The World We Once Knew

*Chapter Sixteen

This Chapter Contains Some Violent Content

Logan

Finally the storm stops outside but the storm inside rages on stronger and more wild than before.  The last night that I spend at that hotel is a night that I'll never forget. I was attempting to sleep when I hear banging on my door. Groggily I get up and when I open the door my father stumbles in.

 "Close the door!" he almost yells at me.

 I do and turn back to him, he's all bloody. "What's going on? Where's Grandpa Shane and Ginny?" I ask him. He's clutching his stomach and there's a lot more blood there. 

"Don't trust Grandpa Mason." my dad gasps. 

"He did this?" I say going to get towels to press to my father's wound.  I return and he looks at me 

"They did something to him. It's not his fault." he barely gets out, when suddenly the door bursts open and in walks Grandpa Mason. I grab the knife that I keep under my pillow and stand between him and my father. He comes towards me like he doesn't care or even see the knife. I slash at him but he moves and knocks the knife out of my hand. We start fist fighting. I get a good right hook in and he roundhouse kicks me into the wall. He goes toward my dad who's defenseless. I see Grandpa Mason pull out his own knife. I jump up trying to get to him before he can hurt my dad but I'm too late. Mason stabs him in the heart. I yell and he turns around and slashes me from the middle of my forehead to the middle of my right cheek bone. I take a step back and then I tackle him and he falls. I get a good punch in and grab the knife I dropped earlier. I slit his throat from ear to ear, without thinking twice about it. I get up and rush over to my dad. He's bleeding out I put pressure over his heart and pull his head into my lap.

"Take this," he says handing me a piece of paper, "It will all make sense soon. I'm so proud of you my baby girl. Do you remember that lullaby I used to sing to you when you were scared?" 

I nod with tears streaming down my face, burning my cut and blurring my vision. 

"Sing it to me please. I'm so scared. I don't want to die, please just let me hear your voice." he chokes. I nod, wipe my face and sing to him:

A la nanita nana, nanita ea, nanita ea
Mi Jesus tiene sueño
Bendito sea, bendito sea.
A la nanita nana, nanita ea, nanita ea
Mi Jesus tiene sueño
Bendito sea, bendito sea.
Fuentecilla que core,
Clara-y sonora.
Ruiseñor q'en la selva
Cantando lloras.
Callad mientras la cuna se balancea
A la nanita nana, nanita ea.
A la nanita nana, nanita ea, nanita ea
Mi Jesus tiene sueño
Bendito sea, bendito sea.
Florecilla del campo, rosa en capullo
Duerme vida mia, mientras te arullo.
Callad mientras la cuna se balancea
A la nanita nana, nanita ea.
A la nanita nana, nanita ea, nanita ea
Mi Jesus tiene sueño
Bendito sea, bendito sea.

My dad dies in my arms. I just sit there and cry for a little while. Finally I pull myself together enough to go down to the fifth floor. I open the door of the stairwell and there's nothing but blood. It's a total blood bath. The walls are covered, the floor is covered and the furniture, everything is just covered in blood. I make my way through it until I find my grandparents. They are cut and slashed up. Mason brutally murdered them. They stood no chance against him. I look around for the first aid kit that Ginny always keeps around. I find it in one of the saddlebags on her bike. I take it and go into a room. I set it on the counter, open it up and get out the disinfectant, gauze, tape, a needle and thread. I thread the needle and dip the needle with the thread into the disinfectant, after I pour some disinfectant into my cut. It burns so much that I want to scream but I don't. Instead I stitch myself up. It takes me a little while but I finally get it done and I put the gauze over it and tape it down so it won't be infected. I'm hoping that the cut doesn't affect my actual eye. I guess that it doesn't matter either way because I'm alone now.

I walk back through the death and carnage and drag my father's body down to the lobby. I do this with all of my grandparent's bodies and then I go to the storage room and grab the shovel I saw earlier. I go outside and start digging one big grave. Once I'm done I grab some wood that's just sitting on the ground and make four crosses. Once that is done I drag the bodies out and put them into the freshly dug grave. I put the crosses into the ground and grab the urn from my father's saddle bag. I put it in Grandpa Mason's arms and then I blow them all kisses. I stand there for a few minutes and then I throw a handful of dirt onto each one of them. I pick up the shovel and cover them up. Once done I go up to the thirteenth floor and shower. I get dressed and pack up everything that I own. I go through my family's things and take out their weapons and put them into my bag. Once I get to my bike I look at the piece of paper that my father gave to me. It says:

Slip 17
The Ambassador
Desmond
New Orleans

This must be where I need to go. I owe it to my family to get there and I owe it to myself to get out of this horrid place. I'm about six hours from New Orleans. I can make it today. I turn around. I feel as if there are someone's eyes on me, but there is no one except  me. I try to shake it off. I grab the spray paint and go outside to the side of the building. I spray paint our symbol for death, then return to my bike I put on my helmet and turn my bike on. I get on and ride right out of the lobby. I slow down as I pass the graves and I wave to them. Then I press on. It's different riding alone. It makes me miss my family even more. I wish that I could have more time with my family. I don't want to be alone. Not yet. Not at sixteen. Now everywhere I look there seems to be chaos. 

So let chaos reign.

Six hours later . . . 

I get there quicker than I thought, it only took me four hours. But that may be because I didn't have anyone to wait for. When I get there the city is extremely crowded. I ride down a street called Bourbon Street. There are a lot of bars and taverns filled to the brim with drunk people. I park my bike in front of this Irish tavern. It doesn't seem to filled, so I go in with my I.D. and order food and a beer. The girl, not much older than myself, brings it out to me and sits down across from me in the booth.

 "What happened to your face?" she asks curiously. 

I look at her and decide that she isn't a threat. I sigh; "I got cut in a knife fight." 

She squints her eyes and asks "Did you win?" I nod my head yes, then she gets up and goes back to her work.

I order another drink and take out the piece of paper that my dad gave to me. Once I was finished with my second drink that same girl came back over. 

"Anything else?" she asks politely.

 "No, I'll take my check. And do you know where I'll find slip 17?" I ask her. 

She nods, "Yeah you have to go down to the marina but it's closed now. It closed about two hours ago. Nobody can go onto the pier or docks right now. If you need a place to stay you can go down to the motel it's about two blocks down. They can give you a room for cheap." 

I thank her and when she comes back with the bill I leave a good tip for her. Then I walk out and get on my bike and ride down to this motel the girl was talking about. It's a dump, even by today's standards. It needs new paint and new lights and there were holes in some of the walls. I go up to the small little office. It has so much dirt on the floor that I'm not even sure that there is a floor. I look over to the corner and there are a few dead rats. I walk up to the short little desk with a balding man sitting behind it. He has a beer belly and black teeth. 

He sits there and scratches his balls then looks at me; "What can I help you with, darling?" he says.

"I would like a room please." I say to him as politely as I can.

"For one or more?" he asks.

"Excuse me?" I say to him.

He sighs like he's annoyed, "One person or more?"

"One." I say to him. He types into a computer and then hands me a room key.

"Room number thirteen. If anything is damaged you'll be paying extra. Understand?" he says. 

I nod and he just waves me away like I'm some kind of dog. I go back and secure my bike, then I head up the stairs. I find room 13 and put my key in and turn the lock. When I shut the door there's two medium sized beds, a bathroom and a mirror. I put my things down and lock the door. Then I just go straight to bed.