Lone Redemption

The screams coming from the main house had Mathias dropping the hatchet he was using to cut down the weeds in the fields, and running full speed toward home. He wasn't far, only about a five-minute walk, but the agony in the screams made the distance seem like miles. As he neared his home, he saw two horses' tied to the hitching post near the front of the house. When he heard his daughter's scream, he ran faster than he had in his life. He didn't even remember opening the front door, but the sight that met him made his blood run cold. "Mathias, I've been waiting for you." It was a voice he thought he would never hear again. 'Uncle, please, what is going on?" "You thought you could run from me and I wouldn't find you?" His uncle walked to where his wife Olivia was tied to a chair. His children, Micah and Emily were bound by rope up against the far wall. The blood staining the front of his wife's dress ignited a fire low in his belly. "This is between you and me uncle, please, let them go." Mathias pleaded.  The laugh that came from his uncle's throat told him that it would never happen. His past had finally caught up to him. His uncle was here to make him pay for defying him. "Don't stand there and pretend you don't know why I'm here Mathias. You had one job to do, I gave you everything; money, a place to stay and now. You have shamed me," slowly rising with anger in his voice.  The sneer that marred his uncle’s face had Mathias mind racing. What was he going to do? He had to get his family out of here, but how?  The fear he seen in his wife's eyes broke his heart. He knew as well as she that they all would not walk away from this. "Do you know the amount of trouble you caused me; the money, connections, the lives of my men?" His uncle was screaming by the time he finished his sentence. He turned and Mathias saw he had a knife in his palm and a look of contempt in his eyes. "Uncle, please no. I'm so-" "I do not like to be defied Mathias.” The knife he held in his hand got closer and closer to his wife's neck. Hands grabbed Mathias just as he was about to run for his uncle. An unseen man held him in a vice like grip.  "Get off of me." His children began screaming again as they watched their mother die, his uncle slitting her throat. "You bastard." Mathias yelled out, his voice raw with pain. He struggled against the male that held him, trying to get to his children. His daughter yelled his name, but the man who had him was stronger and he could do nothing. Emily scooted closer to her brother and stared terrified at the man her father called uncle. He approached them with a smile. "Daddy?" The sound of questioning fear in her voice gave him the strength he needed to break free of his captor. He reached his uncle just as he was reaching for his son. He grabbed his wrist and they began to wrestle for control of the weapon. His uncle was a big man, but Mathias was fighting for the lives of his children. They crashed into the kitchen table and Mathias landed on his back. His uncle scrambled to his feet with the weapon in hand. Mathias rushed to stand, going for his uncle. The pain that seared into the back of his head brought him the ground once more. The unknown male had hit him over the head with a piece of firewood. The last thing he seen before his world went black was his uncle reaching for his son. His daughter’s screams followed him into his darkness