Chapter 4: The Last Goodbye
The days following his father's death passed in a haze of silence and despair. Lopkinnf's home, once filled with the quiet strength of his father and the weary resilience of his mother, now felt hollow. The weight of grief hung over him like a suffocating fog, but it was his mother's silence that disturbed him the most.
She barely spoke, barely ate, and her once sharp, determined eyes now stared blankly at nothing. She spent hours sitting in the corner of their small, crumbling house, her gaze fixed on the floor as if replaying the nightmare of her husband's murder over and over. Lopkinnf tried to reach her, tried to bring her back, but she was slipping further away with each passing day.
One morning, Lopkinnf woke to an eerie stillness. The air was heavy, as if the world itself was holding its breath. He called out for his mother, but there was no response. His heart pounded as he searched the house, dread growing with every step.
Then he found her.
She was hanging from the ceiling by a frayed piece of rope, her frail body swaying slightly in the dim morning light. Her face, once lined with the marks of hardship and worry, was now pale and empty, her eyes closed as if she had finally found peace in the abyss.
Lopkinnf fell to his knees, his chest heaving as the reality crashed over him. His mother—his last connection to the family he once had—was gone. She had chosen to escape the torment of Jex, to free herself from the endless cycle of pain and loss. But in doing so, she had left him completely and utterly alone.
A note lay on the floor beneath her, scrawled in her trembling handwriting.
"My son, I am so sorry. I can no longer bear the pain of this world. Your father was my strength, my reason to endure, and now he is gone. I have nothing left to give you. I pray you find the strength to survive this cruel world. Please forgive me, and remember that I will always love you. Always."
Lopkinnf's hands shook as he held the note, tears blurring his vision. For a moment, he felt the weight of hopelessness threaten to crush him entirely. But then, something colder, darker, began to take root within him.
He looked up at her lifeless body, and in that moment, his sorrow transformed into rage. Rage at the world that had driven her to this. Rage at the system that had stolen his father and now his mother. Rage at the people who thrived on the suffering of others, who turned a blind eye to the misery of those beneath them.
Lopkinnf stood, his fists clenched so tightly that his nails dug into his palms. His mother's final words echoed in his mind, but instead of forgiveness, they only fueled his resolve.
He would not let her death be in vain. He would not allow Jex to claim him as its next victim. If this world wanted to crush him, he would crush it first. He would bring justice, no matter how ruthless, to a country that knew only corruption and despair.
In that moment, Lopkinnf swore that he would become the reckoning that Jex deserved.