Chapter Seven

True cowardice is hiding your real feelings. A brave soul will be honest about his feelings irrespective of whether he gets rejected or looked down on.

- Grace Chanbee

[Justin’s POV]

Shortly after Amber confirmed that the man I had caught staring at us, watching us rather, was the same man I had caught molesting her a week ago and threatening her with his pocket knife, I saw him take a few steps back.

I pushed Amber aside and told her to stay put while I went after the man. Without even waiting to hear what she had to say, I proceeded to get the man who was in a crowded area about forty feet from us with the people around paying attention to the magic show going on.

It was obvious that the man had noticed I was unto him as he made a U-turn and pushed away the people in his way, obstructing him from moving through, and I made after him with quick strides, not letting my eyes off the yellow shirt he was putting on, so as to keep track of him.

As I chased after him, we gradually left the area where the local fair was taking place in. soon, people were no longer in sight and we ended up at a dead end.

I didn’t need to walk any faster again as I knew my environment very well and I was aware that there was no other place he could turn to except he wanted to turn around and go forward, and I was absolutely sure doing that was not going to be his first choice as that would lead him to getting to face me one-on-one.

He stopped about five feet ahead of me, looking around as though in search of a way out as he took harsh breaths, panting heavily.

“What now? Keep running, or do you suddenly have arthritis?” I mocked.

I was able to see his full view as he turned around slowly and in a calculative manner. It appeared that he was even shorter than I had thought he was, with a long goatee and various knife scars on his face and neck.

He wore a long-sleeved yellow shirt with baggy jean trousers and a brown pair of boots. His face was vicious as his eyes flashed at me, glaring at me hideously and furiously.

“If you think that look is going to make me scared, you’re a joker,” I said with a snicker.

“You should leave, boy. This doesn’t concern you,” The short muscular psychopath growled.

“Anything that concerns Amber is also my business,” I retorted.

“You even know her name. That means she’s the same girl and not a lookalike,” The man said, appearing thoughtful.

“I don’t understand the garbage you just said but that statement makes it glaring that you are the one who tried to have her killed in the first place,” I said.

“How did you guess that?” He asked.

“I’m not dumb,” I said.

He crossed his arms staring at me.

“Since you’re so smart, can you guess the plans we have today for you?” He asked.

“What plans? And what do you mean by “we”?” I asked,

He guffawed. “Seems you’re not so smart after all,” He said.

“What are you going on about? Stop beating about the bush,” I asked out of sheer curiosity and worry.

“You feel like you caught me staring at you unintentionally and succeeded in catching up with me and now, you can interrogate me all you want. Well, that shows how much of a dumbass you are,’ The man said, still laughing boisterously, annoying the hell out of me.

“Are you trying to say you planned everything?” I inquired.

“Wow! You’re not so dumb after all,” He said sardonically.

“But why will you do this on purpose?” I inquired further.

“Praised you too soon,” He said, bringing out a cigarette.

“Go straight to the point. What’s going on? Is this a trap or something?” I asked, anger seeping within me.

He lit the cigarette and puffed out a smoke, unhealthy smell wafting through the air.

“If I were you, instead of asking godforsaken foolish questions, I’d go to save my darling Amber from impending doom,” He said.

My brain immediately did the math. He and whoever he was working with had led me here intentionally just so I wouldn’t be there to save Amber, should any harm come to her. Gosh! I had been so stupid and foolishly focused on catching up with the man instead of reading in between the lines and saving Amber.

What if something happened to her? I will never forgive myself.

I had promised Amber that I was going to protect her as long as she was by my side. She had been by my side just like I had instructed her and yet, it had been impossible for me to save her life.

I stared at the man who kept on smoking, a glint of amusement in his eyes and an annoying smirk playing around his lips.

I grabbed him by the collar without warning and caused his stick of cigarette to fall because he had been taken by surprise.

“You know, for a psychotic criminal, you are way too fearful and soft for my liking. I swear on my late parents’ grave, if anything happens to my Amber, I’ll find you and rip you apart with my bare hands,” I threatened.

He shivered out of fear even though his face remained tough.

I stared deep into his eyes till he could not meet my eyes again, cowering like a drenched animal, his shoulders drooped.

When I was sure he had clearly gotten the warning message my looks, actions and words had communicated to him, I let go of his collar, leading him to heave a deep sigh of relief.

Unlike him, I wasn’t a mentally deranged animal to go ahead terrorising people or inflicting injuries on them knowing fully well that even though they were guilty of crimes, the law wasn’t in my hands.

I turned around and ran as fast as my legs could carry me, ignoring the psychopath, praying silently that he soon met his end and focusing on finding Amber before the bad men got to her.

I got back to where the fair was taking place, my eyes peering almost out of their sockets, trying to get a glimpse of anything or anyone that looked like Amber.

I went back to the exact spot we had been just before I had seen that psychopath but Amber wasn’t there.

Where could she have gone off to?

I suddenly remembered that I had caught her staring at those children dancing with clowns at the entrance of the fair and so, I decided to go back there in the hopes of seeing her there.

I took quick strides and ran my eyes all over the children who were still there, hoping to see her among them. I was well aware of the fact that it was pretty stupid I thought she will be dancing with kids, but the Amber I knew could do anything even though it seemed as the stupidest thing on earth.

Unfortunately for me, Amber was not there.

I then went to where peacocks were put on display. She loved pretty things and I could swear that she was there, taking in the beauty and pride of the peacocks till I was convinced she wasn’t there; the discovery leading to my hopes being shattered and all messed up.

I checked through the swarms of people watching the various magic shows, the people riding the Carousel horse, the people checking out variety of antique goods and those involved in displaying their greatest embroidery collection; one which I could have sworn she was there since she was very much interested in fashion and things related to it.

However, as usual, she was nowhere to be found and my hope began to dwindle little by little till there was nothing left as the last tinge of hope disappeared into nothingness and could probably never be found again like the mystic kingdom buried under the sea, Atlantis.

I had even decided to ask people around if they had seen her, describing her attributes to whoever cared to listen.

However, the people who had stopped to hear what I had to stay were less concerned and could not give me an answer. Their excuse was that many people had the same features as the person (Amber) that I was in search of.

Some even told me that I should have watched over my child carefully even though I tried to explain to them that there was no way I was Amber’s father as it was impossible for me to have a child of her age. For crying out loud, I was 18, but no one apparently cared about that. They were enjoying today’s events and I seemed to be the party pooper.

I sat under a tree, at its foot, contemplating the next step to take.

What if the bad men had gotten to her before I had gotten wind of what they had planned all along? All through the thirty minutes I had been searching for her in vain, my subconscious mind had kept on whispering to me that I had been too late but I had ignored its discouraging voice which sounded at every turn I took and at every decision I made.

Now, the only choice I had was to consult the soothsayer who claimed to be able to tell the future, but I just couldn’t do such because it went against everything Grams had taught me and everything I practically believed in.

I did not want to go against Grams ethics or betray my integrity but I couldn’t afford to lose Amber.

Gosh! I had acted like a total jerk to her and she will probably go to the grave, swearing that I was the most unreasonable and most annoying guy that ever lived on earth.

I wished I could have expressed the feelings that were growing for her instead of acting like I detested her and like I’d have her thrown out of the house to die in the streets if I had a choice.

I buried my face in my palms as uncontrollable tears slid down my face in regrets and pain I thought I’d probably never feel.

I prayed silently for Amber’s safety and I swore to stop being a jerk if I could just have her back if the universe could give me a second chance.

“Justin, what’s wrong? Are you crying?” I heard Nelly ask.

I looked up to see my sister staring at me in surprise and disbelief.

I wiped my tears with my palms and cleared my throat.

“What’s wrong, Justin?” Nelly asked, now looking worried.

“What are you doing here?” I asked in a low tone, feeling really annoyed that someone had gotten to see me at my lowest moment.

“I told you I was going to meet you at the fair, remember? The kids are even on the merry-go-round with Amber. I just wanted to go get………”

I cut in as my brain registered the name she had just called. “Wait! Did you just say Amber?” I asked, getting up from the foot of the tree.

“Yeah. She’s been worried sick about you, where did you run off to?”

“Where is Amber now?” I asked, ignoring the last question she just asked.

“I just told you. They’re at the games centre, on the merry-go-round,” She responded.

“Thanks,” I said, running to the games centre to go get Amber.

I saw her cheering the children on while looking from place to place, probably in search of me because she was unaware of my whereabouts and I had told her not to come after me irrespective of whatever happens.

I walked to her slowly and with so much relief and she could not see me because her back was turned to me.

I grabbed her by her hand and turned around, causing her to let out a gasp which was not surprising as she had been taken unawares.

She let out a deep sigh and smiled so beautifully upon seeing me.

“Where did you go? I wanted to come after you but you…….”

I didn’t let her finish her sentence as I tilted my head really low, crushing my lips on hers; an act which had been done on impulse and something I knew I wasn’t going to regret even when I was old and unable to stand on my own two feet.

Her lips melted in mine as she parted them, kissing me back, slowly and welcoming.

After about five minutes of kissing judiciously, we let each other go breathing slowly, tasting of each other’s flavour.

“Why did you do that?” She asked, not looking at me, feeling shy or embarrassed.

“Did anyone harass you when I was absent?” I asked, attempting to change the topic.

“No one did. Now, give me an answer to my question,” She said, still not looking at me.

“What question?” I asked, feigning pretence.

“Why did you kiss me? Did your grandmother ask you to do so?” She asked.

“Amber…. I…. ummm……”

“It’s all good, you don’t need to even explain yourself if you’re gonna lie anyway,” She said and turned around, proceeding to leave.

My heart pinched with guilt and remembering I had promised to stop being a jerk if I ever found her again, I knew I had to just stop being a coward.

“Amber!” I called.

She stopped right in her tracks but did not turn around.

“I was really scared when I could not find you where I had last seen you…..”

“I had seen your sister who asked me to come along with her. I did not want to refuse her and I did not want to tell her where you had gone cause I didn’t want her feeling worried,” Amber explained, interrupting me midway.

“That’s all right. I… I was really scared when I didn’t see you. I was overwhelmed with relief upon seeing you again and that’s why I kissed you without thinking,” I said.

She finally turned around. “So what now? Do you regret it?” She asked.

I hesitated then shook my head.

“Why don’t you regret it? Be honest with me,” She said.

I shrugged. “I think I’m falling in love with you,” I managed to say, staring at my feet.

She gave me a sweet smile.

“What now? You’re laughing at me?” I asked.

“You just look so cute. I think I’m falling in love with you too,” She said, winked and walked away.

It seemed like there were a thousand butterflies in my stomach as my heartbeat increased, thumping greatly, even greater than how it had been during Rosalyn’s time.

I could not help but smile sheepishly as my heart leaped for joy.

The short psychopath had bragged about taking Amber away from me, but not only was Amber safe, she also liked me too.

[Author's POV]

The psychopath was glad to have gotten away from Justin who he termed as a busy body as he refused to let him to do his job properly.

He had seen the concern on Justin's face as he was with Amber and he had played on it.

Of course, nothing had been planned.

He had found out about the local fair from his very own family and had gone with the intention of seeing Amber and the guy from the other day since most of Arroyo Grande's natives went there at that time of the year.

Luckily for him, he had found Amber as his instincts had predicted but unfortunately, the guy who had chosen never to mind his business who was Justin of course, had seen him and had interfered.

When he had come to a dead end with nothing as little as a narrow escape from the guy's impending wrath, his brain had worked magically and quickly in finding a lie that worked.

He had told Justin the whole thing was planned and his precious Amber was now in trouble due to his negligence and that had done the trick.

He was set free by Justin who had actually thought Amber was now in harm's way.

He grinned as he saw them kissing from afar. He had been right that they had something going on but everything didn't seem right.

If she was the real Amber, why had she not gone back home? What was she doing in a town of 20,000 people? Why had she not recognised him?

He wanted to inform his partner of the latest development but he knew that nothing ever seemed to please his partner.

He was going to watch Amber and her guardian till they left the fair and he'd follow them stealthily to their home and find out what was really going on with Amber Sanders before giving a call to his partner.

That still wasn't the right thing to do, he reasoned.

His partner needed proof of her death and not where she lived as that was irrelevant. He had been given one week and his time had already elapsed.

"Looks like Amber Sanders will have to die this night," He said to himself, smashing his fist against the nearby wall and grinning evilly, the taste of her blood already on his lips imaginarily.

He had failed before but he was going to succeed this time around.