Julius Caesar

I did not remember how I returned to the motel as I sat up on my bed, with the hugest headache ever and with the sun's goddamned rays kissing my bloody face.

I reached for my phone which carelessly lied on the ground to check the time. I grimaced. It was fifteen hundred hours. I was about to chuck my phone away when my eyes widened at the three missed calls I had from none other than Sam an hour ago.

I gulped, removing the hair from my forehead as I hurried to unlock my phone with slightly shaky fingers and called her.

"Hello?" A timid voice replied after the first ring. "Romeo?"

"Yes-" I rasped, clearing my throat. "How are you?" I asked, squinting at the bright, open windows.

Why the hell are they even opened?- I wondered miserably as I decided to get up, swaying on my feet, to snap them shut. The room was now faintly illuminated by the light coming from beneath the front door and the 'kitchen'.

I needed no more exposure.

"Can we meet?" She asked urgently after a short pause and I raised my eyebrows.

"Yes. Certainly," I said, looking down at my 'clean' cast with a frown. "Wherever and whenever you're free." I continued, glancing around the room for any weird occurrences. I then noticed my gun lying carelessly on the floor. I did a double-take and clenched my jaws.

Me, not being able to remember what happened yesterday, was obviously a disaster. I didn't even remember how the gun, that was tucked in my back pocket, ended up on the floor. It was a must that I ensured I knew where my gun was in case of an emergency.

"Okay. Can we meet at the park?" She requested politely. "There's only one park here that's close to uni. Do you know it?" She sounded terribly distressed and I narrowed my eyes curiously.

"I do," I replied with a heavy sigh as I reached for my gun and chucked it on the bed.

"Okay. I'll be waiting for you in an hour. And please, don't be late." She then hung up.

I lowered my phone and stared at it. I didn't expect that.

When I looked down at my bare chest, I was shocked to find more drawings than the stars I remembered getting. I was definitely so gone yesterday- I thought as I tried recalling how I even returned here safely.

I was about to open the bathroom's door when I heard the sound of the shower closing. I took two steps back. Did I fuck someone yesterday?- I asked myself with a frown but noticed I was still in my jeans. So, no.

I quickly reached for my jacket that was also thrown on the floor and draped it over my back. I then sat at the edge of the bed with a sigh, my lungs aching for a cigarette. But who knew where my cigarette box ended in the party's chaos?

Then none other than Augustus came out, hair dripping with water, with a towel around his middle. I frowned. What was he doing in my bloody room?

He was drying his hair when he noticed me staring at him. "I know I'm hot, mate, but I'm straight as hell." He laughed but I kept staring back in shock. What the hell happened?

He then sat next to me and I looked at him curiously.

"What's wrong, mate?" He asked in concern, his light blue eyes glistening and his thick brows arching. "And why the hell did you close the windows? The room smelled like arse-"

"How did you end up here? What in heaven's name happened?" I was trying to make sense of my surroundings.

He then guffawed. "We had the most wonderful sex ever! Don't you remember?" He winked and I glared at him.

"What?"

"Jesus Romeo, I was joking! Take a bloody joke, mate. I'd never do that."

I sighed in relief and glanced at him. "Goodness, that would've been traumatizing-"

"Why? Not your type?" He asked, wriggling his eyebrows.

"It's not that-" I shook my head confused. "I'm heterosexual."

"Boobs or buttocks?" He asked quickly, cocking his head.

"Boobs- no, buttocks-" I blinked in shock at my reply as Augustus laughed. "Can we please get to the more pressing matters?" I then asked him, suppressing a smirk.

"Pressing matters?" He pouted. "What pressing matters? I took care of everything."

"How did we end up here? I think I must've been too drunk to remember a thing." Too drunk and too stupid. Luck was obviously on my side. Had there been one of Father's men, I would've been done for.

Augustus looked at me with narrowed eyes. "You passed out."

"Passed out? I don't-"

"You didn't get drunk, but you were pushed into the pool, bled from your wound. A lot. I took you to the hospital. But I guess if you don't remember the pain you were in before passing out, you must've been really drunk too. Or lost lots of blood. I dunno. Anywho. They gave you an antibiotic that they said you had to take every eight hours. So you have to take it like now." He said, pointing at a pill bottle on the bedside table.

"I found the motel's keys in your pocket with the motel's name-" He continued. "I drove you here and slept here. Honestly, it was too cold and I was too tired and drunk to drive my arse back home." He said as I glanced at a brand new patch on the wound. It all seemed unreal.

"And what about all those drawings?" I pointed at my chest and he made a face.

"Those are pressing matters too?" He teased and my upper lip twitched.

"Curious."

"Well, look- it isn't my fault or anything-" He started with a smirk. "But like when I took you out of the water. Bridal style, for your information-"

"That's not a pressing detail-"

"It's an impressing one though. You're like Hulk and I'm like...spiderman-" He then laughed and I smiled, shaking my head. "Anyway. I had to leave you on the ground till I got my stuff. Car keys, scarf, and all. Meanwhile, people just saw you as their whiteboard. They let out all their drunken talents on your chest. I had to shoo them away from you like kittens. Or puppies. With my Ultimate-Gusto-Whistling."

"Wait- you have a car?" I asked.

"Actually three, but yeah, why?" He said proudly with a smirk.

"Can I borrow it after dropping you at your place?"

"Of course! You're my homie now, mate!" He smiled widely and I nodded.

"Thank you very much. Augustus."

"Hey. Don't call me Augustus. Like, I actually get offended. Call me August or Gust or something." He said smiling and I nodded.

"Okay. If you insist." I said, raising an eyebrow.

I then left him to enter the washroom and stand in front of the sink, my elbows locked and my head bowed down. I sighed, shook my head, and looked up at the mirror tiredly.

I haven't been feeling myself at all. I felt like the pace of the life I've been living was making everything pass in a blur. The faces were a blur. The memories were a blur. My existence was a bloody blur. I looked at myself and felt a hundred years older. I had definitely lost weight. My cheeks were hollower, my cheekbones more pronounced, and my muscles more defined.

I let my mind drift back to Audrey, how she smelt and felt. Then I remembered the gun firing, her last muffled scream and cry, and then her warmth leaving her body for good.

I tilted back my head and squeezed shut my eyes.

This wasn't who I am. I did not go to parties. I did not hang out with kids. I did not have fun. I was here on a mission. I needed to keep reminding myself than anyone who got too close to me suffered. Died. Because I had a great enemy up against me. My own father who'd do anything to destroy me as I'd watch, incapable of retaliating. Because he's, after all, family.

I looked into my dark-green eyes that hid a lot of fear in its depth. Fear of Father and my non-existent future. Fear of myself.

I opened the tab with shaky hands and ran water in them before splashing it across my paint-splattered face. I needed to wake up and focus on my real purpose here.

So I took a quick shower, wrapped a towel across my middle, got out, and felt my heart in my mouth when I saw Augustus, now fully-dressed in a full-sleeved, white shirt, khaki shorts, and an azure scarf, clutching my gun and pointing it at my head. His hair was slick, finger-brushed, and pushed back by his silver sunglasses.

I looked at him, at his stance and finger arrangement. He looked trained for me. I then watched some platinum-blond hair strands fall over his eyes as he tilted his head to look at me.

"What do you possibly think you're doing?" I asked, trying to sound chill.

The worst thing you could do to yourself is to show your enemy that you're weak even if you really are. Acting strong unnerves them. Makes them think that you got back up or a plan B. The oldest move in the book, really.

"Nothing, actually-" He said, lowering the gun and grinning. "I haven't held one in a while. Feels good really. I actually almost freaked out yesterday when I spotted it when you were getting carried by the nurses-" He said, throwing the gun back to the bed. "Thank God I took it just on time. Or there'd be a long explanation. Like Romeo, listen-" He approached me, and I observed his bright, genuine smile. "I'm so proud of myself that I didn't mess up because, swear to God, I felt so faded. And like, you don't know Drunk-Like-A-Skunk-Gusto-Version-001."

I smiled back at him before examining him closely and moving towards my bed in relief. He was after all an amateur-amateur, but this was still very reckless of me. I mean if he was really there to kill me or something, I would've been six feet under the ground.

"Why do you have a gun though?" He asked.

"Personal reasons," I replied. "You look trained," I commented, averting my eyes to him as he chuckled, sitting on the bed.

"I am. My dad trained me, really."

"Your dad?" I said with a sickening lurch in my stomach as I remembered Father. It wasn't like he wasn't always on my mind. "Why?"

"Personal reasons-" He repeated my phrase and I smirked, wondering if we had the same 'personal reasons'.

"Okay. Shall we, you know, go?" He asked after a long silence, hooking his thumb towards the front door.

"Oh. Yes. Please."

So we left after I got dressed and I remember almost stopping dead in my tracks when my eyes first glimpsed his car. It was a black Mustang. A very familiar one.

"Snap out of it!" I saw fingers snap in front of me and I turned to look at Augustus in curiosity.

"Where's your car?" I asked, feigning confusion.

"That black Mustang over there." He pointed at none other than the one I hoped wasn't.

"Nice car," I commented, trying to get him to talk about it.

"Yeah. My dad gave it to me as a gift for finishing some work for him. Even though, I literally did nothing-" He stopped to chuckle and look at me with a smirk. "Pretty cool, huh?"

He then popped what I guessed was gum in his mouth, lowered his sunglasses, and got into the driver's seat with a grin as I got into the passenger's seat and busied myself with studying the car's very familiar detailing.

Yes, it was necessary that I remained vigilant and questioned the ordinary, but it felt quite stupid applying this concept to a car. Certainly, my car wasn't the last black Mustang of that exact model.

So I relaxed into the leather seat.

"Okay, I'll take me home, then you can take the car and do whatever you want with it." He said enthusiastically, starting the car.

I smirked in response.

...

By the time Augustus made it home and left me his car, I knew I was late.

I drove to the park, trying not to get spooked by how much this car was like mine. My car that got Audrey dead. I tried ignoring the scratches on the back seat as if they weren't like the ones Audrey caused when I made love to her back there. I ignored it because I couldn't make sense of it and decided that maybe I was being paranoid.

Paranoia can cause hallucinations.

I wasn't very convinced by my explanation but shrugged it off and parked in the parking lot, reminding myself of Samara who was almost raped right there. I shrugged that off too.

I speed-walked past the running, excited children as I looked from one bench to the next, narrowing my eyes in focus until I spotted her. She wore red converse, black leggings, and a long, grey sweater that covered her hands. Her hair was in a messy bun and her face looked terribly pale as she looked at some point on the ground.

I approached her slowly before interrupted her thoughts softly, causing her to start.

"Hello."

"Romeo." She breathed, eyeing me with...fear? Relief? I narrowed my eyes at her in shock. Her composure was the exact opposite of what I remembered.

"Don't you look at me like that-" She was shaking her head, looking away from me. "It's just that, you're the only one I trust on this-" She stopped to stifle a sob and raise a quivering fist to her lips.

I frowned and quickly sat next to her. "What happened?" I asked urgently.

The way she shook, the way her eyes widened at every motion surrounding her, and her deeply bitten nails, unnerved me completely. She grabbed my right, uninjured hand, and I furrowed my eyebrows as I looked deep into her lost, dark eyes.

"I think-" She paused, looked around, then looked back at me with watery eyes. "I think someone's watching me. I think someone's watching us."