Stellar Spectrum Book One: The Faceless Ghost

Chapter 21

It was morning, Perfida slept on the couch. All of a sudden, she woke up from the knock on the door, stood up and first went to the bedroom door "Papoli, they're here," she said then Perdita appeared. She walked to the door and opened it but it wasn't the police, it was Hawkes, scowled down to her, he walked inside, Perfida was stunned in fear and walked back, Perdita also got scared too for her sister "what are you doing here?"

"Perfida..." he uttered.

"Is that the police?" Archie asked with yawn until he saw Hawkes in the room, he recognized him in the photos "you!" then he dashed to Perfida and pulled her behind him to protect her. "You got a lot of nerve coming here."

"Leave my family alone!" Perdita firmly said to him.

"The cops are gonna be here, you better go," Perfida fiercely said to Hawkes but with some fear in her tone.

"The cop is here," Hawkes said, Perfida, Perdita and Archie looked at each other, they were confused, he took out a police badge from his jacket and showed it to them, the three aghasted.

"You're a cop?!" Perfida quipped, "Sh*t! you're a creep cop!"

"I'm not a creep!" Hawkes exclaimed then he exhaled to calm down, "and I'm not here to hurt you, I have no weapon with me" he took off his jacket and put out his arm, he turned around slowly, they looked at him from top to bottom, he had no weapon in him so they put their gaurd down "I'm here in peace and to explain everything if you let me."

"Explain what? your lies? and how'd you find us here?"

"This," Hawkes took out the color pencil, Perfida had this 'damn it' expression on her "you forgot what I can do."

"Peach, let's hear him out," Archie suggested.

"Fine," she reluctanly sighed, Hawkes saw the photos on the table and took them.

They all sat together on the dining table "alright, we're giving you one last chance, now talk," Archie sternly said to him.

"Okay. First of all, I'm sorry that I lied to you," he apologized to Perfida. "All of you, I'm sorry that you have to find out like this but please, understand that I had to do this to protect you."

"Protect me? for what?" Perfida asked, he took a deep breath.

"To the people that killed your father," he revealed, Perfida, Perdita and Archie were taken aback. "Yes, I watched you all your life but I did it as a promise to your dad".

"To dad? I don't understand," Perfida was confused.

"Perfida, Perdita, do you ever wonder why you guys had to go all of a sudden? and I know what really happened to you, Perfida, I know that you did not just experience a car crash," Hawkes was unraveling things, Perfida got quiet because he knew what he meant.

"What is he saying?" Archie asked Perfida and she started getting tear-eyed "why? what happened?"

"She... was kidnapped," Hawkes revealed to them, Archie and Perdita was trembled at that fact.

"No..." he was confounded he turned to Perfida again. "Is that true?", she nodded in response "did your mom know about this? Perdita?" she shook her head.

"Papoli, I had no idea," Perdita said.

"Oh! my God, how? and why didn't you tell us?"

Perfida remembered that torture she went through that very night "because.. I just want to forget about it," she sobbed, Archie and Perdita looked at each other then at her. "After the crash, I was taken by these two men wearing cloak, they took me to this house," her grandfather couldn't believe what he was hearing "they slit my wrists, they beat me up when I scream and chopped off my hair," Archie was horrified that his granddaughter endured that. "Honestly, I thought I was going to die that night. The next thing I know, I was in the hospital."