Chapter 1.6.: The day We get to know ourselves

After hearing Sarah was not caught, for some reason I felt uncomfortable and anxious. Even when I heard his partner being shot while trying to flee from jail, I still kept having those feelings. I started having nightmares in my sleep, I started waking up suddenly in midnight, whenever I woke up I couldn't remember what I was dreaming of but my whole body would have bathed in cold sweat , I would be trembling for some reason. It continued till a week before my twelfth birthday. That night I had a dream a very strange one this time.

In it I was in a car sitting at the back seat, there were two other people a man and a woman sitting on the front seats. The man was driving on the night road while discussing something with that woman.

"Really?" the woman said

"Yeah we couldn't afford it, we need more money for buying that house" man replied.

"How much more we need? When we came here we had plenty of savings. I don't think we spent much of our savings. And isn't that house so tattered already?"

"It is but still it was a mansion in past and a huge one at that and we are only buying it for you. Don't tell me you're now not fond of scary old creepy houses? It's ok if you now don't want to live in those kind of houses now. I can understand afterall we're dealing with Paranormal Activities for quite some years now." Said the man with a smile of face.

"Hey, who said I don't want to live in it. You can be scared but I'm not. I was just worried about the funds here."

"Why worried about the fund? You know we can still ask to the 'Organization' to give us some money. I don't think they will ever refuse us, they owe us a lot don't you think?" asked the man.

...

"Don't you think?" asked the man again

...

"Honey? Are you alright?" this time man asked with a worried face.

...…..

This time the man turned around and looked at the woman whose face was lost in thoughts.

"Honey….."

"Let's not talk to the 'Organization'" the woman cut the man's speech and said with a worried face.

"Wha...."

Suddenly a blinding light flashed on the my eyes and a ear-piercing loud sound reached my ears. Until my eyes turned to look toward the sound source I heard a crashing sound and I was suddenly thrown forward and something hit my head after which I couldn't see or hear anything.

I don't know how long was it but I heard that man and woman were saying something together desperately. When I tried to see, my eyes were closed, I tried to open them with all my every ounce of strength I have then I tried to move my hand and body but I couldn't. I felt all the strength in my body is sucked dry with nothing in it, I couldn't even speak.

Then I tried to concentrate and listen what they were saying and I found it strange cause they were saying the exact same things which I have heard many times in my dreams. It was that begging request.

"Please Please let him live…"

"Please we're begging you"

"Please, if you want you can take my life but please"

"Yes you can take our lives but let him live"

"Please he's our only son"

"Hehehehehehehe"

Suddenly I heard a laughing sound, this is the first time I have heard it, I had not heard it in any of my dreams before. I was disgusting mocking laugh and it even felt cruel.

" A trade if you want, that I can do"

"Yes we want. Yes please"

"Hehehe, are you two sure you want to do this trade?"

"Yes we are but you have to revive our son"

"Hehehehe Fine then. One life for bring reviving him and one life for making him live." "Now let's being the ceremony"

Suddenly I couldn't hear a thing. It was like they suddenly vanished, they only thing I could hear were the sound of slowly flowing wind.

After a while when I couldn't take the silence any longer. I tried to open my eyes again using every ounce of strength left in body but this time I suddenly felt warmth like energy rushing in my body and my eyes opened abruptly.

But this time I was in a room. It was dark everywhere, just a little moonlight was coming from the window and illuminating the surroundings near the window and making a humanish shadow of something, my body was in pain while I tried to see my surroundings. It took me sometime but I recognized where I was when I heard someone's voice. I was back in the room where I was sleeping, back in the house where I was living. Uncle Sebas' house, it was his voice I heard and was still hearing him saying something in one of the rooms next to mine.

"Hehehehehehe seems like you had a wonderful dream hehehe"

I heard a man's laughter. And tried to figure out from where the sound came from.

Shadow...…

I jerked my head to look at the shadow and saw a vicious black hoodie figure standing there. Seeing him I was terrified and started trembling with horror. The figure was simple underscibleablely horrifying.

"Times up." I heard and the shadow vanished.

It was the same shadow I had seen many times in my dreams but seeing him today before my eyes gave me a horrifying feeling. I was covered in cold sweat.

I was about to slip into a deep thought when I heard someone's crying. It was Sammy's. I jumped out of bed and came out from the room.

"Sammy are you alright?" I shouted

But I couldn't get a reply only a crying sound and Uncle Sebas voice.

" Uncle Sebas?" I shouted this time even louder with worry inside my heart.

Clap Clap Clap Clap

"Uncle Sebas?"

"Ooooh.. our main star of today's event has arrived. Come here sweetie. Mom's waiting for you here."

I was paralyzed on hearing that voice. I remembered that voice. It was the voice I never wanted to hear, that voice was filled with sweetness but I was filled with horror.

The first thing came in my mind is to run away from there and I immediately planned to run as fast as I can with my life on line when I heard something again.

"Sammy why don't you ask your friend to come and save you. Don't worry if he listened to you and came here then I'll not kill you".

Sammy...… I wanted to run and I even turned around to run without caring a bit about Sammy when an image suddenly floated in my mind. A lifeless looking Sammy being carried like a baggage. Black and red marks all over his body and cuts and bleeding everywhere on his back.

I stopped my track prepared my mind for the worst and turned and walked to the room from where that vicious voice was coming.

In the room there were few people of which four I knew already. There was Uncle Sebas with a sad and guilty expression on his face looking at a woman and a child next to her. When I saw that woman I was surprised, I knew that woman cause her pictures were everywhere in the house, she was Uncle Sebas' wife. There was a woman sitting next to her. That woman had left a deep scar in my consciousness of which maybe she don't even know. She was Sarah. And next to her was standing Sammy still crying for some reason. There were three other man standing beside her. Two of them were carrying gun in their hand and the third one was with a strange shining knife on his belt. When I was finally in the room the knife guy came in front of me and walked past me and stood at the front of the gate right behind me.

On seeing me Sammy suddenly stopped crying and said something with a hoarse voice.

"Jimmy Uncle Sebas had used us. He adopted us for getting promoted and build his reputation and you know he even….."

"Stop" Sarah's voice stopped him and Sammy shut his mouth.

"Sweetie, see you left mommy and now you're being played by this bad man. Now you see today I have come to take you back. Won't you come back with me?" she asked with a sweet voice.

I looked at Uncle Sebas and shooked my head showing her my refusal. So what if he had used us. He had given us a good and fulfilling life so it was worth it.

Seeing my rejection Sarah's face darkened. She turned her head and looked at Uncle Sebas. "You have ruined my good".

"Cheh Cheh…..you have ruined two of my goods for your reputation. Heh.. they say you're quite a honourable and respectable man. Don't you think it's unfair using someone else's goods for your own."

"You" she pointed at Sammy and said, "Go stand next to Number 32b."

Number 32b....

This was the number I hadn't heard in years. But I hadn't forgot, it was the number given to me but Sarah had never called me that before but this time...… I felt a sadness of some kind in my heart.

Sammy came and stood next to me, seeing his expression I could tell he was trying to tell something to be but was fearing somebody.

"Now I had heard you love your wife so much that you were desperately trying anything to bring her and your child back so see I brought them for you. But I need something in exchange for it."

"I have also heard that Mr. Sebastian is quite a reputable man, for removing the stain on his reputation he exhausted all of his strength for catching people like me that year. But I doubt that, afterall I know you better than them. I have seen every single mole under your pants but they haven't."

"Forget it forget it, I am not here to make your wife jealous or make you sound like a scumbag. Ok here I have two people. Your son, he's of almost the same age as of Jimmy of that time when you ruined my plan. Now Jimmy is dead so I can use your son as a replacement of Jimmy.

Your wife, she's still beautiful and these guys are all running for so long that they haven't had a meal for a while now and she'll the perfect meal for them when they know that she's the wife of the guy who had made their life hell.

After the meal, I will sell the leftover to some red light district and that way I can recover some of money you took from me."

Hearing all of this Uncle Sebas' face was as white as a blank sheet, it was a bloodless face with eyes and mouth wide open and fear written on them.

"Want me to spare them?"

Uncle Sebas looked at her

"Of I can spare them but you then have to do something for me, you have to bury some rotten goods" she said while looking at us.

Uncle Sebas looked at us with uncertainty written all over his face.

Is she asking him to kill us?

He'll never do this right?

Uncle Sebas is a good person. He'll never do something like this.

I had a full trust in Uncle Sebas.

There was a long silence after then. When suddenly Sarah said something.

"Dado, what are you doing? Open your camera, we should record this moment. Honored Respected Mr. Sebastian who choose duty on his personal life is once again making a choice. Love or Reputation? Who will he choose? Oh and give your gun to him."

The man named Dado took out a mobile phone and gave it to Sarah and then took out a gun from inside his jacket and while giving it to Uncle Sebas said in a heavy rough voice, "Point at us and your wife and child will die first."

"No need." Said Uncle Sebas but hearing this I felt relieved. There was a strange emotion surging in my heart when Sarah asked him to dispose us of but now when I heard Uncle Sebas I was relieved and a bit happy too.

"Sammy Jimmy, you see I always took care of you both. I'm not your relative or something but now I feel you both are like my own son." Suddenly Uncle Sebas started walking toward me saying that.

"Jimmy, Sammy is right I adopted both of you for making up my reputation and showing the world how great I am but this was all at past. With time spending with you two I forgot even that. I forgot that I adopted you two for my fame instead I started to think you two like my own son."

He stopped in front of me and while I was happy, having a feeling that I have never felt before, he hugged me tightly.

I was now about to cry, this was the first time someone had said me and even considered me as his son, this was the feeling I had never felt before.

"Give me that"

I heard something but I was thinking having a father is the most blessed thing in the world. 'Uncle Sebas said me that he think of me as his son. That means I can call him dad like all the other kids. No I should call him daddy or father will be more suitable? Nah…

"Noooo Jimmy. STOP"

I again heard something. Ignoring 'I should kept calling him Uncle till my birthday then on my birthday I will make this wish that he should let me call him Father. I don't think he would refuse me right? I should ask Sammy'.

I turned around to see Sammy, I was surprised to see Sammy that had a stunned expression with mouth wide open and tears leaking from his eyes. I thought he must be jealous of me right now as well as happy for me afterall we both were called son by Uncle Sebas but he hugged me first.

'I should ask him what he want to call him?'

"Sa....."

Instead of air and voice, something like a liquid came out of my mouth. I rolled my eyes downwards to see when I suddenly saw the shoulder of the Uncle Sebas was dying in a crimson liquid which was falling from somewhere. To warn him that I tried to use my hand but they were stuck as Uncle was still hugging me. 'Uncle just you wait I'll call you father even from toady'

I tried to my mouth and warn him that some crimson liquid is staining his shirt. 'I should use father for once today' I thought.

"Fa...…"

I felt pain when I tried to speak so I closed my mouth, suddenly I felt something was piercing inside and coming out of my neck. My mouth was time filling with a liquid again. I started feeling difficulty in breathing and even swallowing the liquid filling my mouth. I suddenly couldn't do any of that. My head was feeling numb maybe from confusion or happiness I thought. When I suddenly heard something.

"Sorry but I still love my wife and my son most, for them I'll do anything. Even you both are just like my son but not my son and I am doing it for my son so please forgive me. I didn't had any other choice."

It was Uncle Sebas voice which suddenly woke me up to realization of what is going on. When I thought I felt despair.

Thud…

I fall on the ground lifeless. But still there was a hope that it's all a lie. I kept staring at the man before me, the man whom I just had tried to call Father. His face I wanted to see at last and I saw a human, a true human, selfish to it's core. I kept staring at him while water started leaking from my eyes. Soon everything become dim and then dark.

Thud….

Something fall on the floor again. I wanted to think what it can be but my mind started to get blank and dizzy.

...…..

"Want to make a deal?"