"Hello, aunty."
Thomas smiled as he extended the wrapped gift toward her.
"Oh, Thomas… why are you here? Did you miss college?" she asked gently, smiling back.
"Yeah. I'm not feeling well today. Please accept this." He placed the gift in her hands.
"Oh, there was no need for that." She looked at the wrapping, her lips pressing together before she forced a smile and parted them. "Please, come inside."
"Oh, that's very kind of you, aunty."
He stepped in, carefully removing his shoes.
From the car outside, two more figures emerged—both dressed in complete black suits. One of them held a small remote in his hand.
"Would you like something to drink?" she asked, placing the gift on the table as she walked toward the kitchen.
"A glass of water, please."
Thomas pulled out a chair, sat down, and tapped his fingers against the table, his eyes wandering around the room.
"Here you go." She placed the glass beside him.
"Thank you. That's very kind of you."
Thomas's gaze dropped,not to her face, but to her feet.
She turned her back to him. "I'm sorry, but Seraphina is at college."
"Oh, I know that," he said calmly, lifting the glass. "I just came to visit you, aunty." He drank.
"Really? But why?" She picked up a plate.
"Did Seraphina tell you anything?" Thomas asked, slowly standing up.
"No, she hasn't spoken much lately. Did something happen?"
She began pouring food onto the plate.
"No. I think she wants to surprise you."
He stepped closer, a handkerchief folded neatly in his hand.
Upstairs, the small door creaked shut.
The boy tightened the strap of his school bag, careful not to make noise. He had forgotten his notebook. Just one minute, he thought, already turning back.
"Oh." She finished serving. "By the way, I made the soup you like . Please eat."
"Oh, that sounds wonderful," he said softly, now standing right behind her.
"But I can't eat it."
"But why?"
She turned around, holding the bowl.
"Because," Thomas said, his voice dropping,
"the only thing I want to eat… is your daughter."
He slammed the handkerchief over her mouth and nose with brutal force.
The bowl slipped. The plate shattered. Soup exploded across the floor.
From the stairwell, the boy froze.
She fell instantly, dragging Thomas down with her.
Her ulcerated foot scraped against broken ceramic and boiling liquid. Blood spilled as she struggled,legs kicking, hands clawing at him, nails tearing uselessly at his sleeves.
"Hah…" Thomas laughed, pressing harder.
"I wonder how she'll react to this. Watching her own mother struggle like a dog."
The boy's breath caught in his throat.
He couldn't scream.
He couldn't move.
Her movements slowed. Her body trembled once,then went limp.
The boy watched.
Watched his mother's fingers weaken.
Watched her body shudder once… then go still.
"Take her. Put her in the car," Thomas said casually.
One of the men filmed everything.
Something snapped.
The boy ran.
He lunged at the suited man and sank his teeth into his leg, biting with everything he had,fear, rage, terror pouring into his jaw.
"Ahhh! You little shit!"
The man kicked him hard in the chest.
The boy flew backward, crashing into the chair, then striking the table leg.
He didn't move.
"Oh, easy," Thomas said calmly. "I want both of them alive."
He knelt, checked the boy's pulse.
Still there.
"Good. Let's go."
Before leaving, Thomas's eyes caught a framed photograph on the wall,the father.
He dragged a chair beneath it, took the photo down, and smashed it onto the floor.
"Let's move."
The car rolled away.
As it disappeared, Thomas pressed the remote.
The house erupted into flames, fire swallowing walls and memories alike
every second captured on camera.
Seraphina's phone vibrated in her pocket.
She ignored it.
Her eyes were on the board. Her pen moved across the notebook.
Another vibration. Then another.
Still, she didn't look.
The notebook snapped shut as the teacher left. The classroom filled with noise,chairs scraping, voices overlapping.
Seraphina slipped away toward somewhere quieter.
She reached the field and sat beneath the shadow of a tree. Only then did she take out her phone.
"Tell anyone. Find them in pieces.
"Thomas
The message burned on the screen.
Seraphina blinked once.
Then again.
Her fingers trembled, foreign and numb.
"Tell anyone. Find them in pieces."
Her breath vanished,not slowed, not shaken vanished, as if her lungs had forgotten their purpose.
"No…" Her lips barely moved. "No… no, no..."
The phone slipped from her hand into the grass, yet her eyes remained fixed where it had been, as if the words were carved into the air.
Her chest collapsed inward. Her heart slammed violently, each beat painful and uneven.
Her legs jolted.
She stood up so fast her head started to spin. The sound echoed,but she didn't hear it.
She ran.
"Mom..." Her voice broke before the word could form. "Please…"
Her bag slid from her shoulder. The strap caught, snapped free, and fell near the gate. Books spilled across the ground.
She didn't stop.
Her breathing fractured into sobs. Tears blurred her vision; she wiped them away roughly and ran faster.
The campus gate rushed toward her.
People turned. Someone called out. A hand brushed her arm.
She shoved it away. "Move!"
She staggered onto the road.
"Taxi...! Taxi...!"
Her arm shot up, shaking, fingers spread wide.
Cars rushed past her face, wind slapping her cheeks.
Headlights slid over her like she didn't exist.
One slowed.
Didn't stop.
"Taxi! Please.. taxi!"
Her voice cracked, tore itself apart in the air. She waved harder, stumbling forward, nearly falling. A horn blared. Someone cursed. No one looked at her face.
Another car.
Another blur.
"Taxi… taxi…" she begged, the word dissolving into a sob.
Her hand stayed raised even as her strength drained.
Even as hope did.
The road swallowed her scream and gave nothing back.
Panic clawed through her chest.
A black taxi stood nearby, engine running.
She yanked the door open and climbed inside.
"Please..." she gasped. "Please take me to..."
She stopped.
The driver turned.
Blue eyes.
A familiar smile.
"Hello, Seraphina."
Her body emptied.
Not frozen,hollow.
The air slipped silently from her lungs. Her hands fell limp into her lap. Tears clung to her lashes, unfinished.
Her mouth opened. No sound came.
Her heartbeat slowed,unnaturally.
Thomas smiled wider.
And Seraphina went quiet.
The taxi moved, leaving the campus behind.
She cried without sound. Her breath kept breaking, filling with sobs.
"You look beautiful when you cry," Thomas said as the car veered toward the jungle.
"Please, Thomas… let them go," she begged, gathering every shred of strength.
"You're not like this. This isn't you. Please..."
He slammed the brakes.
"Shut the fuck up, bitch," he snapped. "Don't bark until I say so."
The car moved again.
She covered her face, still shaking.
A lone building emerged ahead.
The car stopped.
A man in a black suit opened the door,but Thomas grabbed Seraphina by the hair and dragged her out himself.
"Please… no… please, Thomas..."
"Get down, bitch."
He shoved her to the floor.
Cold floor crawled into her skin. She looked up at him,his eyes devouring her.
"You're angry because I rejected you," she said, crawling forward and clutching his foot.
"You want revenge, right?"
She pressed her forehead against his shoe.
"I'm begging you. Let them go. Do whatever you want to me,but they aren't involved."
He squatted slowly, wiping her hair with mock tenderness.
"Look at you," he said softly. "Trying to sound logical. Intelligent."
Then he yanked her hair back, forcing her to meet his eyes.
"Where was that brain when you humiliated me in front of everyone? Where was it?"
He slapped her.
Blood spilled from her lips.
"My mom is still watching you," he said, dragging her face toward the wall.
"Can't you see? She still wants to see us married."
Her mother's head sat inside a glass jar.
"You're a fucking psycho," Seraphina said, staring straight at him.
"You only care about yourself. Your feelings. As if the world revolves around you."
Her voice shook, heavy with tears.
"What about my feelings? My emotions? Don't I get a choice? Don't I have free will? Why are you forcing me to love you?"
"Shut the fuck up," he roared.
Slap.
"Whore."
Slap.
"Prostitute."
Slap.
"Sleeping with dogs for money."
Slap.
The room echoed with nothing but the sound of his hand.
Her cheeks swelled. Her face went numb. Blood ran from her nose.
She collapsed.
Still, her hands moved.
"You know," she whispered, broken, "I really loved you. The energy you gave me once made me forget my own pain. Sometimes I cried all night because you were out of my reach."
She looked at him through tears.
"I prayed you'd find someone better. Someone worthy of you."
"So you still love me," he said eagerly, grabbing her swollen cheeks.
"Right?"
"I used to," she said weakly.
"But now, if I had to choose between you and a dog… I'd choose the dog."
"You fucking bitch!"
He stood.
He kicked a glass jar. It shattered, rolling down the stairs.
He grabbed her by the hair.
His grip was firm, almost careful. His voice was calm.
"Let's go."
Seraphina swallowed. "Where?"
"To your mother and brother."
Her heart skipped,hard enough to hurt,as he dragged her toward the stairs. Each step down felt wrong, like the air itself was warning her to turn back.
The room below was white. Too white.
Against the wall, on the spotless floor, two wooden chairs stood side by side.
Her mother.
Her brother.
Tied.
Ropes cut into wrists and ankles. Cloth stuffed into mouths. Black fabric wrapped tight over their eyes. Her little brother's head drooped forward, his body barely holding itself upright. Her mother's legs were wrapped in dirty bandages, blood seeping through in slow, ugly stains.
They weren't prisoners.
They were exhibits.
Seraphina's breath broke.
"No… no, no..."
She dropped to her knees.
"You demon," she cried, crawling forward until her palms burned against the floor. "What have you done? What have you done?"
Her mother's body twitched at the sound of her voice. A muffled sob escaped the gag. She tried to move,failed. The ropes held.
Seraphina reached for her...
Thomas stepped on her hand.
"Careful," he said. "You wouldn't want to make things worse."
She looked up at him, eyes wild. "Please. Please, I'll do anything."
Thomas tilted his head, considering.
"Anything?"
"Yes. Anything. Just,just let them go."
He smiled.
"Good," he said. "Then listen."
He pulled her close by the hair, not hard
intimate. Possessive.
His lips brushed her ear.
"Tell them the truth," Thomas whispered.
Seraphina froze.
Her eyes drifted to the chairs.
Her mother,bound, shaking.
Her brother,small, still, breathing shallow.
Her lips trembled. She bit down until blood filled her mouth. Then she nodded. Once.
Hollow.
Thomas stepped back and raised the gun just enough for her to see it.
"Go on," he said softly. "Be honest."
Her voice cracked.
"I… I sold myself," she sobbed. "I let men use me for money."
Her mother's body jerked violently. A muffled cry ripped through the gag. Her legs kicked, helpless.
Seraphina shook as she spoke.
"I lied to you," she cried. "I came home and smiled. I washed the shame off and pretended I was your daughter."
She looked at Thomas.
Please.
He was smiling.
"More," he said. "That's not all."
She swallowed hard.
"I betrayed people," she said. "I ruined lives to save myself. I pointed fingers. I let others suffer so I wouldn't."
Her mother thrashed harder now, sobbing openly, the chair scraping against the floor.
"No… no…" her mother tried to scream.
Seraphina collapsed to her knees.
"Please," she begged Thomas. "Please,this is enough..."
Thomas tilted his head, amused.
"Say it clearly," he said. "Let her hear."
"I destroyed everything I touched," Seraphina screamed. "I choose myself every time."
Her mother's cries turned animal,raw, broken.
For a second,just one,Seraphina saw something flicker in Thomas's eyes.
Hope.
She crawled forward. "Mom..."
The gunshot split the room.
Her mother's body snapped back.
Then went still.
"No...NO...!"
Seraphina screamed and lunged.
Thomas yanked her back by the hair and slammed her onto the floor. Her vision burst white.
"There," he said calmly. "Truth always comes at a cost."
She sobbed, choking, clawing at the floor.
Thomas leaned down, his voice warm with pleasure.
"There's still your brother."
Her breath collapsed.
Her vision blurred. She forced her eyes open, fought to keep them that way,but they wouldn't listen. The world pulsed in and out, slipping through her grasp. Thomas's face wavered, then thinned, his voice stretching into a distant, shapeless noise. Slowly, everything about him,his words, his presence,drained away, until there was nothing left but darkness closing in.
Time crawled by, thick and heavy. Somewhere in that darkness, a weak stir of warmth returned to her limbs,a thin, fragile thread of energy, barely enough to remind her she was still alive.
She Opened her eyes.
Rock above her.
Hands on her shoulders,rough, unfamiliar.
"Easy," a man's voice said. Not her's.
"No,please," she cried instinctively. "Don't touch my brother,please..."
She pushed herself up.
The hands were larger. Scarred.
She looked down.
Black jacket. Jeans.
A man's chest rising with her breath.
Her breath.
Her heart slammed against her ribs.
She touched her face.
Wrong.
Rough.
The world tilted.
She wasn't in her body anymore.
And wherever he was.
He wasn't himself anymore.