Trapped by Four Alphas

Jonea has just finished brushing the last brush across a piece of canvas. Her cell phone rang as she smiled contentedly at Marlyn, her best friend who was the model of her painting.

"Our last task has been completed," said Jonea. "Thank you for your help, Marlyn."

"Yep, see ya after the summer break!" replied Marlyn while packing her things into a bag. "Your phone keeps ringing, Jonea. Maybe something important?" Marlyn was already standing beside Jonea, looking at her self-portrait before leaving.

"At least it's just Miller," said Jonea, tidying up her brushes. "We promised to meet at the front stop of his dorm."

"It must be nice to have such a handsome brother. Next time, introduce me to him!" Marlyn glanced at Jonea before leaving while waving. "Happy summer holidays!"

After wiping her hands with a wet towel, Jonea picked up her cell phone.

"Dad?" There was a surprise in Jonea's tone. She thought Miller had called. "What happen? You don't usually call me at this hour. I'm getting ready—"

"Jonea… please listen to me!" said her dad firmly.

Jonea tucked the phone between her shoulder and ear. Her hands were busy cleaning up the rest of the paint and brushes. When she heard her dad's grave voice, Jonea immediately straightened up.

"What's the matter, Dad? Why are you so serious?"

"Miller..." her dad's voice was cut off and turned into muffled sobs.

"Miller? What's wrong with him? Soon I will be home. We had promised to meet at the bus stop near his school. You don't need to worry—"

"You have to go to the hospital. Miller's accident."

Jonea's cheerful face suddenly disappeared and turned pale. There were lines of confusion and denial all over her body.

"What? Miller is fine!" shouted Jonea.

"Come to the hospital right now. Miller had an accident while leaving school." The father's voice sounded full of regret and sadness. The man turned off the phone without waiting for Jonea's answer.

"Impossible!" shouted Jonea, panicked. "This morning, he is still fine. He told me we would go home together this afternoon and promised to meet at the bus stop in front of his school."

Jonea left her painting equipment and grabbed the backpack on the chair. She rushed out of the art institute, running as fast as possible.

***

Jonea ran along the sidewalk until she arrived at the hospital. She walked down the pale, cold halls searching for the operating room. Jonea stopped at the turn of the aisle when she accidentally heard her parents scream.

Jonea's parents stood in front of the operating room, facing two men in black suits.

Jonea took a step back and hid. She could hear clearly what her parents and the two men were saying, even though they were unaware of Jonea's presence.

"Mr and Mrs Fallon, we will cover your son's medical expenses. We will also provide additional scholarships for your other daughters until they graduate and are accepted at top universities without the need to go through the selection. We also provide enough pocket money for them to graduate. And... we will also waive the building rental fee for the chicken restaurant you are managing forever. You can get all those offers if you're willing to close this case and accept it as a single accident."

Jonea clenched her jaw and clenched her hands by her sides. She did not know what was happening and befall her brother. However, the offer she had just heard made Jonea very angry.

"Something's wrong!"

When Jonea was about to come to them, her mother screamed.

"How could... are you guys this mean and cruel to our son? We want justice!"

"Fine, if you want justice. So, you must be prepared to bear all medical expenses, lose your son's scholarship, and the future of your children will be at stake. However, we have been kind enough to offer all the conveniences. If you want your children's future guaranteed, I advise you to accept it without complaining too much!"

The man continued in a slightly threatening tone.

"If you want to take this matter to legal channels, it is easy for us. Because we have irrefutable proof that it was Miller Fallon who started the fight. If you don't want this matter exposed, you should accept our offer and treat it as an accident."

Mrs Fallon screamed. The woman's body sagged. She knelt on the floor in the middle of the hospital hallway. Mr Fallon tries to calm his wife. However, two men in black suits handed them a document to sign.

Jonea's tears almost spilt out. Anger bubbled up in her chest. Jonea could barely control herself. She was about to run over to them to object. But it's too late. Mr Fallon had signed and agreed to their terms.

Jonea pulled up the hood of her jacket and covered her head. She looked down to wipe away the tears with her hand.

The two men in black smiled with satisfaction. They walked past Jonea. The corner of the girl's eye glanced at the emblem one of the men wore.

"Abraham High School," Jonea hissed.

The girl immediately ran to her parents. Mrs Fallon fainted, and Mr Fallon immediately carried her for treatment.

Jonea tried to look tough and turned to the closed operating room. Her twin brother is fighting for his life.

Suddenly, Jonea sat languidly on an extended bench at the side of the aisle. 'What happened to you, Miller?'

Mr Fallon was already sitting beside Jonea. He hugged the girl and calmed her down. "Forgive me for being a weak man."

Jonea suddenly clenched her fists and turned to her father with a swollen face. She clutched her father's shirt and sobbed in front of him.

"Tell me, Dad. What happened to Miller?"

Mr Fallon didn't dare look at Jonea. He lifted his face trying to look tough.

"They said Miller had an accident crossing the road leaving school. He ran through a traffic light."

"Lie!" shouted Jonea. "I have heard everything. The man from the Abraham Foundation came here to see you. What exactly happened to Miller?"

Mr Fallon broke into tears. "Forgive me! Forgive me! I'm a lousy father. I do not have the power to guard and protect you. Forgive me for being born into a poor family and having no influence."

"We can report it to the police. We can ask legal aid agencies. We have to uncover this truth, Dad!"

Mr Fallon shook his head. "We don't have any evidence or witnesses. They had manipulated him with their money and influence. We can't do anything. If we continue to fight, then it will only hurt our future. Miller is threatened with expulsion from school. He will not be accepted into any school and will be exiled from the life of this world. I didn't want all of that to happen to him!"

Jonea got up and shook her father's hand away. "Then, will you just let it go? Miller could have died at this moment! Why do we stand by and accept everything?"

"I'm sorry, Jonea. Forgive me!" Mr Fallon kept repeating.

"I can't take it, Dad! I will definitely avenge them all!" Jonea turned to leave the hospital.

"Wait, Jonea, no! You could get hurt."

Before Jonea could turn away, a doctor exited the operating room. Both Jonea and Mr Fallon were shocked.

Jonea and her father panicked when the doctor came out of the operating room with a straight face. The doctor approached Mr Fallon and tapped him on the shoulder.

"Miller... is he...?"

Suddenly the doctor smiled. "The operation went well. Miller seems to have a strong will to survive. We have treated the bleeding in his brain. We will continue to monitor his condition. There might be an effect—"

Jonea leaned forward.

"How could he have a brain haemorrhage?"

"His head was injured due to impact with a blunt object."

The doctor said goodbye, and only Mr Fallon was left with Jonea.

"What really happened to Miller, Dad?"

Mr Fallon is still silent. The man could only lower his head. Jonea didn't want to push her father any further. Right now, he was under a lot of pressure. As Miller had just finished surgery, his wife also fainted and now needs treatment independently.

***

Jonea and Mr Fallon took turns accompanying Miller, who had been transferred to the inpatient room. Miler still closed his eyes. His face was swollen and had lots of bruises. His head was wrapped in bandages. When Jonea went home that night to switch guards with Mr Fallon, Miller suddenly moved to tug at the hem of Jonea's shirt.

"Millers?"

Jonea and her father were surprised that Miller finally reacted, despite being unable to speak a word.

Mr Fallon wiped away his tears and pulled Jonea's hand from her brother.

"Listen to me, Jonea. Abraham High School is your brother's dream. He worked hard and studied desperately to get into that elite school. Miller proved himself and even always won first place for two years. He did it all to defend his scholarship."

Jonea knew what her father said was the truth. Jonea saw how hard Miller struggled to get a scholarship and attend his favourite school.

Jonea, in contrast to Miller, prefers art. Jonea was never interested in getting into the rich kid's werewolf school. Even though Jonea met all the requirements to get a scholarship there quickly.

"You may not understand," said the father. "Because you can get everything you want easily. As for Miller, he had to go through all kinds of hardships to get what he wanted. He was destined to be weak from birth."

Jonea knows that too. That's why they really care for and love Miller more than anyone.

"But, Dad... Miller gets unfair treatment at school. Should we just shut up and just accept it?" Jonea tried to keep her emotions that were about to explode.

Mr Fallon shook his head. "I'm angry too. This is all wrong. But I also know your brother doesn't want to lose his dream. So, please don't make things even worse. We'll wait until he recovers, and we can discuss the best course of action for him after that."

Jonea was really very upset. She left her father and shook off the man's hand. Jonea ran out of the hospital with tears in her eyes.

The girl returned home alone. She huddled in her room in the dark. Jonea deliberately turned off the house lights and stood there like a madman.

Jonea's hand stretched out. She grabbed the study table beside the bed. She flipped the light switch on and off over and over again. When it was light and dark, Jonea suddenly thought of something.

The girl immediately got up and ran to Miller's room. She opened Miller's room and turned on the light. Displayed all knick-knacks typical of teenage boys.

Jonea rummaged through Miller's study table. She opened a drawer and took out everything in it.

"Where is the book? Where do you keep it? I'm sure I've seen it somewhere. Where did you hide that damn thing!" shouted Jonea angrily while slamming the pencil case on the table until it scattered on the floor.

Due to the shaking, an action figure fell to the floor. It was followed by Miller's junior high school graduation photo album. On the shelf where the photo album had previously stood, Jonea saw a black book she was looking for.

A few months ago, just before the grade promotion exam, Jonea saw Miller coming home from school with a bruised face and chapped lips.

"Hey, what's wrong with your face?"

Miller ignored Jonea.

Jonea tried to check her brother's face, but Miller pushed and shoved Jonea away.

"Don't say anything to mom and dad. I just slipped and accidentally hit the stairs."

Miller then locked himself in the room.

Jonea realized that Miller often came home with a body covered in wounds. She thought it was normal for boys to occasionally fight with their friends.

On another day, Jonea caught Miller making notes in the black-covered book. When Jonea approached him, Miller quickly closed and hid it.

"You really don't want to tell me? If going to school there is tough, why don't you just move? You can go to any school you want with your ability."

"Stop meddling in my business!" shouted Miller. "I am not your child that you must always look after and protect. I'm not an elementary school kid anymore. You always embarrass me!"

Jonea took a deep breath. Because Miller had a weak body since childhood and was often sick, Jonea overprotected him. Jonea always fought back and beat up Miller's friends when he was bullied. But having protection from a girl seemed to hurt Miller's self-esteem.

"I'm not as smart as you. I'm not as brave as you, either. You can take art majors to school without thinking twice, but I can't be like you! I worry about my future. Because I'm not as smart as you."

That was the first time Miller revealed his hidden feelings to Jonea.

"There's nothing you can do for me!" shouted Miller. "There's nothing I can be as proud of as you other than winning a scholarship and attending Abraham High School."

Jonea shook her head. She was trying to erase the memory of her fight with Miller a few months ago. And three days ago, for the first time, Miller called Jonea to take her home from school together.

Jonea leafed through Miller's notebook page after page. She read it while holding back tears.

"This is how badly they treat you just because you're human and poor?"

Unknowingly, Jonea's hands clenched and crumpled a page of the notebook.

"Fuck!" Jonea cursed. "So they've always bullied and bullied you? Why do you keep everything to yourself as if you are strong? Why didn't you tell me?"

Jonea got up and looked at her face in the mirror. She touched her pretty face. People always say Miller is the male version of Jonea. Because Miller has a face as beautiful as Jonea. But, that beauty made Miller hated by his friends because it produced a combination of looks that girls liked.

Jonea glanced at the drawer and took out a pair of scissors.

"I will repay all their deeds! I'll make them pay for what they did to you."