Tangled Hearts

CHAPTER-2

POV: JAYDEN CARTER

Oh man such an annoying day. The alarm was ringing for quite some time and it already went off like four times. "Why can't it just shut up?" I covered my ears with my pillow. When the alarm started ringing for the fifth time. I got up from bed. It was already 7:45 in the morning. I literally dragged myself to the bathroom.

I have sleeping issues. Yesterday I think I fell asleep when the sun rose. And by the time I fall asleep, the damn alarm will start ringing. I counted with my fingers and in the last week I only got twelve hours of sleep hardly. I took a shower and got out fresh as ever.

I checked the clock. Shit, I'm late. I rushed downstairs to find dad serving breakfast for my brother. Today is the last day I'm staying with them. I'm moving out. And I was in the chaos yesterday. I walked to the table. Mom and my twin brother, Jeffrey already took their seats. My brother and I are twins but we don't have anything in common, let it be face or personality. I'd rather die than talk a lot. He'd rather die than keep quiet. Poles apart.

"Good morning" I said and signed at the same time because mom can neither talk nor hear. She signed me back. She lost her voice in a fight where dad was included. That's the reason dad stopped with all fighting. Dad still loves mom despite she can't talk. Mom still loves dad in spite of him being the reason she lost her voice. I only found love in them. And I am not searching for it either.

I'm Jayden Carter. Son of Jessica and Christopher Carter. The heir to the mafia gang, The Hunters. My dad was the one to set up this empire alone. He was such a violent person until he fell in love with my mom. We can't blame him because mom is such a sweet person. She understands me the most. What I don't get is how did mom fell in love with dad.

I took my seat. Dad served food to mom and pecked her head. She signed thank you. He signed 'I love you' back to her. Mom turned to me.

"Did you finish moving your stuff?" Mom signed.

"Yes mom. I did." I smiled.

"I can't believe my baby is moving out already. You're just nineteen." She awed.

"I'm one year behind other in that case mom."

"Yeah just let him move out already." Jeff spoke. He is much more talkative and friendly. But I'll never let him win the on going competition about who's better. Well it's me against him. Even if we are twins, I'm older than him for about 12 minutes in precise.

I accepted my dad's path to be the head of The Hunters. My brother Jeffrey is pursuing his passion to be a doctor. We were only nine when mom lost her voice. He must have felt guilt. He chose to be a doctor to be able to save many people and his brother aka me is going to hurt God knows how many people. Dad was not against Jay becoming doctor. As much as dad is stern, he is caring also. He wants us to live our lives not the path he carved out. It was my decision to take over The Hunters. I wanted to follow dad's legacy.

After the breakfast, I packed my remaining stuff and sent it to my new house. I took the keys of my bike. No one else except me rode that bike. Not even dad or mom. I started it. The sound of the engine made me feel life.

"Bye Jay. We'll visit you after you set up your house." My mom signed. She hugged me and kissed my forehead. I'm not a touchy person or more like I hate being touched but mom's an exception. Even if I try to deny her touch, dad will burn me alive.

"Bye mom, see you soon."  I signed. "Bye dad." He just nodded his head once and that was it. He meant a lot of things in that single nod.

"Don't have a happy life. And stay as much away as you can." Jeff came to me. "Don't even think Imma hug you and be emotional. I'm actually happy that you're moving out. Now I can be the apple of the eyes. I repeat 'eyes' ". He is full of sarcasm. "Fuck off" I replied to him and nodded at all of them and left.

I was going on a high speed when suddenly a cat crossed the road and a car is coming from the opposite direction. I had no other option but to move to the right side more. I suddenly turned the handle and passed by a girl.

The moment I passed her, my nose filled with the scent of lavender. It was sweet and ironic because I don't like sweets. For a split second, I looked back. My eyes capturing hers. I don't know what feeling was creeping its way through my body. But I did feel something. Something close to what I feel when I'm riding my bike. I just took a peek on her face and drove away.

I reached my new house. It's not as massive as my dad's because I bought it myself. Even if I'm going to take over The Hunters, I am also into real estate. So that gets me going. It has two bedroom, a closet, a kitchen and respective bathrooms. My room is painted grey colour with just a handful of furnitures. I don't have any photo or wall decor or something like that. I inhaled the scent of wood because my furnitures are still new.

I dropped myself to my bed. Closed my eyes for a moment expecting whatever nightmares waiting for me but they never came. I just saw a pair of eyes. Shining. Sparkling and full of life. Her eyes were light. I felt it it my heart, soul and in my fucking blood.

I took a shower. When I came back, my phone lit up with a notification. Looks like I am going to do something fun after being so dry. It's a kidnapping. Well technically negotiation. But still a kidnapping is involved. My phone received another notification with details of eight students. I learned more about them.

It was noon and i didn't buy any groceries. Fuck I'm starving. I went to the nearest market to buy some grocery. I had gone for grocery shopping with mom but now that I'm alone I'm confused. I ended up texting her.

Jay:
Hey mom?

Mom❤️:
Missed me already ;)

Jay:
Help me with groceries.

Mom❤️:
Sure thing baby.

She did help me. I bought the things mom told me and when I was about to leave the store something caught my eye. A sketch book with free pencils. I used to draw when I was a kid. But no one knows about it. I was too insecure to show them to my parents then eventually I stopped. I stared at it for long. I don't know why I feel l want to buy it. I bought it anyways.

Jayden-0
Intrusive thoughts-1

On my way back to house, I drove a little too far that I ended up coming late. I took a shower. Prepared my dinner and finished it. Did the dishes and went to my room.

The sketch book is lying on my table. I lazily picked it up and turned to it's first page. I started scribbling. It's been a long time since I drew the last time. I was drawing mindlessly and when I was done, I was shocked. Yeah even I was shocked. It's the girl I saw on the road. The girl that smells like lavender. Will I be able to see her again? Do I need to see her again? OH GOD! JAYDEN CARTER IS WISHING TO SEE A HUMAN AGAIN?! Jeff would have arranged a party by now if he knew.

I stared at her portrait for some time and I don't know when I drifted to sleep. In a long period of time, I slept peacefully. I finally slept.