"Excuse me ladies...I'll just be heading this way," Amber said as she cracked an awkward grin. Goddamnit, why the hell was she so unlucky? Her eyes met those of the very same girl who had tried to buy Oliver's sunglasses from her.
The girl sniffed, lips spreading into a grin and her pom-pom earrings bounced with her every move. Amber's smile faltered as the girl's lackeys stepped up to block her escape route. She inhaled, clenching and unclenching her fist in an attempt to stay calm. She sent a small prayer to the heavens for help.
"As if we would let you go," one of the lackeys snorted in disdain.
Damn it. Amber laughed. It was a stupid roar of laughter that came from deep within her chest. The action released the fear that held her hostage and it gave her a jolt of liquid courage. Her eyes were darting around madly as the girls closed in around her.
She spotted an opening just as one of the lackeys stepped closer to Pom-pom to whisper something. It didn't even take her a second for her to react. Amber was tearing past them, pushing them aside as she broke into a sprint.
She was speeding across the dark stadium, heading towards the entrance as fast as she could. Her legs were pumping beneath her and adrenaline buzzed over her skin as the world whipped around her in a blurred streak of colours.
She turned her head back to see the girls hot on her heels. They were shrieking as they ran, screaming profanities as they tried to reach her. The sound of their heels clacking loudly across the pavement resounded across the venue.
Amber laughed loudly as she raced forward. The sound that escaped her lips was a little raspy and she was breathless from the lack of oxygen. But she had the advantage in speed, having worn a pair of jogging shoes to the concert. Amber knew she could make it to civilization safely if she kept it up.
She swerved, turning the corner. Her shoes squeaked against the tiles as she moved. She could see the glow of the entrance of the stadium and in her mind, she could picture the security guarding the gates. Just one yell, one scream from her and they would come running to save her.
Amber opened her mouth, ready to let loose the loudest goddamn scream in her life.
Something hard clipped her at the back of her head, and it was a sudden force that sent her careening forward. Her knees scraped against the rough floor, tearing at flesh, causing blood to spill. The blow to her head was enough to send her body forward, her cheeks smashing into the pavement.
She must have blacked out because the next moment something slammed into her face and she was forced awake. She blinked blearily to a swirling world, eyes struggling to adjust and to see. Her ears were ringing once again and her head throbbed with pain. Each painful pulse radiated from the back of her head, spreading across her skin to burn at her temples.
She blinked rapidly, her eyes finally able to decipher the dimmed lights of a single exit sign. Another blink and she could finally make out the silhouette before her. Pom-pom stood before her, her eyes flashing with rage and her lips curled into one of loathing and disgust.
Under the glow of the green light from the exit sign, the group of them looked like devils after her soul. Their features were swathed in green and the colour illuminated their skin such that their eyes glinted, like obsidian black shards. Let's just say it was scary as hell and keep it at that.
"BITCH!" Pom-pom screamed at her, lunging forward to attack. She was so quick that Amber didn't even see it coming. Like the crack of a whip, Pom-pom's hand swept across her skin, forcefully striking her cheek.
The pain woke her up. Her neck whipped to the side from the force and Amber gasped sharply, heaving at the burn of her cheek. It throbbed, hot and warm from the physical attack.
A sickening feeling thrummed in the depths of her guts as she swallowed thickly, running her tongue over the bite wound on the inner side of her gum. The taste of rust spilt across her tongue, having bitten her gum from the force of the slap.
The pain resonated and burned, unleashing an agony that pulsed in her head.
That really hurts!
"What the hell?" Amber gasped, staring up at Pom-pom. She couldn't believe it. Why were they doing this to her? She struggled to stand, attempting to wrench her hands forward only to be stopped by the tug of some kind of rope that clamped her wrists together behind her back. She mentally groaned. Holy shit, they were so ready to go to jail.
"I'm Oliver's friend and he wants it back, but if you really want the glasses that much, then take it," Amber growled. "Oh my God. Why must you do this?"
Amber snapped at them, trying desperately to put up a front against these bullies. But the fear that surged through her body entered her voice, causing it to become a shaky, breathless stammer of words.
"It was about the glasses, but not anymore. You fucking foreigner!" Pom-pom screeched and charged forward with loud angry stomps. The girl fisted her shirt and pulled Amber up to glare at her. The sound of ripping fabric echoed across the area, but Amber could scarcely tear her eyes away from the glint of Pom-pom's eyes.
It was the mad smile on her lips that made her blood run cold.
"You'll never be good enough for our MinJae. Never," she said. Oh, No. Amber's eyes widened at her words, they knew. They knew. They knew about the flower crown—
And then Pom-pom was digging her fingers into her hair and ripping. Her fingers were quick, they snaked forward and snapped away. A blurred motion that Amber's eyes could barely catch in the darkness. She didn't see it coming, but she felt it as loud and as clear as day.
Amber gasped, her eyes bulging out at the sensation.
It hurt more than just a physical wound; different from the signals of pain that tingled at the back of her head. It was not a signal from her nerves to her brain. This was a deeper kind of pain. It burned from within her body, spreading outwards like poison. It ate at her, a feeling of sickness that boiled like acid in her heart.
Pom-pom grinned, clearly happy at her pain. The girl raised her clenched fist revealing the bloodied flowers to Amber and she couldn't help the tears that spilt from her eyes at the sight. The pretty lilac petals were dripping with gold and red and the sight of them like this was just—
Heart-breaking.
"Crying?" Pom-pom cackled maniacally. "Bitch, you don't deserve to fucking cry, you whore!"
She stomped on the pretty petals, ripping at the stalks furiously. Amber watched as she destroyed the lilacs, her heart thumping loudly in her chest. Then there were hands everywhere, and all the girls were before her, their fingers tearing out the flowers from her head.
Amber was screaming. Screaming. Screaming. The sound escaped her lips, guttural and raw. The pain that radiated across her skin, spilling from her heart was never-ending. It was crushing grief that enveloped her body. Her heart quivered and ached as if it were being stabbed over and over again. It felt as if a hot poker had been stabbed into her chest and twisted a thousand times.
Amber was drowning.
Drowning in some weird form of grief and loss that she didn't understand. The loss of the flowers, unwillingly given, made her feel somewhat dirty. And it was so, so painful.
Amber distinctly heard the sound of laughter and shivered. She spasmed under their touch as dry sobs escaped her trembling lips. Somewhere deep within her mind, she could hear low voices talking, each more beautiful than the next. The sounds were calming, reassuring and kind, filled with warmth and love. The peace was broken by a mellifluous scream that mirrored the one escaping her mouth.
It rang loud and clear in her mind and somehow, it woke the slumbering survivor within her. It told her to fight. To fight to live for him.