CHAPTER TWO
1220 Words
POV TYLER
My eyes darted straight towards them. Nathan and Jasper were in the back seat, laughing and waving through the window as the car began to move. That’s when I saw it.
Black smoke rose near the wheels, thick and dense. Hot vapor escaped from the hood, as if the engine was about to explode. My heart stopped, then pounded so fast it felt like it would tear through my chest.
"Nathan! Jasper! " Get out of the car now!" I yelled, my voice booming like thunder.
They looked at me, scared and confused. The car sputtered with a metallic sound, like a dying machine. The smell of gasoline became unbearable, as if the air itself was dissolving into fuel.
And then the explosion happened.
The world was swallowed by an orange light. The sound was deafening, like the sky had collapsed. The shockwave hit me hard, throwing me backward with brutal force. Everything around me trembled: the ground, the walls of the house, even the d*mn tree in the yard.
I hit the concrete hard, the impact knocking the air out of my lungs. A piercing ringing took over my ears as shards of glass and chunks of metal flew through the air, whistling like blades. The heat came next, a violent heat, as if hell itself had opened in my backyard.
"Nathan! " Jasper!" My throat burned as I screamed, coughing and inhaling the thick black smoke that was beginning to consume everything.
I forced myself to get up. The fire was already engulfing the entire car, flames swirling like hungry serpents. The smoke rose thick, painting the sky in shades of gray and black.
I saw them.
Nathan and Jasper were sprawled on the ground, thrown by the explosion. Small, motionless.
"No!" I screamed, running toward them.
Each step was a battle. The smoke burned my lungs from the inside out. My eyes stung, my vision blurred with tears and soot. But I couldn’t stop.
I reached them. Nathan was closer. His face was covered in soot, his eyes closed, his chest rising and falling far too slowly. I extended my hands to pull him, but then...
The stabbing pain returned with full force. An unbearable pain ripped through my abdomen, like blades spinning inside me. My legs gave out, and hot blood spilled down my side.
"No, no, no!" I sobbed, crawling toward Jasper. He was farther away, near the flames. The fire was reaching them.
The flames spread too fast, as if they had a life of their own. A loud pop came from the car, a smaller explosion that sent more shards of metal flying. The heat hit me full force, burning my skin even from a distance.
I coughed uncontrollably, spitting blood and smoke. My men were already running, shouting something I couldn’t understand. The roaring fire devouring the car drowned out everything.
I crawled a bit farther. I was inches away from Nathan when the flames reached them.
The fire consumed Jasper’s small body first, like a ravenous beast. His clothes ignited in seconds, and the smell of burning flesh hit my nose like a punch.
"No! My boys!"
I screamed until my voice gave out. I tried to force myself to stand, but my body no longer responded. I lay there, helpless, as the fire consumed everything.
Nathan’s face disappeared behind the flames. The sound of the fire was deafening. Every crackle, every pop was like a cruel laugh from fate.
By the time my men’s shouts finally reached me, it was too late. The fire roared louder than anything. What remained were only shadows, ashes, and the disgusting stench of death.
I rolled onto my side, coughing, with the taste of blood and smoke in my mouth. My eyes stung so much I could barely keep them open.
And then came the silence.
Not the peaceful kind. A cruel silence, the kind that only exists when you’ve lost everything.
My boys were dead.
The world spun, and the surrounding voices were distant murmurs. I stared at the dark sky, tears streaming down my soot-covered face, and let the pain consume me entirely.
"Nathan... Jasper..."
They would never come back. And I didn’t save them.
At that moment, there was a snap in my head, as if something had broken inside me. Suddenly, Bruce's words, spoken with his last breath, came back with brutal force:
"What would a man do if he lost everything in a matter of seconds?"
His voice echoed in my mind, firm and deep, as if he were standing right in front of me. At the time, I didn’t understand. Now, it all made sense.
He knew. That bastard knew!
"BASTARD!" I growled, my voice hoarse and filled with hatred. "HE KNEW! HE KNEW THIS WAS GOING TO HAPPEN! THAT'S WHY HE WAS SO CALM!"
My throat burned, and my chest heaved with pain and rage. The hot blood kept streaming from my abdomen, but I no longer felt the wound. All I felt was the fire inside me—a fire more intense and crueler than the one that consumed my children.
With a furious scream, I kicked the ground with all the strength I had, sending dust rising around me. The pain from the movement caused the blood to gush even more, soaking my shirt and staining the concrete at my feet.
"Bastards!" I spat, my voice breaking from all the shouting. "Whoever does this will pay!" I swear it!"
"Sir! " Calm down, sir! " You're injured!" my men came running toward me, their desperate voices trying to restrain me.
One of them grabbed my arm, trying to keep me standing. Another knelt beside me, staring at the wound with wide, terrified eyes.
"Let me go!" I growled, shoving them away with what little strength I had left. "They will pay! All of them! I’ll hunt down whoever did this and give them something worse... worse than death!"
My vision began to blur. Every word was an effort, as if the air had turned to lead. But I couldn’t stop.
"I... will... destroy... every one of them..." I murmured through clenched teeth.
And then, the sound came.
A gunshot. A dry, muffled crack.
The impact hit like a brutal punch to my shoulder. My body jerked backward, hot blood spilling even faster. My eyes widened, and a low groan escaped my lips. I tried to steady myself, but my legs gave out.
The ground rose to meet me, cold and unforgiving. I fell to my knees first, my arms going limp at my sides. All the strength I had left drained away with the blood pouring from the new wound.
The voices of my men grew distant—muffled, frantic shouts.
"The boss has been hit! Protect him!"
"Get a medic, now! He's losing too much blood!"
I wanted to scream, to order them to go after the bastard who did this, but... I couldn’t speak anymore.
My vision grew darker and darker. The surrounding figures became shapeless shadows, moving frantically. The fire still roared in the background, its heat scorching the air, but all I felt was cold.
"Nathan... Jasper..." my sons’ names echoed one last time in my mind before everything disappeared.
The world faded. Only the screams and emptiness remained.
- Writer
