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Sage was born to take the stage her mother walked on. Her mother raised her to after all. Wasn't this her life's goal? It became more of a mystery of who her mother was as the days went by. As the days slowly ticked by Sage began to doubt everything she knew about her mother.
She began to wonder if she was walking down the path of jealousy or envy.
The line was becoming blurry.
If Sage was feeling the hindering emotion of jealousy, what do you think she would do? What could Sage do?
"Julian."
Julian instantly froze at the familiar voice. He turned around slowly and dramatically. His eyes met with the beautifully brown-skinned woman whose name was so sacred to him he would not dare to utter it carelessly. The ethereal brown skin woman could probably kill him if she wished for it.
"Long time no see, suicide boy." Sage smiled at him gaily. It would be an understatement to say that he was just scared of Sage.
"W-what do you want?" He backed away from her but failed shamelessly. They were in a crowded high school hallway after all. Those hallways could be warzones if you've ever seen one before.
She tilted her head at him like it was obvious she came to ask him for a favor. "Julian I need you to find some people for me." Julian's eyes widened, he suddenly felt fortunate that this pretty lady was asking for his help.
Was it really fortune or bad luck?
"W-why w-would I do that f-for you I-I don't owe you a-anything!" Julian expressed his words in a stutter. He was obviously frustrated, it was a miracle that he was actually standing up for himself. He felt a sudden boost of confidence, because somehow, somewhere in his brain, he was convinced that he could win against a girl.
But sadly, Sage isn't just any girl.
Sage furrowed her eyebrows at him and it immediately shut Julian up. "Julian." She gleamed happily and although her smile was beautiful, he needed to be extremely careful of his actions. This girl reeks of trouble.
"Will you find some people for me?" Sage asked again but in a more demanding voice.
"Of course."
Julian said that more quickly than he meant to. In reality, he shouldn't have said that at all, because now, no matter what, he had to listen to whatever Sage wanted from him. Julian glanced around the hallway to make sure no one had seen him.
"Great, follow me." Sage walked through the crowd swiftly and quickly as Julian followed closely behind. They both made their way to the front of the school as they both casually strolled out.
Sage slowed her pace as she started to approach a bus stop."Uh, where are we going?"
"You'll see." Sage smiled at Julian and left him stunned. Truly, a scary woman. After spending 10 minutes riding the bus they finally decided to board off. Then Sage began walking again until they reached the Richard's family home.
Julian only watched Sage. He hadn't asked anything since the bus ride and he figured it would be better for him to just keep his mouth closed. Questioning the situation gets him nowhere. Soon they arrived behind the big white house known as Sage's new home. "Milly!" Sage shouted blatantly as she waved her hand in the air. Julian held his backpack close to his body as if it would get snatched away from him if he wasn't careful enough. Sage turned and smiled at Julian again, but this time it wasn't bitter sweet, it was just plain bitter her smile was almost forced.
"Milly tells me you're great at finding people." For some reason, the name Milly was oddly familiar to Julian. When he finally turned his gaze up at the blonde girl his body instantly froze. Milly grinned when she noticed the horrified expression on Julian's face.
Why was Milly so familiar you ask?
She was simply a middle school nightmare to Julian. She was someone he had hoped to forget but just seeing her evil face brought back many unpleasant memories to Julian. Why did he always end up meeting one psychopath after the other? Milly was bad, but Sage was 100 times worse. If Sage had asked him to cut off his hand he would probably do it. Just the mere thought of what Sage would do to you if you didn't listen to her or talk back to her, or even ignore her, it would be like charging towards death itself.
"Y-yes that's right." Sage turned towards Milly excitedly, like she was silently signaling her that she did something right for once. "You brought your laptop right?" Milly asked Julian while squinting her eyes.
Julian quickly nodded his head and rummaged through his backpack. He pulled out a silver case that held his laptop. Sage's eyes grew wide with anticipation. She looked towards Milly who was baffled to meet Sage's eyes again. Without Sage having to tell her it was like she already knew what she wanted.
The photo card from the beige box.
Milly looked towards Julian with demanding eyes. "Find anything and everything related to Black Jack. Be it cards or company's you mustn't let anything go unheard."
Julian stared at the blonde girl like he was being commanded by someone who could end his life at any moment. The question is if Milly could do such a thing, after all, she is only 14 years old-- so Milly hasn't killed, as of yet.
Milly pointed to a table and chair right behind the house. As if already knowing what to do, he went towards it and began to type away on his laptop.
No questions asked.
Minutes had passed and Julian was reciting everything he saw during his research. Although half of this information was somewhat useful it wasn't what Sage was looking for. It was like she was trying to find an obvious hint even though she was obviously not going to get one.
Suddenly the typing speed at which Julian was researching suddenly increased drastically. Milly only watched him struggle before asking the obvious, "What's wrong?"
"I clicked a link on this shady website called 'Black JCK'. As soon as I clicked on the link it kicks me off the website, but I can clearly see the name black jack on the screen."
Milly glanced at Sage who was staring at the computer with squinted eyes. "So what do you think this means?" "It means someone is trying to prevent me from accessing the website. I think we've been found out." Although it wasn't happy news Sage had a wide smile on her face.
Milly noticed her expression but decided to not point it out. She realized that asking questions and doing things out of turn was a mistake she would never do again.
"It's alright, at least we know where to look."
As Sage said this at the same time a black limo was quietly driving down a busy street in an unknown part of the world. A man in the back seat of the limo stared at his phone with an unhappy grin.
"Laurence."
"Sir?" answered the man who was driving the limo. His hair was pure white, but it was not natural, it gave him a unique look for a driver.
"There seems to be a few rats that have gotten out of their cages. You know what to do right?"
"Of course sir."
The man sitting in this vehicle was no ordinary man. In fact, he was well known in the business world. He was tall and lean and looked quite young to be in this type of 'business', but this was normal in his family.
The Jones family.
A corporation that ran things from the shadows. And this man, this very man, that was sitting in the backseat of this limo, was quite an important man. As he is the 3rd most important person in this secretive family.
And his name was Donovan Jones.
"Ms. Jones, what will you do now?"
Sage grinned at Milly happily, " I won't do anything." Julian stared at her with disbelief. After sitting in a metal chair for more than an hour, and finding information just for her, she decides to do nothing? He stood up abruptly, surprising Milly so much that she immediately took 3 steps away from the table.
"Are you crazy? What's wrong with your head? Why did you even bring me here?" Julian was practically yelling in Sage's face. She immediately begins to laugh at him. At that very moment, Julian had finally thought that he should've stayed inside the school.
He should've listened to his own thoughts.
"So what?"
"What?" His eyes were wide and confused.
"I'm asking if you think I care? You followed me with your own two feet without a single complaint and now you're getting angry at me?"
Julian realized she was right. Why didn't he turn and walk the other way when she was talking to him. Why did he board that bus? Why was he here?
"Julian, haven't you realized what type of person I was by now? Don't you remember our first meeting?"
Julian remembered it vividly even though their first encounter was over a month ago." I didn't mean to interrupt your act of trying to end it, but would you like to continue what you were doing that day?"
She just asked Julian if he would like to die.
"What?" Julian's eyes were shaking with fear. He didn't know what to say, it was suddenly hard to speak. "Do I have to spell it out for you Julian? You're not a little kid anymore. You're able to make your own decisions. It's pathetic that I even have to hold your hand to get you to understand."
"I'm starting to think that the useful companion Milly suggested is getting useless." Milly fiddled with her fingers as Sage gave her a threatening side-eye. "No, Julian is very useful, but now that he was blocked out of that website what do you think would happen?" Milly asked an obvious question.
They had tried to get into something they weren't supposed to, so now they will face the consequences. Sage began to walk away from Milly and Julian, watching them with a grin on her face.
She especially watched Milly.
Julian watched the expressions on Milly's face as Sage watched her. He noticed that she held a look of worry instead of respect when looking at Sage. "Why do you call her Ms. Jones and why do always act so stiff around her? Does she have something on you?" Milly dropped her scrunched face still and glared at Julian.
"She's just different. She has something she can give me, and if I follow her I can get it."
"How do you know she isn't lying to you?" Julian's question was rather simple and very harmless, but for some reason, that very question made Milly very angry.
How dare he disrespect Sage right in front of her.
"You have no idea what Sage is like. You've only just met her and you will continue to meet every day if she pleases." They had a moment of silence as they stared at each other.
The backyard of the Richard's family home was awfully quiet, but not in a pleasant way.
"What do you want Julian? I'm sure Sage, no, Ms. Jones can give it to you."
What does Julian want?
All his life he has been working himself to a grave. His mother, his father, and his entire family looked at him like he was some disease.
In reality, Julian was born as an illegitimate son in a rich political family. He was born with no care and tossed away as soon as he was born.
For most of his life, he spent it being tortured by his half-siblings and being shunned by his biological father. The tormenting only grew worse as he grew older. He didn't take care of his body properly and that made him mentally and physically weak.
A perfect target for people looking for stepping stones in power.
And one day Julian decided he had enough. He planned his death perfectly. It would be before the school day even started. He would stand in front of the rooftop railings and watch the sun before he slowly falls forward.
But the sun was farther than he thought and the ground seems millions of miles away?
Why was the air so cold? Why was the rooftop so high off the ground?
Suddenly Julian was scared. Why was he so afraid? This was something he wanted to do, wasn't it?
He wanted to die, right?
The question circled in his mind he was in a trance. The answer came to him as fast as it left him. He grabbed the answer and spoke it in words that sounded so desperate it made your heart physically hurt.
"I-I want to live."
Milly smiled, pleased with his answer. "And to live is what Ms. Jones will give you. She can allow you to live."
Julian nodded his head in full agreement. He understood perfectly now. Everything made sense.
Sage can give him what he wants. All he has to do is follow her and he will receive his payment.
He must follow Sage.
He must follow Ms. Jones
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End of Chapter
Next Chapter: The 7th Mistress
~Krenzacole
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