“When life gives you lemons… Don’t bother, you sure as hell aren’t ever going to see any lemonade.”

~~~

For a boy named Tristan, he didn’t even get half a lemon, as his life has been ridden full with a word: misery.

The hero story began with the classic Orphan boy. The child nobody wanted. For Tristan, the only real memory the word ‘home’ could be associated with was the big red door of the orphanage and the name Tristan on a slip of paper.

Growing up in an orphanage was like being in a lottery. It was very rare for a kid ever to find a home. And even if some did, almost all of them would end up in a family who only took them in for the monthly paycheck that came with adopting. In fact, that was exactly what happened to Tristan.

Barely fed or given a proper place to sleep, occasionally beaten up whenever his new parent had a bad day; those were the kind of things he had gone through. The worst thing was that his adopted father was in fact a police officer, a man whose job was supposed to be to protect and serve.

In such a story, the hero would at least have a friend, but still no lemon in that department. A malnourished kid who came to school with bruises? Everyone could smell bad news from Tristan’s a mile away.

Fortunately, Tristan was at least born with an above average intellect. Therefore, he always knew how not to find himself in even deeper trouble.

No caring teacher, no friends, not even a fake pretending one; people just didn’t want to have anything to do with Tristan. The only friends in his life were probably those stray cats and dogs in the back of the school cafeteria, who accompanied him whenever he enjoyed his stale sandwich.

And a certain girl named Leyla.

There was always a girl in a hero’s life, but this one was not that kind of girl. She was his step sister or to be exact, another orphan who was adopted to the same family.

Leyla was the first person who taught him the meaning of kindness. As for her, despite being in the same situation, she was always full of life. They grew up very close and Tristan tried his best to be a good brother and protector to her.

Time passed by and Tristan always tried his best to endure. He studied, worked multiple part time jobs, and hid some of his earnings for his future.

He only needed another year before he could finally live free by himself, as an adult. But before he could do so, a tragedy struck.

One night, his adopted father was drunk, and this time he tried to hurt Layla and force himself to her. Tristan snapped, he couldn’t take it anymore and accidentally ended up killing his adoptive father and burned the house.

It was both a strange and magical feeling for him. He was looking at the burning and raging flame. Tristan didn’t feel any regret, instead, as he saw the thing he hated the most turned to ashes, Tristan felt fulfilled.

As an underage, Tristan was supposed to get into a juvenile prison with a minimum prison sentence, but unfortunately things never went his way. His adoptive father cop buddies were able to pull some strings and, once again, justice failed him.

Tristan was locked up in a high security prison with the worst of humanity had to offer. It was a miracle for a 17 years old boy to be able to survive 4 years there.

Abandoned since birth, mistreated, exploited, betrayed and hurt. This was all society had offered him. Except for Leyla. She was the only good thing in his life.

The last thing he heard before going behind bars was Leyla being taken by a good family. Tristan smiled, knowing she was lucky enough to finally be able to win the lottery. Ever since then, he never wished to bother her. He didn’t want her to be involved in his mess.

Fortunately, that was not the end of the hero story.

Today, Tristan, 21 years old, was finally released, after being locked up for 4 years in the State of Florida Prison.

A long electric bell rang as the huge steel gate opened, Tristan walked outside to see an angel was already waiting for him. A woman with dark brown hair and deep-blue eyes.

It had been 4 years since Tristan last spoke to her. He was silent as he didn’t know what to say. But the first sentence that came out from that pretty face still surprised him.

“What the fuck Tris! You never reply to my letters or accepting my call!.. You force me to come to get you in this shithole.”

Tristan almost forgot about his sister’s talent in vulgar speech. All these years, she still hid her big heart behind her tough attitude.

“I see you haven’t changed, sis..”

“Haven’t changed? Seriously, Tris? I am a grown-up girl, now!”

Tristan unconsciously scanned his sister from head to toe. She did grow into a fine-looking girl with an alluring body.

“Eyes up, Tris! I know you have been locked up for four years and never seen girls, but don’t start falling for your sister now.. That’s just so twisted!”

Her jokes always made him run out of words. But thanks to that, she was able to disperse the awkwardness between them. After all, the last time they were this close in distance was the night Tristan murdered their father.

“Leyla, you really shouldn’t come here.”

“Huh! Tris, I know you very well. The moment you were released you were planning on ghosting me, weren’t you?! I will not let that happen, you are coming with me.”

It clearly appeared that the last 4 years didn’t change her a bit. She was always forceful and for her sake, Tristan would just do whatever she wanted. She was his weakness, after all.

The two of them then rode the car Leyla brought, with Tristan kept quiet while Leyla was telling him everything she had been doing for the past years.

After driving for a while, Tristan realized that his sister was taking him to the airport.

“Where are we actually going?”

“We are going home, Tris. I am taking you with me to San Francisco. You would have known about this if you fucking read my letters.”

“I…” Tristan was not sure what to say as he never opened those letters. He did that because he never actually planned to involve himself in Layla’s life anymore.

“You are not going to disappear and leave me again, okay? Can you promise me that, Tris?”

“…” Tristan was silent, but Leyla seemed able to read his mind.

“I’ll consider your silence as a ‘yes’ then.”

…

They soon arrived at the Florida airport. It was New Year’s day and the airport was very crowded with the passengers. Many people swarmed the airport and Leyla was afraid they wouldn’t be able to catch their plane.

While waiting, Tristan watched the news on the TV. They were mostly news about the New Year Celebration. But there was also a report about a lunatic who was talking about Judgment Day.

“Can you believe it? They even considered stopping the flight because of such a crazy rumor.” Leyla whispered to Tristan as she saw the news.

Before Tristan could say anything, an announcement resounded.

“Flight number B738 to San Francisco, we are now ready to board!”

The siblings swiftly got inside the airplane, waiting for the flight to take off shortly.

Tristan noticed Leyla was tense, her hands trembling slightly. It appeared that she was still afraid of flying. Tristan then did what he always did when they were little, he held his sister’s hand tightly.

Leyla was smiling when Tristan held her hand, seconds later Tristan suddenly said: “Yes.”

“Yes? What do you mean?”

“Yes, I promise you that I will not disappear, I will take care of you.” Tristan said to Leyla.

Tristan saw how happy Leyla looked when she heard that, But in a matter of seconds, her face suddenly turned worried as she stare outside the small window of the airplane.

“Tristan, look outside the window!…What is happening!?”

The sky outside had turned black, with purplish storms jolting all around the plane.

The plane shook wildly and every passenger started screaming.

Tristan had only time to glance at Leyla’s terrified face as she held his hand tighter than ever.

“Brother-!”

The light suddenly off, followed by a ringing sound exploded in his head. In an instant, there was only total darkness.

The next thing Tristan knew, he was surrounded by a pool of blood.