CHAPTER 1

The complexities moving in
And I feel that I do not have the strength
Tragedies plaguing me solemnly
It's affecting my will
-The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus

“Bye Eena,” Kayla bid me as I walked out of the coffee shop where I part time after finishing my seven – hour shift.
Kayla’s family owns this coffee shop that I worked at. Well, it’s no Starbucks but the shop earns quite enough to sustain their family and have quite a lot to spare. The shop even tends to cravings of some prominent people in our area like the Roberts.
“Bye Kayls,” I responded as I head towards the door.
“Are you sure it’s okay for you to be walking around on your own during this time of the night?” Arthur, Kayla’s dad asked.
Usually my shifts were only for five hours. After class I’ll head to my apartment, change out of my uniform and head here, then I’ll get out at 8 o’clock, but since I’m in dire need of money I asked Arthur to extend my shifts for a couple of hours.
“Don’t worry Arthur, Myron’s going to meet me half way,” I assured him and went out of the door.
Myron is my boyfriend, we’ve been together for four years and I can say that our relationship is going strong. Well, we fight a lot like normal couples but that’s not a problem because these fights made us become who we are, and I know we have a good future together. I met Myron when I got adopted and was forced to transfer in this city during our last year of grade school, we were neighbors, and of course he never showed me any signs of affection. Instead of affection or sense of welcome, he would usually tease me about my odd hair. We went to different schools during middle school I was admitted at Gemini University, while he went to middle school division of our past school. Despite that situation he would still tease and annoy me whenever he’s around. Then comes our 2nd year in middle school, which was the time when he confessed his feelings for me which I gladly… rejected at first.
“Myron,” I called out the moment I spotted him.
“Hey,” he greeted indifferently, before placing his arms around my shoulders
“What’s wrong Myron?” I asked. “You know you can tell me anything.”
“How’s your day?” he uttered in attempt to change the topic.
I glared at him playfully before placing a light kiss on his cheek, “This is not about me Myron. Just tell me what’s wrong.”
“Do you really want to know?”
“Of course.”
“Then follow me,” he commanded.
The two of us walked with our hands in each other’s grasp. In silence, we enjoyed each other’s company as this doesn’t happen usually, mostly because of me. My routine would always be school, apartment, work and then apartment again; the only time we get the chance to spend time with each other is during look walks such as this. I was actually supposed to leave the city when my dad’s job got relocated but with insistence I was able to convince them to let me stay here, with them coming once in a while to visit with a sole condition that my academic standings would never fall below Gemini University Standards. Mom and Dad got me a really decent apartment where I’ve been living in since then.
I suddenly noticed that the path we were talking is really unfamiliar and quite dark for my liking. “Myron, where are we going?” I asked him nervously loosening my grip on his hand.
He held my hands tighter and pulled me closer to his chest. “Don’t worry we’re just going to my place.”
“I don’t think this is the path heading towards your apartment,” I stated dubiously.
“My family can no longer afford to stay in our past house so we had to transfer recently,” he replied curtly, assuring me.
His voice and tone may be assuring but something stirred up within me, “Why didn’t you inform me of this?”
“I don’t want to worry you princess; you’ve got enough on your shoulders,” he uttered before placing a light kiss on top of my head.
“Myron, I don’t like it here,” I spoke out of the blue breaking the serenity that had reigned for a while.
“Do you trust me baby?” he challenged as if testing my faith in our relationship.
I stared at his eyes for a while. I was hesitating but I wouldn’t dare throw away four years of relationship just because I have doubts about the path we were taking.
“I trust you,” I murmured. It was meant to answer his question but it sounded as if I’m convincing myself over that particular matter.
We walked deeper and deeper, further in the dark until I spotted some lights at the end of the street. With glee I held on to his wrist and then dragged him towards the amusement that had caught my eyes.
‘Happy 4th Eena,’ the carvings on a block of wood read.
Tears started welling up my eyes as the significance of today’s date came back to me. It ‘sour anniversary, it’s the fourth year anniversary of the day when I made Myron my boyfriend. I let go of his hand, and surprisingly he let go of mines too, and then slowly I was sucked in by the signage hanging from a tree surrounded by pretty lights. My fingers instinctively reached for the sign, and then I caressed it, I caressed every corner and every character engraved on to it.
“This is amazing - ”
But Myron cut me off, “I’m sorry Serena.”
“Why are you apologizing anyway?” I replied cupping his face with my hands.
“Just give in Serena,” he pleaded. “I don’t want to hurt you.”
“What do you mean hurt me?” I asked barely holding on to my calm demeanor.
“I’ve for years for this day to come, years Serena, years,” he reiterated making my heart race and hammer inside my rib cage.
“You’ve waited for what Myron?!” I screamed in hysterics losing all my composure and cool. “You want to rape me? You want to murder me? Tell me!”
“To surrender you to the faction,” he answered bluntly.
“A faction wants me?” I muttered dumbfounded.
“Want?” he mocked. “They demand you, they need you, they hunt you, pick your choice.”
A memory from my childhood suddenly flashed in my eyes like an old film.
‘What would they do with an orphan?’
Are the people who had wanted me so desperately back then the same with those who are associated with Myron?
I was jolt out of memory lane when Myron grabbed me forcefully by the arm. “Why are you doing this Myron?” I demanded. “I thought you love me.”
“I have never loved you Serena. I was indeed fond of you but my fondness of you was just on the physical level. Woodsen, everything was a sham to get me to where I am now.”
His words reverberated in my ear, echoing continuously to the depths of my heart, breaking the heart that I had forcibly built up. “So it was all a game to you?” I whispered defeated.
“No Serena, it wasn’t a game, it’s a bait,” he corrected me making my blood boil out of rage and betrayal.
I pried his hands off of me then started running for my life following the path that we had taken to get here. I was fast but he was faster and tad stronger than I am. He was able to catch up quickly. He grabbed me by the wig that I often wear to work to cover my identity, but I wouldn’t hold on to the pretense that I had enveloped myself with. I let him pull on it while I continue making the run.
“You can’t run away from me,” he maliciously called out. “You can scream and run all you want but no one will come to your aide.”
He was able to grab me by the hand and cornered me against the wall, with him holding both my arms up. “Please stop this Myron,” I begged him. “You may not have loved me like what you claim but I love you, and that will never change.”
“There’s no turning back Serena,” he uttered sternly, and then held out a handkerchief that’s probably full of chloroform.
With all the strength I can muster I kicked him right in the crotch making him double in pain, while I escape from his crutches. He was to tackle me but my senses were far stronger. I immediately controlled the water in his body making him halt his movements.
“So you do have a special ability in you,” he murmured with a smile.
“Why are you doing this?” I asked him straight as I lay him flat on the ground.
“If you want the answer come closer,” he bargained in which I didn’t entertain right instant.
“You have control over my body, if I attempt to do anything unacceptable you can easily stop me,” he pointed out.
I had knelt beside him, and then leaned forward closer to his lips to hear what he’s going to say.
“They have my family as hostage,” he began making me gasp in disbelief. “They gave me four years to hand you over to them or my family will die. I realized that there’s a great possibility that my parents are gone but here I am acting like a fool.”
“Hold it right there Myron,” I ordered but he just laughed.
“I’m not yet done Serena. You’re as impatient as always,” he mocked. “Then, it had come to a conclusion that either way around whether I surrender you to them or not, they’ll still kill us. I’m sorry for lying to you Serena,” he concluded.
“You’re an idiot,” I muttered and gave him back the control to his upper body.
Suddenly three loud gunshots echoed. I was able to block two bullets with a wall of water that I had managed to conjure out of the water droplets in the air.
“Are you okay Serena?” I heard Myron asked with concern like always.
I shook my head inwardly to remove the thought; Myron never loved me… as he said everything’s a sham. I wouldn’t blame him; in fact I applaud him for what he did. He chose to sacrifice himself and his happiness to save his family.
“I’m good,” I answered shortly.
“That’s good,” he replied weakly, making me turn to look at him in shock.
‘A bullet had hit him.’
I undid the control I have over his body as I focus on trying to get his blood back inside his body. I wouldn’t let him die, because after all he would always be my first love.
He smiled at me despite the weakness evident in his eyes. “I love you,” he murmured and then forced himself to place a chaste kiss on my lips. “That’s no lie.”
I felt my insides boil out of sheer anger, I watched as tears of agony dripped from my eyes on top of Myron’s corpse. He’s gone, Myron is gone.
“He’s nothing but a really weak pawn,” I heard a voice spoke.
“Who did you call a pawn mister?” I asked my voice going a few tones deeper.
“Wouldn’t it be obvious?” he answered rhetorically. “He’s nothing but a fool, of course his parents were dead but he believed our lie after all. And what’s worse was he even went against the love of his life.”
“Take back what you said about Myron,” I said with venom dripping in my voice.
“At least he’s with his parents alright?” the man pointed out angering me more. “All of you seize that girl!” he ordered his lackeys which I couldn’t see at the moment
I stared at Myron’s lifeless body which sports a serene smile upon his lips, “Justice for you and your family will be served.”
There were more than a dozen of them going towards me, each of them screaming different kinds of battle cry. They may have the numbers but I’ll always be stronger. I closed my eyes and willed my sense of justice to prevail, and with one command the water inside their bodies were immediately extracted. Their battle cries were silenced, their thunderous steps were zeroed, and all there’s left were the simultaneous thuds of their mummified bodies dropping as well as the metallic crash of their guns with the ground.
Slowly yet painful for me, I turned Myron’s body into ash. I will never be able to afford a funeral service for him, and most definitely I wouldn’t be able to contact his relatives and inform them of what happened without arousing suspicion.
I stood up from where I am and head towards the signage that Myron had hanged, and caressed it one last time.
“I love you Myron!” I screamed out loud followed by a reverberating boom of thunder as I broke down in a mess of tears.