A Matter Of Choice

Chapter 27: A Tragic Backstory

[A/N: Heather/Isabella/Ericka’s parents are Josh Bowman and Amanda Clarke.]

Heather’s POV

All of us were caught off-guard by Lucas’ big revelation. Even I was shocked about it. I always doubted about who I really am, but this time, it is a lot different. I don’t know myself anymore. Who am I? How many secrets about me have been hidden from me? Why does Lucas know about my identity? Unsure, I faced Lucas. “You’re kidding, right?”

He shook his head. “No.”

“How-? Why-? Who-?” I asked in disbelief. Shock got into me real bad that I couldn’t even ask a coherent question. Things were running inside my mind. There are lots of question I want to ask yet I’m not sure if I am ready for the answers.

“I’m not really the one who should do the explaining.” He said, pointing at my necklace. I immediately grabbed the pendant and shouted my outbursts.

“How could you do this, Darius?” I asked, my voice trembling. Tears were attempting to fall from my eyes but I tried my best to prevent them from falling. I am devastated by the fact that they hid the truth I always wanted to know since I was little yet still angry at all of them. Does Kyle know about this, too.

‘I’m sorry, Hea— Ericka.’ He said.

“I don’t need your apology! I need an explanation!” I screamed. I do not care about the others staring at me. I’ve been dying to know about myself for years. Now that I already have a hint of who I really am, I need to know the entire truth.

‘Throw the necklace into the ground.’ He demanded. What?

“What? I won’t just throw away and destroy this thing now.” I said. It’s true. I need this thing to talk to him. I’m not crazy enough to fall into his trap.

‘Throw the necklace now. I’ll explain everything when I’m in hologram.’

Hologram? I turned to Lucas. He was looking back at me, nodding, as if telling me to do what Darius says.

“Trust us.” Lucas says.

Trust? I do not know who to trust anymore. He knew all about me the entire time, too. How could I trust him? I hesitated for a bit but after a while, I realized Darius wasn’t going to tell me the thinks I want to know unless I do what he says.

I sighed. Anxiety was making my heart throb faster than ever. I couldn’t stand much uncertainty, let alone with the feeling that the people I thought were my family betrayed me.

I wasn’t really hoping they would consider me as family. I was never a part of one, in the first place, before this whole pretending thing happened. They created a new identity out of me, a version I thought was better. It is really hard to admit that I actually liked being Isabella than being Heather. Isabella may be a lot more ideal, more perfect, than Heather, and is hard to play, but she has a family. Had. Heather was lonely, with no one to make her laugh at hard times, with no one to stay up all night with her when she has to study. I suddenly remember Kyle.

 Now, it is harder to accept that there is another me. I’ve been playing two roles all these time, after all, none of which is the real me.

Lucas cleared his throat, sending me back to reality. I looked at the glowing pendant one last time before sending it down the rocky ground, my eyes closed.

When I opened them, I saw a blue figure in front of me, a hologram of Darius. I burst into tears at once. Lucas seemed shock at my sudden expression of grief. Luckily, he didn’t just stand there and watch me crying. He asked all the rest to retreat somewhere farther away just to give me privacy. He didn’t leave me. Instead, he stayed by my side, a hand of his resting on my shoulder, showing me that he’s still on my side.

‘You are Ericka Mari Sage.’ Darius started off. I have no idea whether the hologram was recorded or Darius is actually talking in front of a camera right now but I do not care, as long as I know the whole truth.

‘Zeus was a friend of mine. My best friend, to be honest. We were allies. There were no rebels on his time because he was such a good leader-”

I cut him off. “I know. I’ve read about him. Just tell me how I got to the camp and why you hid everything from me.” I demanded.

He sighed. ‘Your father sent your mother and you there, to hide and to be kept safe, when the war began. Katherine was devastated when they parted near the barrier, but she went on her way here, just to make sure you were safe. After a few months, news spread, saying that your father was killed by Chester Beron himself. Your mother said she wanted to see your father, even juts to take a glimpse of him, for one last time before they take his corpse away and bury him somewhere. You were only two at that time. It was one rainy evening…’

Images flashed into my mind like haunting memories as if I was actually there. A two-year old baby girl was wailing, trying to cling tightly on her mother’s hand, while her mother was also in tears. Her face showed that she really didn’t want to leave her child but she did. She gave her a long kiss, probably because she already knew what would happen minutes or hours later.

The hallucinations continued as Darius narrated to me the story I’ve been dying to hear.

She ran away from the crowd of people, the camp, who were staring at her as she was getting farther away. The wails of her daughter pierced her heart. Rain drenched her clothes. Drops ran along her cheeks alongside her tears.

“You didn’t stop her?” I asked in between sobs. Lucas’ hand was placed on the small of my back, supporting me for anytime soon, I would be kneeling on the ground in weakness.

‘I tried.’

A man came after her. Darius. He called out her name and tried to convince her to go back to where she can be safe but she didn’t halt. She went on running until she finally reached the Capitol. Her mud-covered boots stained the white tiled floor which her heeled shoes used to step on whenever she went outside. She was panting, cold and heartbroken.

Peacekeepers opened the huge white door for her, for they were commanded by the new ‘king’ to do so. She went on her way inside. She cringed at the side of blood on the floor, which was followed by her husband’s weak, nearly-lifeless body.

They were wrong. He wasn’t dead when she showed up. He was breathing slowly, curled into a ball on the cold floor. He wasn’t dead, but he was defeated. Lots of people turned against him, leaving only a few of his loyal men standing beside him during the battle. She ran towards her husband but a tall muscular man blocked her way.

‘She kept saying ‘please’, begging for Chester to make way.’

The man won’t budge at first, but seeing his enemy dying, he smirked and moved to the side, letting the crying woman pass.

She knelt in front of him, grabbing hold of one of his bloody hands. It was cold and rough against the skin yet she placed it on her wet cheek. Knowing that it is his wife who was holding his hand, the man twitched a finger, as if trying to say that he was still alive.

‘Chester noticed Zeus’s sudden reaction to Katherine’s touch…’

He ordered two peacekeepers to pull her away as he took out his gun. As soon as the peacekeepers got hold of her, he shot her a few inches near her heart.

I could almost see the wide grin on his face as he watched the two die in front of each other. Thinking about the things Darius said made me want to avenge for my parents. Because of King Chester Beron’s wickedness, I never got the chance to have a mom and a dad.

“Why’d you raise me then?” I asked.

‘Your father is my best pal. I wouldn’t-”

“Best pal? You didn’t even help him!”

‘I did. I tried to convince him to let me in his army but he insisted I stay for you and your mother.’

“Why did you bring me into this, then? To take vengeance?”

‘No.’ He answered, startling me. I expected a selfish ‘yes’ for an answer. ‘I want you to decide. Now.’