3. A Sketchy Message

The battleground fell silent.

The thud of a body falling to the ground was heard, other than that, the silence was palpable.

Sebastian blinked and blinked again, then looked below him. He didn’t know when the scream escaped his mouth -

“Gramps!!!”

“Gramps? Gramps! Gramps!!!” he bent down and held Gramps. He applied pressure to the gun shot area. “Someone call an ambulance!” he screamed

“No one would do such!” Leonard who recovered from the shock of what just happened barked out. He had gotten the perfect aim for Sebastian and Sebastian could not escape because the men were pinning him down. When he pulled the trigger, he suddenly saw the old man jumping in front of Sebastian! What a man! Was he not scared of death? Was Sebastian that important to him?

Max immediately pulled out his phone completely ignoring Leonard. Leonard turned to him, “I said no one should do such” he repeated. Max completely ignored him, dialling the emergency number and it began to ring.

Leonard pulled up his gun and shot at Max without blinking. He had had it with low lives ignoring his commands, who exactly did they think he was?

Sebastian turned to his best friend; he could not react. He pulled Gramps close to his chest, quietly sobbing while his eyes were on his best friend, watching blood pool on the ground from below him.

Sirens rang out – three police cars appeared on the scene. Who called the police? No one knew.

The following events that occurred were a blur in Sebastian’s mind. All he knew was the police arrested Leonard’s men, Leonard ran away and Gramps and his best friend were in the ICU.

As Sebastian was waiting in the corridor for the news of the operation, he noticed someone standing by the hallway. He recognised her as the girl who often stalked him in school but recently, she stopped. For her to be here now, was she the one who called the police and ambulance? Did she witness what transpired in the parking lot? Was she the presence he felt on the roof?

She did not get close, and was not completely hidden but was at an angle which the CCTV camera could not see. It felt like she was waiting for the news of the operation too but why? Or was she there because of him?

Sebastian did not let these thoughts linger long and his mind drifted back to his Gramps and Max.

After a few minutes had passed, the doctor came out and said “I’m very sorry he was shot in the heart before he arrived and he lost a lot of blood. We could not save him…” Sebastian stopped listening to the doctor and walked out aimlessly, his eyes were vacant and lost, he walked past the girl in the hallway, not uttering a word to her.

He was on the streets, walking home. It was a long journey back home.

After he walked few steps, the clouds rolled and a mighty thunder struck angrily in response to the events of that night. Immediately, it began to rain heavily, the rain beating him mercilessly. Sebastian looked up at the sky, he could hear the weather lady’s report from this morning echo in his head again,

“There will be a heavy downpour tonight, endeavour to get home early to avoid the thunderstorm.”

He remembered telling Gramps that morning to close early for the night to prevent the rain from keeping him in school. Gramps had laughed him off, saying the rain always reminded him of his youthful days and he didn’t mind it beating him – now Gramps would never feel the rain beat him ever again, he would never stare at it with nostalgia again.

He crossed seven streets before he couldn’t hold the tears in any longer. He knelt down at the centre of the road and screamed, crying loudly. The rain and thunder accentuated as well as drowned out his screams. With every shout, thunder struck and the rain seemed to pour harder. He kept shouting all night long, letting the rain thoroughly soak him. By the time he found himself home, it was 2 am in the morning.

He stepped into his home - a rundown extension of a warehouse people feared getting close to because it looked like something that would collapse the moment you blew on it. He sat on the floor, dripping wet and all, staring at the still pouring rain outside. Slowly, he drifted off to sleep on the floor but before his eyes finally closed, he heard his phone ring lightly with a notification pop, then sleep claimed him to its abode.

…

When Sebastian woke up the next morning, by 6 am, it was still lightly drizzling outside.

He thought he dreamt the incidents of last night till he looked down and saw washed-out blood stains on the precious clothes Gramps gifted him. His head started banging as memories came flooding into his head –

“Hey dude, please don’t hit the car…”

“I will not be your bodyguard…”

“What the hell do you think you are doing to him, Leonard you bastard!”

“Don’t worry son, what would they do to an old man like me?”

The sound of a gun shot

“Gramps!!!”

“I will not be your bodyguard…”

The image of Max on the flood bleeding out

“I want to hear, ’yes, I will be your servant, master’ not a bloody excuse!”

“Gramps!!!”

“To think a low life like you would also dare talk down to me! The world must be turning upside down….”

“I will not be your bodyguard…”

The sound of another gunshot!

The scenes kept flashing in his mind very quickly in a loop. A tear ran down his eyes; he held his head with his two hands, eyes tightly shut, the headache was splitting and the scenes wouldn’t stop flashing in his mind.

He was a hair’s breadth away from falling into depression. Gramps had been his motivation to keep pushing forward, to bear those insults and the beatings, all because he wanted to give him a befitting retirement. He had never known his parents, if he did, he no longer remembered or cared. The only thought that kept him sane was the thought of revenge and a dark glint gradually formed in his eye, he was gradually losing himself.

His phone rang with a notification sound pulling him out of his trance

He thought he imagined it but then the notification sound rang again.

Where was his phone? And why was it ringing? Who was messaging him?

He looked around, searching for it a bit before finally pulling it out of his pants pocket.

His room was dark, the light drizzle outside and the cloudy sky which hid the rising sun cast a gloomy shadow in his room. He squinted, looking at the messages that displayed on the screen of his outdated phone. He couldn’t comprehend what he was reading at first. He could see the words, they looked like they were important but he wasn’t comprehending its meaning. The words went in and out of focus.

He finally closed his eyes, pulled his mind together and willed himself to focus. He breathed out, picked up the phone again and read the messages one by one:

“You have been selected for the Guerrieri trials. Congratulationi! Come to the location that would be sent to you. Be there by 8 am.”

“In recognition of your talents, and being selected to join the Guerrieri trials, you have been credited with one million dollars to do with as you please”

“Credit: 002XXXX09; Amt: $1,000,000, Bal: $1,000,010, Date…”

“Dear Guerriero, for briefing, come to the Cozy Café at Wall Street by 8 am”

…

He read the messages with disinterest. He looked at his time, it was 6:30 am. He thought about school and the fact that Leonard might be there, not to mention the police, spectators and gossipers. He was not ready to face whatever the aftereffects of yesterday were yet. He needed time to be alone and mourn Gramps.

He suddenly recalled that he needed to retrieve his belongings from the hospital, especially his bag. He recalled Gramps leaving something in his bag – he was going to hold on to every last memento from Gramps.

He took a hot bath, picked an umbrella and made his way back to the hospital.

As he passed by the parking lot of the hospital, he saw two people furiously making out. This scene would not have mattered if he did not mistakenly see the face of the girl the guy couldn’t get enough of sucking her lips. She was the very trigger that led to the events of yesterday, Anna, Leonard’s girlfriend, and she just so happened to see him too, great!

He passed by like he saw nothing and went into the hospital. He checked on Max first. Max was out of danger; the shot missed his neck by pure luck and landed on his left shoulder blade. Max was still sleeping so he decided to let him rest and find his belongings. He looked around for a while before he recalled he had left it at Gramps’ little post at the school gate before he went to wash the cars. He ruffled his hair and sighed, trying not to let his mind wander to the fact that Gramps was lying still in the cold mortuary of the hospital at that moment.

A nurse walked up to him

“Excuse me, sir, are you the one who came in with the old man and young man who was shot yesterday, accompanied by the police?”

“Yes, that would be me. How may I help you?” Sebastian asked

“Sir, this is the hospital bill for both patients and the bill for holding the dead patient in the Morgue for a month.”  The nurse replied.

He took the bill and looked at the amount. His eyes widened.