Once Upon A Time... In The Underworld

Chapter 3: The Hunted

"It is dangerous to be right when the government is wrong."

— Voltaire

The man in the present time stood tall against the railings of his balcony, holding on to it firmly as if he was about to bend it. He says solemnly with restraint emotions.

"My father died like a saviour. He died a hero's death. It was all over the news the very next day, 'The Journalist is Dead'. Newspapers, News channels, Press Conferences and discussion among people were about him. But no one ever thanked him for his bravery or his care for his people and his home. To them, he'll just be a nail which stuck out which was hammered down. "

Even though the man had a composed demeanor on his face, his eyes told a different story. They were fueled by rage which cannot be quenched yet burnt as if it were fueled by the haunted memories of the man's helplessness at the time when he was a kid which didn't let him save his father's life. If he was the man he was today then, he could have saved his father and made those who were responsible for causing harm to his father, he would have made sure they would have paid gravely. With their lives.

The man takes a pause to process the struggle of telling what he has been through. He takes a deep exhale which relaxes him and he continues.

"It was the first time I've ever felt afraid in my life. My mother and father always made sure I was the safest and the most loved child. I was an absolute Mama's boy." The man chuckled softly and then his expression turned numb.

" My father's death was the first time I felt real pain. When I saw... My father... In the television... I saw his body... Which cannot even be described as something which was human. It looked like a dead animal carcass which you cannot tell to whom this corpse belonged to. His head and limps deformed like a plastic mold... I couldn't believe what I was looking at... The only thing that convinced me that was my father was the wedding ring he wore which was latched onto his deformed hand which stuck into the hardwood floor. His flesh and skin, infused into the wood."

"I saw my mother... Devastated is an understatement to describe how she looked. She screamed as she wept like a wounded animal. Even though she knew her husband's life would be short lived, she never knew that he would die such a cruel death. Those Čuráks did not even leave her a body to kiss her husband's forehead as a final goodbye during the funeral... A man she once thought was a perfect man whom she loved and adored for years became a macabre sight which is worse than any nightmare you can have"

"And me...? The moment I saw my father as a formless burnt abomination of flesh melted against the wood, I rushed to the kitchen and threw up. I could feel my heart in my throat with the intensity I vomited. My mother heard me and came to me to make sure I was fine. She expected that I would be crying too but... I didn't cry. I didn't weep. I didn't scream from the horrifying sight I saw... I was in pain but I was numb. I felt what happened to me was unjust. My father was taken away from me. My happiness. My shelter that protected me. I was filled with anger."

The mother knew what happened to her child was cruel. As much as she wanted to console and comfort her child, she knew that her and her son would be the next to meet the same fate or something worse if they did not escape from the city. These criminals are not the kind to leave loose ends. She walks towards the telephone in the living room and dials the number of her relatives who lived in Russia. She had no other option but to escape.

The mother said in a hasty but comprehensible tone "Milena...! I need you to help me. Me and my son are in danger and some people want to harm us. We will be coming to Russia through the Vltava sleeper train... I need you to pick us up from Moscow and take care of us for a while until we can get back on our feet!"

Milena agreed to it and ended the call. The mother was relieved that they had a place to escape but this was not over yet.

They have to make sure that they reach the train station without being caught by either the law enforcement or the syndicate as they know that they have a target on their backs as soon as the father sacrificed himself in hopes of trying to make Prague a better place.

They packed their bags and were ready to leave. For a new beginning.