The clouds suddenly turned dark indicating that a heavy rain was about to start. Arabelle quickly checked out of work and ran out of her workplace to the nearest bus station. She bent to catch her breath on getting there before boarding a bus after paying. On getting to her home, her instincts didn't fail to tell her that something seemed wrong.
Pushing the door to her house open, she was greeted with a cold and dark living room. She quickly rummaged her bag to find her phone but the lights suddenly turned on. Her eyes immediately went cold when she saw who it was. Her supposed father.
She scanned the entire room to see her mother being forcefully held down by two men at a corner. She was evidently not surprised since the man who sat like he owned the place never paid them a visit unless he wanted to cause havoc. They had tried to escape him but he always found them no matter where they went so they couldn't bother to move again, accepting the fact that the monster was everywhere.
It was all like an horror movie. The scary character would be after everyone and there was no where the other characters could run to, they would later be found. It was like the saying 'you can run but you can't hide.' A cold smile appeared on her lips at the thought of what he could want again.
The man on the seat clicked his tongue slowly before turning his gaze to one of the men holding the woman down. Arabelle watched as the man brought out a gun before leaving her mom to hand it to Mr. Diaz. That was the name of the man she would never acknowledge as her father.
Panic flooded her eyes immediately she saw Mr. Diaz cocking the gun then pointing it to her mother, with her heart beating fast as if she had just ran a marathon. "What do you want Mr. Diaz?" It was a wonder to even herself, how her voice had managed to sound calm in such a situation because her insides were in turmoil at the moment.
"I warned your mother not to get involved with another man even though we are divorced and she did. She must certainly pay the price for it." Mr. Diaz uttered, his gaze cold as he stared at Arabelle.
Arabelle laughed as if he had said something funny, her tone laced with venom. "Don't you think it is quite ironic, Mr. Diaz? You already have a wife and a child of your own and you expect my mother to still live in the past? She also has a right to move on considering the fact that you had moved on almost immediately after your divorce."
She paused taking in a deep breath before continuing. "How selfish of you to want to tie her down even when you have a wife. And comparing your wife to my mother, it is quite evident that you have degraded yourself."
Mr. Diaz chuckled "You never learn to watch your words Arabelle and for that, you must be taught a lesson." A 'bang' sound resonated inside the room immediately after that.
Arabelle tried to run to her mother but the bullet was faster than her. She was desperate and she would do anything to save her mother. She fell to her knees as she watched the bullet penetrate into her mother's head. The white carpet quickly turned red as her blood circulated everywhere.
Everything suddenly lost color to Arabelle as the scene replayed in her head. Everything that had displayed in front of her felt like a nightmare. A nightmare she badly wanted to get out of.
A sadistic smile appeared on Mr. Diaz's face. "I hope you've learnt your lesson Arabelle. Watch your words when speaking to me next time." With that, he headed out the door with the two men following him.
Arabelle who had zoned out quickly rushed to her mother's side. "Mom, please wake up. I don't have any other family asides you." Her tears fell to the ground gently as she spoke. She stared directly into her mom's eyes but all she got were lifeless ones staring back at her. She refused to believe her mom was dead.
She quickly ran back to where she had dropped her bag and rummaged it for her phone. Her hands were shaking as she dialed '911'. She quickly explained her situation and minutes later, her mom was wheeled on a stretcher into the ambulance. She followed them until they got to the hospital and then the emergency room.
Soon after, a doctor came out and all she could see was the sad smile that hung on his lips creating an air of somberness around him. He had walked up to her and of all he said, the only thing that stuck in her head was the 'Sorry, we couldn't save her. She was already gone when she was brought in'.
A continuous ringing sound in her ears was what followed as her legs gave out causing her to hit the cold white floor with a thud. She looked around and the images of people soon became blurry. All she heard was a person calling 'miss' before she finally gave into the darkness.
Some hours later, Arabelle opened her eyes slowly. Her eyes adjusted to the room and the bland white and smell of disinfectants let her know she was in an hospital ward. The door to the hospital ward was pushed open and instead of a doctor coming in as she had expected, it was a man dressed in an officer's uniform instead.
The man walked up to her bedside and immediately started speaking "We are sorry for your loss Ms. Monroe. I am here to ask a few questions so let's get down to business." Arabelle had wanted nothing to do with her father so she used her mother's surname instead.
"What exactly was the cause of your mom's death?" The man asked and Arabelle smiled bitterly. Even if she told this people anything, they wouldn't do anything about it. Mr. Diaz had a lot of connection and he always somehow wiped his slate clean after every bad deed he committed. He was the definition of evil and sly.
"As you must have already found out, she was shot." Arabelle muttered and the man smiled understandingly. She was still hurt so he understood why she was answering so guardedly.
"Do you have an idea of who shot her?" The man asked again and Arabelle took in a sharp breath.
"They were hoodlums sent by someone. I don't know who and no, I have no idea of who it might be and I haven't fought with anyone recently. If that is all, you may take your leave." Arabelle replied and answered all the possible questions the man could possibly want to ask her.
The man left and Arabelle looked around urgently. She knew they would come back to ask her questions again tomorrow and the hospital wouldn't let her go easily until they were done interrogating her. She also couldn't sit around and wait for Mr. Diaz to strike again. She wanted to plan her revenge but she sadly didn't have the power to. YET.