REMI HOOD

Chapter 38

Remi

"Tom..." Mom whispers the name. "How did you find me?" she asks dad, quivering.

Tom? Why is she calling dad Tom?

"Remi led me to you," He says as if it was obvious. "I installed a tracking app in her phone when I gave her the phone a long time ago. I can see her every movement. Remi never bothers to check the apps on her phone, so she never noticed."

So that's how he knows where I go...

"Mom, why did you just call dad Tom? Are you okay?" I ask, confused and concerned at the same time.

Dad cackles like a villain. "Oh Remi, that's because I am Tom."

What?! Dad's brother?

No... How?

My jaw drops open in shock and goosebumps start to cover my arms. "What do you mean..."

Mom looks at me and finally tells me the truth I've been waiting to know my whole life. She tells me about how dad tortured her and hit her. She tells me about what she found out about dad and what happened to the real Richard Hood. She tells me what happened that night and how she escaped to America. She tells me everything in full detail. I listen closely, my eyes widening at everything mom's telling me. My eyes water in sympathy and hurt towards mom, who went through all that by herself. No one deserves to go through that, let alone someone like mom. The truth is devastatingly tragic and much worse than I ever imagined. It shatters me, knowing that she spent all of those years in misery, keeping a bright smile on her face to conceal it from her daughter. A long awaited tear escapes my eyes followed by others.

"He killed the love of my life." Mom states, croaking on her words and I hug her.

The truth...

I finally know the truth.

Tom killed his own brother... How evil can a person be to kill their only family?

Tom Hood is my dad, not Richard Hood.

"B-But you always seemed happy when I was a kid. I never knew you were being abused." I say.

"You were a toddler and I truly was happy when I was with you," she assures me and looks back at Tom, who was yawning the whole time mom was telling me the truth. "I still can't believe you hit your own daughter with a chair!" she yells ferociously.

"How many times do I have to tell you not to shout at me? You have no right!" He yells back at her.

"Don't yell at my mom!" I scold him loudly. "How did you get an alibi from the airport that night?" I ask slowly, genuinely curious.

He chuckles. "I had been sleeping with my boss for years at that time and all I had to do was threaten her that I'll tell the police that she's been sleeping with her employees. She didn't hesitate to lie for me."

That's sickening...

"So, you kill women because of the hatred you feel towards women as your mom and foster mom treated you awfully. You want revenge on them by torturing the gender. Right?" I ask him, summarizing his motive.

He shrugs and I continue. "Your childhood ruined you and made you a psychopath which drove you to do unforgivable things."

"I started killing by accident," he starts. "Ever since I murdered your mother's doppelganger, all I ever wanted to do was murder women. Every time I saw a woman on the road, I wanted to receive that pleasure of murdering her. So I did and then I stopped, thinking it was wrong. I started to rob again but the joy of killing is stronger than the joy of stealing so I started to kill again. It feels so good to kill a woman..."