Chapter 40: family picture

Her tears and sweat flows at the same time as she watched her dad murdered her mom from the door that is half opened. "Siiis, what are you looking?", asked her younger brother from the back. She was startled from the sudden noise and hurried to cover her brother's mouth. When she take a peek again, those scary big cold eyes met her. Even she was just six that time, she carried her little brother and ran outside the house. The rain was just finished that time so the way are little muddy and their house is located away from the others. Even how many time she slipped and her arms and knees are already full of scratches, she still stand and go. "Siiis, where are we going? Why are we running?", asked her brother again wearing his innocent face as innocent as his childhood days. She didn't answered him and tried to stand again. Her scream of pain echoes in the whole place. Her ankle is swollen and it looks like she can't run anymore. "Sis, are you okay?" "Y…you should go… Go…. Save yourself and look for help" "Nagisaaaa", her father's voice echoes with the scary tone at the same time with his footsteps like they are in a horror movie. "Gooooo!!!", she shouted to her brother. Even it is against his will, he run and left his sister sitting on the mud with teary eyes.

Her whole body is shaking as she pull herself to hide in a huge pine tree, those large footsteps are getting louder and louder. It was the only thing you can hear, then suddenly a group of birds chirp and flew away as the wind blows the dry leaves. "Nagisaaaa, daddy is worried about you dear. Why are you hiding? I won't hurt you, you are my dearest little princess. C'mon come to daddy, mommy is waiting at home" H-he's not the dad he used to be. Where is the dad that carries her to bed when she fall asleep on the sofa. Where is the dad the plays with her and build her own doll house. Where is the dad that teacher her how to ride a bike. Where is the dad that sings her lullaby at night. Where is the dad that blows her scratches in her knees. Where is the dad that always take the family out. Where is the dad that cook her favorite when she got high score on exams. Where is the dad that she admire the most. Where is her hero. What happened to him?

She take a look if that man is already gone. Yes, she called her dad, man now. He was already a dangerous stranger for her. He was not her dad anymore. She was a little relief when she don't see anyone around. "Are you looking for someone?" her eyes widened and starts to breath heavily slowly turning her head to the back where the voice are coming from. "AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!" She screams from the top of her lungs as the man swing the ax he was holding. She covered her head with her arms and closed her eyes waiting the ax to touch her skin when a loud whistle stopped them. She slowly opened her eyes. Everything was blur yet she can hear the noise from her surroundings. She scratch her eyes and opened it one more time. Everything is becoming clearer. She saw her little brother running towards her. As soon as he reached her, he hugged her tight and cries very loud. She pet her brother's head slowly as she cries silently.

A woman in her forties rushed in the police station. Worries and sadness are written all over her face as she asked the one of the police officer in the station. The woman's head followed where the officer is pointing. At the end of his finger, two kids are sitting on a bench hugging each other covered with blanket. She kneeled in front of them to reach and hug them. "You must be shocked on what happened. Don't worry I, your aunt Mabel will take care of you from now on"

Aunt Mabel opened the door of her house to welcome the new part of their family. "From now on, you are going to live here with me. I will be your new mom so if you need or want anything just tell me okay" Even the two kids met this aunt Mabel several times for she was their mother's sister and best friend, they still find themselves uncomfortable around her like there was a dark aura that surrounds her. Aunt Mabel show the two kids their own room upstairs and told them they will go to the mall tomorrow to shop for thir new clothes and other things. Aunt Mabel keeps on telling them on how excited she was having them while they are going down the stairs when the main door of the house opened. Aunt Mabel ran to approach her husband who just came home from work. She gave her husband a kiss on the lips then introduced the two kids to them. The husband left his bag in front of the door and went to the stairs where the two kids are standing looking at him. "From now on. I will be your dad. I am so happy to have you as a part of my family"

Later that night, the two kids still don't talked nor give any expression from the couple who is eating dinner with them. The couple seems so nice and happiness are mark on their faces because they don't have a child so it was like a dream come true to have kids in their house. They can't hide their excitements and they are already planning on how they will raise these two kids like what school they will attend, where they will spend their vacations, what things they will buy for them and others. "M…mom, I want to see mom", her little brother said. "Of course baby, we will going to attend your mom's funeral. It was just so sad that all of these happened to your family. Don't worry, your dad will not hurt you anymore", said Aunt Mabel. "You must be traumatized because of the incident. Why don't we go on a drive this weekend so that you will forget what happened" "M…mom, I want to see mom!!", her brother starts crying. Aunt Mabel and her husband stand to go to him when she hugged her little brother and told them that she will take care of him as they stand hugging each other and go to their room.

"Stop crying" "I…miss mom", her brother said between his sobs. "Me too, I miss her but we can't do anything, she's gone and this is our new family now" "What about dad?" She just hugged her brother.

"Do you think the kids will like us?" asked Aunt Mabel lying on the bed to her husband who just came out from the shower. "Don't worry Hon, they will get used to it. Everything is still new to them and they just went on a tragic moment. We shouldn't rush things up and I know that if we will show them on how much we love them, they will be open to us", her husband said as he sat on the bed and pull her wife's head close to him to kiss her forehead. "Now, where did we stop last night?" Aunt Mabel giggles as she slowly lie her body to the bed and her husband follows staring at each other's eyes.

"Woah!!!" Their eyes are shining like they just saw a pile of diamonds or gold. "I know you will like it", the husband said as he saw in the rearview mirror the reaction of the two kids. "Is this your first time in an amusement park?", Aunt Mabel asked. The two kids nod at the same time that makes Aunt Mabel smile. "Here we are!", her husband said as he parked the car and turned the engine off. The two kids excitedly went off the bus and ran inside the park. Aunt Mabel went beside her husband leaning on the car as they smiled at each other watching how happy and excited the kids are. "Don't run, you might slip!!", she shouted to them and they giggled together.

The sun is starting to set when they leave the park. Aunt Mabel hold her husband's hand while he's driving home. "Look at them, they enjoyed the day so much that they got tired and fall asleep", she said. "I was wishing to have this moment for so long and I can't believe that it was already happening" "We are just starting, you should fasten your seatbelt because there will be a lot of like this coming your way" And they laughed together.

She hold her brother's hand while shaking while watching those people wearing black outfits all over the place. Her brother is pulling her yet she don't move like her feet is nailed on the ground. "Let's go inside", her Aunt Mabel said. Her knees got weak when they entered and saw her mother's photo surrounded with flowers. She was just six and yet, she already carries this kind of memory in her heart.

"Nagisaaa call your brother, it's time to eat already!", her mother shouts. Nagisa went to call her brother then they ran together where their parents are. The same day after they had their picnic on the park, the four of them decided to went on a nearby photo studio to take their first family picture. What a happy family they had. When they went home, their father hanged their developed family photo in a frame in the center of the old photos hanged on their wall. Their father flashed a smile seeing how perfect the picture is.

From the window of their house, her father saw her crying in the backyard. Her father went out immediately to ask her what's wrong as he saw bruises on her arms and knees. While sobbing and wiping her tears, she pointed her broken bicycle. That day, she knew that her father is not an ordinary man, he is a hero. Her father put his both hands on his waist as he watch his little princess finally can ride her bike alone.

"Mooooom, daaaaad", screaming from her room. Her parents went immediately to her. She was struggling lying in her bed while her eyes are closed. Her whole body is sweating. Her mother tried to wake her up and as soon as she opened her eyes, her father hugged her. She's still crying loud that night even she's in her father's arms. "It's okay baby, it was just a dream. Mom and dad will protect you", her mother said while sliding her hands slowly into her daughter's hair. They stayed with her that night until she fall asleep again.

"Nagisaaaa, Nagisaaa" She fell that someone is shaking her. She opened her eyes slowly and scratch it a little. She saw Aunt Mabel in front of her, "Nagisa, you fall asleep. All the people leaved already and it is already late so we should keep moving also", she said. She stand as she realized that they are still on her mom's funeral, she just had a dream of her past happy life.

You can see from the face of the two kids how nervous they are. It is their first day in their new school. "I remembered when I was a kid. I am also nervous as you are now and when my mom left me on the school on my first day. I cried a lot that day that I almost chase the car where she was in. I saw all the other kids with the same age as I was, they are crying also and they don't want to let go of their mom's sleeve. I just realized that I forgot on how I survived those days when I learned that school and having friends is fun. I know that you can also do this, you two are strong. I know that because I believe in you" Aunt Mabel said as she take a look on those two kids at the back seat of the car. "Here we are", her husband said as he parked the car in front of the school. The couple both turn their heads at the kids at the back to encourage them. "We're going to pick you up at lunch and we are going to eat outside"

The room is noisy for the first day of school. When everyone is running and playing, she was just remained sitting on her chair watching the other kids. After a minute, a woman in her late twenties wearing a large thick eyeglasses, her long black straight hair is ponytailed. She's wearing a white blouse that the two buttons are left opened tacked in in a light brown pencil cut skirt matching her two inches black heels entered the room. She flashed a smiled to the kids without showing her teeth but her dimples are shown as she put down the book and the folder she was holding. She introduced herself as Miss Gonzales and she will be their teacher and adviser for the whole school year.

"How was school?", Aunt Mabel asked as soon as the kids entered in the car. The two kids speak at the same saying random things. Aunt Mabel look at her husband and laugh then she stopped them to talk one by one. Nagisa went first by adoring her teacher, Miss Gonzales and telling them what they did in school like coloring animal pictures and writing their names on a piece of paper. Then her brother came next saying that he became friends with the kid sitting next to him. They already arrived in a restaurant where they will eat when he finished his story.

The moment she opened her eyes, she was in their old house. Everything she sees is in monotone color. She heard a small scratches in a half opened door so she walked slowly to see what is behind that door. As she take a peek, a blood spit out in her face. She scream in shock especially when she saw whose blood is in her face while breathing heavily. She saw her own mother showering in her blood lying her lifeless body on the floor. Even the woman is not facing to her direction, she knew that it is her mother. She was about to crawl to see her mother's face when she heard a large footsteps as loud as her heartbeat. She look around the room where she can hide. She covers her mouth under the table as she watch the man entered walking towards her mother's dead body. The man drag her mother's body outside the room. She hold her breath as her mother faced her while the man is dragging the body. Her mother's eyes is bloody red and it is wild opened and it looks like it was staring at her. Her eyes followed the body until it went off the room. The moment the door is closed, she sigh as a sign of relief. She carefully and slowly went out under the table to avoid making noise. She stand and wipe the blood on her face using her shirt when she stopped and slowly turned her head around when she heard someone's breath behind her. Scare are written all over her face as she took one step backward while breathing heavily. The man who is squatting on the table smiling wildly showing his big sharp yellow teeth with saliva flowing like he was a monster from a manga. He jump off the table as she was about to begin to ran yet the man stopped her by holding her right arm. He is holding it tightly that it hurts her as she struggle. "Nooooo…noooooooo"

She suddenly woke from her sleep. A series of sweat flow from her head while catching her breath like she ran a marathon. She hugged her knees and bow and started crying. After a while, Aunt Mabel and her husband came rushing to her when they heard her cry. "Why what's wrong", Aunt Mabel asked as she hugged her. "D…dad, no, that man. That man will come to me, he's going to kill me. He will kill me", she said then she cried again as she hugged her aunt back. "No…no. he will not hurt you. No one will hurt you. He's in jail now and I will never let anyone lay a finger on you or to your brother. We will protect you, I promise", she said to the young lady. Little did they know that her younger brother is watching them from the door.

Aunt Mabel and her husband went back to their room after making sure that Nagisa calmed down and fall asleep. "She was just six and yet she's already suffering from trauma. I hate seeing her like that but I hate myself more because I can't do anything to help her", said Aunt Mabel while sitting on her bed and covering her lower body a blanket. "Don't blame yourself, it is not your fault. No one wants this to happen. And I will make sure and I assure you that nothing like that will happen again to her and her brother" "Hon, why don't we take the kids into a psychiatrist" "Hon, they were too young. I know you want to help but there might be another way. Psychiatrists are not for them" "We will be good to them and take good care to them so that they will erase that tragic moment in their life and their childhood will full of happy moments" Then her husband flashed a weak smile at her as he kissed her forehead then they lay on their bed together.