Perseverance [Complete]

Chapter 27

Arthit's POV

Nothing was making sense. I was sure I was in a state of delirium. I wanted to think, wanted to process everything that was going on around me but other than the feeling that a huge rock was sitting where my heart should be I couldn't feel much of anything else. I needed to see my Rune again. Make sure she was safe, but I didn't know how. And if Kong hadn't kept a tight hold on my hand I was sure I would sink to the ground.

Kong kept insisting that we needed to go back to my apartment. Why. Why would he take Rune to someplace so obvious? I was still trying to come to terms with why he would target Rune at all. I understand he wanted to hurt Kong, but why couldn't he go after me. Rune was just a baby. What sort of a monster takes revenge on a child.

We took the only available cop and headed to my apartment. I knew I was shaking like a leaf in a storm. If Kong wouldn't have been next to me, I doubt I would have survived a minute more. He squeezed my hand tight.

"P'Arthit, she is going to be fine. I don't think he will hurt her."

"You don't know that Kong. I should have been more careful. I knew she was in danger. How could I have left her hand. And now I don't know what that psycho is going to do to her."

"Trust me P'Arthit. I really don't think he wants to hurt her yet."

"Then why has he taken her. Why has he been scaring the shit out of me?"

"I think he is trying to replace his daughter with Rune."

"What? That's crazy. You don't just replace your daughter."

"I think the crazy part has been established. But P'Arthit replacing the toys and clothes doesn't make sense otherwise. What other purpose would it serve? He was buying it for her. He was replacing everything we took from his house for his daughter."

"Then what about the birds? Why would he try to scare her with that?"

"I don't think he was trying to scare her."

"What else are mutilated birds used for?"

"I think it was meant as a gift."

"Huh?"

"I believe he saw her play with them at the park all day. He was trying to gift her something he thought she liked."

"Ok that's fucking insane."

"I know it sounds insane, but for the past year we have been watching him lose complete grip on reality. I really don't think he understands what is normal anymore. I have seen him spend a fortune buying ridiculous gifts for my niece and at the same time when she broke his pen he locked her in the bathroom for an entire day. The day I found out he was beating my sister and I went to confront him, he seemed to not understand at all why I was boiling with rage. He would go ballistic everytime she would threaten to leave him. He just couldn't comprehend that their life wasn't as perfect as he thought it was.

And now that he has figured out he can't get them back, I think he is trying to start over. With Rune. Live with her the way he saw you. The clothes, the toys, the birds, I think were meant to be gifts for her. It may have started off as revenge against me. And this may still be a part of it but he had been spying on you for weeks. If he just wanted to hurt her would have done it ages ago."

"But...you just said he beat your sister. Why would he not hurt Rune then? She is just a baby."

"Because she hasn't tried to leave him yet."

"I swear if he touches a single hair on her head, I am going to rip his fucking arm off."

I was hoping Kong was right. I was hoping we found them at the apartment and that she was still safe, cause God forbid if she wasn't I would go as insane as that psychopath.

We had just arrived in the hallway leading to the door of my apartment. We needed a game plan to figure out if he was actually in the apartment without alerting him. If he was, then barging in did not sound like a good idea. We started discussing ideas, when the door slammed open and a tear stained Rune came charging at us. She slightly faltered when she saw us.

"Pa!..."

I have never felt relief the way I felt at that instant. She was alive, and unhurt. And she was in front of me. And I could finally get to her again. Both of us started running towards each other, when he emerged from the room and grabbed her hair, halting her progress. She yelped in pain, and all of us froze at his appearance.

He ground out through his teeth, "He is not your pa anymore. I am. Are you stupid? How many times do I have to tell you?"

I would have lunged at him to break all his fucking teeth if I couldn't clearly see the gun he was pointing at her forehead. The cop next to us had taken out his weapon too and was pointing it at him. This cannot be happening. There were entirely too many guns around my Rune.

"Ah Kong! I should have known you would show up here. You are always around to ruin everything. Not this time. This time I am taking my daughter with me."

"She is not your daughter asshole. She is my sister. I am her pa. And there is no way you are taking her anywhere."

"Oh and who is going to stop me?"

"Listen there are cops everywhere. It is much better if you just drop your gun. We can talk. I am sure all of us can come up with a compromise where everyone is happy. There is no way you will be getting out of this alive otherwise." This was the cops' grand plan? Lie about backup? Fan-freak-tastic.

"If I don't get out of this alive, neither will she. I guess that would be a very climactic ending. Don't you think so?"

I was staring between him and Rune helplessly. I couldn't even think clearly to try and figure out what should I do next. Up until now Kong had been standing silently next to me, when he finally spoke up.

"It's me you want right? I took your daughter away. Why don't you deal with me directly? Let Rune go and you and I can walk out of here." Ok, I really wish he would go back to shutting up now.

"Ha! Why would I want you when I can have her?"

"Because we will never let you have her. You know you will not walk out alive from here. But right now if you let her go, you can have me. I will never be able to ruin anything for you again."

Would Kong shut up if I smacked him? Who the hell gave him the right to start negotiating his life? I had moved in front of Kong to make sure he wouldn't try to get closer to him. The cop was attempting to block Kong too. But we could all see him loosening his grip on Rune's hair. He had even stopped pointing the gun at her head. How was this making the situation any better? We would be at the same stand off except Kong would be on the other side. Did that idiot think I was going to let him walk off with that psycho?

But he had let Rune go, even pushed her roughly in my direction. She was about to stumble when Kong rushed forward and steadied her. I was contemplating pulling them both towards me, when the cop pulled his trigger. I don't know if it was intentional or not but he didn't manage to hit his target. The next instant we heard another shot. This one aimed at Kong, who was shielding Rune with his body.

And in a flash the only two people I cared about in the world were lying on the floor with a bullet hole piercing through their body.