Chapter 50

50: BLACK OUT ARIEL’S POV Luke stood still, surveying Blake and his men, who had guns. There was no fear in his eyes; he didn’t look terrified one bit. And boy, I begin to wonder if he has actually been in such a state before. Recall that when we were still in that elevator, the man was not scared at all. The blood of his grandfather flows right in his veins.

“Who the hell is this?” Luke asked, giving Blake a disgusting look. He glanced at the three men behind Blake. “And why are these guys with guns?”

“Luke Reynold. We meet again,” Blake said, advancing towards Luke in a slow manner.

“Meet again?” Luke wore a puzzled face. “Have we met before?”

“Oh, we haven’t,” Blake answered, clapping his hands. “But I did go to your company to apply for a job.

I was fit for the job and had all the qualities. But what did you people do? You guys rejected me, and when I tried explaining, you people had to call security to kick me out!”

Luke stared at Blake for a moment, still with a confused face. “I’m sorry. Say what now?”

“It was really painful. And from that day on, I swore I’d take revenge. Well, here am I, killing two birds with one stone.” After Blake had said all these things, he set his eyes on me.

“Who did all that to you exactly? Cause it’s definitely not me,” Luke told him.

“Of course it wasn’t you. But you’re the owner of the company. That’s why you’re going to pay.” Blake glared at Luke in response.

“You’re one crazy idiot, aren’t you?” Luke fired him with this. “I haven’t seen a psycho like you before.

There are billions of fools in this world, but you are different.”

50: BLACK OUT “I don’t get it. So you actually want to kill Luke and me?” I asked Blake. He was indeed crazy.

Luke glanced at me. “He wants to kill you?” He turned back to Blake. “Don’t tell me you’ve been taking so long. Shoot her already.”

“What?” I gaped at him. “Are you out of your mind?”

“I told you, man, shoot her already!” Luke uttered it in a clamorous tone.

“Shut up!” Blake snapped. “I don’t need you telling me what to do.”

“Do you have any idea who you’re talking to?” Luke asked Blake in a threatening tone.

“Oh yes, I do,” Blake replied in hushed tones, shifting his face closer to Luke. The both of them glared at each other like they were preparing for a wrestling match or something.

Foster fired a gunshot immediately. The bullet landed in the head of one of the men. The other two shot back at Foster, but he swiftly moved out of the way. So did I.

Luke gave Blake a punch on the face, and the other men wanted to fire their bullets at him. But Foster’s fingers were faster. He shot both of them, and they fell down. Like, wow. That was so incredible. I could tell he was a pro at this.

The brawl between Blake and Luke continued. Exchange of tremendous punches, resulting in injured faces. Foster wanted to shoot Blake, but he had run out of bullets.

He turned his gaze to the three huge men who were lying down, their blood flowing slowly on the ground. I knew he wanted to get a hold of one of their guns.

“Don’t worry, I’ll get it,” I told him, and I ran towards one of the men. Luke continued the battle with 50: BLACK OUT Blake, dominating with vigorous punches.

As I wanted to grab the gun from the man, he opened his eyes immediately, seizing my hands, causing me to gasp in horror. I tried to get his hands off mine, but then he fired a gunshot at my belly. After that, he passed away.

“Ariel?” Luke brought out immediately, surveying me. And with the look on his face, he was not happy with my situation at the moment.

Luke was still staring at me, but then Blake had to break the gaze, seizing his neck from behind. He pulled Luke backwards, and the both of them landed on the ground.

I was just speechless watching them. And then I took my eyes to my belly, which was bleeding like hell.

I took my hands off it, just to see my fingers covered in blood. My eyes once again went to Luke, who was still brawling with Blake.

“Ariel!” Foster moved closer to me, hunkering down. “Don’t worry, you’ll be fine, okay?” He uttered, holding both of my shoulders.

I tried smiling, but it was too hard. The pain was intense, and this might actually be the end. If it is, then I’ll be joining Sir Reynold and others. The ones who cared for me before they left the earth.

“Ariel! Ariel! Look at me!” Foster screamed, shaking me strenuously as my eyes were closing slowly.

Luke turned around, looking into my eyes. I returned the stare, but everywhere eventually turned black.

***

I woke up to see myself in a hospital room. My eyes quickly went down to my belly as I took the cloth off. The wound had already been taken care of. But I was really enervated.

50: BLACK OUT “You’re finally awake.” I heard Luke’s voice, and I turned to see where it came from.

He was right in the room, leaning his back against the wall, his hands dipped inside his pockets, and he was just staring at me. His face was covered with bruises.

“You? How long have you been standing there?” I asked him.

He sighed and took his body away from the wall. “I’ve been here for a long time now.”

“Why exactly?” I threw another question at him.

“What kind of question is that? Can’t you see I’ve been waiting for you to regain consciousness?”

Luke retorted, stepping closer.

I turned my face away. “Well, thank you. But I don’t need you worrying about me.”

“Who said I was worried about you?”

I looked at him. “If you weren’t worried about me, why were you standing there the whole time?”

“So you actually believed me when I said I was been here for a long time?” He laughed after those words.

“Say what now?” I shot him a confused face.

“How’s your body right now? Still feeling the pain?” He inquired.

“A little bit,” I said, and I touched my wounded stomach. “Ouuu!” I glanced at Luke. “Yeah, it still hurts.”

50: BLACK OUT “I’m not going to lie; seeing you in this state doesn’t hurt me one bit.” Luke finally got close to my bed.

“I’m just trying to fulfill the things my grandfather told me to.” He sat on his heels, staring at me. “He made it clear that I should treat you like a princess. And I’m actually trying my best to keep to that.”

“No one’s forcing you. And I don’t need you acting like you care for me.”

“Yes, Ariel, I know that. But a promise is a promise. This was what my grandpa always wanted. He’s gone now, and I want to make him proud from up there.”

I looked at him for seconds. “I can see that. But don’t think you can start messing with me or something.”

“I’m sorry, I don’t get you.”

“Nevermind,” I said underneath my breath. “What happened to Blake anyway?”

Luke let out a deep sigh. “Let’s just say he’s gone back to where he came from.”