As usual, Morgan Berry's sleep was interrupted. This time, not by the nightmare of his dying father, but by a crying woman. While still wondering how a voice could penetrate Robert's mansion's thick walls, the woman's voice became louder.
'Mom?'
Morgan knew his mom's voice very well. There was no mistake. The crying woman was his mom. How and why, he couldn't tell. They had just arrived at Robert's. A bald man with a goatee who found them on the street they had been sleeping on for two weeks. This was after his father's brothers kicked them out of the house.
His mother would leave him at a cyber cafe nearby playing games. She would return at evening with canned food and bruises; sometimes on her neck, wrists if not all over her body.
"It's an accident at work," she always answered whenever he asked about the bruises.
Robert exchanged a few words with his mom as if they knew each other before inviting them into his Rolls Royce. The look on his 40-plus face was intimidating, but he seemed like a nice guy to Morgan.
However, now his mom was crying. In order to be sure it was her, Morgan tried to consecrate. He could not risk stepping out if it was someone else.
"Robert, please! Ah! Ah!"
'Robert?'
Why would Robert slap his mom? Morgan jumped out of the luxury bed and ran towards the door. He reached for the switch, and after brightening the room, his gaze fell on his bag in a doorless cabinet.
"Berry," his father's voice echoed in his mind as he marched towards the bag. "I know you're young. I shouldn't tell you this. But since your mom is not in the house to pick up the phone, tell her that I love her once she's back. The plane is crashing down. I don't want to leave you, but I have no choice. Be the man for your mom. Be her protector. Make me proud my son. Dad loves you. Bye!"
Taking the pencil with him, Morgan exited the room to search for his mom. Even if his father had not asked him to protect his mom, he loved her more than anything. Death was the last thing he wanted near her.
"Ah! Robert please!"
His mom's plea made him curse his speed as he descended the stairs. Any delay would cost him his mother's life. He had to hurry.
When he reached the door, his mother's shrieks made him enter without knocking. It was open anyway.
"Robert! Uhm! Yes! Yes!"
'Why is she answering yes when he slaps her? Is he interrogating her or something?' Morgan asked himself as he tiptoed towards the naked couple.
The man kneeled on the king-sized bed, naked and groaning with every movement of his buttocks. Forward, backwards. Slap. Forward, backwards. Slap.
"Ah yes, Robert, yes yes!" Morgan tried to look past Robert. He could only see his mother's hands resting on the bedhead, shaking it with every movement Robert made behind her. Why wasn't she running away? Was it because Robert grabbed her long black hair?
Morgan had never seen such a picture and didn't want to know what the hell it meant. He only wanted to free his mom from that monster's grasp.
With all his might, he raised the pencil above his head with both his hands. With a flashy move, he pushed it through Robert's flesh to rest deep into the back of his right shoulder.
"What the Fuck?" Robert turned around with wary and fury which made his kick send Morgan flying in the air. Grabbing the white sheets, the woman ran towards them, wrapping the sheets around her naked body at the same time.
"Robert stop! He's only 7. He doesn't know about this."
"Shut up, bitch!" Robert pointed at his mother. "He has to pay for this. I told you to come alone not wanting anything to spoil my mood. Why did you insist he should come with you when you haven't told him you're a whore?"
"How would I tell him about that, Robert? He's young. Please! Forgive him!"
As Morgan recovered from the kick, he saw his mom kneeling in front of Robert and grabbing the pointy thing he recognized as a 'treasure bird.' The bird she told him differentiated men from women.
As she stroked it gently, Robert's tense face relaxed. "Get lost!" He yelled at Morgan.
"Not before you give me my mom."
His mom stood up quickly and ran to him putting her index finger on her cherry lips. "Shh!" She made him stand and walked out of the room with him.
"I'm not done with you, bitch!" Robert pulled her hair causing her to stagger backwards towards him. "Don't expect me to let you leave me burning in the heat you brought upon my body."
"Bery, hurry up!" Morgan saw his mom struggling to speak to him as Robert forced his treasure bird into her mouth. "Into your room now! I'm joining you soon."
She told him to go and wait for her, but her amber eyes said she wanted to leave with him. How could he leave her like that? He charged to Robert yelling at him to leave his mom alone.
When he got closer, Robert's huge hand grabbed him by the neck and strangled him. His mom tried to rescue him but Robert's other hand in her hair restricted her.
Morgan tried to call his mom but the words couldn't reach his mouth. The tight grip suffocated him as he struggled to call her. "Mom! Mom?"
At that moment, Morgan's eyes shot open. He breathed heavily, his face covered in sweat but he had to make sure his mom was alive. He lifted his back from the bed wondering why it was dark. That question brought lots of information into his mind.
Lilyard, betrayal, transmigration...
A sigh of relief escaped his lips when he realized it was a memory. He sank back onto the bed allowing his mind to go back in time. To experience what his mother lived in. The day it all happened, he didn't know what it meant. Now that he knew what his uncles forced his mom to become, he could only long for revenge. 'If I get a chance to return to earth, my uncles will be the first to die.'
Though Robert treated his mother like trash, he stayed beside them even when they got infected. Wasn't he right when he called him father? He paid for his school fees, allowed him to live in his mansion and became his mom's only client until he was alleged of being behind a terrorist group.
'Robert, I'll free you.' Brunos didn't know how, but he hoped he would return to earth soon. There's no way he would sit around with demon powers while a man he respected rotted in prison.
The memories of the day police came to Robert's mansion came flooding back to Morgan's mind.
"Belize," Robert said to Morgan's mother. "These police officers have no idea you live with me. Hide." He turned to Morgan. "I don't know how many pencils you need to keep your mom safe. All I know is I can trust you. You must withdraw the money on this card as soon as possible. I repeat. Withdraw before my account gets frozen. If I'm lucky, I'll find you at my research center. Do you remember where it's located?"
Morgan said yes without opening his mouth. Just nodding his head. He couldn't believe his second father was slipping between his fingers.
"Come out now!"
When Robert heard the police officers approaching the room, he seized Belize from the bed and placed her on the wooden floor.
Bang! Bang!
They were now at the door.
"Under the bed now!" Robert whispered to Morgan as he gently pushed Belize under the bed. "Stay brave!"
Morgan watched as Robert opened the door.
~"Hands up!"
~"On your knees!"
Every police officer shouted whatever came to mind. Morgan tried to count the black boots stepping inside the room but Robert's shriek interrupted him.
"I'm on my knees, following all your commands. Why are you striking me?"
"Shut up and tell us your passwords."
"Take me with you if you want! I'm not saying anything before my lawyer arrives."
Police officers burst out laughing as if Robert cracked a joke. "You think it's that easy? Our government has a zero tolerance policy towards terrorists."
"I know you know how innocent I am. You're after my money. You don't want me to give funds to the opposition party." Robert protested.
"Don't try to act big-headed with us!" Morgan could tell the voice owner was in love with cigarettes. "Don't you see we've got silencers on our revolvers?"
"Why not kill me then? Your boss wants me alive. Touch my hair and I will die with my passwords instead of revealing them to him."
"Do you think it's that difficult for the government to drain all your accounts?" The man replied, the irritation in his voice obvious.
Robert laughed. "Many of my accounts are outside this country. None of you know whose name they're registered under. How about I tell your boss that I'm not revealing them to him unless your head is on a plate in front of me?"
"Take him outside," the man instructed, ignoring Robert's question.
After they left, Morgan, who was 16 at the time, slid out of their hiding place and carried his mom on his back. He couldn't take her to a hospital. Robert had done everything in his power to have them cured but doctors couldn't even find out what the disease was.
While still consumed by those memories and agony, Brunos heard the door to his room clicking. A figure in a black hood-like outfit entered, ghostly pale light from the moon reflecting on the dagger in the hands of whoever it was.
Brunos had just arrived at the Crimson Castle. Was it Fellene trying to kill him before talking to Valeria? If not, who else would want to kill him? His other brothers?
'Whoever you are," said Brunos to himself, waiting for the killer to walk into his grave. 'Today is yours, not mine.'