Disclaimer: No minors allowed. Amy person mentioned in this story, living or dead is purely coincidental. I don't personally know celebrities mentioned in this story. This story includes male/male relationship; if you are offended please leave right away.
The Last Dance Chapter One
A drinking glass is seen flying across the room and its shattering sound was heard immediately after it hit the nearest wall.
"LANCE!" the angry voice of a man in his early thirties is heard all over the house. "LAAANCE!!!!!!"
A ten-year-old boy runs down the stairs. He cannot hide the unusual paleness in his face, his trembling lips and the fear in his round green eyes.
"Pappa?"
"Is it true? Did you punch your classmate flat on his chest?" The man's angry stare made his son cower even more, knowing exactly what will happen after 'the talk'.
"He punched me first and I only did it because he almost broke my nose."
"Then why didn't you let them? I'd rather see you dead than getting a call from your school's prefect complaining about your WRETCHED ATTITUDE IN SCHOOL!" The man paused and looked at his son. Finding delight in seeing him engrossed with too much fear. "And if you are saying the truth . . . why didn't the prefect told me about your classmate punching you? Huh?"
The kid refused to answer. He just looked down the floor, knowing that answering to his father's inquiry won't do him any good.
"ANSWER ME YOU FREAK!" His father shouted at him and soon he felt the palm of his father's right hand on his cheek.
"They j-just set me up." A clear bead of tear fell down his right cheek. "They started calling me names and punched my tummy and when I started to punch back . . . s-some of them c-called the prefect and the next thing I know she is already reprimanding me for bullying Ian. I-I didn't do it on purpose. I only did it because I need to defend myself." He started to choke on his voice as he started to cry to his father. Asking for mercy. "Please don't hurt me pappa. Please don't."
The man's huge hands found their place on his son's neck and he squeezed it hard causing the child to choke on his breath.
"DON'T TEACH ME HOW TO TREAT YOU BECAUSE YOU KNOW NOTHING! YOU HEAR ME! YOU KNOW NOTHING!"
He then reached for his belt near the table and started lashing his son. The child's wailing is heard by the neighborhood and those who heard him just hoped that what is happening will be short for they cannot help the poor boy. This has always been the child's life for the past six years.
With every contact of leather to skin, the kid couldn't help but shout in pain and with every pain that he receives from his father's beating made him believe that his father doesn't love him, that no one really loves him. Maybe he is destined to be hurt. Maybe he was meant to suffer all his life. No. It is not fair! A child so innocent and so pure doesn't deserve this. No one deserves this treatment. Amidst this pain came the desperate desire to run away from his father and though he know that he only have a slight chance of escaping his father, he forced his wrists away from his father's strong grip and ran as fast as he can.
With every move of his feet, his muscles felt the pain of his father's punishment become more intense yet he has no plans of stopping. He dared not to look back for the fear of seeing his father catch up with him. He heard his father screaming at his back while he run to the staircase. Yet he still did not dare to look back.
As he was climbing the stairs, he saw a big vase on top of a small round table. He hurriedly ran to it and pulled it - sending the vase down the stairs . . . down to his father.
He hastily went to his room and locked it. His whole body felt numb and he cried to himself.
"I hate you! I hate you!" He threw the scattered crayons on the floor to the wall. "My Dad doesn't love me, no one loves me, Lance belong to nobody and no one wants to be with Lance because he is a bad boy, because he is ugly, because Lance doesn't have any loving parents . . . because he is a loser."
He broke down - nursing the pain by himself because he knows that no one will do it for him.
The sound of keys was heard two hours later. The door opened and in came a tall man with black hair. His forehead shows signs of stress as wrinkles start to form on it. His pale skin was identical to the Lance. He pushed the door further, sending more light into the dark room.
He looked at the room and saw that it was untidy. Broken crayons are everywhere. Crumpled papers litter the floor. The bed sheets are crumpled and the pillows and the stuffed teddy bear are out of the bed.
He looked more and saw chalk scribbles on the wall. He approached it and read the writings:
DADDY IS A BULLY AND LANCE IS A LOSER
He then saw something move in the corner of the room. Walking towards it he saw Lance curled up like a ball.
He took him in his arms and carried the child to his bed. The black haired man then proceeded to pick up the pillows on the floor and dust them off.
"Uncle Ed?" The man looked back to the direction of the voice. He then walked back to where Lance is lying, half - awake.
"Hush! Go to sleep. You need lots of rest." He pulled the head of his nephew and placed the pillow under it.
"Uncle. Am I a bad boy? Maybe Dad is so angry with me because I am one." The kid sniffed as he started to have a running nose after crying for an hour and a half.
"No. Jim's just upset about something and you have nothing to do with it." He fixed Lance's mixed up hair with his hand. "Now. I want you to sleep so that you will feel better tomorrow morning. But before that, you are forgetting something."
Lance sat up and hugged his uncle's neck and kissed him on his cheek. Edward just smiled and hugged Lance back. He kissed his nephew on his forehead and lay back down to his bed.
"Now sleep. I will prepare a good breakfast for you tomorrow."
"Night - Night Uncle Ed."
"Good Night Lance. Sweet Dreams."
Lance drifted back to sleep. Edward watched his sister's son sleep and placed a big blanket on top of Lance to keep him warm. He looked at his nephew's sleeping form and remembered Amanda - his beloved sister and Lance's devoted mother.
It has been six years and he can still smell the fresh flowers in the background and see the rose petals scattered on the carpet. A group of people is crowding at the gate of the enormous private garden, waiting for the bride to arrive. He can still remember the look on Jim's face as he waited for Amanda, thinking that she might run away when he has brought her to the altar. It didn't take long when she finally arrived.
A black car parked in front of the crowd and out came a brown haired woman clad in a white off-the-shoulder gown. The end of her carefully made curls touches her shoulder and light make-up accented her high cheekbones. The shiny white gold watch is affixed on her wrist and the diamond earrings that dangle on her earlobes were the only jewelry she wore. A four-year-old boy followed her out of the car; the color of his skin matches hers and his hair as yellow as that of Jim.
A sigh of relief escaped Jim's lips. A raven haired lady, whom Edward later recognizes as the wedding planner, asked the audience to prepare for their entrance to the garden. An organ accompanied the march of the invited guests. The long entry of the principal sponsors ended with the appearance of the bride who was accompanied by her father and mother. She was handed Amanda to Jim by her father and the couple proceeded to face the pastor.
Everything went well as it was planned. No one blocked his or her marriage at the start of the ceremony. The matrimonial service was solemn, just the way the couple wanted it to be. It ended with the procession, passing through the arc of flowers they passed during the start of their entrance and out of the main spot of the garden. Suddenly a maid went running to their direction.
"Ms. Amanda! Ms. Amanda! Lance is nowhere to be seen!"
"What? I thought you were watching over my son a while ago." Amanda answered her maid with a nervous voice.
"Am I late? Perhaps not."
The attention shifted from Amanda to a woman looking exactly like her aside from her straight brown hair and the cold expression on her face. She wore a backless scarlet colored gown that flaunted her flawless back. Rough looking men dressed in black coats accompanied her.
Amanda scanned those men and saw one of them holding her still naive son.
"Lance!"
"Not so fast, my dear sister." The cold-hearted lady stopped her.
"Give me the child." She called out to her assistant who followed her immediately. She tightly clamped one of her hands to the child's wrist. "You see, while you were exchanging vows at the altar, I was busy fishing your son outside of the garden with a big red balloon. And guess what? It worked. She even taught I was you. It seems that I am finally getting some advantage for being your twin."
"Give us our son!" Jim went straight towards the lady, who suddenly drew out a pistol out of her scarlet bag. Her attendants followed her and aimed at the man.
"Don't be so sure James! I can blow your head anytime I want." Tension started to rise as her voice started to sound violent.
"Ingrid. Please put the gun down." Edward pleaded to her.
"Stay out of this Ed. You don't want me to shoot you." Ingrid answered back.
"Now, James." She stopped to breathe so air. "I want you to choose. Your son's life or Amanda's."
"Ingrid, please don't . . ."
"Very well. He gets it." She aimed her gun at Lance.
"NO!"
Ingrid looked at the direction of the voice and saw Amanda.
"No." Amanda said. "I will give myself in exchange of my son."
Ingrid smiled. She got Amanda where she wanted her to be. "Now you're talking."
Amanda's family and friends tugged her hand and stopped her from sacrificing herself to Ingrid.
"Ingrid, don't do this to us." Amanda's father requested her to change her mind.
"Shut up Dad." She did not take her gun away from Lance.
James runs to Amanda. "Hon. Don't do this to me."
Amanda just looked at him and shed a tear. "I have to."
"What are you waiting for? Christmas?" An irritated Ingrid shouted at Amanda.
"Ingrid. I trust you that you will be true to your word." Amanda said. "At the count of three, I will walk to your direction and you let go of Lance."
"Amanda, don't. You don't know what she might do to you." Edward told her.
"Edward. Take care of my son." Amanda touched her brother's cheek with her soft hand.
"One . . ." Ingrid hold on Lance became tighter.
"Two . . ." The crowd knew that they cannot stop anything from happening so most of them just cried while the other were pale with fear of what's going to happen.
"Three." Ingrid let go of Lance and pushed him then she pulled Amanda who walked towards her. Her attendants aimed their guns at the terrified crowd.
"No one must get near unless you want to get killed." She dragged Amanda to her car, the color matching that of her dress. "Get in." She shoved Amanda to the front seat. "Don't try to escape or I will ask my men to kill all of your guests." She closed the door and entered the other door of the car leading to the driver's seat. She started her engines and went off. Upon hearing this, her armed men ran to their cars and followed her.
"Call the police. We will follow them." Edward said to the crowd and rides his car with James.
Meanwhile back to Ingrid's car.
"Why are you doing this?" Amanda asked her sister.
"You ruined my life. I loved James and you stole him from me."
"I did not stole him from you. He loved me much as I love him and he doesn't love any person besides me."
"What do you have that I don't have. Huh? I loved him first even before you met him. I loved him first and you stole him from me." Ingrid made the car run fast - the highest speed she can manage.
"I didn't steal him from you because he didn't love you from the start. You know that. You know that but you just can't accept it."
"SHUT UP!!! SHUT UP!!! You hurt me and now I will hurt you. You will see how evil I can get."
"No Ingrid. I won't let you ruin our life again. Never again." Amanda snatched the wheel from Ingrid. The car was wavering on the road as the twins fight over the wheel. Ingrid and Amanda occasionally hit each other just to get the control of the wheel.
Edward is following the group of cars wherein Ingrid's men are riding. The goons shoot at their car and they duck while Edward continued to follow them.
The Police were informed and the station phone - called Edward, who told them their direction. Three police cars take off.
Ingrid's car swivel down the road and Amanda, growing desperate to escape her twin sister, pulled the car wheel to her direction and Ingrid countered her too strong without knowing that they are nearing a cliff.
The car drove straight to the railing and destroyed it. The car lost control and continue to fall down the valley below. Trees and rocks hit it until it plunged down to the stony ground. It exploded and it was heard in a distance, getting the attention of both the goons and Edward.
The armed men were planning to help their boss but the sound of the police siren scared them and they drove off leaving the police and the two men in the scene.
Two hours later, Amanda was declared dead as she was inside the car when it exploded. Ingrid on the other hand was nowhere to be found. The police believed that she might have escaped the car when it exploded and was flown somewhere behind the bushes and she was paralyzed but they did not find her. Two days later, the saw a body with a disfigured face wearing her gown and jewelry and upon seeing this they declared her dead.
Up to this day, James never smiled again. No one ever see him happy again or giggle the way he used to and he keeps on blaming Lance for the death of his wife despite his innocence at a very young age.
Edward looked back at the sleeping form of Lance after reminiscing the most painful years in his life and he looked at him and remembered the promise he made to his sister - that he will take care of Lance.
"Amanda, I have not forgotten my promise and until the day I die, I will not leave your son. Never again."
TBC.
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