Temper tantrum... or something far worse?
Feb 21, 2015 0:27:50 GMT
Post by Admin on Feb 21, 2015 0:27:50 GMT
Her final year and it was finally over!
Amberlyn straightened her dress as she stepped from her transport and keyed the lock pad. It had been a gift from her dad on her graduation. She had managed to go a full year without anything odd or weird happening around her. Her father told her if she behaved and quit acting out, he would get her the transport for graduation. One year later and here she was, about to leave for Academy. One final dance with her friends and then they would scatter across the galaxy to find their futures. Hers, of course, would be in legal law. Her father was the best lawyer in the province and her mom had once been a great lawyer before settling down to raise her and her older brother Brian. Brian had been working in their dad’s law firm as an intern for almost a year. He was about to make a step up in his career soon, too. She checked her deep black hair, tied up all twisted with silver ribbons, in the vehicle's reflective glass one final time... perfect!
Life was perfect.
The night went as expected. The hotel that let them have their soiree had given them then use of the upper two floors and the rooftop ball room. She had been drinking, like everyone else, and having a grand time. As she felt her head get light, she laughed and ordered a round for her and her three closest friends. Jinny was going to the Academy with Amber, though she was studying to be an accountant. Marlan was heading off to join the Republican Army like his older brother had. His brother had been killed when the Empire attacked Telos. His career had been short, but his honors long. Marlan didn’t care about honors, just picking up where his brother had left off.
Then there was Johno. He and Amber had been on again off again since primary school. She had ended it last summer when she noticed her clumsiness and troubles always seemed fueled by him. At 17, a promised car outweighs some boy she would leave behind anyway. He was heading off world for special technical training. He had wanted to take her along. But her plans on staying behind had merely inflamed his rage. It had taken nearly a month for them to find a comfortable “in between”.
After a couple more rounds, they were all dancing in the spinning lights and all of them were in a cluster in the heated night air. After a while, Amber excused herself from the mob of dancers and stepped out on the terrace. Crystal lights hung from strings across the terrace that surrounded the glass clad ball room. She was leaning on the stone railing looking at the city lights below and relaxing. Closing her eyes she didn’t hear Johno come up behind her. She jumped slightly as he ran his hand over her bare shoulders exposed from her strapless gown. Her wrap had been discarded hours ago.
“We should be together, Amber…” His hand caressed her shoulders and he smiled. “Tell me you are still mine…”
She shrugged off his hand and turned around shaking her head as she stepped back. “No, Johno. We aren’t going to do this again, please. It’s been almost a year. I thought you were past this.” She moved to step around him and return inside. She was happy with her buzz, but he was slowly killing even that pleasure from her.
“No…” he grabbed her arm as she stepped closer. “You needed time, that’s all. I know if I just let you have the year to wrap your head around being with me, you would see it’s meant to be. Even our families think it’s a good idea.” His grip tightened slightly as he spoke.
She growled and yanked against his grip. “Please, Johno. My dad doesn’t agree. You know that. Even your parents said us going our separate ways would be best. We have different dreams now. The betrothal was broken legal and fair on both sides.” She whimpered slightly as his grip tightened and she pulled against it.
“NO!” his nails dug into her upper arm and he tugged down forcing her to bend with the pain. “No, Amber. They just said that. Everyone wants us together. You know you want this as much as I do. Just submit. My mother loved my dad eventually. You will love and obey me in time, like her. So, now… tell me you love me. Tell me it was a mistake. That you just wanted to teach me a lesson. That you will be mine now like you should be.” His words dropped to a near growl as he slowly dragged her arm down forcing her lower.
Something inside her went cold and calm. She knew she was supposed to be panicking, but somehow, she couldn’t. As he slowly forced her to her knees, growling at her now to submit and accept him, she lowered her hand and relaxed her body.
Her right hand slowly swept up a handful of the small stones that covered the rooftop. She knew she was too close to throw them at him, but the thought of slapping his face and rubbing them across his confident, prideful cheek brought a small grin to her lips. “Johno, stop…” Her words were calm, though her mind was screaming suddenly to be free of him.
He paused just as her knees hit the gravel. “So you will submit? You will be mine, Amber, just as we always wanted and knew we should be?” His leer sent her over the edge of the precipice she had been teetering on.
Suddenly, several things happened at once. And no one, when questioned later, was able to give an accurate account of the order.
Amberlyn rose suddenly and swung her right hand towards Johno’s face. She assumed some of the stones came loose from her hands because several glass windows nearby shattered as if struck. Her left arm jerked, meaning to free itself from her assailant’s grasp, but it jerked him past her to leave him between her and the small stone wall at the edge of the rooftop.
His face managed to register shock as Amber, several feet from him now, screamed at him. “NEVER!!!”
Johno stepped backwards and tripped on the edging planters and fell over the side of the building.
As Amber feinted, her last thought as she watched her arm stretch out across the ground was that she still was holding the stones.
***
Amber woke up as the sun splashed across her bed. Sitting up, she frowned. She was in one of her father’s corporate flats in the city. One of the myriad of apartments the law firm kept for visiting clients and special guests. Her father would sometimes stay in one if working a grueling case, to keep from being distracted at home.
Getting up and padding barefoot into the living room, her nightgown lightly brushing against her thighs, she stopped in the living room where there was a note with her name sitting next to the vid player. She pushed play and watched a holo of her father appear.
“You couldn’t control it, could you, Amber? I thought these little temper tantrum episodes were over.”
Amber sat down suddenly on the nearby chair as her legs began to give out on her. Tantrum? Johno had assaulted her! And her father was calling her escape ‘a tantrum’.
“Johno’s parents saw the damage to your arm and are willing to cover the medical costs. I will make sure they pay through the nose for all of it. It seems everyone agreed you were nowhere near him when he fell, so no charges are being brought to me. And the hotel was caught serving minors, lower classmen who had gotten in, so they aren’t pressing charges for damages.” He was raving like this had all been her fault and she should be lucky she wasn’t in jail. “You are to stay in the apartment till I come for you. Don’t try to leave! I have rest the alarm system. You are lucky, young lady. I think perhaps you need time to calm down and learn to control these fits of yours.”
She felt tears sting her eyes and wished she could show him one of her ‘fits’ in person. How could he keep her prisoner like this? And for how long?
“And don’t worry, I have already spoken to the Academy. They are very understanding that you will be delayed in beginning courses there. They know the death of your betrothed couldn’t be an easy thing on you.”
Death of her betrothed? Delayed in starting classes? This had to be a nightmare!
“Your mother only knows you were in an argument with the Delano boy and that when you spurned him once more, he jumped to his death. I won’t tell her any different. And neither will you. I will see you soon. Food and necessities are there. I will come for you in a couple days. Maybe after cooling off you will see the reason in going to a place where they can help you with this … this outburst problem you have.” The vid suddenly went blank.
No ‘I love you’, no ‘it will be ok’, no ‘I understand, see you tonight’. No nothing… just a lecture she didn’t deserve and a cage with a view. She picked up the remote and flipped to a local news station. They were showing the blasted windows and saying a lovers quarrel had gotten out of hand causing the damage and that the young man, unnamed but belonging to a prominent local family, had jumped, heartbroken, to his death.
She flipped the tv off, pulled her legs up and wrapped her arms around them. Slowly rocking back and forth, she rested her forehead on her knees and cried.
***
To Wrath…
I know it has been a while, Sir, since I last wrote to you. I hope Niesara Rh’Jod is doing well and found a place to be protected.
I write because I have found another. A young lady by the name of Amber, Amberlyn Crighton. Her father is a very wealthy, prominent lawyer and local figurehead around here. He has seen her episodes but has labelled them as temper tantrums where things are thrown and broken because of her fits. I have enclosed the details of the latest ‘fit’. A young man grabbed her arm hard enough to cause severe bruising and his nails caused lacerations on her upper left arm. Her response had been what you see in the reports. No one was able to give a reliable account of what happened, as if everything happened simultaneously.
She is currently secured in one of her father’s city apartments. I was the accompanying nurse when the on call physician went to treat her last night. As I watched the doctor bandage her, her bruises were already beginning to fade. After reading the coroner report for the offensive lad, I knew this had to be something you may be interested in.
Again, if I am remiss, I apologize. Enclosed are her location, the code for the apartment and all the info I could get on what recently transpired.
Thank you, again…
Sincerely,
Nurse Kin Talinj
Coruscant City Medical Facility
***
Coroner reports show the young man suffered multiple lacerations to face, neck and upper torso as if sprayed with broken glass, but the police report shows the glass of the ballroom blasted away from the two.
The young boy’s hand was shattered, though the way his body impacted the ground couldn’t account for the literal shattering of every bone in his hand.
While the glass was reportedly broken inwards from hard thrown rocks, none of the rocks on the rooftop, in any quantity someone was capable of collecting and lifting, would have broken the ballroom glass walls. And no stones were found inside the building.
Burn foliage, perhaps from a torch of some kind, were found near where the two had scuffled.
Amberlyn straightened her dress as she stepped from her transport and keyed the lock pad. It had been a gift from her dad on her graduation. She had managed to go a full year without anything odd or weird happening around her. Her father told her if she behaved and quit acting out, he would get her the transport for graduation. One year later and here she was, about to leave for Academy. One final dance with her friends and then they would scatter across the galaxy to find their futures. Hers, of course, would be in legal law. Her father was the best lawyer in the province and her mom had once been a great lawyer before settling down to raise her and her older brother Brian. Brian had been working in their dad’s law firm as an intern for almost a year. He was about to make a step up in his career soon, too. She checked her deep black hair, tied up all twisted with silver ribbons, in the vehicle's reflective glass one final time... perfect!
Life was perfect.
The night went as expected. The hotel that let them have their soiree had given them then use of the upper two floors and the rooftop ball room. She had been drinking, like everyone else, and having a grand time. As she felt her head get light, she laughed and ordered a round for her and her three closest friends. Jinny was going to the Academy with Amber, though she was studying to be an accountant. Marlan was heading off to join the Republican Army like his older brother had. His brother had been killed when the Empire attacked Telos. His career had been short, but his honors long. Marlan didn’t care about honors, just picking up where his brother had left off.
Then there was Johno. He and Amber had been on again off again since primary school. She had ended it last summer when she noticed her clumsiness and troubles always seemed fueled by him. At 17, a promised car outweighs some boy she would leave behind anyway. He was heading off world for special technical training. He had wanted to take her along. But her plans on staying behind had merely inflamed his rage. It had taken nearly a month for them to find a comfortable “in between”.
After a couple more rounds, they were all dancing in the spinning lights and all of them were in a cluster in the heated night air. After a while, Amber excused herself from the mob of dancers and stepped out on the terrace. Crystal lights hung from strings across the terrace that surrounded the glass clad ball room. She was leaning on the stone railing looking at the city lights below and relaxing. Closing her eyes she didn’t hear Johno come up behind her. She jumped slightly as he ran his hand over her bare shoulders exposed from her strapless gown. Her wrap had been discarded hours ago.
“We should be together, Amber…” His hand caressed her shoulders and he smiled. “Tell me you are still mine…”
She shrugged off his hand and turned around shaking her head as she stepped back. “No, Johno. We aren’t going to do this again, please. It’s been almost a year. I thought you were past this.” She moved to step around him and return inside. She was happy with her buzz, but he was slowly killing even that pleasure from her.
“No…” he grabbed her arm as she stepped closer. “You needed time, that’s all. I know if I just let you have the year to wrap your head around being with me, you would see it’s meant to be. Even our families think it’s a good idea.” His grip tightened slightly as he spoke.
She growled and yanked against his grip. “Please, Johno. My dad doesn’t agree. You know that. Even your parents said us going our separate ways would be best. We have different dreams now. The betrothal was broken legal and fair on both sides.” She whimpered slightly as his grip tightened and she pulled against it.
“NO!” his nails dug into her upper arm and he tugged down forcing her to bend with the pain. “No, Amber. They just said that. Everyone wants us together. You know you want this as much as I do. Just submit. My mother loved my dad eventually. You will love and obey me in time, like her. So, now… tell me you love me. Tell me it was a mistake. That you just wanted to teach me a lesson. That you will be mine now like you should be.” His words dropped to a near growl as he slowly dragged her arm down forcing her lower.
Something inside her went cold and calm. She knew she was supposed to be panicking, but somehow, she couldn’t. As he slowly forced her to her knees, growling at her now to submit and accept him, she lowered her hand and relaxed her body.
Her right hand slowly swept up a handful of the small stones that covered the rooftop. She knew she was too close to throw them at him, but the thought of slapping his face and rubbing them across his confident, prideful cheek brought a small grin to her lips. “Johno, stop…” Her words were calm, though her mind was screaming suddenly to be free of him.
He paused just as her knees hit the gravel. “So you will submit? You will be mine, Amber, just as we always wanted and knew we should be?” His leer sent her over the edge of the precipice she had been teetering on.
Suddenly, several things happened at once. And no one, when questioned later, was able to give an accurate account of the order.
Amberlyn rose suddenly and swung her right hand towards Johno’s face. She assumed some of the stones came loose from her hands because several glass windows nearby shattered as if struck. Her left arm jerked, meaning to free itself from her assailant’s grasp, but it jerked him past her to leave him between her and the small stone wall at the edge of the rooftop.
His face managed to register shock as Amber, several feet from him now, screamed at him. “NEVER!!!”
Johno stepped backwards and tripped on the edging planters and fell over the side of the building.
As Amber feinted, her last thought as she watched her arm stretch out across the ground was that she still was holding the stones.
***
Amber woke up as the sun splashed across her bed. Sitting up, she frowned. She was in one of her father’s corporate flats in the city. One of the myriad of apartments the law firm kept for visiting clients and special guests. Her father would sometimes stay in one if working a grueling case, to keep from being distracted at home.
Getting up and padding barefoot into the living room, her nightgown lightly brushing against her thighs, she stopped in the living room where there was a note with her name sitting next to the vid player. She pushed play and watched a holo of her father appear.
“You couldn’t control it, could you, Amber? I thought these little temper tantrum episodes were over.”
Amber sat down suddenly on the nearby chair as her legs began to give out on her. Tantrum? Johno had assaulted her! And her father was calling her escape ‘a tantrum’.
“Johno’s parents saw the damage to your arm and are willing to cover the medical costs. I will make sure they pay through the nose for all of it. It seems everyone agreed you were nowhere near him when he fell, so no charges are being brought to me. And the hotel was caught serving minors, lower classmen who had gotten in, so they aren’t pressing charges for damages.” He was raving like this had all been her fault and she should be lucky she wasn’t in jail. “You are to stay in the apartment till I come for you. Don’t try to leave! I have rest the alarm system. You are lucky, young lady. I think perhaps you need time to calm down and learn to control these fits of yours.”
She felt tears sting her eyes and wished she could show him one of her ‘fits’ in person. How could he keep her prisoner like this? And for how long?
“And don’t worry, I have already spoken to the Academy. They are very understanding that you will be delayed in beginning courses there. They know the death of your betrothed couldn’t be an easy thing on you.”
Death of her betrothed? Delayed in starting classes? This had to be a nightmare!
“Your mother only knows you were in an argument with the Delano boy and that when you spurned him once more, he jumped to his death. I won’t tell her any different. And neither will you. I will see you soon. Food and necessities are there. I will come for you in a couple days. Maybe after cooling off you will see the reason in going to a place where they can help you with this … this outburst problem you have.” The vid suddenly went blank.
No ‘I love you’, no ‘it will be ok’, no ‘I understand, see you tonight’. No nothing… just a lecture she didn’t deserve and a cage with a view. She picked up the remote and flipped to a local news station. They were showing the blasted windows and saying a lovers quarrel had gotten out of hand causing the damage and that the young man, unnamed but belonging to a prominent local family, had jumped, heartbroken, to his death.
She flipped the tv off, pulled her legs up and wrapped her arms around them. Slowly rocking back and forth, she rested her forehead on her knees and cried.
***
To Wrath…
I know it has been a while, Sir, since I last wrote to you. I hope Niesara Rh’Jod is doing well and found a place to be protected.
I write because I have found another. A young lady by the name of Amber, Amberlyn Crighton. Her father is a very wealthy, prominent lawyer and local figurehead around here. He has seen her episodes but has labelled them as temper tantrums where things are thrown and broken because of her fits. I have enclosed the details of the latest ‘fit’. A young man grabbed her arm hard enough to cause severe bruising and his nails caused lacerations on her upper left arm. Her response had been what you see in the reports. No one was able to give a reliable account of what happened, as if everything happened simultaneously.
She is currently secured in one of her father’s city apartments. I was the accompanying nurse when the on call physician went to treat her last night. As I watched the doctor bandage her, her bruises were already beginning to fade. After reading the coroner report for the offensive lad, I knew this had to be something you may be interested in.
Again, if I am remiss, I apologize. Enclosed are her location, the code for the apartment and all the info I could get on what recently transpired.
Thank you, again…
Sincerely,
Nurse Kin Talinj
Coruscant City Medical Facility
***
Coroner reports show the young man suffered multiple lacerations to face, neck and upper torso as if sprayed with broken glass, but the police report shows the glass of the ballroom blasted away from the two.
The young boy’s hand was shattered, though the way his body impacted the ground couldn’t account for the literal shattering of every bone in his hand.
While the glass was reportedly broken inwards from hard thrown rocks, none of the rocks on the rooftop, in any quantity someone was capable of collecting and lifting, would have broken the ballroom glass walls. And no stones were found inside the building.
Burn foliage, perhaps from a torch of some kind, were found near where the two had scuffled.