2. A Narrow Escape

Groaning, I regained consciousness and just like like, everything that happened a while ago came rushing back into my system like a flood. Hot, fat tears ran down my cheeks like a loose faucet. Right in front of me, my entire world came crumbling down and I couldn't do anything to help. I was useless!

Like a raging bull, I got up and pushed open the door, but to my horror, I met an empty living room. "Dad? Dad?" I screamed for him, but my efforts were futile.

Knowing they couldn't have gone far, I raced outside and true to my words, I sighted them, throwing his body in the trunk of a black truck.

I raced towards them, but at that very moment, the vehicle began to move.

"No!" I continued running after the vehicle until my legs became jelly and I fell flat on my face. "Give him back to me." I cried intermittently.

The image of his lifeless body in the pool of his blood suddenly flashed in my mind. "DAD! DAD!!" I screamed at the top of my lungs until my voice croaked and began to break "please come back to me." I begged, hitting my chest hard. I still couldn't grasp the fact that my dad was killed right in front of my eyes and yet, I couldn't do anything - nothing to help him. Momentarily, I felt I was hallucinating, until my dad's last words surged into me.

My death will not be in vain.

Wiping her tears with both her hands, she vowed; "Your death will be avenged, dad."

The vehicle suddenly screeched to a halt and the man whom I recognized as the same person who shot my dad and had my world crumbling down within seconds, alighted the car and glared at me with bloodshot eyes.

He whispered something inaudible to my ears to someone in the car - probably the driver and got back in.

"You bastards!" I yelled at the top of my lungs. "You are going to pay for what you've done."

I gazed in horror as the car suddenly got reversed and raced towards me.

Indisputably, they wanted to get rid of me as well, because I was a witness to their crime. I would have stayed put and allowed them to run me over; my life was ruined already anyway. I had no one to live for anymore. I was like an empty shell. But due to the promise I made to my late father, I needed to be alive to avenge his death, so I ran. I ran as fast as my weak legs could carry me.

Taking a glance back, I could see the vehicle was only a few meters away from me. I tried to run faster, but my energy had already been exhausted and before I could comprehend what would happen next, I suddenly flew in the air, landed on the ground with a loud thud, and within seconds, lying in the pool of my blood.

I heard the black vehicle sped off and I was slowly overshadowed by darkness.

•

"Oh my God!" Mia squeaked, her demeanor contorted in extreme worry. "What happened to you?!"

I averted my gaze from her and stared into space.

What happened to you? — I scoffed at the questioned and in a split second, tears blurred my vision. I still couldn't bring myself to accept the reality of what had happened before My eyes. My whole world had crumbled right in front of me, yet I couldn't do a thing, but cry like the weakling that I was.

My father was murdered in cold blood and I was involved in a hit and run by his murderers — this was what happened to me. I wanted to give her this reply, but due to the heaviness of my heart, I couldn't bring myself to utter a word. My voice miraculously dissipated in the air and all I could do was let out intermittent sobs. I was a total wreck — I knew.

I just wanted the pain in my heart to go away. I wanted to be numb. To forget the tragedy that had befallen me, even if it was just for a while. I wanted to have my father back with me again. I wanted to be able to see his contagious smile once more. I wanted to be able to hug him and remind him of just how much I loved him, but melancholically, I couldn't.

The feeling of nostalgia washed over me and clouded all sense of rational thinking. My heart was filled with so much hatred for his murderers and I knew for sure I was never going to have peace, until I had avenged his death.

We were living just fine. I was contented with the little with had and for him to be proud of his daughter, I worked hard to be able to get into the university, but in a blink of an eye, everything was snatched from me; my happiness, along with my zeal to further my education. All my efforts ran down the drain overnight. I had nothing left to hold on it. I was like an empty shell.

"Please talk to me, bes." Mia beseeched, snapping me out of her trance. "I had no idea you've been here at the hospital for two weeks until an hour ago. Sarah informed me."

"I got into an accident." I remarked, blankly.

"That's obvious. You're lying in a hospital bed." Mia pointed out. "What happened, bes? Please talk to me. Why didn't you give me a call immediately you regained consciousness?" She asked, her voice laces with softness.

Tears brimmed up in my eyes as the picture of my dad lying in the pool of his own blood, involuntarily appeared before me. A tear fell from the corner of my eye and unto the bed. "He was killed, Mia. They killed him."

Mia furrowed her brows in bewilderment. "What are you saying? Who's 'he'? And who killed 'him'?"

The horrifying scene of him being shot, flashed into my memory again. I tried to fight it away, but it just wouldn't go away in spite of how hard I tried. I wrapped my hands around my head and screamed. Why couldn't the memory of that dreadful day stop hunting me?

"Juliana! Bes!" Mia wrapped her arms around her in a hug. "Calm down. Take a deep breath and tell me what's wrong. I could help you come up with a solution." She pull away from me and fixed her gaze in mine. Her brows twitched. "Are you perhaps hurt? Do you feel pain in your body? Should I call the doc? This won't do, I will go ahead an—"

"They killed my father, Mia." Another tear slipped out of her eye. "I was there. I witnessed everything, yet I couldn't do anything." She cried.