mine-”

That’s when I blacked out. And the next time I wake up, I was in my bed, all tucked in. I moved towards my bathroom to puke my guts out. After which I found myself looking at my wasted face in the mirror. I was still in my black dress but I was wearing a leather jacket above it. A sudden knock on my door snapped me back to reality.

“Amber?” 

“Luke. Hi.” 

“Here’s the medicine.”

“T-thanks.”

I took the medicine and went to change my clothes. I gave the leather jacket to Luke, as I presumed it was his. Later in the afternoon Max called me up and ensured if I reached home safely yesterday and asked me how I was doing. He was one of the first guys to really care about me. Most of the boys were interested in my rich status. 

It had been a month since that party. Luke and I had this “friend” relationship now. Not to mention, I had started dating Max. He had been an excellent boyfriend. The homecoming dance was up next week and I was all enthusiastic about it. Max had already asked me to be his date. We had the homecoming game before the dance. Max played as a quarterback in the football team and they won the game as usual. I introduced Luke to Suzie and asked him to ask her out. He needed a date for the dance. Desperately. 

I was wearing a baby pink silk gown with my hair open. Max was in a blue tux that fitted him almost perfectly with his coffee-colored crew cut hair which made him look splendid. 

The dance was fantastic. We all danced and just had fun. I drank a little less this time since I didn’t want to forget this night like the one before. I heard Max whispering in my ear while dancing behind me with almost zero proximity. 

“Let’s get out.” His voice made a shiver run down my spine. My only instinct was to say-

“S-sure.” 

I followed him towards his car and he started kissing me. I kissed him back until a van drove past us. A few guys came out of the van and held me from my arms, carrying me towards the van. Max was just standing there, doing nothing. It happened in such a rush that I was unaware of what was happening around me. They made me smell some weird liquid and that’s the last thing I remembered. 

I woke up in a dark room with a window covered with black cloth. The guards were aware that I was conscious now and summoned someone to check on me. The door opened, exposing blinding lights to my frail eyes. I saw a tall dark man with a gun in his hand. 

“Amber Clarissa Green. Daughter of Harris Green, a renowned dirty politician.” 

“What do you want. Who are you?” I tried to free myself of the rope tied in my legs and hands. 

“Dear, dear. I am Mason Holland. What do I want? Ha! I want your father to die. Well, that’s why I told Max to get close to you. He almost got you on the day of the party. But, some stupid guy took you home. You are my chance to get revenge for all the sins Harris has done. For all the pain he caused to my family.” 

I was totally broken inside. It was infuriating and despairing at the same time. My boyfriend had been using me. And I was stuck here because of my father. But, I wanted to get out of here. So, I thought of a plan.

“Mr. Holland. I have a proposal. I know everything about my father’s dirty work. I have got some proof in my hard drive which is kept in a safe place. I just need one last piece of proof. A picture of him doing it. That would be my final move. If you let me go I would help you. Secondly, he doesn’t care about me. He got me a bodyguard just to show the media that he was protecting his family. Please, you have to trust me.” 

“Okay. Fine. You have two days to get the drive and a picture of him or your mother looks very sweet while watering plants in the garden you know.” 

“Not my mom, please. I will do it.”

They released me at the gate of their mansion. Apparently, I was kept in their basement. I didn’t know where I was, so I just kept walking in any direction. That’s when I saw a car’s headlight in the dark midnight. It stopped by me. A guy came out of it. 

It was Luke. 

“H-how?” I asked in surprise. 

“I bugged the bracelet you are wearing. It has a GPS.”

The reaction to his reply was crashing my lips against his.

“Amber, you are not aware of what you are doing.” I knew he was right. I was just trying to forget this night. Brutal reality being, I had to face the truth because it is what it is.

It had been an overwhelming night. The sudden kidnap, the negotiation, realisation that my boyfriend was a fraud, wandering on some random street thinking I would die, and then kissing Luke.

The next morning I woke up, I was a total mess. I still had to work on the picture. I talked to Luke about it and he was ready to help me. Today was the day he would go to one of the nightclubs to enjoy. Maybe that was his smuggling spot? We had to take a risk or our lives would’ve been compromised. Either way, it was like hell. 

Luke and I followed our father to the club but we tried not to raise any suspicion. We went haywire after watching Mr. Holland standing there with my father and handing over some stuff with a briefcase full of money. Luke managed to take a picture of that scenario. I was completely nonplussed about this situation. I mean why would Mr. Holland work with my father if he had some personal grudge against him? Well, that didn’t matter now since Harris Green was going down.

We went to the ice cream parlour to have something after an eventful time at the club. 

“I’m sorry I couldn’t protect you when you were kidnapped by the Hollands.” I could see the guilt in his eyes.

“Well, technically you did.” That’s when Luke suddenly leaned towards me and his lips melted in mine. The kiss was electrifying, unlike the previous ones. It seemed special. 

We had a moment of awkward silence after our small make-out session.

“We- should head home. It’s getting late.” The first time I heard Luke stutter. 

“Yeah.” 

When we reached home we saw something that blew our minds off. I could see my father, mother, and Mr. Holland sitting in the gazebo in our backyard. I asked Luke to wait inside the home while I headed towards them.

I thought it was time I confronted my father. I informed the police in advance to get there in ten minutes. I walked up to them. 

“Glad to meet you again Mr. Holland.” 

“Amber Clarissa Green. The pleasure’s mine.”

I moved towards my father who was standing on the edge of the gazebo with a cigarette in his hand. 

“I know about it all. Your dirty work. I have proof. You will go to jail-” 

“Amber, Amber, Amber. Did you think your father was a fool? Mason works for me. He told me everything. I assume you might have the picture by now too. It’s just sad that history would repeat itself. You would die your sister’s death. That’s your fate.” 

“And the blood will be on my hands about which I could never be happier. You girls were a mistake.” My mother added.

What was happening?

Suddenly Luke came running towards me and grabbed my hand. He whispered in my ear. “They have a gun.” 

I got scared to death. Were my parents going to kill me? 

“You did a great job, Luke. You are dismissed now.” My silent mother spoke up. 

“Oh please, I’m not going anywhere,” Luke said with an attitude. 

“Fine. You asked for it.” 

I saw my mother, who was about to pull the trigger. My friendship with Luke flashed back in my mind. He was the only person who had been trustworthy, caring, and loving all this time. I couldn’t lose this one person in my life. I jumped in front of Luke, exposing my front side to the bullet. The trigger had already been released, and the bullet pierced straight through my abdomen.

Everything just seemed to freeze and fade away. It was only a matter of a few minutes when I found myself lying on a bed passing through a lane to the ER. As I was passing through the blinding lights, my mundane soul seemed to attain a state of peace, and my body was consumed by lust for death’s kiss. The pain was infuriating but demanded to be felt. The lights, fading away in the atmosphere and my soul evaporating from my body. 

I could hear them. He talked to me every day. He told me about his childhood. How he used to be such a bully back then. He felt guilty about my accident. 

I wish I could tell him it wasn’t his fault. 

Death was just about to kiss me when he did and gave me hope to live. I flinched my finger, making my consciousness known. 

I saw his bright smile and tried to speak in a raspy and broken voice.

“I love you.” 

“The feeling is mutual, Amber Green.”