Me: Hello my fellow Secret Series Fans! I have just finished reading the last book, like just a few hours ago and I hate the fact that Pseudonymous Bosch just left us hanging in the air like that. Even though I love Max-Ernest! Ugh! Stupid self-contradiction!
Now, as I keep trying to argue with myself, this is my first Secret Series Fanfiction so I hope you all like it.
Disclaimer – I do not own the Secret Series.
Warning: SPOILERS! And scenes that I wrote that didn't happen!
Making Choices
Graduation Day.
The most exciting yet sad day of any students life.
Exciting because they would finally be able to enter a new phase of their lives, high school. The new school, the new subjects, the new atmosphere, the new emotions, the new relationships, everything will have to changes. That's one of the sad parts. Another reason why you can find graduating depressing is because, it's a day filled with goodbyes.
Goodbye to the school, to the principal, to your classmates, to your friends. Sadly, for one girl...
To her parents.
This girl known in the school as the nicest, but only like third prettiest. Nevertheless, she was beautiful. And she wanted to keep it that way. That was her mistake. A mistake that would fill her life with endless regret.
She can't back down now.
She stared at her reflection on the mirror, as her mother fixed her hair, forming them into soft curls with an iron. She watched her hair fall down like waves under her shoulders, then her eyes were directed towards the smiling and teary-eyed woman who was her mother. She was much more beautiful than the girl was, she may not be in outer appearances, but based on the beauty of the heart.
"Amber." Her mother says, putting her hands on Amber's shoulders. "You look beautiful." Amber smiled at her and turned her attention back on herself. Her mother was right. Amber's face looked... perfect. Her only form of make-up was pink lipstick and a small tint of color was splashed on to her cheeks. Her face had no blemish nor wrinkle nor spot nor anything physically unpleasant at that matter. Only one thing was ruining her flawless face: The look of regret and guilt.
o-o-o
"I'm sorry I failed you." Amber whispers as she bows at tall blonde woman in front of her. The woman looks at her coldly, any look of pity would be obviously fake. The woman tugs her white gloves, making sure the only hideous evidence of her true age remains hidden.
"Oh Amanda, don't worry." She says, her voice ice cold. "I am not mad." She smiles; it frightens Amber so much that she doesn't make an effort to correct her.
Amber's eyes widen and she raises her head. "Y-You're... not?" She stands up straight and shivers at the woman's curved lips.
"Of course not." The woman reassures. "Why would I be?"
"B-But... I wasn't able to get the ring." Amber clasps her hands by her chest, squeezing them to stop them from shaking. "I-I failed you... Ms. Mauvais."
Ms. Mauvais laughs a short and forced laugh. "Amanda, do you want to stay beautiful? Forever?" She puts an edge on that last word.
Amber nods. "Of course I do. I don't want to turn ugly again." Her voice is becoming more confident by the second.
"Another question." Ms. Mauvais says, turning to the glass window in front of her, letting the moonlight shine on her steady and unmoving blonde hair. "Do you want to live forever?"
Amber's eyebrow arches as she hears this. "W-What?" She asks in disbelief. Ms. Mauvais turns and it's a innocence scarring sight to look at her. The moonlight surrounds her in the most frightening way, making her face appear dark as her bright white teeth shine in the form of a sinister smile.
The face of a ghost.
"I have the ability to make you be young forever, Amanda." She explains. "Now that Dr. L has joined the other side, I need a new... assistant. And you," – She points at Amber and she flinches. – "You would make the perfect replacement."
Amber steps back and falls on the door. She grabs the doorknob and desperately tries to turn it, but her hand is too numb from fear. "Y-You're insane!" Amber shouts, shaking the doorknob frantically. Her breathing becomes faster as Ms. Mauvais walks toward her. She kneels down in front of the shaking girl and holds up her left hand.
Beads of sweat drip down Amber's forehead, then to her cheek all the way down her neck. Ms. Mauvais puts her hand right in front of Amber's eyes. Amber stares at the woman's eyes and she realizes that she can't breathe.
Ms. Mauvais starts pulling off the gloves, starting with the pointing finger then the next then the next until the white fabric is off her hand.
Amber almost regurgitates her lunch on the woman's hand. Her fingers were bony and dry. Her skin was so thin you could see every single vein inside it. It looked like it belonged to a woman hundreds of years of age.
It was.
"For the members of the Midnight Sun, our hands act as an age indicator, like the rings of the trunk of a tree. That is why we wear gloves." Ms. Mauvais stood up and put her glove back on. Amber kept looking at her now covered her hand, her stomach churning every time she remembers what was underneath it. She has finally realized the reality of the saying, "Looks can be deceiving."
"Come and be one of us, Amber..."
"I-I..." Amber clenches her teeth and grips her fist. "I will never join the likes of you! Even if you finally got my name right!" She looks at the door beside her from the corner of her eye, hoping Ms. Mauvais won't notice. She sees a set of keys on the table next to her. If she can distract Ms. Mauvais for just a few minutes she can unlock the door and make a run for it. There is only a small chance she can get out of the building alive after going out the door but... was there any other choice?
She grabs the expensive vase behind her slowly and as her hands shake, she throws it at Ms. Mauvais, missing by a few inches. She takes this chance, picking up the keys and inserting them in the keyhole. She keeps turning and turning and turning until...
Click...
"Success." She mutters.
She opens the door and makes a run for it, bumping into a person along the way.
Daisy.
She grabs Amber by the shoulders and puts her in a head lock.
"Good work, Daisy." Ms. Mauvais grabs a shard of the broken vase by her feet and places them near Amber's neck. "Now listen very carefully, Amanda." She has gone back to getting her name wrong. "You know too much already, dear."
"I-I won't tell a-anyone about you. I p-promise." Amber gasps, trying to pry Daisy's masculine arms off her neck.
"I'm sorry but, promise won't cut it. It's either you join the Midnight Sun," She throws the glass shard to the side, cutting the head of the large French doll peculiarly placed on her desk. "Or I will have no choice but kill every person you have ever cared about... starting with your parents." Her voice is filled with faux innocence, making Amber feel sick to the stomach.
"No..." Is all Amber can muster.
"So what do you choose? To come with us obediently so no one gets hurt, or to run away and watch your loved ones die because of you?" Ms. Mauvais eyes demand her to make a choice.
She does.
"F-Fine." Amber whispers. "I... I'll join the Midnight Sun." At that, Daisy lets the girl go. Amber falls to her knees to make up for lost air and she breaks down.
"Good." Ms. Mauvais pats the crying girl's head. "I'll pick you up after your graduation ceremony. Now Daisy?"
"Yes mam?"
"Bring the girl home."
"Understood."
Amber walks out the door with Daisy.
What have I done?
That is the question Amber keeps repeating in her head.
Until now.
o-o-o
She and her parents are at school and you can just feel the excitement tingling in the air. She looks at Veronica and her other friends. Uncharacteristically, instead of going over there to gossip like the usually do, she stays by her parents.
Knowing that she won't see them ever again.
She squeezes her parents' hands. "Mom? Dad?"
Her parents look at her simultaneously.
"I love you." Three words, hundreds of meanings.
Her mom smiles and kisses her on the cheek as her Dad taps her daughter on the shoulder.
"We love you too, dear." Her mom and dad say in unison.
Their love.
It's what makes the pain even worse for the girl.
o-o-o
"I'll miss you all."
The last line of Max-Ernest's speech, right on cue.
Amber stood up quietly. Inconspicuous. She walked away by the bleachers and her eyes caught sight a limousine. Behind the car's window was a woman with an icy smile. She looked back and took one last look at her old home. Looking at Veronica and the others, the people she called her friends. Looking at Cass, Max- Ernest and Yo-Yoji, the people who were going to become her enemies. Looking at her parents, the family she hopelessly betrayed in order to protect.
"So what do you choose? To come with us obediently so no one gets hurt, or to run away and watch your loved ones die because of you?"
What could've happened if she chose differently? She knows that she can never know the answer.
The limousine door opens and Ms. Mauvais waves and offers a nod. She sits down beside her and tries to get comfortable as she watches what happens outside the car's window. The car drives away and Amber's eyes water as she sees the place she left move farther and farther away.
o-o-o
What's the hardest part of life? I don't think that's much of a secret.
The hardest part of life is making choices.
Never knowing what the exact outcome may be unless you actually choose. Making a choice can not only affect you, but also the people around you.
And the worst part, when you finally realized that you made the wrong choice...
... You can't take it back.
o-o-o
Me: Thanks for reading. I know it sounded depressing but that's the horrible truth about life. Not everything goes your way.
Tell me what you think by reviewing, please!
Bye!