Understanding a Storm

8. War

Beep Beep Beep

I fluttered my eyes open to see the source of the annoying noise. My alarm clock. I lazily reached my hand out swatting away with no aim. Until I felt the cold plastic underneath my finger tips. With a little nudge, it turns off.

My body groggily sat itself up as if I were in autopilot. I do that a lot now that I think about it. I then stared at the sparkling golden box placed across the room. So many questions raced in my mind.

Who would carelessly spend so much money, on a dress, and place it on my door step? Plus, who the hell is Smiles?!

The questions were then put to a sudden stop once I heard a loud scream resonating in the living room. I slid off my bed and ran over to the source. Brooke stood by the doorway, looking disheveled and frantic.

I gently pushed her off to the side to get a better glimpse of what horrified her. Like the box I found last night, there was a smaller box this time. Only, this one, gave off a bad vibe.

Brooke tried to pull me away saying I'll regret it if I looked. But needless to say, curiosity killed the cat.

I opened the box and saw a human heart, no doubt. I've seen countless of them from my biology class in college. And this was not fake, nor did it belong to an animal.

A human heart, in a box.

Brooke sobbed out as she hands me a crumpled up letter. To which at this point only meant it was going to get so much worse.

Ladies,

I noticed how you doubt love. So I thought to myself, why not show the organ used for it metaphorically. Doesn't it look so, how can I say this- vulnerable? The simple organ used to pump blood into a human body.

Now comes the question:
Exactly who's is it?

-Doubt

I couldn't make sense of this at all. Who in their right mind would leave a fucking heart in our doorstep?! Was this smiles? No. It's clearly not him.

Smiles was... how do I say, nicer. The letter said something about wanting to see me happy. Not horrified at the morbid surprise left at our doorstep. So they couldn't be the same person.

Doubt. Great, a psycho in hiding. The person responsible probably thought it was clever to strike after I received a nice gift. I certainly had no one who would want to cross me, since I'm practically invisible. Brooke, on the other hand, had ties to the mafia.

"This... what the hell is this?!" She pondered out loud. I merely shrugged and left the box untouched. For all I know it could be wired or poisoned in some way. Brooke starts pacing around the living room as if the answers were lurking in the shadows.

I took her phone and hand it to her urging her to call her brother. Unlike Brooke, Nick was more open about his relations with the mafia. He was the heir of their family company after all.

•••

"What the actual fuck?!" Nick glowered at the sight of the box. Brooke and I sat on the couch silently waiting for any conclusion.

"Keon, we need you over here. Now." Nick ends a call we didn't even notice he was on. My stomach grumbled urging me to cook up a feast. I wandered over to the kitchen leaving the two in the living room.

"What happened?" Keon asked as soon as he arrived. Nick beckoned him closer to the box that now sat on the coffee table. I leaned on the counter top sipping on my hot cocoa as they heatedly whisper at each other. It was hilarious to watch them attempt to hide the fact that they had shady lives.