The Heart’s Tinted Facets

 

The Heart’s Tinted Facets

‘Good and Evil were names for actions by a person, judged by the others’

 

The dark, red apple, glinted off the morning rays coming through the scarcely open curtains. Its scarlet surface hid the cold white pulp underneath, and drips of juice ran in streams as its owner dug small crescents into its skin, while swinging in a chair.

Scarlett Whitlock smiled. Her usual frosty, malicious one, made menacing by the red lipstick applied on them, relating too perfectly to her name Looking back, Scarlett could see her mistakes. She was just like this apple, vulnerable. Easily dug into. But now she was tough. Her parent’s separation built her, instead of breaking her. She set down the apple on the table, now decorated with scars of crescents. And then before it could breathe a sigh of relief, Miss Scarlett Whitlock whipped out a dagger and plunged it in the skin. Shouldering her bag, she headed out for her first day at the Agency.

 

 

 

                                                                               . . . .

 

Scarlett remembered the last day of her high school perfectly. She remembered the decorated hallways, and floating banners across walls. There might have been a time when people would have cried. But not anymore. Not because no one cared anymore. Because now everyone cared. And because they cared, the Transporting Network of We care had been made. Through it you could reach anyone. Through it you could look forward to your future while holding your past. And this was what she was meant to do. Look forward to her future while holding her past. And her parents, her lovely caring parents, had given her a present, which shattered her past and dissolved her future.

Among the celebrations, she remembered the principal calling her, the quiet office, a contradictory to the loud festivities outside. She remembered her grave looking parents, sitting far apart on the couch as they told her what she had suspected for months.  

‘We’re sorry honey……it’s just not working out……But we’re here for you…...Whenever you need us.’

Scarlett had stared at them. Her mom had spoken the final sentence. ‘We don’t want to hurt you, we never wanted to.’

Scarlett had then tilted her head and given a ghost of a smile. ‘But you already have.’

And then she had walked out of the office, joined the party and then hugged herself and whispered, ‘You don’t need anyone.’

 

And that’s what her motto had been for the past two years. She had joined the Harlow Detective Agency, one of the most secretive ones in the world. It was known for coming to teenagers and offering them a position, a training for 2 years. Those who wished to continue could, and those who didn’t, left. But no one who once went through that 2-year training was ever the same. It was offered only to those who could pass their ‘assessment’, which was only technically observation. No one knew exactly what the agency looked for, but a few things were clear – A good academic and sports report and heartbreak. Everyone who was chosen had gone through something heartbreaking or the other.

Scarlett was in the beginning of her second year; she had just spent the holidays with her friends.

And now she was in the Gathering Hall for an announcement.

‘Welcome, everyone! Today we are proud to announce the release of the ‘Alternate Reality Essence. Everyone will be injected with it and based on the readings we will further enhance it. Please line up everyone, thank you.’

Murmurs rose in the hall. The Agency was always crisp and short in their announcements, never waiting for the audience to catch up.

Scarlett lined behind her trainer, John, one of the few people she could trust. He was in his middle thirties but active enough, always shouting at Scarlett and the others to do better. But otherwise, he was a good person to hang out with. ‘What’s going to happen?’ Scarlett asked. He grinned. ‘Just wait and watch.’

 

After several people had been injected, Scarlett finally got her turn. Till now she had seen people scream, shout, cry, and laugh. She wondered what they were being shown.

‘Wait for a couple of minutes to let it set in.’ Said the injector as he removed the needle.

And in that couple of minutes, her own real life became an Alternate Reality.

 

John was looking over his shoulder over and over again. Any time now. He saw Scarlett with her arm out, getting the shot. Poor kid. He really didn’t want to hurt her. But then as the agency said, ‘Sacrificing others for the greater good, is not selfishness, its being brave.’

Scarlett would understand. She really would.

The watch on his hand beeped. He pressed the button appearing on the screen. And the hall burst into horror.

 

Scarlett watched as John stepped out and shot others. Like shot others with a gun. Why would he do that? Isn’t he the good guy? Nothing made much sense. Was she in the Alternate Reality already?

No, she wasn’t. She could feel that much. Then why would John shoot others? Blood pooled around her. Screams cut the air. Bullets whipped the scene.

And then she realized.

‘You’re one of them.’ She whispered. The Agency had been working for years to catch a certain Rogue Group. It was true; many a times people tried to get in the agency from the group, by a change of identity, but the agency always caught them.

‘I’m sorry kid.’ John had heard her. ‘It’ll be easier if you close you eyes. You can think of France.’

His voice was thick with regret. He still cares. Scarlett thought.

Then he pointed the gun at her.

At that moment Scarlett fell into the trance of the serum. She felt like she was falling into a deep, dark hole. And then she woke up. She saw John before the Gathering Hall. She saw that she was armed. She saw that she could kill him now. If she killed him now, then the attack would never take place, right? She tried to move forward. She was sluggish, it felt like she was moving through a pit full of sand. She reached him. He smiled.

 ‘Hey you, okay?’ He asked.

‘I’m so sorry.’ She whispered. ‘But you’ll understand. You will.’

He frowned. ‘Are you drunk?’

She nodded her head. ‘Only on a Reality Serum.’

Then she smiled. And lashed out a knife and thrust it in his stomach.

Scarlett wondered what would be the effect of actions in an Alternate Reality. She was about to find out.

But the serum took her to another place.

It showed her ten years from now, living life as she wanted it to be – A famous singer and actress. Everyone loved her. But she regretted it. She regretted it every day. She had nightmares. She often woke up screaming, seeing the face of her trainer flashing behind her eyelids.

How did Scarlett know all this? She wasn’t sure. She could just feel it.

Then the serum took her again to a different situation. Again, she was ten years from now, famous and loved, except John was not dead. He was alive. And she regretted this too. John and his teammates were alive and hidden. They had successfully killed over 20 people that day, and injured many, many more. All those deaths, she could have prevented.

 

She was now standing in front of John, knife in hand, everything frozen. She had ten seconds. The serum was warning her to make a choice. It would be ‘good’ of her to kill John and save those innocent deaths. It would be ‘evil’ of her to let them die.

But what was ‘good’? Who wrote ‘good’? Who defined it? And ‘evil?’ John was her friend. Would it not be ‘evil’ for her to kill her own friend when he was unarmed? And what if this reality was wrong? What if John changed? ‘Good’ was what suited the people the best. You could be ‘good’ while killing or ‘evil’. It all depended on what the people preferred. Like how her parents were ‘good’ because they said they cared. So then was she ‘evil’, or ‘bad’ to hate them?

Scarlett understood. She understood it all. To be ‘Good’ was not to be ‘Evil.’

To be ‘Good’ was to be doing what the world wanted. To be ‘Evil’ was to be what your emotions wanted.

She had never surrendered to her emotions. But she had never lived life according to others.

She took a deep breath.

And then stabbed John in the leg.

                                                                                   . . . .

 

Everyone remembered that day. The day of the Alternate Reality. The day Scarlett Whitlock had wounded John Brown. John was injured. He was arrested. Everyone had seen what had happened in Scarlett Whitlock’s Alternate Reality.

Scarlett Whitlock was now a famous singer and actress. Everyone knew her and loved her.

Scarlett did not regret anything.

She was in touch with all her friends. With her parents too, but out of duty more than love.

Scarlett Whitlock did not let the ‘Good’ or the ‘Evil’ in the world define her. To her both were all the same. Good and Evil were names for actions by a person, judged by the others.

Scarlett Whitlock often visited John too.

Scarlett Whitlock was neither good nor evil. She was herself.

 

 

                                                                                     The End.