Blood and Roses

chapter four

"Not so fast dear. You don't want to miss out on all the fun do you?", The big masked man said in an ugly gruff voice.

His companions began to gather around him. They were five in number and their faces were covered in the same mask. Judging from the way they gathered around the big man he seemed like their leader.

"Please don't hurt my dad!! I'm begging you" I screamed..

"Roselle!! Royce!! Get the hell out of here! Now!! Go, daddy's gonna be just fine", Dad said with a sad expression

The big man gave a loud hearty laugh and his companions joined him..

"Isn't this a very interesting family drama", he said with a note of sarcasm.

He gestured to his men with his hand and two of them headed towards dad and held him face down to the ground.

"How about we spice up the evening a little bit", he said, pulling out a chair to sit.

Dad was dragged in front of him and one of his minions gave out a sick laugh. He drew out a small axe and began to butcher my mom's lifeless body.

"Stop! Stop it! You sick bastard", Royce screamed, making a dash for the butcher and hitting him with his tiny fist.

The man turned around immediately and punched Royce so hard that his bones gave out a wrenching sound. Royce screamed in so much agony. I was utterly helpless, all I could do was cry until my voice disappeared.

Dad was helpless. I had never seen him cry until that moment. The leader seemed to have had enough of the show, he stood up with an irritated look and used his boots on dad's face, kicking him time and again and laughing like a maniac.

"I told you not to mess with the boss!! But you thought you could outsmart him little Jackson. Hmm? "

"Well this is what we do to bloody rats!!" he said.

"I will kill your family and make you watch before I kill you, so the last thing you see is everything you've ever loved turn to dust." he threatened.

He strolled towards Royce's direction and pulled out a gun from the back of his pants.

Royce stared back with horror on his face and before anyone could process what was happening, the pistol went off with a loud bang.

"No........" Dad screamed and cried but it was too late.

Dad broke free and rushed towards the big man with rage on his face.

"Don't think you'll get away with this" he said spitting out blood from his mouth on the man's face..

"you are wrong, you and your Russian syndicate will face justice someday."

The man wiped his face and landed a hard punch on the square of dad's jaw.

I couldn't breathe, I just watched, with no tears left to spill as dad struggled in pain. He looked towards my direction and signaled for me to escape but I shook my head in refusal.

Dad looked at me longingly with love and turned to face the big man.

"Yes! I broke the code of silence and I will do it all over again. I regret not doing it sooner!! Exposing your human trafficking channels was not enough!! I should have done more!!" he said.

I didn't understand what dad was talking about but it was obvious he was buying time by distracting them so I could escape and for once, I listened to him. I slipped away quietly and ran without looking back.

As soon as I found the back exit, I got out but not before hearing the pistol go off thrice...

At that moment I knew I was all alone. There was nothing I could do, no one to ask for help, not even the authorities. So I fulfilled my dad's last wish, I ran... Hard and fast turning blindly into the streets until I disappeared completely into the cold, dark and long night...