END OF DAWN II

My family's riches and fame makes my life noisy and I live every day thinking of ways to lessen it all.

They have appeared on every media screen over a billion times and still counting without me. As much as people know that my father has two sons, it is still a mystery to them what the second son looks like.

The media are cultured. There has never been anyone on my trail. No paparazzo has blindly ruined my hide. Sometimes, I'd believe Mr. Nazit, my father's chief security officer, has a lot to do with it.

My older brother enjoys the media and the attention it is fetching him. He is not only popular on everyone's television and phone screen, but he is also popular among the country's ladies.

I'd listen to all the talks of girls with his friends, how he is bored with Miss A, ready to start up with Miss B, and admiring Miss C. He is the country's playboy.

I don't pity those girls for that is what they truly deserve when they greedily flock after for his wealth and influence. He is handsome too.

Why wouldn't he be? He is the only son eager and ready to spend the family's money and that is one thing my parents ensure he does at full cost. He buys and owns everything he wants. At 18, he owns the world.

At this very moment, he would be rolling on his bed until 9 A.M before he would magnificently walk himself to the bathroom and dress his *ss to school.

He will be graduating in the next three months. I am certain to be the only one keeping track of data in his academic life, James cares little about it.

We do not attend the same school. That would be a great mistake on my stake. If I care to maintain this anonymous life of mine, I need neither my elder brother nor younger sister in the picture. We are only related at home. Everything outside our mansion is different, especially that of my brother and I.

James keeps a basket full of friends, while I don't even know the name of the eye-glassed boy who sits beside me both in the school bus and classroom.

He drives his expensive car to school whereas, I walk out of the house to the farthest bus stop to take the school bus. His luxurious lifestyle breeds him lots of attention while the only thing that notices my existence is the ground I'd walk on and maybe, the eye-glassed boy and bus drivers.

I love the zero attention-gained part the most, for that is exactly what I intend to maintain throughout my years here in this high school and perhaps, in my lifetime. I have attended this school without any media camera secretly following me like they do follow my brother buzzing for answers whenever my parents hit the headlines.

I am still on the quest to know how my brother has the right answer to their questions each time I see him on the screen beaming with huge manly smiles responding like a pro. He finds this entertaining. He takes forever to dress out of the house for he ought to be ready as always for the media.

As I am about to leave the house at 5:50 AM, Mrs. Grater, our old housekeeper who has refused to retire on my parent's pleas, has woken up before me again to get my lunch pack ready and make me drink a cup of milk as breakfast.

I don't mind getting this from the school's cafeteria but she has sworn to ensure I don't skip meals no matter how early I plan to sneak out of the house.

"There you go my boy," comes her voice from the doorway.

She triumphantly handed me the glass of milk.

She has once missed doing this because I left the house earlier. She nearly died of heartbreak. I disliked how I kept the old woman the whole day when I was told by my brother that she refused to taste a thing saying she would punish herself for failing to feed her grandson. My brother skipped school as well to console her as she cried over my hungry stomach.

Hungry stomach, of course not. I overfed myself at the school's cafeteria on that day, if she had known.

I also never tried to sneak out on her again because I haven't forgotten how I had such a terrible night after she made me eat breakfast, lunch, and dinner all at once. Again, I do not want to be a gateway for James to skip school.

"Morning, Granny."

I took a sip of the milk and returned the glass for I was in no mood to taste anything this early, I never have been.

I had no chance to refuse when she supported the glass with her palm back to my mouth.

"All the way, now drink up, drink up, up...Ha, ha."

She kept singing as I gulped down all the liquid. Granny has never been seen as an employee in the family.

She is recognized fully as the oldest member of the family by every one of us. She is the only one who has the leverage to lock up my dad in his room one morning after he arrived from a business trip.

She knew my dad would come down again to go to work the next day, so she woke up earlier to lock him up, demanding he take a day off to rest. Despite how cold my dad looks, she never feared him like other employees.

Dad had no option but to beg Mrs. Grater to open up the room that he promised to come back early that day and rest, which he did for dread of being locked up in his own house again.

"Thank you, Granny," I said and placed my lunch pack in my bag as well.

I ended up calling her Granny since she wouldn't stop treating me as her real grandson.

"Off you go my boy," she said while adjusting my backpack.

My brother once accused her of taking extra care of me than everyone else. Of the truth, I can tell she loves me and she should be proud, the feeling is mutual.

I have this special relationship with her. She pays keen attention to my mood and most times, sings and dances to lighten it. She'd succeed at every trial. Even when I try to ditch her efforts, I find myself laughing out loud.

I don't have such a relationship with my mother. I once caught her looking at Granny and I in the kitchen when I helped with the dishes, talking and laughing. I know I saw the jealousy in her stares but was told it wasn't after I talked to my brother about it.

"Mum can never be jealous of Mrs. Grater, we are family and family do not get jealous of each other. She must have been touched." James explained that night as we played a video game in his room.

My brother might look expensive and unapproachable on the outside, but he has never given me any reason to keep away from him. We talk about everything.

Yes, everything. He might have laid down a lot of people in his life but he has never hurt me. He cares for me just like he is obliged to as his younger brother. This is why I don't dislike how he mistreats other people, I think they all deserve it, especially the ladies.

I left the house at exactly 6:05 AM and walked down the deserted road sniffing every freshness of the morning with a few public sweepers, doing their job.

A couple of early morning joggers swiftly passed me and I turned to them wondering if they feel the warmth of the morning as they jog too.

"I should jog sometimes," I thought. It might improve my body structure but I know it will remain a thought. I do not like exercising or engaging in anything that can make me sweat...I rather remain this slender and unstressed.

The male jogger half turned as well to stare at me. The curiosity in his eyes sent his thoughts to me in an instant. I do not blame him, it is not usual to see a student up the street this early.

The city looks so beautiful and fragile at this hour until the dwellers like my brother wake to corrupt it with their noises. It is never noisy around here though, everyone tends to be mature and self-indulgent.

As I got closer to the bus stop at 6:35AM, I halted out of shock at the loud bash of a black van in front of me. I wasn't sure if this was an accident until I saw two hefty guys with face masks jump out of the van.

One swiftly placed something over my mouth and nose before I could register their faces. It then occurred to me that I am about to be kidnapped. I struggled hard to free myself from their grip.

My struggle was useless. I was overpowered within seconds. I think this might be me, facing my last minute on earth, I need to fight until my last breath.

I shook my body countlessly but the grip was tight and whatever that was placed on my nose was suffocating me.

At this moment, everything became blurred and unreal. I felt my body floating in the air as I drifted into unconsciousness