Dark Flare Chapter 3

*Chapter 3 of the novel, I encourage you to read through 1 and 2. 

*There is some foul language and possibly offensive comments towards certain groups of people. Note that I'm only writing them to prove them wrong.

*Please tell me if you feel like I should split the chapters into two or more parts.

I was walking back from school, excited to grab the ZAP Lora gave me a few weeks ago and go visit the Energy Field. As my house came into sight, a sickening feeling crapped up from my stomach. I did my best to ignore it as I pushed the squeaking metal door to our garden. There, in front of the house was a recognizable pair of shoes. It was my brothers.

What on the earth is he doing here? This can’t be good, he would probably tell Dad if I try to leave. I thought about just going straight to the field without the ZAP but I really wanted to practice with it. The house was deadly quiet. I hoped that my brother just left without putting his shoes on, that would be the best thing to happen at the moment. However, as I stepped into my room, my hopes were crushed into bits. My brother was there, at the dead center of the room, holding something in his hands.

“Hey, there little brother.”

He gave me a cheesy but certain not friendly smile. I opened my mouth to tell him to get out of my room but then paused. He was holding something round and blue… my heart dropped.

“I feel like you got some explanation to do. What do you say?”

He said tossing my ZAP high up in the air and pretending to drop it before catching it with two fingers. He slowly approached me, step by step. I froze at the spot to see him tower over me. He was at least 3 feet taller than me as I nervously gazed up at his eyes. His eyes were full with hatred, and pure evil as he stared at me like a hungry lion feasting upon its prey. I jumped up and snatched the ZAP from his hands.

“It’s none of your business. Get out of my room”

I said, firmly as possible. He just smirked at me and pressed my shoulders hard with his hands. The weight almost made me collapse onto the ground.

“Dad won’t be very happy about this. You know he doesn't want you spending time on this kind of shit. Now, tell me Cairo, where did you get this from”

My instincts tell me that I couldn’t possibly lie to him.

“From a friend.”

I said, trying to step away from him.

“Don’t lie to me Cairo. You don’t have any”

That was it. I was tired of my brother treating me like this. This ZAP was from Lora and it had a meaning of our friendship.

“Yes I do! Her name is Lora, I met her in the park downtown! Are you happy now? Let me go already!”

I screamed, struggling to get away as I saw the smile on my brother’s face slowly faded away. I saw a madness in his eyes burning with something dark.

“Lora? Did you just say Lora?”

He said as if I just said something unbelievable.

“Yeah, I said Lora. She’s way better than any of your stupid drug dealing friends”

I hissed at him. My brother looked down at me as a sickening smile spread across his face. He started to laugh; out loud, like a crazy man. He laughed at me for at least a minute until he finally settled down.

“Lora? The one with green eyes right?”

“You know her? how?”

“You know how dipshit. You really think she’s your friend?”

Brother said, dangerously staring into my eyes. He had a teasing smile on his mouth but rage in his eyes. A rage not towards me but towards something else… he paused for a moment.

“You really have no idea who she is, do you?”

He said, shaking his head.

“Well, let me tell you something. That Lora girl, she is the daughter of the WFTA CEO, she’s the fucking riches bitch in the world. Did you really think she’s your friend?”

That was simply ridiculous. I knew what WFTA was, I heard it from Lora. It was the name for the World Flare Tamer Association, the company that organizes and runs Flare Taming single-handedly. How can Lora be the daughter of the CEO of WFTA? She did know a lot about Flare Taming and she also said her Dad had a lot of ZAPs but that doesn't mean her Dad owns WFTA. And what if he does? That doesn't change anything for me. Lora would still be Lora.

“Listen to me Cairo. That Lora girl, she sleeps in a fucking pile of diamonds with her little teddy bear while we starve to death! And you are telling me that SHE is your friend? While they worry about running their fun little Flare Taming games, we have to worry about surviving until the next sunrise. It’s because of those idiots that we live in this crap! Don’t you get it?”

He was outrageous, screaming directly at my face. I tried to process what he just said, it didn’t make any sense to me. So what if Lora is the richest girl in the world? How does that have anything to do with our living conditions? I gotta admit, I didn’t know that much about Lora. However, she was my friend, a real one and I had no doubt about that. From the first look at her, I knew she was from a different world. Yet, she proved it wrong to me. Kids at school, boys at the energy field, and even my Dad didn’t understand me. Lora was the only thing I had left and I was going to stand up for my friend.

“Stop blaming everything on someone else! I don’t care what you think of her, she’s my friend”

I felt my face turning red with anger and hatred. I was not scared of my brother beating me up anymore. I pushed him back but he didn’t move an inch.

“Face it! Did you forget what Dad always tells us? You're being weak Cairo, you're showing your vulnerability to that girl, so she can pity you. To people like her, you are nothing but a toy to play with. But once she loses interest in you, she will throw you away”

How could he possibly say that? He has never met Lora before, I know what kind of person she was. I held on to my ZAP tight. Even if I get murdered today, I am not going to lose this argument.

“You're being exploited, like an idiot. Tell me, is my brother an idiot?”

His breath was touching my skin as he angrily stared at me. Why does he even bother to care? It’s not his problem, rather I’m getting manipulated by some rich girl or not. He has always been cruel to me, not even a single friendly gesture. I had no doubt that he didn’t care about me, all he wanted to do with me was relieve his stress. But this time, he looked truly angry. He was not pretending to make me get scared, it was a hot flaming disgust.

“I’m not an idiot!”

I said tears started to form in my eyes. I couldn’t lose Lora too. I really could not.

“Well then, prove it. Prove that this spoiled bitch is really into you. Take me to her and I will have a word with her. If not, I can just take this thing to Dad and get you grounded for your lifetime. Up to you”

Something tightened my heart, I could not breathe. All my senses are crying out for danger. I had no idea what my brother was going to do to Lora if I took him there. Yet, from seeing his frenzied face, he was going to do something bad. Very bad.

“No! I’m not taking you to her”

My voice was shaky with fear. The game was over, I had lost. My brother smiled seeing my confidence fade away.

“Well then, no more outside trips.”

He said, snatching the ZAP from me and shoving it in his pocket.

“Why do you even care? It’s none of your business…”

Tears are now rolling down my face. Anger, unexplainable anger erupted inside me. Why can’t I just be left alone, being happy?

“Oh, it is my fucking business Cairo. I don't want my brother to be a rich person's pet. If she really was your friend, she would have bought us a goddamn house. I’m sure she could do that with her weekly allowance”

I had to take him to her and prove that Lora really was my friend. Yet, I couldn’t erase the thought that maybe my brother was right. If she was that rich and famous, why would she even care about me? Maybe she talked to me just because she thought seeing a poor boy is interesting, just like watching animals at the zoo. Deep down, I also knew that this couldn’t be true. She never gave me the fake smile that some kids and teachers would at school. I must prove it to my stupid brother.

“What are you going to do to her?”

“Nothing. I’m just gonna have a little tea party with her. So she can understand life is not just sugar plums and fluffy unicorns.”

With that, he historically burst into laughter. He was truly crazy, completely out of his mind. I told myself that it was going to be ok, what could he possibly do to her anyways? Once I prove that she is my friend, I just hoped that he would leave us alone. Reluctantly, I gestured to him to follow me. As I passed roads and streets that now grew familiar to me, it felt like decades of time. My feet were heavy as metal and my inside was flipping upside down.

‘It will be ok, it will be ok, it will be ok…’

I whispered to myself until we arrived at the park entrance.

“Bring her to me, I will wait here.”

He said, standing beneath a tall oak tree. There was nobody near the place and this could mean a serious threat. However, there was no turning back for me. As I turned the corner and arrived at the energy field, I saw Lora already sitting inside the field. She was sitting down and had her eyes closed as if she was meditating. I deactivated the field and her eyes fluttered open.

“Hi Cairo!”

She said, quite cheerfully. Seeing her innocent face made me want to throw up with guilt. I felt guilty for thinking that she was not my real friend for even a split second and I felt guilty for not being able to stand up for her. I thought about just running away with her so that my Brother will never find her. It would be no use, he will find us anyway.

“I need you to go somewhere with me. Really quick, my… brother wants to say hi”

I knew my brother wasn’t just going to say hi. I knew better than anyone how much he hated rich people. Lora stepped down from the field without hesitation.

“Cool, let’s go”

She said, innocently. I felt my legs trembling, sweat soaking my neck. What was I so scared of anyway? My brother can’t actually physically hurt her, right? I mean, if she really is the daughter of the WFTA CEO, he would know better than to hurt her. I simply walked in the direction where my brother was hiding. It was torture for every step I took toward him. As I started to see him from a distance, I sensed a great pressure, danger. It was not too late, I could just grab Lora’s hands and run away… it was too late. He locked his eyes on us and started to walk towards us slowly, step by step. The burning hatred was in his eyes once more. I glanced at Lora and she was shily holding up her hand to say hi. I couldn’t take this anymore, I had done it, I betrayed the one and only person that believed in me. The next thing I knew, the wind was blowing by me. I ran, ran without turning back to see Lora and my brother. I was terrified, I was terrified of what my brother would say to her. Moreover, I was terrified of what Lora’s response was going to be. I was disgusted with myself for not being able to trust her but I couldn’t help it. When I got home, I hid myself under the covers and trembled, trying to calm down my heart. After about fifteen minutes, my brother came back.

“There you were, what were you doing?”

He said, pulling the blanket off of me.

“What did you do?”

I said in a trembling voice, heat steaming out of my face.

“Nothing. She’s probably at her home by now, getting her feet massaged or someshit.”

He said as he made a disgusted face. A gentle sigh of relief settled into me. Maybe it was going to be alright after all. Maybe Lora told him that I really was her friend.

“I just made sure that she doesn’t fuck with you anymore”

With that, he turned away to leave my room. What? What did he just say? He made sure that we don’t see each other anymore. No… that can’t be…my hopes crumbled once more.

“What did you just say? What did you just say..?”

I repeated myself as I frantically held on to my brother’s shirt. He pushed me away and turned to face me.

“What? I did you a favor, so you won’t be a loser being that girl’s toy. You ran away because you were scared, didn’t you? Because you knew she was not really your friend and you were scared to see her admit it?”

Each word he said dug deeply into my soul, cutting me as I bleed. This was all my fault, I should have stayed with her and believed in her. Tears streamed down my face once more. Something smacked my face hard and I collapsed onto the ground. It was my brother’s hands.

“Put yourself together! Why are you feeling sorry for her? She has achieved nothing in life but she will still live in a goldmine until she dies while we will be still living in this house. Don’t let people like her control you! Life is a competition, Cairo, try to beat them and stand on top of them!”

He was silent as I cried and cried helplessly on the floor. My brother sighed and stood up, tossing my ZAP back to me.

“Stop being a crybaby. You can have this back, I won’t tell Dad about this. Do whatever you want with it, kid. Besides, if she really was your friend, she would show up regardless of what I told her.”

“She will! I know she will! You just wait and see”

I cried out, angrily staring at my brother.

“One day, you will thank me for this”

After he left the house, I crawled back into my bed and held my breath as long as I could. I knew Lora wouldn’t just stop coming to the park, at least I wanted to believe so.

The next day, Lora was not at the park. I waited helplessly there until the sun set believing that Lora would show up eventually. However, she never did. Walking back home, my brother’s words rang inside my head. “If she really was your friend, she would show up…” I ignored the discomfort, she had to show up. Maybe she’s just sick for a few days or something.

After a few weeks of her absence, I logged in to the computer in school and searched for her information. She really was the daughter of the WFTA CEO. In the photos, she was usually in a dress standing with her parents. There were no reports of her being injured or killed or anything which was a huge relief.

Weeks turned into months soon. Every day, I visited the energy field, hoping to see her. Every day, I came home with disappointment and a scar on my heart. First, I simply hate my brother for doing this to me. Yet, as a few months passed by, sadness turned into anger. Maybe my brother was right after all, maybe I was never meant to be her friend. My life was still difficult, spending millions of nights starving. Lora could have easily fixed this problem with some of her wealth, couldn’t she? Lora was a person that I decided to trust for a long time. The kids at school, my everyday life, the boys in the park, and even my own Father had turned me down. But every time, I tried so hard to move on. I never thought Lora would turn me down as well. Was it all fake after all? People like me are not destined to be with people like Lora? Is that just how the world is? I started to understand why my brother cursed the world so much, it truly was unfair and unequal. Having no one to talk to, no one to lean on, I was more lost than ever. Lora had betrayed me, the world had betrayed me. Still, I could not give up my dreams of becoming a professional Flare Tamer. Even without her, I practiced alone, trying out moves that I saw through video clips. Every day, I could feel my power growing stronger, more unstoppable. As I put my anger and hatred into the ZAP more and more, it grew brighter and more powerful. Still, part of me hoped that Lora would someday just show up and give me a logical explanation for why she could not show up. If she did, I knew I would never turn her down.

The wind was getting cooler. I hated winter so much. During the summer, I could just lay on the floor naked if the temperature goes out of control. Yet, during the winter, it brought agonizing pain to me. The sharp wind cuts my skin, blowing through the cracks in the walls, and no matter how tightly I wrap myself in clothes, the coldness always finds its way through. Even worse, Dad hasn’t come back from work for over 2 weeks. I was walking back from school when I felt the same sickening feeling in my stomach, just like the day when my brother showed up. Yet, it was stronger this time, irresistible. I saw a tall man standing in front of the house entrance. He looked over at me and smiled a little. The air was getting thicker and pressure was building up. I knew who this man was, he was that old man who helped me find the Energy field.

“Long time no see Cairo, how have you been?”

I was never in a mood to talk to anyone these days.

“Move, I’m going inside.”

I said simply but the man grabbed my shoulders tight.

“I won’t waste your time and go straight to the point. Your Father has unfortunately passed away and he wanted me to take care of you. Come with me to my place Cairo, it’s not safe here”

Bullshit. That was the most stupid thing I have ever heard in my life. My father died and he wants this random old man to take care of me? I slapped my forehead and gestured to the man to move so that I could go into my house. Yet, the man didn’t let go of me.

“I know it’s hard but I’m telling you the truth kid. You will either freeze to death or starve to death if you stay here any longer. This is not an option.”

He pulled me towards him and tried to drag me out. I resisted hard. I didn’t feel any sadness or pain hearing that my Dad died. I didn’t know why, my brain simply could not take that information. My mind became foggy and lazy as I tried to think of what the man really meant by my father dying. The man soon stopped forcefully pulling me and bent over.

“The world has turned you down, hasn't it?”

The man said in a quiet voice. A sudden fear struck me hard.

“You are a smart child Cairo and a strong one. But why should you live in this world when it has abandoned you so many times? You want to be a Flare tamer right?”

That stopped my heart.

“I will make you the strongest Flare Tamer the world has ever seen. Come with me and we will change the world together… you can take revenge on everything that hurt you. You have the power…”

He stood up and offered me a hand. Sunlight shining from the back shadowed the man’s face, only illuminating his hand reaching out to me. For a brief moment, it looked like a savior from heaven. I reached out and grabbed the hand…