Chapter 3: Final Words
For a fleeting moment, my parents found peace in the chaos—a fragile stillness wrapping them like a worn blanket.
Mom's sobs softened. Dad's hand rested steady on her shoulder.
But peace doesn't last in hell.
The masked man stepped back into the room, a phantom dragging us deeper into the nightmare.
His pale eyes glinted through the slits—cold, unyielding.
"Please… let us go," I whispered. My voice was small, trembling—a child's plea.
That broke them.
Mom's arms wrapped around me so tight it hurt.
"It's okay, baby," she murmured, her voice cracking. "Everything will be okay."
But her eyes betrayed her.
Fear. Hopelessness.
A truth she couldn't hide.
I didn't believe her.
How could I?
The hum returned—soft and sinister—curling through the air like smoke.
It pulsed in my chest, syncing with the masked man's faint, eerie note.
He tilted his head slightly, as if he heard it too.
He chuckled.
A sound like rusted nails.
"Touching, David," he said. "I gave you a chance to hand it over. You refused."
Dad's eyes blazed—rage and recognition flaring.
"It's you," he spat.
"Who else?" the man sneered.
"You're done, David. Your daughter's next. And your wife?"
His voice darkened.
"She'll watch it all—before she's mine."
His grin curled in the shadows beneath the mask.
"The throne's mine now."
Mom dropped to her knees, sobbing.
"Please, don't!"
I stared at him—this monster—my fear warping into something deeper.
Hatred.
Confusion.
A fire I didn't understand, burning in my ten-year-old heart.
"Any final words?" he asked, raising the gun.
His voice mockingly polite.
Dad turned to Mom.
Tears streaked his bloodied face.
"I love you, Mia. I'm sorry I failed you… but I love you both."
Then he looked at me, eyes soft but fierce.
"Be strong, my female king. Do what's right. Daddy loves you."
I nodded, throat tight, his words carving into me like stone.
The hum swelled, drowning out thought and breath.
For the first time in years, I prayed—silently, desperately—for a miracle I knew wouldn't come.
BOOM.
The gunshot shattered the air.
My world went silent—
except for the hum,
echoing like a curse in my bones.