MUSIC OF DESTINY
No one knew Amanda’s last name. No one cared. No one knew what she had to put up with each day, how she felt. They just knew that she was famous, and that’s all that mattered. She wore everything blue, a blue belly shirt, baggy blue jeans, ice blue platform shoes, even her hair was blue. It was like her trademark. She had a slight British accent that disappeared as she sang. She sang songs that had no meaning to her. She didn’t write them, so she didn’t know what they were truly trying to say. All they meant to her was a living. But she loved her job anyway, though it was times like these that made her wish she had never been “discovered”. At this time, she was on the floor of an old building with her hands tied behind her back and a blindfold over her eyes, that much she could tell. She had no idea how it had happened, or how these guys knew where she lived. They probably found her address on the Internet, or something. Her heart started to pound as she heard her kidnappers draw near. She had a bad feeling on how this was going to end. Sonny was one of those guys who didn’t care. One of those guys whose favorite saying was “At first you don’t succeed, hate the world and smoke weed.” He didn’t have many friends. The ones he did have were all in jail or in gangs and soon to be in jail. They treated him like a freak, like some sideshow in a passing circus. He didn’t care what they thought. This was the way he was, and if they didn’t like it, too bad. He had jet-black hair that he didn’t bother to comb, and wore a brown shirt, a black, almost a trench coat, over shirt, blue jeans, and black shoes. He was good at computers and he had even made a few robots and droids himself. A very good talent in an age like this. He walked quickly through the crowded street, not listening to the complaints of the people he ran into. He entered a dark alleyway, a shortcut to his apartment. He was nearly there, when he heard a scream from one of the old abandoned warehouses. Normally, he would’ve just kept walking, but there was something about that scream. It seemed to be desperate. A scream so desperate as to make a guy who cared about no one stop and want to find out where it came from. Sonny headed toward the warehouse he thought it had come from. He was careful not to make too much noise, seeing how he didn’t know what he was up against. He cleaned off a dirty window with his hand and peered inside. He was surprised at the sight of three men, and a teenaged girl tied up on the floor. He had expected someone being mugged or something, but not this. He knew what the men were planning, and that was the one thing that he hated the most, taking advantage one someone. He gritted his teeth. He could believe he was about to do this. Amanda shook nervously. She couldn’t believe this was happening to her. Actually, she could, with all the poses she had to do and skanky clothes that she had to wear, and especially in a city like this. Worst of all, she couldn’t see a thing. But, she did hear the crash of glass as someone or something came through the skylight of the building they were in. Sonny landed on the floor with a thud. He shook his head, flinging tiny piece of glass from his hair.
“Not exactly how I planned it…” he muttered.
The three men were dumbstruck. Sonny painfully got up, pieces of glass falling off him. He shook his head again, and looked around at what he had gotten himself into. The men were larger than they had appeared.
Just because they’re big, doesn’t mean they’re strong… he thought. He readied himself for a fight. The men didn’t more. …Or smart….
Just then, there came another crash. Sonny spun around to face a giant robot.
“Shoot!” he yelled as the robot swiped at him.
Amanda struggled to free herself. She had no idea what was going on, but she had a feeling now was the time for her to get out of there. She managed to free herself. She ripped off her blindfold. She gasped as her saw a boy fighting a robot twice his size. The three men, who she figured were her kidnappers, were laughing at the boy’s vain efforts to fend off the metal creature. The robot swung a metallic arm at the boy, hitting him and sending him through a nearby wall. She gasped again. She had better get going, seeing how the men’s entertainment was gone. The men turned around, only to see that the girl was gone. The spotted her, and were about to chase after her, when the robot suddenly crashed to the ground.
“What?” they turned around.
“The heck!” one cursed.
“What happened?” yelled another.
“I’m what happened,” a voice came.
Amanda looked harder at the wrecked robot. Behind it, the black-haired boy was standing tall.
“What did you do to our robot?!” one man yelled.
The boy shrugged, “I pulled some wires,” he said simply.
Amanda smiled. She had a feeling that this boy may stand a chance. Sonny sighed.
“Give me the girl, and you won’t get hurt,” he told them.
The men laughed. Sonny was really starting to get annoyed. He began to walk toward them; ready to punch one of their faces in, when they pulled guns on him. His eyes widened. How could he have been so stupid? Of course they were armed, everyone in this city was. He sighed at his own stupidity, and put his hands in the air.
No… Amanda thought as to of the men went over to tie the boy up. She had to do something. She snuck over to the third man. She clasped her hands together, and struck the man over the head, knocking him out with one swift movement.
The remaining men spun around. One of them went after Amanda, while the other stayed to deal with Sonny.
“Playin’ hero today, eh, boy?” the man said to Sonny. Sonny glared.
“Oof!” The other man winced as the girl kicked him in the stomach.
“Darn it…” the first man said to himself.
Sonny figured it was now or never. He hit his captor in the chest, knocking him across the room. Sonny bolted toward the door, signaling the girl to follow. Without hesitation, Amanda followed. This boy seemed to know what he was doing. She followed him to a busy street. She hoped that no one would recognize her, that’s just what she needed, a mob of fans slowing her down. The boy ducked into another alley. Amanda followed. The two held their breath as the three men passed. They had escaped.
Amanda let out a sigh of relief. “Oh, God, thank…” she turned. The boy was already walking off. “Oi, where are you goin’?” she ran to catch up with him.
“Home,” he replied.
“’Ome? But we haven’t even been properly introduced!” she struggled to keep up with him, “I’m…”
“I know who you are,” the boy snapped, “you’re that slut of a singer.”
Amanda was a bit shocked by his words, but she guessed he was right.
“Well, okay then, what’s your name?” she was determined to get to know this boy better.
“And why should a tell you?” he glared.
“Because you just saved me, that’s why,” she replied.
There was a moment of silence, like a darkness slowly draping over everything in sight.
“Sonny,” there was a light.
“Hm,” Amanda gave a slight laugh. He seemed anything but the ‘sunny’ type.
He glared at her again. “Shouldn’t you be at a photo shoot or something?”
She was, but she didn’t think you could go through with it after what happened.
“No,” she lied.
“Well then, don’t you have a life to get back to?” She could tell that he really wanted to get rid of her.
She stopped walking, “Yes, I suppose so,”
She notice that this Sonny acted like a cat. The way he walked, cool and calm, stealthy and quiet, limber and quick, his face, deep black eyes that she felt like she could fall into, a calm yet grim expression, she could almost see a tail flicking behind him. She was surprised by her thoughts, and that her stomach and heart seemed to be doing the tango. What was going on? Why was she feeling like this? Was it love? No, it couldn’t be, she didn’t know a thing about this boy. She watched him walk away, taking in every catish bit of him, then walked off to find the nearest Internet connection. When the girl had gone, Sonny looked up at the overcast sky. Why? Why had he saved that annoying brat? Why had he almost given his life to save someone that the world would probably be better off if she was dead? He shook his head. He needed to take a shower, a long, cold one. It’s funny what wildcards life throws you.
Amanda has found a website that had every single person in the world logged in its database. This didn’t surprise her, seeing how everyone had to get registered at birth. The pictures on the site were updated yearly, so she could know if she found the right person. It turned out that Sonny also had no last name. He was an orphan, abandoned as a child, left on the steps of an orphanage, no note or anything. Amanda thought it sounded like something out of a movie. No one ever adopted Sonny, but he was now old enough to live by himself, and that’s exactly what he did. Amanda found all this interesting, but it wasn’t what she was looking for. She scrolled down on the page more. Ah, there it was, his address. It was late now. She scribbled the address down on a piece of paper. She would be paying him a visit in the morning.
Sonny lay awake that night. It wasn’t the loneliness. No, he had gotten used to that. He didn’t know what was troubling him. Was it something that happened today, or in the past? He couldn’t tell. He rolled over. The past. God how he hated it. The future didn’t look much better, either. He squeezed his eyes shut, pushing back the tears. He had cried too many times in his life, and he wasn’t about to do it again. He pulled the cover around him tightly, and slowly drifted off to sleep, not knowing that in a few hours, a knocking on the door would awaken him. Sonny rolled over in bed as the pounding on the door continued.
“Milo!” he shouted, frustrated.
“Yeah, yeah,” a small robot floated over to the door. The knocking became louder. “’Ey, ‘old your horses, man.”
Milo opened to door. Standing behind it was a same, blue-haired girl from the day before.
“It’s for you, man,” the robot shouted into the apartment.
“Who is it?” Sonny rolled over again.
“Some girl,” there was a thud. Sonny had fallen out of bed.
“Darn!” Sonny struggled with the covers that had come down with him, “Tell her to go way,”
Milo turned back to Amanda, “’Ey, you ‘eard ‘im,” He began to scoot the girl out.
Amanda put her hand on the door, keeping it from closing. “I just want to talk to you,” she called into the apartment.
Sonny had gotten free and was now walking over to the girl and bot. “Why would you want to talk to me, when you could talk to all those reporters?” He slammed the door shut.
As he began to walk away, Amanda screamed. He stopped dead in his tracks, turned around, and ran out the door. No one was in sight. The door slammed behind him. He spun around. Standing in front of the door, blocking his way was Amanda, smiling that her trick had worked.
“Man…” he put his hand to his face, “Milo, open the door.”
“What?” the robot’s voice came from inside, “I can’t ‘ear you.”
“Son of a…” he cursed.
“You know, Milo isn’t a very good name for a robot,” Amanda pointed out.
“He picked it out himself…” Sonny said gruffly. He was now looking out the window of the hall they were in.
“Sonny, why didn’t you help me?”
“Heck if I know…”
“I know what you’ve been though, Sonny –“
“You have no idea what I’ve been through,” he spun around to face her, “you don’t know what it’s like not knowing who you are, where you come from,” he began to walk toward her, “you’re a star for Pete’s sake! Everyone knows who you are!” he pushed her out of the way, “so how the heck would you know what I’ve been through?” He slammed the door again, this time the click of a lock could be heard.
Amanda stood there for a minute. That went well…. She turned and left. She didn’t know how, but she was going to get to know this boy, no matter what.
Weeks went by. Amanda visited Sonny as often as she could, whether he liked it or not. He didn’t seem to mind her as much now. He was definitely more open, talking about the orphanage and such. Amanda found that she liked spending time with him more than all the fame she had, even if she got a warmer welcome from fans. She had forgotten what it was like to be a normal teenager. She missed her normal life, her normal school, her friends. Sonny caught her staring at him one day.
“What?” he asked.
“You have the most gorgeous eyes I have ever seen,” she said before she could stop herself. Realizing what she had just said, Amanda put her hand over her mouth and blushed slightly.
Sonny was surprised by her words. He, too, went slightly pink. “Um, if it makes you feel any better, you’ve got the bluest hair I’ve ever seen,”
“It’s natural, too,” Amanda replied.
“Is that possible?” he looked at her oddly.
“Nowadays, yeah…”
There came a knock on the door. Sonny got up to get it. He opened the door, chain still on. Standing in the hall were two men. His eyes widened.
“Shoot!” he slammed the door shut.
“Sonny what is it?” Amanda began to walk over to him.
“Get out of here!” he yelled bracing the door as the men began to try and knock it down, “The fire escape!”
Amanda did as she was told. She opened the window and jumped onto the fire escape as the bang of the door giving way reached her ears. She wanted to go back, to see if Sonny was all right, but she knew he would just get mad. In her moment of hesitation, Amanda got a glimpse of what had happened. A man jumped onto the fire escape with her. She screamed. It was one of the men that had kidnapped her. She ran for the ladder, but the man jumped her. She felt a pinch in her arm. Her head started to spin. He must’ve injected me with something… were her last thoughts before she blacked out. Amanda was tied to a chair when she woke up. Her head was still spinning, and she could barely see. When her eyes cleared, she saw that Sonny was tied to a chair next to her. He was still out, and had a cut on his forehead. Amanda looked around. They seemed to be in a darkened room of some sort. The three men were nowhere in sight. She guessed that was a good thing. She scooted her chair over toward her friend.
“Sonny, Sonny,” she shook him with her foot.
“Hm? Wha?” Sonny said groggily, shaking his head. He remembered what happened and realized where they were, and glowered. “I told you to run,” he said through gritted teeth, not looking at the girl next to him.
“I couldn’t just leave you,” that’s the one thing that always got in Amanda’s way, her heart. That in combination with steel mind always spelled trouble.
Sonny began to look around the room.
“What are you looking for?” Amanda asked.
“A way out,” Sonny replied, “it’s not going to be as easy as last time. No, they’ve had time to think this out.”
He had a point Amanda hadn’t thought of before. She thought it was going to be just as easy as before to escape. Of course they would be more careful. They couldn’t be that stupid, could they? Sonny had found an escape route, and was now working on his bondage. Amanda was starting to get nervous. She started thinking about what the men might do to them. Probably start where they left off with her, but she could imagine what they might do to Sonny. Then she realized something. Surely had to have been an hour since they woke up, where were those men?
“There!” Sonny triumphant whisper lightened up the darkened silence. He had freed his hands. He got out of his chair and began to untie Amanda. “I wonder where those bullies are…?” he thought aloud while undoing the knot that was the only thing keeping Amanda to her chair.
“I don’t know,” she answered, “but I have a bad feeling,”
“So do I…” the knot was gone, “come on.” He grabbed her armed and pulled the route he had found.
Before they could get far, there was a huge crash as a far wall came tumbling down. The two spun around. Standing where the wall once did was a giant robot, twice the size of the last.
“Darn, can’t they come up with anything new?” Sonny shook his head, “Come one, I found a new way out.”
Amanda was once again pulled by the hand, this time toward where the wall used to be. This robot was much more fierce than the last. Several times the two had to dodge its giant arms to avoid being crushed. The two were almost to the broken wall, when something unthinkable happened. Amanda didn’t know it had happened at first, but then she saw a trail of blood behind them.
“Sonny!” she gasped.
“What?” he didn’t turn around to look at her.
“Sonny, you’re bleeding!” she practically screamed
Sonny winced. He looked down at his torso. The robot had hit him with a sharp edge when his guard was down. “It’s… nothing,” he replied.
Amanda wasn’t convinced. There’s no way that ‘nothing’ could leave behind so much blood. But it wasn’t like they could just stop and let her take a look at it. The robot was becoming more aggressive. It swiped at them at any chance it got. Sonny’s wound caused him to stumble several times, but he always recovered. Only ten more yards. Amanda was wearing down, but she couldn’t stop now. Five. Sonny’s wound seemed to be getting worse; it was leaving behind more blood. Two. He was limping now, but he was still fast enough to out run the robot, and make the last few feet. They ran out of the building and rounded a corner. They entered a street once again. It was dark now, and there was hardly anyone in sight, but there was no way that the robot would follow them out, there were cops everywhere, even if it didn’t seem like it. They slowed to a stop about two blocks away. Amanda bent over with her hands on he knees, trying to catch her breath. Sonny fell to his knees, holding his stomach and wincing. Amanda tried to let him show her, but he just waved his hand.
“It’s just from all the running,” he reinsured her, “I’m fine, really. Besides, you should get back to the hotel, they’re going to start worrying.”
“Not before I walk you back to your apartment,” she protested. She didn’t feeling like doing much of anything, but she couldn’t leave him there.
It took them an hour or so to get back. The door was already fixed, Milo’s doing. They knocked. Milo’s digital eye peeked around the chained door. When he saw who it was, he quickly opened the door and let Sonny in.
“Now get back to the hotel,” he said again.
“I will after I pay a visit to the police station,” she said. Sonny shook his head and closed the door.
Amanda turned and left for the station.
“What happened to you?” Milo asked as Sonny walked into the washroom.
“Kidnapping, giant robots, same ol’, same ol’,” he answered jokingly.
He turned on the water and winced as he took off his shirt.
Milo’s eyes widened. “Man! You should get a doctor to look at that!”
“It’s fine,” he winced again.
“Okay…” Milo turned and left the washroom; still not sure that everything was fine.
Amanda had made a report about the men the night before, and was now getting ready to go visit Sonny, when someone knocked on the door. Amanda looked through the peephole. Outside was a very worried-looking Milo. She quickly opened the door and let him in. She looked up and down the hall. No one else was there.
“Milo,” she said, closing the door, “where’s Sonny?”
The robot twisted its hands as it floated up and down the room.
“I told ‘im,” it said, “I told ‘im he should’ve seen someone about it…”
Amanda looked at it puzzled. “See someone about what?”
“I told ‘im…” Milo said again.
Amanda looked at it worrier. What was it talking about? She took it by the shoulders. “Milo, where’s Sonny?” she said firmly.
Milo couldn’t look her in the eyes. It didn’t answer. Amanda’s eyes widened. It didn’t have to say anything; she knew something had happened to Sonny. She ran out of the hotel and all the way to Sonny’s apartment, Milo close behind. The small robot opened the door, and Amanda ran in. Sonny was lying in his bed, sweating, shaking, and wincing with pain. Amanda ran over to him.
“Oh my God,” she put her hand to his forehead, “he’s burning up. Why didn’t you call an ambulance?” She turned to Milo.
“I didn’t want him to,” Sonny said weakly.
“So you want to die?” Amanda said harshly. She turned back to Milo, “Not call an ambulance!”
Sonny gave a weak laugh. “Why did you become a singer in the first place? You don’t act a thing like you do on all those shows,”
Amanda was surprised by the question. She had never thought about it before. “I don’t know,”
“Fate an’ destiny are weird things, you know that?” Sonny said, half to himself.
“They on their way,” Milo came back.
“All right,” Amanda gave a thanking smile and nod before she turned back to Sonny. “Why didn’t you get a doctor to look at that?” she pointed to the giant slash the robot had made.
“Never thought it would get this bad,” he replied, “never did before.”
A few more minutes passed before the sound of sirens could be heard.
Amanda sat backstage lost in thought. The world was a cruel and unforgiving place. Whatever Sonny might have done in the past, it could’ve have been as bad as to almost kill him. No, he had a pure heart, and that’s all that mattered. The three men that had kidnapped them were going on trial for kidnap, attempted rape, and attempted murder, and she had a lot more protection now. She thought about what Sonny had asked her. Why had she become a singer? It wasn’t for the fame or the fans, but then what was it for? Her mind then wondered to the ‘what if’s. What if she hadn’t become a singer? Would she still have been kidnapped? Would she still have met Sonny? She thought about what it would’ve been like if she hadn’t met that cat-like boy. Sonny had given her something. He gave her an inspiration, a light. He had given her something that she would carry with her for the rest of her life.
“It’s time,” a red-haired assistant interrupted her thoughts.
“All right, thanks, Ruby,” the assistant nodded as Amanda got up.
She walked onto the stage, fans cheering, lights flashing, cameras rolling. She greeted everyone.
“Hey, we’re going to play a new song tonight. It’s one that I actually wrote, and it’s dedicated to a close friend,” she nodded toward the band.
They started a slow, but catchy tune.
“I walk around in circles,
Not knowing what to do.
I was lost and hopeless,
I didn’t have a clue.
I was blinded with ignorance,
Paralyzed with fear.
I knew the end was coming,
I knew death was near.
But then you found me.
I knew I was safe.
You took me away from there,
You took me to a better place.
I see the world in your eyes,
I see my future with you.
Don’t leave me now,
With you, there’s nothing I can’t do…”
Destiny is love at first sight. Destiny is not knowing why you did something. Destiny is sorrow. Destiny is cruelty. Destiny is hate. Destiny is a never-ending song. The present, part, and future are the music of destiny, the three beats in this endless waltz. Destiny is as long as time. Love is as long as time.
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