Hic Est The Devil

Chapter 2

Chapter 2

It wasn’t just an expression of fear. It was an expression of sheer and stark terror.

I had never seen my father like this.

I was dazed when he shoved me in and locked the door behind him with shaking hands.

He gripped me from my arms and shook me roughly.

“Are you alright?!” He had panic in his voice.

“ Did something happen, Scarlet?!” He showed more panic if it was even possible.

“Dad! “ I stopped him from shaking me.

“Dad, whats wrong?” I asked him.

He spoke a few things. I couldn’t make out the words of anything he was saying to me because they were whizzing past me at eight hundred kilometers an hour.

He stooped all of a sudden and hugged me tightly.

It was then that I heard his breathing. He was breathing so heavily that it seemed like he had run a long way to get here.

We both collapsed to my hardwood floor. Him because of exhaustion and me because I was feeling dizzy at what happed in just the last few minutes.

He suddenly got up and rushed to my room. He opened my cupboard and pulled out my travel bags from the bottom of it. He began to take down all my clothes and shoving them into my bags without caring about their ironing.

“What are you doing, Dad?” I said to him. He had pput all my clothes on my bed and was now shoving them into my two bags.

“I want you to leave.”

His actions confused me.

“To where, Dad?”

“Anywhere.” His breathing seemed fine now.

“But I just settled here. You are the one who wanted me to leave and then I came here. You can’t just push me around, you know.”

“Just leave!” he screamed at me.

Tears streamed down my face. Its just not fair. He doesn’t know what its like to be the new weird girl. He would never know.

He finished packing up my bags.

“Leave. Never come back. I will sell this house. Go somewhere far away. I will come find you. Till then, don’t even try my phone. Rent a room for a while. Take the Subway tomorrow morning and after that go to another state.” He spoke like he was giving me the best advice in the world.

I listened to his each and every word with a tear-stained face.

I noticed how his eyes were blood-shot. He looked so pale. It seemed like his skin hadn’t seen the sun in days. He seemed weak. His cheekbones seemed a little sunken. His clothes seemed dirty.

“Will you come with me?”

“No. I have to go to Illinois and take care of some….” He seemed lost for words. “….business.” he added.

He and I both left my apartment. I took a cab and he decided to walk. Seeing him in the rear-view getting smaller at twice the rate, confused me to my core.

I rented a room at a hotel on the other side of town. The cab driver got the amount he wanted. I didn’t refuse because his was the only cab I could see at this late hour. I couldn’t sleep till morning. I decided it was time to leave the Hotel and then leave the state.

I searched my bags for it. I couldn’t find it in any of my two bags.

“Dad must have forgotten packing it.”

I forgot about it too. It was just sitting there on my bedside table waiting for me to pick it up. That was the only photo I had of me with my Dad and my Mom.

I have to get it back.

I picked up my bags and hailed a cab to my apartment.

The security guard had a spare key. My dad had taken the other. He was shocked at the events of last night, but not as shocked as I was mostly because he hadn’t seen the whole thing.

I thanked him when he was about to leave and got inside. I put down my bags and took out a third bag from my cupboard to pack the rest of my things. I left the bulky things just as they were. I hadn’t realized that the sun had long set. I decided to go to my office before everyone left. I had to get this month’s salary and tell them that I was leaving for personal reasons.

I sighed heavily as I gazed at the building where I worked. It was tall and had glass windows. I entered and greeted the Receptionist. I took the elevator as usual and went to my floor.

I was met by a pair of baby blues the moment the doors opened.

“Scarlet?” I heard his shocked voice say.