Chapter 26
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***
<▪▪Pretense▪▪>
"Are you sure?" I whispered, feeling a lump in my throat for the hundredth time today. "I mean, are sure she hasn't recovered-"
"Julius, I don't see why you're skeptical about this. This makes it a milestone easier." My father grinned, shifted, then leaned closer to me to whisper. "There's nothing more vulnerable and naïve as a blind girl." He then, leaned back, clasped his hands and grinned as I pursed my lips together not knowing what to say.
"You said Ricardo was a-" I started thoughtfully, but he immediately cut me off.
"A lawyer. Yes. We don't know anything about the girl, except for her name. Sam. And that she's a blind cat. All her records are inaccessible-" he said excitedly and I raised my eyebrows, sighing.
"But still-" I studied Father, expressionless. "-how can we find her?" I continued, diverting my gaze to the ashtray holding Father's burning cigar. The smoke twirled up as I tilted my head absentmindedly to watch it.
The chest tightness I felt was beyond belief. Because here was the thing. I spitefully ran away from Father and planned an inexorable, intricate plan. Everything was going the way I fancied. But how could I ever be right? How could I ever not be humiliated by my father every-damn-time?
"How hard could it be, huh?" He grinned. "Finding a blind Sam, about your age? Roaming around in London? Besides, I've got many people looking for her and they already have many suspects." He stated proudly and I felt like the air was sucked out of my lungs in defeat.
This can't be it. He can't win just yet. Not like that. Not after all that, I thought in vain.
"What is in those documents that are so important?" I asked breathlessly. "Important enough for you to come to London and investigate, yourself." I tapped my feet angrily, ensuring however, that my face didn't portray my emotions. "We've killed so many people. This isn't our legacy. Our legacy is minimum damage and maximum benefit. We've exceeded our minimum. And to no avail."
"You have, Julius. You have killed so many people. You have exceeded our minimum. But so what? Since when did you get sentimental about what it takes to get a job done? For the sake of Gorj?" He raised his eyebrows and played with his ring. He wasn't even looking at me.
And he ignored my question. "This is no longer our kind of business, Father. This turned to murder. Crime. Horrendous-" I started, feeling infuriated.
Father raised a hand to stop me. "You've become sentimental, indeed," he muttered, laughing bitterly. But then he stopped and changed gears. "Don't for a second, for a fleeting millisecond, Julius, forget who you are. What you have become. Don't dare think that your guilt will make your situation even slightly better. Don't dare lie to yourself by your performance, Julius. You can't pretend to be someone else. And remember," he paused angrily. "-that if it weren't for your slut's death, you'd still be my doormat, doing what I wanted and commanded. You'd still be killing people like pigs. Seeing you like this," he scowled, trailing his index finger in the air. "-disgusts me, son. I can withstand all people's unpleasantness, except for hypocrisy. Makes me puke, son."
I glared icily at him. "That still doesn't answer my question. Father," I stated flatly, ignoring the pang in my heart at his words. He was reminding me of something I couldn't forget. Of a consuming darkness -my darkness- that I couldn't escape. I really couldn't.
He was right, but maybe I changed.
Or maybe I was pretending all that time. Pretending that I could feel guilty. Pretending that I could feel. Maybe, this was for a while until I got over Audrey and everyone I'd lost. Maybe I'd start to get bad again like I did when Mom died. Maybe, I thought I could escape my darkness by 'standing in the sun' with good, innocent people. People who knew no darkness, unlike me. Darkness? Darkness was my friend.
Funny really. Maybe it was just a phase.
"What is in the bloody documents?" I repeated, shutting my eyes against my thoughts.
Father smirked. "Would you believe me if I told you what's in them?" he said, picking his cigar between his thumb and index finger, raising an eyebrow and piercing his eyes through me.
I let my eyes wander around the room. The big vase next to the door, the three purple velvet couches and the black horse painting above the couch father was sitting on. Sam's blood on the floor.
I stared at it for a while and let myself believe that I was somehow drawn to it. Like it was seducing me and that maybe -just maybe- I was desiring more of it. More blood. Maybe I was my old self. The old version of me who found satisfaction and pleasure in warm blood. And for some reason, this thought terrified me.
Maybe I was drooling and I had to swipe my drool off.
"I would because you'd think I wouldn't," I replied anyway light-headedly, looking away and shaking my head from my haunting thoughts that managed to raise my heartbeat and dry my mouth.
Father smirked. "You can act as smart as you can, but at the end, you'll have to do what I tell you. If I told you to shut the hell up because I won't tell you what's in the documents. You will shut the hell up because you can do nothing about it. So I guess," he said smiling easily. "-that answers your question."
"Augustus should know who you really are-" I grimaced disgustedly, but he cut me.
"But he knows, Julius. He knows. I'm just keeping him away. I'm protecting him." He smiled and I laughed humorlessly.
"But I guess you failed somehow," I hissed, leaning forward to intimidate him. "You couldn't protect him from me, his brother."
"Half-brother," he corrected, cleared his throat, then smiled. "But, that's okay," he then said, waving his hand dismissively. "He will never see you again. I mean, don't think because you're blood-related, that you can get close and all that. That'd be pathetic, son. I mean Augustus won't even associate with your likes. He knows better."
If he only knew how close we were. But maybe I was pretending that too.
I smirked, but shut up momentarily.
"I hope he loves you the same way you love him." I said, staring into his dark brown eyes intently and smiling twistedly. "I really do."
Father shifted a bit, pinched his nose once, then smiled. "I hope so too. Because you know, it would hurt me as a father. Oh wait-" He stopped, opened his mouth and then rubbed his chin. "-you were never a father, were you? I don't think you'd understand this pain. The pain of losing a son or a daughter to someone. Or something."
I was taken aback by his vague, yet close to home words, but I covered it up. Like I always do. I couldn't show father my weaknesses even though I was quite sure he knew them very well. He was not stupid. He only hit where and when he was sure it'd hurt. "Thanks to you, Father." I said grinning.
"Anytime, son," he retorted with a deep breath as he got up and looked down at me. "I think I should leave, now that I've delivered my message. And you better start working on it." He then adjusted his suit then headed toward the door as his men followed. How many? Ten? It took him ten of his mean to have a talk with me. His son. Maybe I should've laughed at this.
"Oh-" he declared, turning to me. "I'll be watching you very closely. Try not to go astray."
"Why? Don't you trust your son?" I teased, clenching my jaws.
He chuckled not even looking at me. "Not my sentimental, pathetic son, no. After all, once bitten, twice shy, Julius." He laughed again before he exited the room and soon the suite with his ten bulk, black-suited men.
I then got up and angrily knocked over the chair I sat on. I was beyond furious. I was betrayed and actually scared. Not for me. Not really. I was scared of me. I was scared that what Father said was true. That maybe I was pretending.
And I was scared that my plan had terribly failed. And that the girl -I tried so hard to help- was dead. And that this might be the fate of another girl that I might not find any time soon to 'protect'. Or at least try.
After aimlessly roaming around the room and smoking a cigarette, I sat on the couch Father sat on and held my head in my hands. I had to look for someone, who was blind, had a dead father who was a lawyer, who was about my age, whose name was...Sam?
I frowned in deep focus not knowing what to do. I then suddenly felt a bubble of uneasiness expand in my chest.
Oh Lord-
What if that wasn't her name? What if I'd misheard it? Then a memory flashed in front of my eyes.
'"'Having no time to waste, I knelt down next to him and forcefully grabbed his head with the hair he had left. He let out a shriek and I pulled harder.
I liked the sound of his scream. Sounded like a pussy to me. But the following silence would be much more pleasurable, punctuated by -I hope- a trail of his stale, warm blood when I put a bullet in his skull. If he didn't answer.
"Look, old man," I said tugging harder. "I've spent an hour trying to get that BLOODY answer out of your filthy mouth! If you don't tell me-" I said feeling the anger course in my body. "I'll kill you. I'll make sure that nothing of you remains on this earth. I'll diminish your existence. I'll kill your daughter-"
"No-ot Sam-" he spluttered as his eyes sparkled with renewed fear and his light eyebrows furrowed pleadingly.
Fear. People's fuel to get them to do what they're asked.'"'
He definitely said Sam, I remembered, but fear ripped my guts as realization dawned on me. He wasn't really trying to say Sam. He was trying to say...Samantha.
What if that was the case? The man was dying and the name was quite long. It made perfect sense. I sat up at the realization. It was her. Samantha. She was blind, about my age, had a dead father, a lawyer. And...her anklet, I sat down again gasping at the memory.
'"' I was staring all the while at the girl's tapping feet and the anklet she wore that kept jingling. It was a silver anklet with many charms. There was a letter S and a letter R surrounded by tiny dangling sapphire jewels. It looked really nice. '"'
S for Samantha and R for Ricardo. Samantha Ricardo Murd.
But how could I be sure? I had to see her again. I had to ask her lots of questions. I had to protect her, too. Then I'd use her to get the documents. Then I'd use those documents against Father. And that would mean that I hadn't lost after all.
But Father would be monitoring me. How could I meet her without raising suspicion? How could I explain it to her? How could I explain my sudden interest in her dead father and some documents? How would I tell her about the reason her father died? How would she accept it? How would I tell her that I was the one who killed her father?
No. You don't have to tell her that, Julius- I thought.
My heart was beating fast at the impossibility of my situation. How could I protect her from Father? What if one of his men saw her already? But wait- they didn't know 'the girl's' real name. That was if my theory turned out to be correct, of course.
There was only one way around this. One way only.
Samantha must regain her vision. And I'd have to convince her to do so. How would she respond to my sudden reappearance in her life? How would she accept me after having neglected her for so long?
I just hoped she'd forgive me. If not for my sake, for her life's sake.
***
A/N: Now this was a 'meh' chapter. But it had to be there (him realizing after all of y'all realizing lmao), so *shrugs*
Anyway, hope you enjoyed it! Stay tuned for more ;)
Love you all <3
Rate, Vote and Comment (RVC- lol I made that up and I will use it in the upcoming chapters), whenever possible! Thanks! <3
Please report us if you find any errors so we can fix it asap!
***
<▪▪Pretense▪▪>
"Are you sure?" I whispered, feeling a lump in my throat for the hundredth time today. "I mean, are sure she hasn't recovered-"
"Julius, I don't see why you're skeptical about this. This makes it a milestone easier." My father grinned, shifted, then leaned closer to me to whisper. "There's nothing more vulnerable and naïve as a blind girl." He then, leaned back, clasped his hands and grinned as I pursed my lips together not knowing what to say.
"You said Ricardo was a-" I started thoughtfully, but he immediately cut me off.
"A lawyer. Yes. We don't know anything about the girl, except for her name. Sam. And that she's a blind cat. All her records are inaccessible-" he said excitedly and I raised my eyebrows, sighing.
"But still-" I studied Father, expressionless. "-how can we find her?" I continued, diverting my gaze to the ashtray holding Father's burning cigar. The smoke twirled up as I tilted my head absentmindedly to watch it.
The chest tightness I felt was beyond belief. Because here was the thing. I spitefully ran away from Father and planned an inexorable, intricate plan. Everything was going the way I fancied. But how could I ever be right? How could I ever not be humiliated by my father every-damn-time?
"How hard could it be, huh?" He grinned. "Finding a blind Sam, about your age? Roaming around in London? Besides, I've got many people looking for her and they already have many suspects." He stated proudly and I felt like the air was sucked out of my lungs in defeat.
This can't be it. He can't win just yet. Not like that. Not after all that, I thought in vain.
"What is in those documents that are so important?" I asked breathlessly. "Important enough for you to come to London and investigate, yourself." I tapped my feet angrily, ensuring however, that my face didn't portray my emotions. "We've killed so many people. This isn't our legacy. Our legacy is minimum damage and maximum benefit. We've exceeded our minimum. And to no avail."
"You have, Julius. You have killed so many people. You have exceeded our minimum. But so what? Since when did you get sentimental about what it takes to get a job done? For the sake of Gorj?" He raised his eyebrows and played with his ring. He wasn't even looking at me.
And he ignored my question. "This is no longer our kind of business, Father. This turned to murder. Crime. Horrendous-" I started, feeling infuriated.
Father raised a hand to stop me. "You've become sentimental, indeed," he muttered, laughing bitterly. But then he stopped and changed gears. "Don't for a second, for a fleeting millisecond, Julius, forget who you are. What you have become. Don't dare think that your guilt will make your situation even slightly better. Don't dare lie to yourself by your performance, Julius. You can't pretend to be someone else. And remember," he paused angrily. "-that if it weren't for your slut's death, you'd still be my doormat, doing what I wanted and commanded. You'd still be killing people like pigs. Seeing you like this," he scowled, trailing his index finger in the air. "-disgusts me, son. I can withstand all people's unpleasantness, except for hypocrisy. Makes me puke, son."
I glared icily at him. "That still doesn't answer my question. Father," I stated flatly, ignoring the pang in my heart at his words. He was reminding me of something I couldn't forget. Of a consuming darkness -my darkness- that I couldn't escape. I really couldn't.
He was right, but maybe I changed.
Or maybe I was pretending all that time. Pretending that I could feel guilty. Pretending that I could feel. Maybe, this was for a while until I got over Audrey and everyone I'd lost. Maybe I'd start to get bad again like I did when Mom died. Maybe, I thought I could escape my darkness by 'standing in the sun' with good, innocent people. People who knew no darkness, unlike me. Darkness? Darkness was my friend.
Funny really. Maybe it was just a phase.
"What is in the bloody documents?" I repeated, shutting my eyes against my thoughts.
Father smirked. "Would you believe me if I told you what's in them?" he said, picking his cigar between his thumb and index finger, raising an eyebrow and piercing his eyes through me.
I let my eyes wander around the room. The big vase next to the door, the three purple velvet couches and the black horse painting above the couch father was sitting on. Sam's blood on the floor.
I stared at it for a while and let myself believe that I was somehow drawn to it. Like it was seducing me and that maybe -just maybe- I was desiring more of it. More blood. Maybe I was my old self. The old version of me who found satisfaction and pleasure in warm blood. And for some reason, this thought terrified me.
Maybe I was drooling and I had to swipe my drool off.
"I would because you'd think I wouldn't," I replied anyway light-headedly, looking away and shaking my head from my haunting thoughts that managed to raise my heartbeat and dry my mouth.
Father smirked. "You can act as smart as you can, but at the end, you'll have to do what I tell you. If I told you to shut the hell up because I won't tell you what's in the documents. You will shut the hell up because you can do nothing about it. So I guess," he said smiling easily. "-that answers your question."
"Augustus should know who you really are-" I grimaced disgustedly, but he cut me.
"But he knows, Julius. He knows. I'm just keeping him away. I'm protecting him." He smiled and I laughed humorlessly.
"But I guess you failed somehow," I hissed, leaning forward to intimidate him. "You couldn't protect him from me, his brother."
"Half-brother," he corrected, cleared his throat, then smiled. "But, that's okay," he then said, waving his hand dismissively. "He will never see you again. I mean, don't think because you're blood-related, that you can get close and all that. That'd be pathetic, son. I mean Augustus won't even associate with your likes. He knows better."
If he only knew how close we were. But maybe I was pretending that too.
I smirked, but shut up momentarily.
"I hope he loves you the same way you love him." I said, staring into his dark brown eyes intently and smiling twistedly. "I really do."
Father shifted a bit, pinched his nose once, then smiled. "I hope so too. Because you know, it would hurt me as a father. Oh wait-" He stopped, opened his mouth and then rubbed his chin. "-you were never a father, were you? I don't think you'd understand this pain. The pain of losing a son or a daughter to someone. Or something."
I was taken aback by his vague, yet close to home words, but I covered it up. Like I always do. I couldn't show father my weaknesses even though I was quite sure he knew them very well. He was not stupid. He only hit where and when he was sure it'd hurt. "Thanks to you, Father." I said grinning.
"Anytime, son," he retorted with a deep breath as he got up and looked down at me. "I think I should leave, now that I've delivered my message. And you better start working on it." He then adjusted his suit then headed toward the door as his men followed. How many? Ten? It took him ten of his mean to have a talk with me. His son. Maybe I should've laughed at this.
"Oh-" he declared, turning to me. "I'll be watching you very closely. Try not to go astray."
"Why? Don't you trust your son?" I teased, clenching my jaws.
He chuckled not even looking at me. "Not my sentimental, pathetic son, no. After all, once bitten, twice shy, Julius." He laughed again before he exited the room and soon the suite with his ten bulk, black-suited men.
I then got up and angrily knocked over the chair I sat on. I was beyond furious. I was betrayed and actually scared. Not for me. Not really. I was scared of me. I was scared that what Father said was true. That maybe I was pretending.
And I was scared that my plan had terribly failed. And that the girl -I tried so hard to help- was dead. And that this might be the fate of another girl that I might not find any time soon to 'protect'. Or at least try.
After aimlessly roaming around the room and smoking a cigarette, I sat on the couch Father sat on and held my head in my hands. I had to look for someone, who was blind, had a dead father who was a lawyer, who was about my age, whose name was...Sam?
I frowned in deep focus not knowing what to do. I then suddenly felt a bubble of uneasiness expand in my chest.
Oh Lord-
What if that wasn't her name? What if I'd misheard it? Then a memory flashed in front of my eyes.
'"'Having no time to waste, I knelt down next to him and forcefully grabbed his head with the hair he had left. He let out a shriek and I pulled harder.
I liked the sound of his scream. Sounded like a pussy to me. But the following silence would be much more pleasurable, punctuated by -I hope- a trail of his stale, warm blood when I put a bullet in his skull. If he didn't answer.
"Look, old man," I said tugging harder. "I've spent an hour trying to get that BLOODY answer out of your filthy mouth! If you don't tell me-" I said feeling the anger course in my body. "I'll kill you. I'll make sure that nothing of you remains on this earth. I'll diminish your existence. I'll kill your daughter-"
"No-ot Sam-" he spluttered as his eyes sparkled with renewed fear and his light eyebrows furrowed pleadingly.
Fear. People's fuel to get them to do what they're asked.'"'
He definitely said Sam, I remembered, but fear ripped my guts as realization dawned on me. He wasn't really trying to say Sam. He was trying to say...Samantha.
What if that was the case? The man was dying and the name was quite long. It made perfect sense. I sat up at the realization. It was her. Samantha. She was blind, about my age, had a dead father, a lawyer. And...her anklet, I sat down again gasping at the memory.
'"' I was staring all the while at the girl's tapping feet and the anklet she wore that kept jingling. It was a silver anklet with many charms. There was a letter S and a letter R surrounded by tiny dangling sapphire jewels. It looked really nice. '"'
S for Samantha and R for Ricardo. Samantha Ricardo Murd.
But how could I be sure? I had to see her again. I had to ask her lots of questions. I had to protect her, too. Then I'd use her to get the documents. Then I'd use those documents against Father. And that would mean that I hadn't lost after all.
But Father would be monitoring me. How could I meet her without raising suspicion? How could I explain it to her? How could I explain my sudden interest in her dead father and some documents? How would I tell her about the reason her father died? How would she accept it? How would I tell her that I was the one who killed her father?
No. You don't have to tell her that, Julius- I thought.
My heart was beating fast at the impossibility of my situation. How could I protect her from Father? What if one of his men saw her already? But wait- they didn't know 'the girl's' real name. That was if my theory turned out to be correct, of course.
There was only one way around this. One way only.
Samantha must regain her vision. And I'd have to convince her to do so. How would she respond to my sudden reappearance in her life? How would she accept me after having neglected her for so long?
I just hoped she'd forgive me. If not for my sake, for her life's sake.
***
A/N: Now this was a 'meh' chapter. But it had to be there (him realizing after all of y'all realizing lmao), so *shrugs*
Anyway, hope you enjoyed it! Stay tuned for more ;)
Love you all <3
Rate, Vote and Comment (RVC- lol I made that up and I will use it in the upcoming chapters), whenever possible! Thanks! <3
***Pretense"Are you sure?" I whispered, feeling a lump in my throat for the hundredth time today. "I mean, are sure she hasn't recovered-""Julius, I don't see why you're skeptical about this. This makes it a milestone easier." My father grinned, shifted, then leaned closer to me to whisper. "There's nothing more vulnerable and nave as a blind girl." He then, leaned back, clasped his hands and grinned as I pursed my lips together not knowing what to say."You said Ricardo was a-" I started thoughtfully, but he immediately cut me off."A lawyer. Yes. We don't know anything about the girl, except for her name. Sam. And that she's a blind cat. All her records are inaccessible-" he said excitedly and I raised my eyebrows, sighing."But still-" I studied Father, expressionless. "-how can we find her?" I continued, diverting my gaze to the ashtray holding Father's burning cigar. The smoke twirled up as I tilted my head absentmindedly to watch it.The chest tightness I felt was beyond belief. Because here was the thing. I spitefully ran away from Father and planned an inexorable, intricate plan. Everything was going the way I fancied. But how could I ever be right? How could I ever not be humiliated by my father every-damn-time?"How hard could it be, huh?" He grinned. "Finding a blind Sam, about your age? Roaming around in London? Besides, I've got many people looking for her and they already have many suspects." He stated proudly and I felt like the air was sucked out of my lungs in defeat.This can't be it. He can't win just yet. Not like that. Not after all that, I thought in vain."What is in those documents that are so important?" I asked breathlessly. "Important enough for you to come to London and investigate, yourself." I tapped my feet angrily, ensuring however, that my face didn't portray my emotions. "We've killed so many people. This isn't our legacy. Our legacy is minimum damage and maximum benefit. We've exceeded our minimum. And to no avail.""You have, Julius. You have killed so many people. You have exceeded our minimum. But so what? Since when did you get sentimental about what it takes to get a job done? For the sake of Gorj?" He raised his eyebrows and played with his ring. He wasn't even looking at me.And he ignored my question. "This is no longer our kind of business, Father. This turned to murder. Crime. Horrendous-" I started, feeling infuriated.Father raised a hand to stop me. "You've become sentimental, indeed," he muttered, laughing bitterly. But then he stopped and changed gears. "Don't for a second, for a fleeting millisecond, Julius, forget who you are. What you have become. Don't dare think that your guilt will make your situation even slightly better. Don't dare lie to yourself by your performance, Julius. You can't pretend to be someone else. And remember," he paused angrily. "-that if it weren't for your slut's death, you'd still be my doormat, doing what I wanted and commanded. You'd still be killing people like pigs. Seeing you like this," he scowled, trailing his index finger in the air. "-disgusts me, son. I can withstand all people's unpleasantness, except for hypocrisy. Makes me puke, son."I glared icily at him. "That still doesn't answer my question. Father," I stated flatly, ignoring the pang in my heart at his words. He was reminding me of something I couldn't forget. Of a consuming darkness -my darkness- that I couldn't escape. I really couldn't.He was right, but maybe I changed.Or maybe I was pretending all that time. Pretending that I could feel guilty. Pretending that I could feel. Maybe, this was for a while until I got over Audrey and everyone I'd lost. Maybe I'd start to get bad again like I did when Mom died. Maybe, I thought I could escape my darkness by 'standing in the sun' with good, innocent people. People who knew no darkness, unlike me. Darkness? Darkness was my friend.Funny really. Maybe it was just a phase."What is in the bloody documents?" I repeated, shutting my eyes against my thoughts.Father smirked. "Would you believe me if I told you what's in them?" he said, picking his cigar between his thumb and index finger, raising an eyebrow and piercing his eyes through me.I let my eyes wander around the room. The big vase next to the door, the three purple velvet couches and the black horse painting above the couch father was sitting on. Sam's blood on the floor.I stared at it for a while and let myself believe that I was somehow drawn to it. Like it was seducing me and that maybe -just maybe- I was desiring more of it. More blood. Maybe I was my old self. The old version of me who found satisfaction and pleasure in warm blood. And for some reason, this thought terrified me.Maybe I was drooling and I had to swipe my drool off."I would because you'd think I wouldn't," I replied anyway light-headedly, looking away and shaking my head from my haunting thoughts that managed to raise my heartbeat and dry my mouth.Father smirked. "You can act as smart as you can, but at the end, you'll have to do what I tell you. If I told you to shut the hell up because I won't tell you what's in the documents. You will shut the hell up because you can do nothing about it. So I guess," he said smiling easily. "-that answers your question.""Augustus should know who you really are-" I grimaced disgustedly, but he cut me."But he knows, Julius. He knows. I'm just keeping him away. I'm protecting him." He smiled and I laughed humorlessly."But I guess you failed somehow," I hissed, leaning forward to intimidate him. "You couldn't protect him from me, his brother.""Half-brother," he corrected, cleared his throat, then smiled. "But, that's okay," he then said, waving his hand dismissively. "He will never see you again. I mean, don't think because you're blood-related, that you can get close and all that. That'd be pathetic, son. I mean Augustus won't even associate with your likes. He knows better."If he only knew how close we were. But maybe I was pretending that too.I smirked, but shut up momentarily."I hope he loves you the same way you love him." I said, staring into his dark brown eyes intently and smiling twistedly. "I really do."Father shifted a bit, pinched his nose once, then smiled. "I hope so too. Because you know, it would hurt me as a father. Oh wait-" He stopped, opened his mouth and then rubbed his chin. "-you were never a father, were you? I don't think you'd understand this pain. The pain of losing a son or a daughter to someone. Or something."I was taken aback by his vague, yet close to home words, but I covered it up. Like I always do. I couldn't show father my weaknesses even though I was quite sure he knew them very well. He was not stupid. He only hit where and when he was sure it'd hurt. "Thanks to you, Father." I said grinning."Anytime, son," he retorted with a deep breath as he got up and looked down at me. "I think I should leave, now that I've delivered my message. And you better start working on it." He then adjusted his suit then headed toward the door as his men followed. How many? Ten? It took him ten of his mean to have a talk with me. His son. Maybe I should've laughed at this."Oh-" he declared, turning to me. "I'll be watching you very closely. Try not to go astray.""Why? Don't you trust your son?" I teased, clenching my jaws.He chuckled not even looking at me. "Not my sentimental, pathetic son, no. After all, once bitten, twice shy, Julius." He laughed again before he exited the room and soon the suite with his ten bulk, black-suited men.I then got up and angrily knocked over the chair I sat on. I was beyond furious. I was betrayed and actually scared. Not for me. Not really. I was scared of me. I was scared that what Father said was true. That maybe I was pretending.And I was scared that my plan had terribly failed. And that the girl -I tried so hard to help- was dead. And that this might be the fate of another girl that I might not find any time soon to 'protect'. Or at least try.After aimlessly roaming around the room and smoking a cigarette, I sat on the couch Father sat on and held my head in my hands. I had to look for someone, who was blind, had a dead father who was a lawyer, who was about my age, whose name was...Sam?I frowned in deep focus not knowing what to do. I then suddenly felt a bubble of uneasiness expand in my chest.Oh Lord-What if that wasn't her name? What if I'd misheard it? Then a memory flashed in front of my eyes.'"'Having no time to waste, I knelt down next to him and forcefully grabbed his head with the hair he had left. He let out a shriek and I pulled harder.I liked the sound of his scream. Sounded like a pussy to me. But the following silence would be much more pleasurable, punctuated by -I hope- a trail of his stale, warm blood when I put a bullet in his skull. If he didn't answer."Look, old man," I said tugging harder. "I've spent an hour trying to get that BLOODY answer out of your filthy mouth! If you don't tell me-" I said feeling the anger course in my body. "I'll kill you. I'll make sure that nothing of you remains on this earth. I'll diminish your existence. I'll kill your daughter-""No-ot Sam-" he spluttered as his eyes sparkled with renewed fear and his light eyebrows furrowed pleadingly.Fear. People's fuel to get them to do what they're asked.'"'He definitely said Sam, I remembered, but fear ripped my guts as realization dawned on me. He wasn't really trying to say Sam. He was trying to say...Samantha.What if that was the case? The man was dying and the name was quite long. It made perfect sense. I sat up at the realization. It was her. Samantha. She was blind, about my age, had a dead father, a lawyer. And...her anklet, I sat down again gasping at the memory.'"' I was staring all the while at the girl's tapping feet and the anklet she wore that kept jingling. It was a silver anklet with many charms. There was a letter S and a letter R surrounded by tiny dangling sapphire jewels. It looked really nice. '"'S for Samantha and R for Ricardo. Samantha Ricardo Murd.But how could I be sure? I had to see her again. I had to ask her lots of questions. I had to protect her, too. Then I'd use her to get the documents. Then I'd use those documents against Father. And that would mean that I hadn't lost after all.But Father would be monitoring me. How could I meet her without raising suspicion? How could I explain it to her? How could I explain my sudden interest in her dead father and some documents? How would I tell her about the reason her father died? How would she accept it? How would I tell her that I was the one who killed her father?No. You don't have to tell her that, Julius- I thought.My heart was beating fast at the impossibility of my situation. How could I protect her from Father? What if one of his men saw her already? But wait- they didn't know 'the girl's' real name. That was if my theory turned out to be correct, of course.There was only one way around this. One way only.Samantha must regain her vision. And I'd have to convince her to do so. How would she respond to my sudden reappearance in her life? How would she accept me after having neglected her for so long?I just hoped she'd forgive me. If not for my sake, for her life's sake.***A/N: Now this was a 'meh' chapter. But it had to be there him realizing after all of y'all realizing lmao, so *shrugs*Anyway, hope you enjoyed it! Stay tuned for more ;Love you all 3Rate, Vote and Comment RVC- lol I made that up and I will use it in the upcoming chapters, whenever possible! Thanks! 3
