Staccato

Deluded or Deluged

Last chapter under this part. The story will be continued as 'Metamorphosis'.

~*~

Flashes of images. Yet again.

What is going on with me?

I'm drowning under a frightening deluge of a sea of unknowns.

As I silently reel, sitting there, my heart kicking into a terrified overdrive at it happening again, no one knows which news to be shocked at - at the fact that Lilly just declared Tyler's a murderer, or the fact that Efrim's going to be here tomorrow.

I always knew Efrim's father is someone not to be meddled with, that it's better to suffer the consequences of his cunning tricks than try to fight it.

But this?

Lilly's declaration comes back like a whisper in my head:

If I start talking about the ways in which he has played and aggressively competed with other organizations you'll be crying your eyes out.

Mom seems to come out of her stunned silence as she looks away from me, and turns to Lilly.

"How did you find this out, Lilly?"

Lilly looks nervous, avoiding looking at mom with a hangdog expression. "Well, I rifled through some documents related to Tyler's company sitting in your study room. I knew I'd find something in there."

Lilly, Leon, and Louie, despite all their playful fights, have always been partners in crime. She must've told them all about it the moment she found it out. And now, it slipped out of her.

"And why did you decide to do it?" mom demands. She seems to be breaking from inside. Dad watches in silent consternation.

My eldest sister seems to struggle with something internally, as she makes and breaks her words, trying to speak something but backing out again and again, as though heavily conflicted.

And then, she lets it out.

"Look, I know you all are scared shitless of him." she seems fearless now, as she stares directly at mom. "I've always known. I've known it since so long that it's become a part of me. Why else do you think I'm interested in criminal investigation since before I even knew how to spell it? I knew he is choking y'all somehow. And I've always known that something is making you all scared to retaliate. I still don't know what it is that you're scared of or what he has against you that's making you so scared of him but I'm gonna find out," she ends in a voice that trembles with pent up fury and frustration. "Because I, unlike you, want to do something against someone who is trying to rule over us. No one gets to intimidate us and I sure as hell am not going to let some dickbag do it."

She gets up and storms away.

"I'll talk to her." Dad says softly, getting up briskly and going after her. He looks grave, but the creases on his careworn, middling face betray an almost weary sadness.

There, that hushed, ringing silence, the sort that's left in the wake of a storm.

One can hear it ringing. The silence.

I had barely heard the exchange, barely heard what went on around me, as I had, since the moment I reeled under those razor-sharp and lightning-quick images again, been arrested under a frightening deluge of a sea of unknowns.

~*~

Much more exciting, occasionally violent things waiting to come at you in the sequel to this story, titled 'Metamorphosis'. If you have an inclination toward dark fucked up things, stay right with this story. If you have an inclination toward existential mysteries, this is the story for you. I hope you continue this journey. :)