bullet: a short story

By Cheryl Wong

The hostile change in Jace became prominent the day he quit theatre. It was his passion, the singular thing that brought out the vehement light in his eyes and out of the fragmentary remains of a person he had become. 

“Jace!” I rushed after him as he left the office. 

“Why?” He stopped and turned towards me, his sunken eyes fixated on the floor. “Leave it, Hazel.” 

The defeated look on his face urged me to scramble towards him, but we both came to an abrupt halt as they appeared before us. 

“Looks like you dropped the class at last.” Stephen sneered at Jace, swiftly pressing his neck against the wall, his cronies snickering openly behind him. My heart dropped as Jace’s customary colourless face turned crimson by the minute. Stephen Williams. Two words that seemed unmentionable in our household. His villainous existence acted as a supply of immense terror in Jace’s life, and subsequently in mine as well. 

“Stop!” I yelled, panicked. 

He ignored me without a single glance and proceeded to stare directly into Jace’s broken eyes. Then, the first punch was made without warning. As I desperately tried to put Stephen’s actions to an end by rushing towards the two, my futile efforts were stopped by his followers. Hit after hit, Jace’s spotless white shirt was stained by slashes of dark, gory blood. He didn’t return the violence; it was as though he accepted his brutal fate, being accustomed to the bullying and terrorization he endured daily. 

Stephen leaned closer to Jace’s lying body. “Stop trying,” he whispered dangerously, barely loud enough to hear. He walked away without a second glance, his men trailing after him, releasing me from their clutches. I immediately ran over to Jace, who struggled to help himself up. 

“Stop it, Hazel!” he shouted at me as I tried to assist him. “I warned you already, I don’t need your help. Leave!” The raging fire in his eyes was frightening, unlike anything I had ever seen on him. It was the first time he verbalized his discontent for me. Facing towards the wall in front of him, he screamed once more, his crushed tone turning into one of insanity. He limped away before I had a chance to react. 

He confined himself to his room that night without a sound, and even left for school early the next morning, preventing me from facing him. 

I spotted him immediately as I walked down the hallway and hurried after him. “Jace, how are you doing?” I spoke to him softly. 

He instantly hugged his school bag closer to his chest, his eyes focusing on me accusingly. “I said I’m fine, Hazel,” he snapped with teeth clenched. His eyes then travelled to a particular spot in the hallway, his murderous stare leaving me frightened. “I will fix this soon, just you wait,” he said darkly.

I made my way to class, slightly shaken by the events that took place, but before I reached the stairwells, Jace’s voice caused me to turn back. 

“Thanks for yesterday, Stephen!” he said loudly, his voice drowned out by all the mindless chatter. 

“I have no patience to deal with you, Jace,” Stephen barked back.

Jace cackled loudly, his fearsome voice echoing down the hallway, just as the chatter settled down. “So now you don’t have time? How about the times you beat me up? When you and your mates thought it was humorous to leave me half-dead on the floor?” 

Stephen shook his head, clearly not putting the words to heart.

It was then that Jace pulled out an object from his bag and lifted it high up in the air. Its silver metal glistened from the ceiling lights. 

“Bang!” The shot rang loudly as the bullet pierced through the ceiling. 

“Woah, relax,” Stephen exclaimed, panicked. 

Jace paid no attention, instead shifting the gun to face Stephen. I rapidly made my way towards them, but I was too late. I could see the crazed look in Jace’s eyes as he shot two quick shots straight into Stephen’s chest. The sound echoed through the hallways. Stephen collapsed onto the floor in a heap, but Jace gave no visible reaction.

“Next! Hazel Anderson. My dear sister.” I froze, not believing what my brother was yelling. “So now you don’t show up? Unlike all the times you butt your head into my business when I made it clear for you not to get involved?” 

My feet carried me towards him without thought, desperately wanting to put an end to his actions. 

“There you are. You want to be involved? You have your chance now!” 

The deranged smile on his face went wider as the gun was pointed towards my face. He laughed maniacally as I felt my heart beating out of my chest. This was not my brother, the one who once read me bedtime stories, who drove all the way to the next town to buy me my favorite snack, who hugged me close as our parents quarrelled. 

“Jace, don’t do this, please.” I desperately tried to search for the humanity in his eyes, but was left empty-handed. 

He pulled the trigger while laughing wildly, as though he was a lunatic. I closed my eyes, waiting for the impact to hit.