Retribution

Chapter Nineteen

"Don't you dare lay a hand on me!" Reyna screamed, pointing the gun at my father.

He straightened his back and cooed, "Come on, Reyna. Hand the gun over and everything will be all right."

"I'll shoot! That's a promise I'm keeping!"

Dad paused. I could tell from the way he was gazing at Reyna that he was plotting something. I was too scared to know what it was. I didn't want to know what it was.

Reyna was stubborn like me, but she still had that teenage mind where if she didn't get her way, there would be consequences. She also inherited Dad's snappy attitude, which was a blessing and a curse. In this case, she managed to pull it off as a weakness instead.

He tried again to get my daughter to give him the gun. All he got in return was a finger in the air. Red with rage by her gesture, he grabbed her by her shoulders and shook her. Her hand let go of the gun.

"You little bitch!" he howled, "I'll make ALL OF YOU PAY!!"

Nauseated from the shaking, Reyna almost lost her footing. My dad took advantage of this and grabbed some cables off of one of the shelves. He forced Reyna to sit next to my mother and, with the cables, tied her securely against the pole. In an act of haste, my dad picked up the gun and slammed the door behind him.

Reyna had the most energy out of all three of us, trying to wriggle herself free. I also heard her mutter something, but I couldn't make out what she was saying.

"Reyna, it's no use," Mom said sadly.

"I can't believe that demented hobo is my grandpa!" she snapped angrily.

"I can't believe I married him."

"So, technically, this is my mom's fault?"

"Reyna, sweetie..."

"Oh my God. He's here because of you, isn't he?"

I didn't respond.

"This is why everything's happening? You're the cause of all this! Why didn't you tell me? Yeah, you told me your dad was crazy, but not enough to take an entire school hostage!"

"Reyna..." My mom wasn't good at being firm.

"I have a whole life ahead of me, Mom. And I'm going to die because of you. We're all going to die. Is that what you want? Huh? Die in the hands of a hobo?"

There was nothing my mom and I could do to stop her. As she vented her anger towards me, my state of mind was at its weakest point and everything was taken in as true. He was here because of me. And we're all going to be killed because I was his vantage point.

"Look Reyna, I'm sorry..." was all I could force out of my mouth.

"Sorry? Sorry's not gonna cut it. You can do better than that. You know better. And none of this would have happened if it weren't for you. Maybe everything would be better if you didn't exist."

She was right. If Shepard lived as a healthy baby and grew up, none of this would have happened. My father would pay more attention to him than me, which wasn't a problem. Mom would have divorced him and then we could live together a Dad-free life. It was the perfect setup.

Unfortunately, the past is in the past and you can't go back. Time is inevitable. So is Death. Both can be cruel and unruly, messing with our minds, our hearts, and our lives. Even the ones we loved. But, how could one be so evil as to take lives and threaten an entire building? I concluded that it was the bitterness and the grudge my father has held all those years. He wasn't going to let it go. It was something he would keep close to his heart forever until the day he died. And he needed to take his anger out on something or someone.

And that someone was me. He couldn't vent on my mother forever. He needed someone new. Someone even more vulnerable.

The door opened again. A bald young man stood at the threshold. He went over to me and undid the wires from my handcuffs. I had forgotten that I had them on the entire time, and the stinging was unbearable. He forced me to stand.

"Boss wants to see all of you," he chided lowly. He had somewhat of a Mexican accent.

He untied Reyna and my mother, and together we made our way to the cafeteria again. My father was lounging at one of the tables with a whiskey bottle in his hand and a cigarette dangling from his mouth. The putrid smell of that stuff brought back horrible memories. He ordered my mom and Reyna to be positioned in one corner. The bald man took my mom's handcuffs off, but kept Reyna bound with the cables under the order of my father. My handcuffs were also taken off, but my wrists felt like they were burning. Were they really there for that long?

The cafeteria was darker than before. I don't know how long we've been here, but it was probably after hours.

"Kneel," Dad ordered, taking the cigarette out of his mouth.

I did as he told me.

"Take your shirt off."

Wait, what? I took it off anyway, revealing a camisole underneath, luckily. The bandage wrapping my cut from earlier was gone with the shirt. He nudged my arm with the bottle, noticing my tattoo.

"You still have yours?"

I was planning on getting it removed, but never got the chance to.

"You know. I heard about you a long time ago. How drunk you were, killin' everyone. Just like your old man."

He resurfaced memories I kept underground for years. I could only imagine what Reyna and my mother were thinking about me right now.

"It's too bad it was done against your will. Shame, shame."

Just club me to death and get it over with.

"But I was told you were a great addition to their team." He snickered.

Not taking the pain anymore, I spat right in his face. The result was rather unpleasant.

He didn't even wipe the saliva off. With a snap of his finger, the bald one punched me left and right, doing everything in his power to made me suffer. He kicked me around like a soccer ball and when I tried to get back on my feet, he kicked me down again. The echoes of both my mom and daughter's sobbing were so loud, I thought they were going to break some glass. But I couldn't think. I absorbed every blow like a sponge.

And I might have heard an "I'm sorry," through the desperate weeping.

The storm of blows stopped and nothing else was heard except the whimpering of Reyna and my mother, but mostly Reyna.

"Let's go," Dad commanded. And with that, both of the men were out of the cafeteria, leaving just the three of us again.

I heard footsteps, and before I knew it, I was cradled in my mom's arms. Her head was next to mine, and her sniffling was the only noise that was heard for that moment. Apparently, she didn't care about my blood staining her face and clothes.

"Please tell me you're alive," she whispered.

"Yeah, Mom," I forced myself to say.

A hand squeezed mine. Mom must have freed Reyna from the cables.

"I'm sorry about what I said," she mumbled through tears, "I didn't mean it. I was just blowing off steam."

"It's all right," I whispered back.

Through the sniffling and tears, I heard an all too familiar masculine voice.

"There they are!"

I heard another voice as well, much higher pitched.

"We need to get to them quick. There's not enough time."