Someone Important

"I remember that time, when I first met Lucian. He was, how should I put it, such an unsocial and weird kid. A kid who would not talk to anyone or socialize much.

Initially I thought he was unable to do so, but after I got to know him better, I realized that he was capable of forming human connections more than anyone, but he chose not to.

When I asked him why this was the case, I think I got a reasonable answer. He said, "Because that's what my heart says". He followed his heart.

But that's not the most significant detail I recall. After being with him for more years, I wondered why he was so frank and open to me. Why no one else? After gathering some courage, I ultimately asked him this too. And the answer was as skeptical as the first one.

He said, "I don't know."

I know right, it's funny. He is funny, really funny. I remember everything about him.

There's another interesting story about him he told me.

He was really bad at academics for most of his childhood, as he was rather interested in art and music. He would sit in his room all day, either listening to or making music, or painting.

At first, I used to wonder how his parents used to react when they used to see Lucian's exam results, failing again and again. But later, I got to know that he has only his father, and to me at least, he is nothing less than an angel to Lucian.

And his mother? He told me that his mother left his father after 1 year from his birth. He saw his mother for a very little amount of time. But he still remembers her face.

Lucian's father allowed him to do everything. His bad academic performance didn't affect him at all. His father was really really rich, and was a painter himself as well. I guess the love of painting is genetic after all.

Growing up in a rich household, being allowed to do everything you love, while also getting parental love, all of those were alien to me. But for Lucian it was normal. In other words, his father was the ideal parent for any child.

And then one day, after he crossed 10th standard, he gained some interest in his academic books all of a sudden. And he decided to give those books a try. Then something unbelievable happened, I didn't even want to believe it. Lucian read everything from 6th standard to 10th standard in just one night, and learned every minute detail about every subject. That was when I learnt that I wasn't friends with someone ordinary.

But I also remember Lucian telling me once that his father was also the reason why he couldn't trust anyone so easily. His father raised Lucian the way Lucian wanted, not the way he should be raised.

Lucian wanted to not socialize and trust others. And that's exactly what his father allowed, not forcing Lucian to go outside or form friendships. Due to this, he grew up the way he wanted.

But I, I know that he isn't the same anymore. In his near-adult days, he wanted to feel what it means to love and trust, but his own upbringing and instincts restricted him.

I was called a waste for most of my life, unloved, uncared for. But just around 6 years later, now, I am here. I betrayed him, I'm away from my close ones. For one, I'm a traitor, and for the other, I'm a heavy responsibility. And for both? Hostage."

Aria was laying on her bed, her face dry yet wet, wet from the tears coming from her closed eyes.

"I wonder if he misses me the same.", Aria changed her position.

"But then, why would he? I turned him down without informing him anything, or in other words, betrayed.", Aria started weeping.

"Those bastards, why did I submit? I could have overpowered them, right?", Aria spoke through her weeps, "My mind is not working now.

When is this gonna end?!"

5 minutes later,

At Lucian's house,

"Nicolo, is the footage ready?", Ralph asked while sitting on the sofa.

Lucian was sitting on his bed in the same room, reading a book.

"Yes! See it.", Nicolo turned the laptop towards Ralph, and started the recorded footage.

"If it was stolen around 1 and a half hours ago, then skip around 5 hours and lemme see."

Both Ralph and Nicolo kept their eyes on the screen for about 5 minutes before they saw something unusual. The footage screen just turned fully blank, leaving nothing to see anymore. Not even sounds were being heard.

"What!? How did this happen?", Ralph replayed the clip, "It just happens suddenly! Out of nowhere! Who? Who the hell did this?"

Ralph was thinking, but finally spoke out, "Nicolo. We lost. The Ghost hacked our cameras as well, we have no way out of this. We lost. He found a way to break my trap, break my plans, and hack technologies. There is nothing he can't do. No matter what we do or what we do, we'll always lose. My life wasn't meant for greatness…..", Ralph was still mumbling words, as his words started fading out.

At that moment, he seemed like a person who lost every hope he ever had, not having any further motivation to live, just mumbling on and on.

Nicolo noticed that Ralph was not in the room anymore, he physically was, but his mind had descended somewhere else, deep under.

"Hey! Ralph! What happened? Are you listening?", Nicolo shook Ralph with his hands. But Ralph was still mumbling words while his eyes were on Nicolo, but he wasn't seeing him.

Lucian was viewing both of them, hearing their conversation.

He finally stood up and started walking towards Ralph.

Ralph was still mumbling, while Nicolo was still trying to wake him up from this daydream. But the daydream came to an end only when a shadow entered it.

Ralph saw a shadow, a shadow who had nothing but its mouth. He was speaking but he couldn't hear it. As that nobody started producing sounds with its mouth, the already shattered world around Ralph started breaking down even more.

Slowly but surely, the shadow was becoming an actual person, and as the darkness fell out, the ground below Ralph was broken, which instantly made Ralph stop his daydream. And the shadow became Lucian Cole.

"Ralph? Ralph? You just said that 'The Ghost' has stolen something? Right? Shouldn't that mean I should be out of your suspicion list? Honestly I'm tired of this.", Lucian spoke, directly looking at Ralph's eyes.

Ralph didn't look at Lucian until now, and when he did, he just kept staring at him.

"What? You don't think so? But you took away everything I had, including my mobile phone. Why should I be suspected anymore?", Lucian had a tired look on his face.

Ralph didn't answer, so Nicolo tried to, "Yo-You are right. Don't worry you will be freed. You have paid your fine for assisting a criminal after all, there is no law that allows us to watch you anymore."

The footage on the laptop was still playing, the blank screen was gone, and the room with the locker was visible, except the locker wasn't there anymore.

"And….And I understand your situation….", Nicolo was about to continue but was interrupted by Ralph all of a sudden.

He said quietly, "You're right, you're not the ghost. We are leaving your house today…"

4th House, Gerold Street,

"Aghh, that was intense. I didn't think I would be able to hack all of those cameras successfully, while avoiding all the people there. But now, now I'm very close to completion. You, just wait, I'm coming soon…..