Ruby Dust

five - polvere

    A familiar shiny black car sat idly on the empty road next to the crippling building. Brooke’s face lit up as the tinted window rolled down to reveal Tae’s face smiling and waving signaling her to come down. 

    “Brooke,” called Gi over the phone “you’ll have to move fast and prepare yourself, okay?”

    “Understood.” 

    Brooke hurried to put back on her shoes to go down as fast as she could when suddenly a thundering bang at the front door echoed through the apartment. Brooke slightly jumped at the noise and Gi wanted to know what was going on. 

    “Moon! There’s someone trying to break down the door!” whispered Brooke shakingly into the phone.

    “Use the fire escape! Now!” answered Gi with a firm voice.

    “It’s on the other side of the apartment. I’ll have to get out of my room to get to it,” said Brooke into the phone, not knowing what to do.

    “Then move it dumbass! What are you waiting for?” growled Tae into the phone taking both Gi and Brooke by surprise.

    Brooke took in a nervous deep breath and cracked open her door. The banging had stopped but that piece of wood separating her from that unknown intruder had multiple fractures across it; another clean hit and it would bust wide open.

    The shaken female took exaggeratedly long steps on her toes resembling a cartoon character trying to creep over something at a high speed. Aiden’s room, which had a window to the fire escape, was so close that she could almost taste it. Just then, a gunshot went right through the door hitting the wall behind Brooke, five inches away from her face. 

    As a natural response, she screamed and dropped the phone after seeing that the door had now an enormous hole right in the middle providing enough space to reveal half the body of a man dressed in all black with a mask covering most of his face. 

    “Brooke! For f**k’s sake! Get the hell out of there!” yelled Gi from the phone. He shouted at such levels that his voice was heard clearly despite the phone not being on speaker and sitting on the carpeted floor. 

    A few seconds of silent tension passed by before the masked man pointed his gun at Brooke once more. She kneeled down picking up the phone and ran for Aiden’s room before the bullet hit her. She hurriedly twisted the knob and locked the door behind her and pushed her roommate’s dresser in front of it as a barrier. The struggling and kicking of the man could be heard through the thin walls, causing Brooke’s adrenaline gland to work even harder.

    She flung the window open and hopped into the metal stairs trying her best not to fall. Space on the stairs was narrow so in order not to fall she had to be careful. As fast as she could, Brooke flew through the fire escape tripping every so often. Her body was in pain but she had to continue until she reached her friends. 

    “Yo b***h!” shouted out of nowhere a muffled male voice from above. Brooke bent her neck back to look up and saw the same man from before stepping out of the window with the deadly firearm in hand. “You ain’t going nowhere this time.”

    “Get away from me, you bastard!” 

    The male stomped heavily down the fragile stairs causing them to shake around and making it even more difficult than before for Brooke to go down. The man fired the gun many times but luckily for Brooke, his aim wasn’t remarkable.

    Reaching safely the ground, Brooklyn floured towards the car waiting for her at the end of the alley. The man had also reached the floor and got closer and closer to Brooke. After all, he was probably a trained assassin with long and seemingly strong legs. Out of desperation, Brooke decided to pull down as many trash cans as she could to create obstacles for her chaser in hopes to gain some time. 

    The cans fell one after the other generating bothersome noises but thankfully slowing down the armed male. When she neared the car, Tae opened the back door for her and Brooke jumped right into the seat. Gi lost no time and sped out of the sidewalk with a sweaty Brooke gasping for air in the back seat.

    “You did great, Brooke. Are you hurt?” said Gi looking at her through the rearview mirror.

    “Aside from the fact that I almost got shot five times, I’m pretty good,” answered Brooke jokingly trying to force a smile. 

    “You are not okay, are you?” asked Tae, turning around and inspecting a red stain on her blue shirt. “Brooklyn, you are bleeding!” Was it with the gun or how?”

    “His aim was horrible, he couldn’t shoot me but I think I accidentally got cut with the trash cans.”

    “We’ll have Joon look at that before it gets infected. Don’t worry,” said Tae with a lovingly smile on his rosy lips. “Don’t stand up, though.”

    “By the way, how did you guys know where I lived? And how did you know that man was coming?” asked Brooke just realizing what had just happened.

    “It’s Kook’s job to know everything about everyone,” answered Gi monotonously looking straight at the road. “About the man, we didn’t know.” A sudden moment of silence took over the car. “We were in the right place at the right time, I guess.”

    Brooke lied there thinking about what had just happened.

    “When you left this morning, we knew it was a mistake and knowing that you are a target like the rest of us, we couldn’t take the risk of having something bad happen to you. You are one of us now, and gioielli must always protect each other.” said Tae after a while, breaking the silence. “Remember when Gi stared at you and you looked back confused? That was a sign.”

    “Well, thank you guys for saving me.”

    No response from either of the males on the front seat.

***

    After what felt like hours, the car came to a stop. It was still night time but it appeared to be around ten o’clock. The boys’ seat belts clicked and they were set free. Gi told Brooke to stay in her position so Tae and himself could carry her onto their destination. As she could finally see outside, she couldn’t understand where they were. The area was poorly lit by the moonlight. The secluded section of land was pretty much empty except for hundreds of trees and what seemed to be an abandoned warehouse. The paint was chipping off and had questionable stains all over the structure. The windows and doors were blocked with rotten pieces of wood and rusty nails. The building itself looked like the perfect place to hide a torture room; in the woods, no one can hear you scream.

    “Brooke,” whispered Gi as the fallen leaves crunched beneath his boots. “You have to promise me that you won’t make a single sound once we enter. Also, keep your head hanging and do not move.”

    “Why?”

    “Because if you don’t, I’ll make sure to stitch up that loud mouth of yours with my bare hands,” said Gi with his unique serious stare looking right into Brooke’s eyes. She nodded silently in response.

    Both males carried the injured female up to the front of the warehouse where Tae took out a silver key to open the hefty lock that closed the door. As it opened, the huge doors made disturbing sounds that echoed throughout the giant and seemingly empty structure. The soft moonlight made its way through the dusty windows at the very top of the building giving off some light to see what was inside.

    “Do not talk. Let your head hang low.” Said Gi once more to ensure Brooke’s understanding. She nodded again in response.

    “Boss, she’s here.” Said Tae into the darkness confirming that there indeed was a person inside the abandoned building.

    “Very well, my jewels, now place her in front of me.” commanded a husky male voice with a foreign accent. Packs of cigarettes and bottles of alcohol could be heard in his hoarse voice as Brooke was being taken closer to the unknown man.

    She began to feel uneasy. She trusted these guys, for sure, but something about the mysterious vibes of the situation wasn’t right. Gi’s orders of not to say a word resonated in her brain and she was very hesitant at first but, at such a vulnerable state, she couldn’t take any risks.

    “Guys, what’s going on?” whispered Brooke slightly moving her head. Both Tae and Gi squeezed her ankles and wrists tightly. Tae glared at her from above with such eyes that made cold chills travel down her spine. These guys knew what they were doing, she had to trust them.

    Brooke gently let her head fall down trying to sync with the movement of her body.

    After a few more seconds of walking into deep darkness, Brooke’s body was left on the grainy and dusty wooden floor. She assumed that she had to play dead so she breathed as little and softly as she could, not moving a muscle. As she inhaled, the smell of smoke and Italian rum, a pair of bulky shoes stepped in front of her face. Her eyes were open ever so slightly to at least get a blurry look of what was before her.

    “Moon, Amethyst, where is her wound? I shall inspect it to make sure her soul has left her body.” Said the same hoarse voice from before. Since it was closer, Brooklyn could distinguish a European accent, perhaps Spanish or Italian. She also noticed that this man knew who Tae and Gi were, including the code names they used when Ruby Dust was in action.

    “It’s on the left side of her waist,” affirmed Tae using a voice different from the one he spoke to his friends with. Instead of his sweet, sort of bubbly voice, he used a deeper and more strict tone. This could only mean that the man had authority or he felt obligated to talk this way with whomever this man was. “when we chased her, she cut herself and fell stupidly. We threw her into the trunk and here she is.”

    “I see…” said the man as he touched Brooke's wound. The pain was unbearable but she had promised not to move, and she felt that if she did, things wouldn’t go as smoothly. “She is a reckless gal, isn’t she?"

    "Yes, sir. She isn’t completely dead but the blood loss will kill her eventually. For now, she’ll remain unconscious.”

    The man looked up and looked directly into the boys’ eyes.

    “You have done your job very well, I knew I could trust you, my children. Did you take charge of the others?”

    “Yes, boss. Lapiz and Jade should be in their way with the others. We made sure to execute your plan to perfection, dear master.” said Tae.

    Brooklyn was confused. She recalled that those names belonged to Joon and Seok. What did they have to do with this? Was this “boss” the infamous Stefano Ricci? Why did she have to play dead? What the hell was going on and how could she escape?

    “Ah! Fantastic! Alessandro and Luciano will take care of the weapons. I have been waiting for this moment the minute that bastard walked out those doors thinking he could take over my creation.” A scoff escaped the man’s crusty lips. “Agate is one true moccioso fastidioso”. 

    As soon as the old man finished complaining two pairs of heavy footsteps moved around and went into what appeared to be the back of the warehouse. There, the sound of metal objects softly colliding with each other was heard. Brooke began to feel even more nervous. She could only imagine that the metals back there were a sword or some weapon to finish her off. One of the guys behind her -most probably Tae- poked her twice with the tip of his shoes. According to the bit of training, she got in the last few weeks, getting poked twice meant that she had to be prepared for a fight. Her confusion and anxiety rose to the roof.

    The two pairs of footsteps that left earlier arrived. They placed something on the floor too but Brooke couldn’t visualize it. A car with a loud engine could be heard pulling up on the gravel outside and multiple people stepping out of it. Muffled struggling could also be heard behind the hollow doors of the warehouse.

    “Let me go! I can walk by myself!” barked one of the muffled male voices before the door busted wide open. 

    Brooke’s back was facing the door but she was eager to know who was out there. Their footsteps came closer and closer to her position when suddenly three of those stopped dead in their tracks.

    “Wait a second… isn’t that…” said a familiar stern male voice. 

    “Brooklyn!” shouted at the same time the voices belonging to Kook and Junghyun.

    The three hurried up towards her and kneeled down. Junghyun’s hands lifted her head and caressed her cheeks tenderly. As he moved, she also heard metals resonating. She assumed he was tied with chains or something of that manner.

    “Brooke, I’m so sorry for what I said. I promise I’ll make it up to you but please… don’t go.” said Junghyun worriedly on the verge of tears. He was the leader of the most dangerous group of men in the whole country but he still managed to get so emotional; that was one of the things Brooke loved about him. She forgot about the fight early in the morning, nothing mattered. She desperately wanted to open her eyes, look at those captivating features of his, hug him; but she couldn’t. Resistance was the key in order to see him again. 

    “Ah, young love,” said Stefano in an overly sarcastic voice. “Blasphemy. Take them away!”

    “NO!” screamed Junghyun as the two men who earlier fidgeted with the metals grabbed him by his toned arms and took him away from Brooklyn.

    Joon and Seok stood next to Tae and Gi in a line with their arms crossed on their chest. 

    “They’ll never forgive us for this,” said Joon to Seok’s ear.

    “It’s what has to be done to end all this bullshit,” answered Seok looking at Kook struggling with the other men.

    Despite Kook being so young, he fought with his all to break out of the man’s grip. He yelled at his supposed “friends” who had knocked him out, tied him up in rusty chains, and basically kidn*pped him to cede him to the old boss.

    Jin also resisted wrestling using his height to his advantage. With his long legs, he attempted to kick the men, who also worked for Stefano as minors when Ruby Dust was under Ricci’s rule.

    “Basta!” howled Stefano making everyone stop out of natural response. “Quando è troppo è troppo!”

    Black.

***

    The lights came back on. Her eyelashes batted at millions of miles per hour trying to shake off the dizziness. Her brain pounded against her head and her body felt horribly itchy. She tried to shake off the uneasy feeling but heavy and bothersome objects restrained her movements. 

    “At last all of you woke up.” said the remarkable smoke-filled voice waking Brooke up completely. “You are one heavy sleeper, aren’t you?”

    “Quit it with your bullshit!” growled Junghyun from the left side of the room. The unexpected sound of his voice brought light into Brooke’s eyes causing her to turn in his direction to get a glimpse of his face; he was sweaty, dirty, had multiple fresh scratches and cuts decorating his complexion. He looked as if he had not given up fighting until she blacked out.

    Out of nowhere, Brooke felt a burning pain on her waist. The memories hit her like a bullet: her deep cut which was supposed to be treated was still there with no sorts of bandage. Sooner or later the blood loss would take effect on her system and things would get ugly.

    She glanced left once again and finally got a clear view of what was going on: Kook, Jin, and Junghyun were next to her tied in a bundle of chains sitting on a wooden chair that stood before a wall filled with swords and weapons of all sorts. Jin was awake with passionate anger on his face. He glared with those unsettling stares of his at Gi. He still couldn’t believe his closest companion had betrayed him in such a way. Kook was the same, this time with Tae. Those two were so close some said they were best friends in past lives as well. In contrast with Jin, Kook didn’t look angry; he looked hurt. Junghyun, on the other hand, had his ebony eyes locked on the white foreigner who sat on a wooden throne a few meters in front of him. The intensity and rage on his stare were so heavy that even from far away the heat could be felt. 

    “Now, let me explain how we will proceed.” said Stefano, raising an eyebrow cockily. “I’ll think of a number from one to six and each of you will choose a number. You’ll say it out loud and then, depending on the number you chose, one of these jewels will end your life with one of the weapons back there.”

    Classic move from Stefano. Having a torturous process of death with a well-thought plan.

    “Spinel, choose a number!” 

    Kook remained silent. His gaze remained down.

    “Always so stubborn! Spinel! Godammit! Scegli un dannato numero!”

    “Cinque!” shouted Kook with all his strength revealing his face full of anguish. 

    “Well then, Amethyst, go ahead and finish him off.”

    Tae walked with no hesitation towards the back where the four hostages sat. He made his way past to the wall of weapons tapping Kook twice on his head slightly. With that, Kook’s eyes widened and filled with joy. He forced the tears and the smile to stay in so he didn’t cause any suspicion.

    While Tae chose his weapon carefully on the back, the huge doors opened once more. There, entered a male figure dressed in the same all-red outfit from the night at the casino. This time, however, his face wasn’t covered. The red hair and the green eyes grew more noticeable as he approached the light.

    “You f*****g asshole! Aiden! What the f**k are you doing?!” growled Brooke with rage dripping down her tears as her ex-roommate stood next to evil Stefano.

    “You betrayed me, Brooklyn, I had to find someone that would take care of me.” said Aiden with a creepy tone that Brooke had never heard before. The rage and hatred soon turned into concern.

    “Aiden, this is not you… please, stop this. That sweaty son of a b***h is just trying to take advantage of you; do not listen to him.” implored Brooklyn looking at Aiden with genuine sadness.

    “Always so hypocritical! After I saw you escaping at the casino, I made it my goal to kill you with my bare hands. Today, thanks to this man right here, that dream will come true.

    Brooke remained silent. She was still in utter disbelief by the huge turn of events.

    “Let’s hurry this up,” said Stefano clapping his bulky hands. “Moonstone, Lapiz, Aiden, go ahead and select your weapon and victim.”

    The three did as instructed. Now, everyone had a partner and a selected weapon. Gi held a metal pipe the size of his arm behind Jugnhyun, while Tae stood with a crowbar on his hands behind Kook. Seok opted for a sharp katana, Joon for a sledgehammer and had both chosen Jin as their victim. Lastly, Aiden chose Brooke and held the same gun he had during the shooting at the casino.

    “Meraviglioso! But wait, before we start the execution, may I ask why the three of you chose those weapons instead of a firearm? Back in the day, guns were your guys’ statement.”

    “Hajimeru,” said Seok in Japanese and the action began.

    Gi and Tae used their weapons to break off the chains holding in their brothers and Seok hurried to stab Aiden with his katana. The redheaded male screamed in pain, letting his guard down giving Seok more time to finish him off. Gi freed Junghyun and Joon who quickly destroyed the chains holding Brooke hostage and she rose in glory. She hugged the there of them tightly and hurriedly took Aiden’s gun from his reach. 

    As expected by the group, Stefano saw this coming. An arsenal of men stood behind him ready to fight anyone in their way.

    “You keep disappointing me day after day… you have given me no other choice but to close your chapter.” The men began to stump towards the group of rebels in fury and they had no other option but to fight as well. Jugnhyun recited some words in Italian and the seven boys ran towards their former boss with an admirable war spirit, they were dedicated in every aspect of their lives and that day was no exception.

    The whole outcome of events went in slow-motion in Brooke’s eyes: Seok jumped into the air with his katana slashing the face of one of the men. Jin grabbed two guns from the back and used them with such skills that made him appear like the male version of Black Widow. Tae and Kook fought back to back like the true friends they were. Kook fired a pistol while Tae gracefully knocked teeth out with his crowbar. Gi was yelling like a lunatic channeling all of his inner demons; he wrecked every man on his way and even jumped into one’s back and pierced the metal rod through his eye causing blood to squirt  everywhere. Joon and Junghyun also fought side by side, ending the men trying to reach Stefano. For some odd reason, Stefano was still sitting on his throne, not moving a muscle. A normal person would’ve been long gone by now, but not Stefano; he wasn’t a normal guy. Despite trying to maintain a classy and composed image, Brooke could see right through his wall: the pain and sorrow in him were overshadowed by a malicious essence that took over his innocence and will to let others live. He had no expression on his face, however, Brooke could still see red eyes staring back at her like the devil himself.

    Only one thing can end all of this madness.

    With that, Brooklyn charged towards Stefano with the gun in hand. Surprisingly, Stefano was not expecting that random girl to attack him and real fear began to creep onto his pale face. 

    “OH DON'T YOU DARE!” yelled Brooke jumping towards the elderly boss and tackling him to the ground.

    “The end has come, Stefano. You’ve caused too much pain to continue living carelessly. I have never despised someone the way I despise you. Your time has come.” 

    Brooke’s tone was serious as she aimed the gun to Stefano’s forehead.

    “Oh, Bella, I think your time is the one that has come.”

    “BROOKLYN! WATCH OUT!” shouted Junghyun from the back of the building when an almost-dead Aiden detonated a grenade in the center of the barn.

    In a glimpse of blinding brightness, Brooke mouthed the words “I love you” to Junghyung as a tear rolled down his left eye.

    All of their hopes, dreams, and promises vanished into thin, red dust as the barn collapsed over them.

    The end of Ruby Dust had finally come.