Heroes

Leaders Of A Lost Country

The note lay still in my hand. Lizzy, the pale shy girl who I'd been friends with for years. Kidnapped. Because of me.
I went downstairs and told Jun.
"Lizzy's gone. I'm going to find her. Don't tell Aria, she's already stressed."
"Wait, Rivio? What?"
"You heard me. I won't be back for at least a day."
"Shit....okay. Good luck man. Bring her back safe." He returned to his cooking glumly, probably to process her disappearance.
Outside, I hopped in the ambulance we stole and began the long trail back.
"Be where this all began."
That obviously meant my hometown. The town was called Letti. Can't believe I never mentioned that before.
What I wanted to know, is who wrote the note?
We never even got a chance to find out why Lui attacked in the hospital. I assumed it was something to do with Aria, but wasn't sure. Back in Letti, my house had been destroyed, my sister killed, and my mother gone. The town was amazing, with great coastal views. I'd like to settle down there one day. Maybe we could go back once this business is over with.

Twelve hours of driving. My barely open eyes reached Letti just before sunset. I drove into town, let in because of the ambulance disguise. Once in town, I revisited Jun's house.
It was a small semi detached brick home. The ground floor had a living room, kitchen and bathroom. The upper floor had three tiny bedrooms and a bathroom. Jun's parents were still not home.
After reminding myself of my memories, I set about finding Lizzy. First, I headed to her house. Aria crashed here all the time, rather than stay with her excuse of a father.The streets were empty, the curfew was in place still.
Lizzy's house was untouched.
Or so I thought. I headed inside, but was instantly met with a harsh smack over the back of my head.

When I woke up, I was in Lizzy's basement. My hands were bound, and I was on my knees. An unconscious Lizzy was to my left, but ahead of me was a hideous man. One of his eyes was missing, and the skin around it was red and raw. He spoke in a gravelly voice,
"My name is William Ebenok. You don't recognise me. You wouldn't."
I was frozen in place.
"The hospital, a few days ago. I was the one who set fire to your room. You were supposed to die that day. For killing my boss! The Scalleti's have the true vision! Freedom for everyone! No matter the cost!" He was delusional.
"You're crazy. The way forward is unity, teamwork! Not your bullshit!"
"I carry on Lui's will! Without me, the Scalleti's will crumble! You will listen to me!"
I had a few ideas.
"You killed Lui Scalleti. Now I'll kill you!"
William raised a sawed off shotgun. Before he could fire, Lizzy tackled him to the floor.
"Rivio! Here!" She threw me the gun.
"NO! YOU CHILDREN WILL NOT RUIN THE FUTURE!"
I fired at the madman. His leg flew off, dismembered by a shotgun shell. I fired again, and the bullets slammed his chest. Dead.
I sighed loudly. Killing was a terrible thing. It never felt right.
"Rivio!" Lizzy ran over to me and hugged me. She started crying. God knows what she's been through.
"It's okay...its over now. He can't hurt you."
The last leader of the Scalleti's was dead. This land was up for grabs now, and I was taking it.
"Lizzy, do you have a way of contacting Jun and Aria?"
"Aria and me both have mobiles...I'm not sure if she has hers. Why?"
"Ring them up, and tell them to get back to Letti somehow. I've got an idea."
After we cleaned up William's body and contacted Aria and Jun, Lizzy went to sleep upstairs. I sat down and eventually drifted off to sleep.

When I woke up, Jun was pouring water on my head.
"Wake up!"
"Dammit Jun, I'm tired."
"What was so urgent that you told us to come back here?"
I explained my plan to him, Aria and Lizzy after.
I decided we could take over control of the Scalleti's. Although Aria hated her father, she was respected throughout the land that Scalleti's owned. Aria would take control, and we would help her. She didn't like the idea.
"I'm all for us taking over, but I want the four of us to work together on this. We should all lead together."
"Sure. You know anyone who could help us?"
"Some of my dad's friends maybe?"
So, now we had a plan. Things were looking up. The four of us could take over the Scalleti's kingdom, and hopefully bring peace to Alaria. We got in contact with one of Lui's ex-friends, Walter Richards. He was furious when he found out about how Aria was treated by Lui. Walter was very well respected. He was a short grey haired man in his late forties. Later in the day, he announced the takeover to the public, and they seemed happy to actually have some stable leaders, even though we were young.
Later that night, me, Lizzy, Jun and Aria celebrated in the old fashioned way of watching movies for hours.
I was excited. We could be leaders of a country one day, and help bring peace to the land. War brought nothing but pain, and I wanted it to stop.
However, something happened when we were watching movies.
Lizzy leaned over to me and whispered.
"Meet me at Jun's house in twenty minutes. See you then Rivio!"
What did she want?