Bluebirds Without Wings | Julie and the Phantoms

Malachite

A/N: Yes!! Two chapters in one day because I couldn't help myself. NOTE: This will go from Julie's POV to Luke's. I've never done that before, and I was saving it for this chapter. 

TW: Violence, blood, and needles.

Julie was sweating under her bedsheets, unable to sleep. She had a dream of visiting King Caleb's kingdom with her family years ago. Only this time, everyone in the Kingdom of Malachite did not offer them chocolates and flowers but rather, the other end of a gun. They ran and ran, each one of her family members dropping dead until it was her turn to die next to their riverbank.

She laid still in bed, wondering if Luke was awake. She missed him in the moments they weren't together. She was too used to him now. She sighed and sat up, letting the silence of the area fill her room. She shut her eyes again, starting to hear a distant humming. She didn't think much of it until it got louder. She got out of bed and looked out the window, realizing a helicopter was closing in on the area. She figured Luke heard it too and stared at is as it landed on her side of the house. She couldn't see very well in the dark, but she recognized Bobby's figure. Was war over?

She put on a hoodie and slipped on her flip-flops, walking outside her room to open the front door for him. She looked back at Luke's room and almost went to make sure he was up when there was a knock at the front door. She opened it and saw Bobby standing there with a large man and younger girl besides him. She had never seen them before.

"Hello," Julie said to them, scanning their faces.

"Hello, Princess," Bobby said to her and bowed. He stood up straight and smiled. "The following is nothing personal. I'm just doing my job." Julie raised an eyebrow, looking at Bobby who nodded his head towards her. "Grab her." Julie's heart dropped to her stomach, and she started to back up as the large man got closer to her.

"Luke!" she screamed, starting to run towards his door. The man was fast, and he was able to get her with both of his burly arms wrapped around her, keeping her in place. "Luke!" she screamed again.

"Where is that idiot?" Bobby asked her as she tried to kick the man. It was futile to struggle, Julie feeling nervous and weak. How long had Bobby been plotting behind their back? She almost cried out Luke's name once more before he walked outside of his room with the gun he always carried, pointed high at the man who had her. "Really, Luke?" Bobby rolled his eyes. He took out his own gun, pointing it at Luke. Luke moved his towards Bobby's direction. Luke looked pale and sick, the way he did before he threw up.

"Let her go," Luke told Bobby. His voice was low but shaky. He was trying to assert himself the way he did with her.

"I'll kill you right here and right now," Bobby said casually, loading his gun.

"No!" Julie shrieked. Bobby looked at her and laughed, still pointing his gun at Luke. Julie stared between Luke and Bobby and both of the guns. Luke's hands were shaky, and Bobby was still chuckling. The man's arm around her was tight and as much as she struggled, she couldn't get loose.

"Put the gun down, Lukey," Bobby said, his voice glowering. "Remember sweet Emily and Mitch?" Luke looked at Julie with red eyes and a desperate frown. Julie was so confused. How did Bobby know about Luke's parents?

Luke lowered his gun, and in that moment, Bobby marched up and kicked him in the stomach and to the ground. Luke's gun clattered on the floor as his body hit creaky floorboards.

"Luke!" Julie screamed, getting held back in an even tighter grip. Luke laid on the floor, groaning and coughing as Bobby kicked him a few more times. Julie was horrified, her head was full of blood. Bobby went over to pick up Luke's fallen gun, pocketing it.

Bobby sighed and clicked his tongue a couple of times. "After all we did for you," Bobby told Luke, looking over his body. Julie shivered in place, starting to sob. She was so confused. What was going on? Bobby bent down and pulled Luke by the hair, pulling his head up.

"Let him go!" Julie screamed at Bobby with wet tears reaching her jaw. Bobby looked over at her and smirked, Luke wincing with eyes shut tight. There was blood dribbling out of his mouth.

"And you still defend him," Bobby laughed.

"Why wouldn't I?" she yelled at him. The nerves in her body would not let her speak any quieter.

"Oh, couldn't you tell, Princess?" he smiled at her. "He's always been a true knight of the Kingdom of Malachite."

Everything paused. Then everything fast warded from the first moment she met Luke to a few hours before. It couldn't be. But it was. Julie felt herself crumble once more. One more person to lose?

Her tired eyes looked at Luke in disbelief. His eyes were cracked opened, Bobby's grip still on his hair. Luke mouthed her a weak I'm sorry. Julie started to cry when she heard Bobby say, "Put her to sleep." Julie's eyes shot open, and she started to kick and scream, the girl in the corner coming up to her with a needle. It punctured her skin and she fell asleep.

-

Luke watched them carry Julie's sleeping body out of the house, Bobby's hand still pulling on his hair. Without notice, Bobby used his free hand to punch Luke in the jaw, sending his head to hit the hard floor.

"Do you remember where you are from?" Bobby asked him, standing over him. Luke could only make out a blurry shadow of the man. Bobby kicked him in the ribs, making Luke cough and choke on his own spit. "Do you remember where you are from?" he asked him again, this time louder. Luke nodded, holding onto his throat as he coughed. "Where?"

"Malachite," Luke whispered to him, his throat sore with spritz of blood. He hadn't spoken his true home's name in so long. He forgot what it was like to talk about it with people, to be in a room with one person who was from there, too. Bobby looked so bored.

"I won't tell the King what you did because I'm a good person," Bobby said. "Get up and come with us, or I can shoot you dead now." Luke forced his legs to move as much as his hip hurt, Bobby pushing him forward and out the door. "Time to go home."

-

A/N: LMFAO okay so who saw this coming?? I've only ever had one person be suspicious like two or three chapters ago but it was never about Luke's true origins, it was about the King in Bobby's text. Everyone seemed to very convinced he was from Silvone. I dropped hints through this entire story, from the very start up until now. Luke was always going to be an imposter hehe. That's why I updated twice today, I didn't want to make you guys wait for the truth anymore, and I was excited to write it. There's still more layers to the story, though, and that will get revealed in the coming updates.