Chapter 1 On The Run

I crouched behind the dust cans, tears falling from my eyes. I was tired. It had been a long time of running. All I wanted was to rest now. I just wanted this all to end. It had been almost two years of running. First, I ran away from my family's murderers. I was scared for my life. They were going to kill me too to shut me up. And now, it had been eleven months of running away from the person I first trusted would help me. He was the only person I trusted two years ago after my dad's and brother's deaths. I could feel the movements in the streets. Motorcycles were raving, women looking, and children running around. They were all looking for me. I knew that if I didn't do something now, I would soon be dead. I didn't want to die. At least not now. I wasn't ready. I wanted to avenge my family first. I wanted to make those monsters pay for everything they had done. My brother, Sean, and I were raised by a single dad. He was so good to us, and we had almost everything we ever wanted. My dad was an underground Mafia lord. Of course, he never admitted this to me. People like him wanted to keep their families safe. But I knew it anyway, and I accepted him for who he was. I only ever heard about my mom from my brother. I had never seen her. At least not until a few months before my dad's and brother's deaths. She had approached me, claiming that she wanted us to have our family back. And since I was a girl who had always craved a mother's love, I fell into her trap. She asked me not to tell my dad and brother about it yet. She said she had a plan to bring us back together. And on the day of their death, I had organized for her to meet my brother, in the same hostel house where my brother stayed. A few minutes before the fire, my dad rushed towards me. “What have you done?” He asked. He was worried. He must have heard about it somewhere. At that time, I wasn't sure what he meant, and he didn't explain. He took out a piece of paper and hurriedly wrote a phone number. “If anything happens, call him. His name is Tony. He is the only one you can trust,” he had said. Then he rushed towards the house. And the next moment, it went up in flames. I could hear my brother shout for help, but I couldn't do anything. In the following days, I was running from the same people who had caused it. They had seen me. I was a witness. But even as I ran, the last look on my father's face couldn't leave my mind. It was like he was scared. And all this because I had my mom meet my brother? That was one thing that I didn't want to think about ever since the fire. I didn't want to believe it. A mother would never hurt her family, would she? I shook my head to get rid of those thoughts. And after swallowing hard and calming myself down, I took out my phone. It was time to make the call. Maybe this was the only thing that was going to save me, to keep me alive, and to help me avenge my family. I punched in the numbers that I could remember very distinctively. And when it was picked up, tears fell from my eyes again. “I'm Kelly Carter, the daughter of Scott Carter. He gave me your number and asked me to call you if I ever needed help.” “Scott is dead,” the man replied coldly after a while. And I sighed. “I know. I watched the house go up in flames two years ago,” I said. The man was silent for so long that I felt scared. Then, he cleared his throat. “Leave your phone on for three minutes then shut it down,” he said and hung up. … Eleven months ago I ran. I didn't stop. I was scared that if I did, they would finally get to me. And if they got to me, they wouldn't let me live. So, I kept running, only finding shelter when it was dark, and eating what I could find. Cliff was dangerous. He was one of the most dangerous people I had met. He was from the Mafia, and he wasn't scared of doing something illegal. At times, he was cute and loving. However, he changed like a chameleon once he didn't get what he wanted. After my dad's and brother's death, he took me in. He had been my friend in high school and had a crush on me. But I didn't feel the same. So, all we ever were was friends. Things, however, changed a few weeks after he took me in. He confessed to me and tried to force me to marry him. I wasn't ready for that. I turned him down. And this seemed to have changed him into a very different person. For a few days, he didn't talk to me, yet he didn't let me leave. I was like a prisoner in his house. Then, one night, he came back drunk and tried to force himself on me. He almost succeeded, and I almost lost hope. But then, I saw a knife on the bedside table. I must have used it earlier to pill some fruits. I didn't want to hurt him. He had been good to me before. But I couldn't just let him take advantage of me. I couldn't let him take away my innocence. When he was about to get on top of me, I grabbed the knife and did the first thing that came to my mind. I stabbed him. Things happened so fast after that. The next moment, his men were after me. I ran without looking back. Luckily, I learned that he was still alive. That made me sigh in relief. I couldn't have lived with myself knowing that I had killed a man. But I knew that I had to get as far as possible. That was because if Cliff got me, even if he didn't kill me, I was sure I would never see the daylight again. … I ran to the almost abandoned house I saw and hid behind the counter. They were closing on me. I had to lose them first. I had been running for almost a year. I could stay in a place for a few days then take off because Cliff had never given up. It seemed like he sent more men after me everyday. Suddenly, a small hand grabbed me. At first, I was so scared that I almost passed out. I thought I had been caught. But then I saw a small boy. He looked very innocent, but scared. He put his finger on his lips to tell me to be quiet. Then he held my hand and guided me to the next room. We tried to be as quiet as possible, even though I didn't understand what he was doing in such a place. He pulled off a mat from the floor, revealing a trap door. I was shocked, yet happy at the same time. We carefully got to the basement and closed the door. It was then that I took a careful look at the little boy. “Are you hiding from someone too?” I asked. He was silent for a while before nodding. “They will kill me if they find me,” he said in his childish voice. At first, I though he was just kidding. “Where are your parents?” I asked, changing the question. The little boy took in a deep breath. “They killed my mom,” he said. “Now I have to run or they'll kill me too.” I creased my brows. He didn't seem to be joking. “Who killed her?” “The bad guys,” the child replied. “But now they know that I'm here.” I felt sad for him. He looked like he wanted to cry. “Where are you going?” “I'm looking for my dad. Mommy said that daddy is powerful and will keep me safe,” he said, and a tear fell from his eyes. I sighed again and helped him wipe away his tears. I always thought that I was the only one with a lot of trouble. But now, I felt so bad for the boy. “Where is your daddy?” I finally asked. The boy hung his head. “I don't know,” he said. “Mommy said that he went to the academy and that he would come back for us one day. But now mommy is gone. If I don't find him, I'll die too.” I pulled him into my hands and hugged him. I was never fond of kids, but just for some reason, I wanted to comfort this one. He just didn't know it. The academy thing was what mothers used for run away dads. The child's father either didn't know that he existed or didn't want anything to go with him. “Do you know your dad's name?” I asked. Maybe I could help him once I had settled down. He shook his head. “I don't know,” he replied. “But I have his picture. I'll know him when I see him.” He was about to take out a picture when we heard footsteps upstairs. We went quiet. “I saw you, little boy. Come out now!” A man shouted in a scary voice. I even shuddered. The boy covered his mouth and remained quiet. But I could feel him shivering. He was very scared. “If you don't come out now, I'm going to burn this place down!” The man continued speaking. I looked around the room nervously. I was scared of fire after my dad and brother burning to ashes. I didn't want to experience the same again. “Let's forget about what happened to your mom, okay? She deserved it. If you are a good boy, you won't have the same fate as her,” the man continued speaking as he walked up and down. I confirmed that what the boy was saying was true. The man had actually killed his mom. “Set it on fire,” losing his temper, the man said. “Cover all entrances to make sure nothing gets out alive.”