DEADLY LOVE

 

"DEADLY LOVE"
BY AIMAN AHMAD

It was a normal day in St. Petersburg, Florida. Everyone was going about their schedule. When suddenly there was a blast in Fort de Soto Park. All of the people there started running towards the exit but, one man did not leave his place. He was standing there like he had accepted his death like he knew he was going to die right there right now or maybe he was too terrified to move. Suddenly a girl came in from the side and pushed the man aside and make some gestures, which seemed like she was trying to control the blast. The man who now was on the ground looked at her dumbfounded not knowing why she pushed him aside but then he came out of his thoughts and saw that the blast did not reach him like there was a hurdle in front of him that protected him from the destruction. That girl as soon as the blast potentially did not destroy everything in sight, ran from there. The man also ran behind her to stop her but, it seemed to him like she vanished in thin air.

The girl opened the door of the house and went inside, as she was taking off her shoes, she saw her mother come downstairs, she instantly knew from the expression on her face that her mom knew what she just did. Her mother spoke; “Samantha Carter I know what you did just now, how many times have I told you not to do those kinds of things, you risk exposing us all, I will not forgive you this time. As your punishment you cannot use your powers for anything this week and no discussion about it”. Samantha knew at the time she used her powers to stop the blast that she was going to get punishment for it but she did it anyway, she believed that if someone had powers to stop the bad things that happen to people, they should use them to help other people out no matter the consequences.

Samantha Carter was 16 years old; she was an only child. Her family was ancestral witches and warlocks. They made almost no contact with the mundane people only the necessary contact, they were the only family of witches in St. Petersburg, those days were gone when it was said that this place was swarming with witches. Sam’s grandmother was a powerful witch and also a compassionate one, her mom believed that her compassion was because of her grandmother, whom she was very attached to until she died two years ago. After her death, Sam did not speak to anyone for a month and now, she was trying to be like her.

Sam went into her room and lay on the bed, she looked around, the whole room was painted black and grey, the tiles on the floor were also black but nobody could see them because of the plush woolen carpets, all the furniture was also grey and black. The setting of the room reflected the seriousness and maturity in her personality, she was not like other girls who were carefree and did not have a worry in the world, she had more serious things to do in her life. Suddenly the guy from the park popped into her mind, she was sure that he was the only one who saw her clearly and also knew about the blast because he was standing too close and then she became tense knowing that guy had seen her use her powers, she decided to wipe his memory of that incident, it was another one of her gifts. But she had to look for him first, it was rather difficult to find someone in the population of almost three million people.

The next day she went to school, Sam did not have many friends, there was only one person who qualified as her friend and that was Ashley Brown, she was a little blunt but she was a very good person who was always ready to help others and that is what Sam liked about her. Ash was the only person who knew the reality of Sam beside her parents, Sam still remembered the day she told her, Ash was so cool about it and dealt it with like it was not that big a deal. She was the only person Sam could talk freely, so she came to the school and told her about the incident that happened in Fort de Soto Park and asked her help to help find the guy who saw her use her powers. Then the hunt for the mystery guy began, they moved around the city asking people about him but they could not find him. They both soon realized that it is all in vain, if Samantha could use her powers then surely, they would have found him by now but Sam’s mom had restricted her from using the powers.

One week passed like that, one day Sam was walking home after school and that guy unexpectedly popped in front of her and the first thing, he asked her was “What are you?”

It all happened so unexpectedly that Sam thought she did not know how to speak; she then dragged the guy with him in an alleyway nearby and asked him; “What do you mean what am I?”. the boy scoffed and said, “Oh come on! No normal human being could do what you did that day”. Sam tried her best to convince him that the blast was not that big and she did not do anything to contain it or more like she could not do anything, she also asked him that how many people he had said that to he said that “I did not say anything to anyone, and even if I did no one would believe me”.  She wanted to wipe his memory of that incident but she did not like the idea of him forgetting her just like that. So, she gave him and a time and place to meet and said that she will tell him everything.

Next day they met and she told him everything and found out that his name was Luke, there was an attraction between them, Luke reaction was normal, he was scared at first but after meeting her frequently that hesitation and a little bit fear that was there in the beginning was now gone. They liked each other very much. They met every other day, Sam’s parents had told her that she could not ever develop a relationship with a mundane, she did not pay much attention to it but, she did not know at that time, it was her biggest mistake.

That attraction was now turned into love, Sam's parents did not know about anything and of course, they would not approve of it because, in their society, their reason for marriage was not loving but only a sense of duty. Sam had seen that in her parents’ marriage that was why she was neither close to her mother nor her father. One day she was talking to Luke on her phone, she forgot to close the door, her mother who was just passing by heard her conversation and she was infuriated upon finding out about Luke. She did not show Sam that she knew about Luke rather she went to her husband and they both prepared a plan as cruel as it can get, they decided to get rid of him somehow. So, one day Luke died in an accident.

Sam was devastated, she cried and cried for days but the pain did not subside, if she had power, she would have resurrected him but there is a limit to everything if there was not there would only be chaos in this world.

Weeks passed like that, one day she heard her parents talking, she hid behind the wall and listened to their conversation because they were talking about Luke. She then found out that they killed Luke. Sam’s face became pale and her face was expressionless, if someone saw her at that moment, they would be able to tell that she is a dead person walking, there are two types of deaths; first, where one’s soul leaves one’s body and the second where one’s soul dies but the body goes on living, Sam at that moment suffered the latter. After that, she left home never to return. Her parents did not know what have they done to themselves and that was the bitter reality of their lives.