Amanita: Poison Shot

Chapter 72: Parents Should Never See Their Offspring Die

When the black screen with white letters in bold faded, some ads came onscreen. I assumed clones were back in control of the broadcasting, and I turned the TV off.

My eyes hurt badly from crying like two unstoppable water springs, but not half as bad as the black hole inside me where my heart was supposed to be.

My dear Daniel. His eyes had got a genuinely human glint that had taken my breath away. He had awakened from that emotional void in which the clones had locked him up – and died because of it.

My father was still standing in our living room right next to me. His entire body was too tense – from his clenched teeth down to his legs. He never broke eye contact with the screen even though the TV was no longer on.

Watching him at that moment was one of the most bizarre things I've ever done. His sepulchral silence was emptying and icing my soul.

I wanted him to tell me everything would be fine. I wanted him to hug me. I wanted to hug him back. I needed some reaction from him, I needed his love like a baby, and to give my love back to him – but he was cold and detached like a stone statue.

"Dad, are you OK?" I dared to ask him, softly whispering, and hoping he'd see how badly I needed him. However, he was having trouble containing both his ire and sadness. Parents should never see their offspring die.

Then, he made a short and abrupt intake of air. He closed his eyes with too much strength. I swallowed hard. Seeing him enduring so much pain was breaking both my heart and soul into smithereens. Daniel's execution was too much to bear – for both of us, actually.

"I need you to do me a favour, Daphne," he whispered and making a huge effort to control himself. His flared nostrils and deep intake of air then showed me he had trouble keeping his most dangerous and nasty thoughts at bay. "Call Sigi. Go meet him and tell him what's happened. Stay with him for the rest of the day – don't come back home until the evening."

"Why?" I asked naively.

"Do as I say." His voice was stern, and his pupils shivered a bit when he thought I was defying him with my question, but the truth is I was just being curious.

He had adopted a pose and a facial expression as if I had driven him mad. I felt cold and threatened by his non-verbal communication.

"G-go away," he added with coldness.

I didn't think it wise to keep him engaged in conversation. Then, he turned his back on me and went to his room. He shut the door behind him, and I was left alone.

I cried in silence while staring at the closed door, standing there and feeling abandoned like a stray dog. Maybe he was afraid of speaking his mind, to unleash his true feelings towards me at that moment.

No sooner had I thought that, than I got startled by a loud bang from inside my father's bedroom. A kick on wood. And then, a loud, soul-shattering scream of despair followed.

"Oh my..." I whispered to myself in panic.

Ceramic crashing. Glass shattering. Wood breaking. More loud bangs and more yelling ensued. He was thrashing the room. He was losing it.

"I SAID: GO AWAY, DAPHNE! NOW!" he shouted at me from inside his bedroom at the top of his lungs.

I panicked, realising he was letting all his bad thoughts go, loud and clear for the GSNS and the clone police to hear. Was he insane or what?! Did he want to get killed?!

I was breathing hard, still crying, and I was frozen there, hesitating.

"GO THE FUCK AWAY ALREADY!!!"