"I will give you a week to pay all your debt! If you are still unable to pay by then, don't expect me to be as kind as I am now"
It's already the third time that a debt collector came knocking on our door. All they uttered was the harsh claim of reporting to the police if I am unable to pay them.
I knew it was my mistake, but what could I do? I had no source of income since I got fired from my job just a week ago. Besides, it's not my debt. It was my ex-fiance's, who had nothing great to do but gave me a headache. Even when we got separated, her wrongdoings like this debt were for me to bear.
"Don't make me come here again, okay? I don't want to suffer any disease from this mess", said the petite lady before she left with disdainful looks.
I could only bow my head and prayed earnestly. Her remarks made me a little mad. Of course, what she meant by the "mess" was the little house we had. It was even an exaggeration to say that pigs could live here comfortably.
Made out of bamboo that grew brittle from 5 years of shielding the family of 2, the 3×3 house was nearing its end. The roof had also turned rusty, causing holes to form on it.
It was a miracle that we were able to stay for this long. Only if we had a chance or place to go to, then I would not have let my family live in this distressful house.
I laid on our floor thinking of the times when I used to enjoy the life of a youth, a life without obligation to bear. It was now a distant memory that was impossible to happen once more.
After all, I now had a daughter.
"Dad, who is that lady?"
A small hand touched the edge of my shirt as I was immersed in my thoughts. It was a small hand from a 4-year-old girl named Hope.
Hope was the fruit of my mistakes when her mom, my ex-fiance, and who used to be my senior seduced me. It also marked the end of my free life at the age of 16.
Despite that, I'd never consider Hope as a burden. In fact, she was the only reason why I kept hold of this meaningless life.
"She's just here to ask something, don't mind her. How's your fever, are you feeling good now?"
"Daddy, I feel cold", Hope said as she moved closer to me.
As our body touched, only then did I feel her body brewing with hotness. On her back, I saw some rashes that stemmed out of nowhere. From that moment I realized that it was not a normal fever…
A few days ago,
Some phenomena happened around Earth. It was unexplainable and happened without prior notice. Everyone was caught red-handed.
The sudden disappearance of people, extreme climate change, frequent occurrence of natural disasters, and diseases with unknown existence. Among these diseases, the most common was the same one as Hope's.
I heard that the scientist discovered a cure for this disease. It was unbelievable as it hadn't been a week since the emergence of the disease but I could gamble less. Mr. Froy, the richest man in this area, was said to have purchased this product and now, he was on his way back from California, where the said auction happened.
When the night came, I set off to their Manor that shone remarkably in this dark city. It was entirely made of gold that enticed the citizen's envious eyes.
At first, I thought of just seeing the potion and asked for its price. However, as I walked the dark alleyway, what I heard caused my decision to suffer a 180° change.
"Is what you said the truth? People with Mana-distortion disease would die after 30 days?"
"Do I have to repeat myself? For what reason do you think I would spend 100 million just to buy a single potion?"
As I heard those words, my world crumbled in an instant. Hope had been infected for 4 days now, she only had 26 days to live if what Mr. Froy said was right.
26 days, I saw no chance of getting 100 million in that short amount of time!
My mind couldn't process everything that I'm getting that day. From the debt that reached millions, to Hope getting the disease, and her days being numbered, my mind just couldn't process how things were progressing in an instant.
But one thing was clear, I got to have a potion as early as possible… And with this thought, my eyes couldn't divert themselves from the green potion in the hands of Mr. Froy.
He was still standing there, talking to the man, clueless that they were being watched by greedy eyes.
As he was about to put the potion back on the suitcase he was carrying, I hatched my plan. I run speedily towards them the moment they let their guard down.
I grabbed the bottle of potion hastily, turned back, then sped off. It only took a minute for things to transpire, most likely due to my speed which was honed during my high school years being an athlete.
"Burglar! Run after him, Joseph!"
It took them a second to absorb the occurrence before they immediately chased me. However, with their speed being limited by their exaggerated luggage, I already made a distance that would even take a cheetah 10 seconds to cover.
I had no time to be amazed by my speed which was heightened by my adrenaline rush. Speaking of the rush, my heart throbbed at extremes from thoughts that kept running on my mind. What would happen to Hope if I got caught by them?
I instantly tossed this thought off as I could care less about that, her survival came first. I run with my two feet not knowing the impending doom.
My body got soaked as the rain started pouring down. It was the sudden climate change, a part of the phenomena that occurred weeks ago. My belongings got drenched that I could drop the potion with my slippery hand at any moment, thus, I got hold of it tightly.
However, as my focus was entirely on the potion… I missed the piece of ice that was in front of me, and as expected, the ice caused me to slip.
I could only watch the potion taking off my hand as things seemed to replay at a slower pace. The hope I was having a moment ago instantly dimmed out as my vision saw the potion falling little by little.
I wished I could connect with the rain that enveloped the potion, and take a grab of it. However, that only happened in novels. There was no way I could save this potion from falling over…
*crack*
The potion made contact with the wet floor. The dark green liquid slipped out of the broken bottle, meeting the mini flood, and eventually, got absorbed into the drainage.
I watched all that with dismay and regret. I was mad at myself for being so careless. I could have saved Hope, but now, it was near to naught.
Watery liquids started oozing out of my eyes. I was full of regret… sadness… Hope would die 26 days after. My only reason to live would vanish.
At the time I was depressed, I heard footsteps coming closer to me and with them were the voices of aggrieved men.
"It's him! We caught up to him!"
It was Mr. Froy and Joseph. I knew I needed to run but I didn't have the energy to do so. My body felt heavy, I couldn't even crawl nor talk.
As they reached me, they saw the miserable situation I was in. Joseph immediately held me up, shaking me off madly.
"Give the potion back, you shitty thief!"
I let out no words. I just stared at him with my teary eyes. Mr. Froy was just on the back, looking at me, then, he looked at the surroundings.
He scanned the alleyway until his gaze landed on the broken glass. His mad eyes swiftly turned blank. I couldn't understand the emotion that his eyes were revealing. He could be mad or sad or disappointed.
Joseph continued to shake me for a while until he also spotted the broken glass.
"Arghhhhhhhhhhh!!!"
Along with his deafening shout was the loud buzz of thunder.
The dark alleyway received light from the humongous thunder, showing the depressed looks of the three of us. A minute later, the thunder fell, reaching the ground of the alleyway. The bins, broken glass, and buildings got swept by the thunder.
Along with them, we, the three humans, vanished without trace…