Hope (A Tragic Short Story)

Pt. 4

The next night, Chance convinced Laurenza to come and finish off the revenge, for only one person was left-- Laurenza's mother. Chance practically had to drag Laurenza out to her old home and Laurenza refused to tell Chance how to get in. Luckily, a window had been left cracked to make up for the lack of air conditioning in the topsy-turvy home. Chance lifted the silent Laurenza through the window and followed after her. Laurenza walked through the house for a while, not wanting to take Chance to her mother, but eventually gave in and took him where he wanted. Laurenza walked into her mother's room and felt relieved that none of her siblings were in there. She tugged on her mother's pajama shirt sleeve and hoped she would wake up and run away.

"What is it, Chil- Who are you?!" Sage, Laurenza's mother, screamed, but felt her voice taken away as the boy she knew not aimed a shotgun at her.

"You were supposed to care and love her! She was your child, but you treated her like a pest! Nothing more than a disappointing nuisance. You put her into an abusive orphanage! You hurt her mind and her body! You are a despicable monster!" Chance cried. Sage's eyes watered and she peered back at the silent girl in the black cloak.

"Amaya? Is that you?" Sage asked, but Laurenza did not answer.

"Her name is Laurenza. You don't deserve to live, let alone give her a name," Chance snapped. He firmed his grip on the gun, but couldn't find a way to shoot it yet.

"Mom..." Laurenza mumbled and it was clear that she was choking on tears that she knew wouldn't make Chance happy.

"Amaya, I never thought I'd see you again! I'm so sorry! I went to the orphanage yesterday, but it was all roped off by the police. I wanted to apologize to you. I know that I have no right to expect you to forgive me, but I want you to know that I truly do feel awful for my actions in my younger years. My parents were extremely racist and were disgusted by you, and I was scared; this is why you never met them. Please listen to your friend and let me die. I cannot sleep soundly at night knowing that I treated you how I did," Sage wailed.

"Mom, no... I-"

"You're right about one thing, you do deserve to die. It's our job to bring justice to a world in which people can't love," Chance stepped closer to Sage, but the end of his gun was met with something else-- Laurenza's hand.

"Chance, this is wrong! Sure, these people have done a lot of bad things to me, but they don't deserve to die! How is this teaching them a lesson? You're honestly just as bad as them if you think homicide is the answer!" Laurenza yelled and her hood fell back to reveal a face twisted with disgust and directed at Chance. Chance was taken aback by the sudden change in Laurenza's eyes, which were once loving and now filled with fiery anger.

"Laurie-"

"Don't call me Laurie!"

"Please, I don't understand. I-I-I did this all... all for you! I worked so hard to get rid of the pain from your past and make a world where you would just be loved. A world for the two of us!"

"By killing people?! Chance, that's not the sign of a lover... that's the sign of a sociopath. If you refuse to end this absurdity then you'll have to shoot me first!" Laurenza yelled and Sage clutched her blankets in sweaty fists. If there was a bystander in this situation, they would likely think that Laurenza had found a love for her mother and had forgiven her, which is incorrect. Laurenza didn't quite believe what her mother had spouted, seeing as answers are likely to be swayed when held at gunpoint, but she couldn't watch another person die for her. This wasn't how she wanted to be avenged.

"Laurie... Laurenza..." Chance's voice was a dull, melancholic whisper. Laurenza's words betrayed him and he couldn't find any stability left in him. He couldn't fathom how Laurenza could turn on him and join the side of the monster who taunted her. "After everything I have done for you... why? Why do you betray me? I saw that you didn't get much sleep last night so maybe that's what is affecting your mind right now. This can't possibly be what you really want. Laurie, Dear, please move your hand and let me finish this for you. You can finally wake up from this nightmare and we can live our happily ever after. If you don't move your hand, I am going to shoot right through it because I know that tomorrow you would be happy, even without a hand, that your abuser was dead. Now, Laurie, my love, what are you going to do?" A sweet, sickening smile danced along Chance's flawless face. His blue eyes sparkled with a love for Laurenza that would never falter. Rivers began to flow from Laurenza's eyes as she heard Chance's question. Part of her screamed to take the gun away from him and end this madness once and for all, but part of her also wanted to step away from the gun and let fate take its course. She imagined a life where all of the villains from her past were gone and she could forever spend her days in the arms of a man who loved her enough to kill for her. It was a sweet, sickening temptation that matched his sweet, sickening smile. She pulled her hand from the nose of the gun and felt Chance's strong hand pat her head approvingly, but, much to his dismay, she was not taking her hand away for the reason he thought.

She wiped her eyes and dug for the courage buried deep within the layers of her soul. The gun no longer was pointed at her, or her mother, for Chance did not hold the gun-- Laurenza did. Chance did not understand why the girl he loved... the girl he thought loved him... was threatening to kill him.

"Chance Coburn... you were the hope I never had. You were the one who returned my faith in humanity. I never knew what love was, until I met you. You showed me how I really should be treated. Chance.... Chance I love you and my heart sobs at what I know I must do. I know you only wanted the best for me, but this has gotten out of hand, and if you can't see that then I only see this ending two ways; I refuse to let one of them happen. Your murders are worse then how these people have treated me, so why does it make sense that they should die and you should live? I'm s-sorry, I'm so, so sorry, but this is how it has to be, Chance. I love you, but this is goodbye." She looked at him with a shine in her deep, brown eyes, seeing hope for the first time.

A gunshot shook the filthy, one-floor home and was followed by the screams of children who had been awoken from their slumber. A girl with golden-tan skin fell to her knees and held the boy she loved close as he drew his last breaths. She could barely hear him mutter "I will always love you, Laurie," over the incessant cries of her siblings and her own violent wails. She sat up over the body of her love and allowed her fingers to dance over the gun that symbolized so much: death, hope, love, chaos, peace. She ignored her mother who kept shouting her old name over and over. Her mind could only think of how she was the real monster. What kind of person kills the one they say they love? The girl of a mere 17 wondered. She began to picture herself as the villain in this story and began to think that her morals were the ones that were twisted.

Another shot riled up the terrified and innocently ignorant children, but then there was peace. The chaos and avenging was over. The bringers of justices and hope had moved on. There was no work to be finished and the story ended almost as quickly as it started. Finally, Laurenza was freed from her prison of fear and pain and could live eternally with the boy who restored her hope.

A.N.

Thank you for reading my tragic short story, "Hope"! As this is my first original/non-fanfiction on this account, I would love if you could leave comments and share with your friends!

Thanks y'all,

-Mika 💖