REGAINING THE LOST MEMORIES

Flash back 5 months ago

I am sitting in our humble sitting room with my father, sadness and sorrow written all over our faces. We just buried our mother this morning, and the cause of her brutal murder is still a mystery to us.

My dad has his suspicions, but the monster in question is the devil himself. We are afraid that if we try to get justice for our beloved mother, we might end up burying another soul, or he might decide to wipe out our whole family. What hurts the most is that the monster is my very own cousin. Before my mother died, this monster's father had taken her custody as his security that my father would not report their illegal businesses to the authorities. My dad knew so much, making him a threat to the Wells family.

Since their efforts to make him part of their dirty businesses didn't work out, as the cunning monsters that they are, they succeeded in taking our mother away. She had to make sacrifices for her family, and she willingly left because the threat they posed if my mother didn't go with them was crazy.

Two weeks later, we just woke up to reports that my mother had escaped from the club. We were eagerly waiting for her to come back to us, but what we received was a call that my mother's body was found lifeless on the side of the road. It was not death that hurt the most, but the pain she went through before she gave up. She was mercilessly tortured, both physically and mentally. The marks on her body said it all.

I leave my father on the couch and decide to get some sunshine outside. All of us have been hit differently by this unexpected and sudden demise, with our mother and father being the most affected. It must be killing him to think of the torture, humiliation, and disrespect his wife went through at the hands of the monstrous perpetrators. I myself don't want to imagine any of that, because I will go insane. He cherished her so much. Their undying love was evident in their eyes, as was how well they ran this family despite our not-so-stable lifestyle. They pulled through all the challenges and overcame all the obstacles because the bond they had was unbreakable. Only death could have broken that bond. And it succeeded, leaving my father lonely, defeated, and lost.

My elder sister has been unusually silent ever since we received the shocking news. She barely talks or does anything. She is always cooked up in her room.

After a few minutes of staring at my mother's grave behind our house and asking God so many questions that I still don't have answers to, I start shuffling my legs back inside the house. I get to our house compound, and a very unpleasant feeling crosses my heart. Something feels odd.

Dad?

"Father?" I call, running towards the door, but I stop on my feet after three steps because another voice calls me towards the gate. That is my sister's voice. She was resting in her room when I walked out. I turn around with a supersonic speed, and there, I see my sister being dragged away ruthlessly by some giants in the form of men in black attire. She cries my name again, trying to fight the two strong men dragging her away, but all her efforts bear no fruit.

"Grace!" I finally found my voice and the strength to fuel my legs. Before they could drag her out of the gate, I started running to my sister.

"Gia!" She cries again.

"Gia!" Another voice from inside the house calls me, making me stop. It's a man's voice, and he sounds like he is in pain.

That is…that is dad? What's happening?

"Gia!" My sister's cry as she disappears from my sight echoes through my head. I should get to her before they take her away.

"Run, Gia! Run!" My father shouts, and his groans fill the entire compound.

Who is beating up my father, and why? And who are these other men taking my sister away? Why is my father telling me to run? Where do I run to? To him, or to my sister? I can't abandon them both. Before I can make up my mind, my hands are grabbed forcefully by two men, and they drag me inside the house, pushing me hard on the floor where my father is lying with bruises, his face almost fully drenched in blood. What in God's name is going on?

"Father?" I call, kneeling beside him and wiping away the blood that is dripping from his eyes. What did they beat him up with to tear his flesh like this? "Father! Look at me, father!" I shake him, and although he is trying, the pain is just too much. "What do you people want? Isn't it enough that we are mourning the death of my mom?" I ask these heartless men surrounding us, tears flowing like a river from my eyes.

"I am also mourning the demise of my father, whose death your father caused." A man walks through the door and stands between my father's legs. I wipe away the curtain of tears in my eyes so that I can see him well.

My father cannot kill someone, and I can bet my life on that. I look up from the stranger's expensive shoes, stopping at the most ugly and scary eyes I have ever seen. What could we possibly have done to offend the devil to the point of him showing up in person to us like this? Because this is sure him.

My father forces himself to stand, though staggering, but I support him with my hands. He can't even stand on one foot. "It's me; you have a problem with Ejay. Do whatever you want with me, but let my daughters go." The father speaks, struggling through every word.

"It's too late for that, dear uncle. They are already involved." The stranger who just walked in says his voice is as cold as ice.

Ejay? So this is the monster of a cousin my father has been warning us about? He came back a month ago from the states to succeed his father in their dirty businesses, and he is a filthy, ruthless beast, worse than his father. He has the nerve to accuse my father of killing his father while they are the reason why my mother is lying six feet under the ground right now. How shameless!

"I am begging you, Ejay, to leave my daughters out of this! You can blame me all you want, but I didn't intend to cause a heart attack for your father. I was just after the truth about what exactly you bastards did to my wife, because no matter what you say, I know you fools killed her. What did she do to deserve all that torture?"

"I will tell you what: I don't give people peaceful deaths. Your wife was a bit too nosy, and I had to do something about it. As the only remaining member of the Wells, I am determined to carry out the legacy that my grandpa left until my last breath. What I can't afford is to have people like you stick around. I don't take risks."

Hell just came down!

So he killed her! And he is shamelessly and proudly admitting to it? "You are evil. You are a real monster. We may not be able to do a thing to get justice, but karma will surely get you." I say this to this Ejay, and he looks at me, our eyes meeting for the first time, and they scare me to death.

They have such deadly looks. He stares for a moment, thinking only the devil knows what. I ignore him and turn to my father. "Forgive me, my child. I could not protect you and your sister from this monster."

"It's alright, father. We will get through this. Together."

"Enough with the drama. I don't have the whole day." Ejay says, grabbing me from my father.

Father tries to get me back, but they grab him and start punching him again. "Father!" I cry, trying to run to him and stop monkeys from beating him, but the hand that is holding me is a hundred times stronger than me. "Stop! Please stop hurting my father, please!" I cry, but all my cries fall on deaf ears. I drop to the ground, closing my eyes to the sight before me. "Let him go, please."

"Hold him still." Ejay says, and he lets go of my hand as he pulls out a gun. What is he going to use that for? I move my head slowly to look at my father. He is being supported to stand on his foot. His eyes are open, but I doubt he can see anything. He is as good as dead. Are the bullets really necessary? Is he going to kill him in front of my eyes?

No! No! No!

"A life for a life." He starts, maintaining his cold, devilish demeanor, and I stand up. He cocks the gun in his hands and continues, pointing it at my father. "Ejay does not forgive. Say hi to the devil for me, uncle." He puts his index finger on the trigger.

As he pulls the trigger, I run to my father, coming into contact with the bullet. It hits my head before I can even reach my father. "Aah!" I screamed with pain as I hit the ground.

"Gia!" I hear the voice of my father as I rest my head on the cold floor, blood washing my face.

"Shit!" Ejay curses, and as he fires bullets, I can't be able to count.

The last thing I hear are the painful screams of my father. He falls quiet, and his body falls with a thud beside me. I try to even lift up my hand to feel if he is alive, but I can't. As more tears continue flowing, the pain becomes unbearable, and I close my eyes willingly. The only thing I can see is darkness. The only sound I can hear is silence. My mind goes blank.

** END OF FLASHBACK**