Flashing Lights

"Carmine. Your phone. Give it." I mouthed it to him from behind the man with the blade. In his weakness, Carmine saw me, but as more blood trickled down from the side of his neck, a confused eyebrow raise was difficult enough for him. That didn't mean I could stop him from fighting. I needed him, so that I could be there for him myself. He needed to give me this little boost before I could take control.

I emphasized my gestures, forcing him not to give up so easily, and slowly he did reach for his sweatpants pocket, sliding his phone across the floor. It didn't bother the official at all, because he knew darn well calling police wouldn't do us any good. He himself was sent because of the law, and we didn't have anyone to rely on for such an emergency, but he wasn't aware my plans didn't have anything to do with 911.

The phone didn't come as far as I was hoping it would; it wasn't far enough that would allow me to retrieve it while keeping my distance from the man. I should've expected that with as much as his energy was deteriorating and how the rough floor wouldn't push it along in his favor, but what it meant for me is I had to go in. I didn't have a choice but to come in closer and grab it myself.

I inched forward as quietly as I could get myself to be, but something gave me away. If my presence was too obvious, or if my breathing was too heavy that it wasn't only me that could hear it as if cactus-like feathers painting the back of my ears, it didn't matter.

The intruder caught sight of me, and when I was near enough to him, he changed his target. His original plan to kill off Carmine, because I'd be even more vulnerable in comparison to him by myself was disappearing farther than arms reach, and was gone deep into the distance. He wanted me dead first.

With as dark as the room was, his shadow over top of my body kneeling down on the floor to get as I was planning made the room much more terrifying, suffocating and just darker.

How badly I wanted to shiver and let the tingle down my spine take over, but how much I lacked time made it completely impossible. If a pause button could exist, I'd be using it right now, but unfortunately, as the world keeps spinning we have to keep at it too.

I held Carmine's phone tightly in my left hand after it skimmed the floor for it, unsure of what I was going to do to handle the tall figure looking down at me like an empty soda can to be stepped upon. As I tried not to tremble, and as more sweat out of my anxieties fell down the side of my face, I decided to stare him down, pretending I had more power than he could think to have, but it was useless, and probably funny to him.

I was grabbed by the arm, taken into his grip, and by one of his hands, it's all that it took to hide my entire wrist from any of our visions; it's all that it took to put me fully into his control.

He slammed my back into the wall. The force was painful to my nerves and restricted my movement from the get go. "Listen, Arizona. This isn't worth wasting your strength over. There's no one that's ever gotten away from one of us, and that 100% record isn't going to change any time soon."

His voice was raspy; one that dried up my bones at his first word, and one that bounded me like a rope around my limbs. Out of my side vision, I could see the shine of the knife, dripping of Carmine's blood, and he had another in his opposite hand still clean. He expected to keep that one clean the further we got into this, but not in a way I could guess; not in a way that was good for me. "Wouldn't it be sweet if the two forbidden lovebirds died of the same knife? It'd be cute if they shared each other's red at the very end, I do think so. I bet Nica would say the same. She begged her father for this after all, because Carmine failed to cooperate with her fully. He couldn't kill you himself, so now you both have the same fate."

He came nearer to me, so close that his scent was the only one that I could inhale. I couldn't explain it if I tried, but the smell was dangerous and made me feel the need to have to get away at an even higher extent, as the timing I got even more tied down. "Any last words, Arizona Yu? This death of yours is long overdue, so you're lucky I'm giving you such a chance."

My chest heaved, that I'd swear my lungs would come hauling right out of my body at any second, and my whimpers became louder as I couldn't hold it in. The smirk on his face drove me crazy, but it gave away exactly why this job was made for him. This is what he loved to do. He didn't have a heart inside of his demonic self and he loved seeing people suffer. Slow deaths were the type he liked the most, and that's what he wanted out of me. The metal acted like an icicle to my throat. It was up to begin the torture it was puppet-ed into.

"Huh?" The man seemed perplexed, but I didn't see it with my eyes so tightly shut with what I was expecting to come. He jolted away from me, unwillingly, and all that I could feel was the cut of a chunk of my locks. No cuts lined my neck whatsoever. With a quick glance at Carmine, who had his leg outstretched, and breathing just as hard as I was, I knew he gathered up just enough to be able to make that his doing. It made the official more angry, that I could see the fumes flying out of his head. He'd go off at him quicker than a countdown and that's all the time I had.

I acted fast as he was dealing with what he wasn't up to going through with. My shaky hands on Carmine's phone opened up to the first social media app that I could find in a piece of technology that had no organization, and hovered over a live stream. If the police aren't going to help us, it's possible that fans will. Publicizing what goes on behind the craftiness of the government and it's wishes can make a difference. It's a call for help and no one better to call on than the ones that have supported Carmine for as long as they knew him.

"You might know us as helpless people that have no one to rely on," I began, as I turned on the back camera to face the scene. "But you should also know that Carmine Jung here has quite the fan base, not only because of how well he is known as an actor, but because he's one of the least dramatic celebrities when it comes to controversies, and a man that hasn't forgotten his very humble beginnings. There's many people out there that will stick loyally to his side, but here you are doing things to him that he doesn't deserve. The world knows that. What has he done wrong anyway? Would you like to tell? Do you think they'll even believe you?"

"Get that away from me." The man commanded. He's more than aware that the context the people have are much different than what his is when it comes to the celebrity and he knew in this circumstance he's most definitely the bad guy. He dropped the knife to the floor as if that were going to brighten up his image. Too late, kiddo. I don't think that's going to make much of a difference.

He headed toward me once again, but with my head tilted in the way that Carmine would and the camera's focus on him as the viewers rolled in, he hesitated. It's the first hesitation I've seen out of him since he's gotten here. I'd say his words were on our side; it made him more suspicious and would move people to choose Carmine's team even if they weren't a fan.

Because the entire world was watching him, he went shy, and it gave me the chance to stomp all over him - maybe give him a taste of his own medicine to the one who actually deserved it. Already kneeling, I kicked at his chest so he fell down into the floor. Unable to handle the way the table turned anymore, he fought with my weak arms until the phone skidded across the floor, with much more force than Carmine was able to put into it to begin with. It flew, and if it didn't crack, that's when I'd be shocked, but checking up on it wasn't my priority.

"Curse you." He barked, "You really dared. You're something else, Yu."

If I thought he was fuming before, there's not a word that I could call him now. He came at me, empty handed, and at full speed that he wouldn't be able to stop himself if he tried. Out of defense, I held the knife he dropped out in front of me at the last second. It pierced him in the stomach, and made him fall backwards back into the cement, where it bled from the wound and his head at once.

His eyes were wide open, but like a bug would when you stepped on it, he tried to fight the hurt in his abdomen and also fight for life to enter back into his bloodstream, but like a person reacting to a bug fighting for life to come back into it, I pierced him again, in the chest, to ensure he wouldn't do anything to either one of us.

When the muscles in his arms gave up and fell into the floor, I gave myself a second to sigh a breath of relief before going to Carmine's aid. I pressed the bedsheet up against his bleeding wound to stop the loss, snapping at him to stay in this reality. "What should I do, love? Should I call 911? Would they be willing to help you now? Do you know someone I can call?"

"You did great, Riza. You looked so great out there." He smiled softly, his eyes still shut out of his tiredness and complimented me like this was some sports competition and nothing more than that. "Don't call 911. I want to get through this quietly."

"Alright, okay. I won't, Carmine. Stay awake, will you?" I laid his head down against a pillow from the bed above us, the knife in the man's chest putting chills to my bones when I climbed over the dead body to scram for his cell phone at the other end of the room.

It was shattered as I thought, but functioning, and I scrolled through his contacts to find someone who'd be able to help, to be in line with his desire after ending the live stream. I found the doctor that they relied on during the days of the set in case anything would happen to the stars, and started a call with him. He was quick to answer, but not quick to greet. Or not in comparison to as quick as I was to ask for his help. "Carmine needs medical attention. Please meet him at the address I'll send you."

I returned to Carmine, providing my shoulder for balance. "Can you stand?" I asked him. He didn't give much of a response, and I did almost all the work to get him to walk up the stairs. I've never had to carry all his weight like this before, even as a joke, and now that this comes along, it hurt more on the inside than it hurt on the outside to have to hold him up.

I placed him up against the wall by the front door, so the doctor arriving would see him right away, instead of have to waste time to search for him. I had my hand intertwined in his, hating myself being unable to stop this from happening, but trying to consider us lucky and believe that in the end, after all of this, he'd be okay.

"You have to hide, Arizona." He said under his breath. His tired voice was coming out as the sun outside only began to rise.

"No, I have to stay with you." I blinked to hold in how scared I was, because I knew he needed someone to be strong for him.

"You called my doctor right? I don't know his opinion on a beautiful girl like you, and too much is going on in the media right now to publicize you." He paused. Somehow he was smiling so much despite the agony he was in. Was he doing this for me? "The right time to let the world know about you is coming up soon."

"When exactly is the right time?"

"It's in my hands. I control time when it comes to that. Just sit back and watch. I promise. Hide now, girly, before he arrives. Hide for me."