~ 𝓢𝓾𝓫𝓳𝓮𝓬𝓽 5 ~

𝓒𝓱𝓪𝓹𝓽𝓮𝓻 𝓞𝓷𝓮: 𝓣𝓱𝓮 𝓚𝓲𝓭𝓷𝓪𝓹𝓹𝓲𝓷𝓰

Hawkins, Indiana - 1967

*Radha POV*
Prakash, Aurelia, and I walked into the venue as the excited voices of the guests echoed throughout. A very typical scene for an Indian reception. I scanned the room to find my newly wed sister. "Radha!" a voice exclaimed from behind me. We all turned to see my little sister, Rukmini, standing there. She ran over as Lia giggled and jumped in excitement. "How's my favorite niece?" she asked as she picked her up. I put my hands on my hips, pretending to be offended. "How could you? Your big sister is standing right here and suddenly, you don't even see me anymore?" I fake pouted. Lia's face dropped and her eyes grew worried. "Please don't fight!" she begged. We all turned our attention to her as we watched her almost burst into tears. Ruku handed her over to me and she immediately hugged me tightly. "It's ok, sweety! I was only messing around, ok? We're not actually fighting. We'd never do that." I comforted her. A few minutes of silent sobs later, she quieted down.

*time skip to after the reception*

*Prakash POV*
People started saying their goodbyes starting at 9:30ish. The reception had lasted a good 6 hours or so. It was easily one of the best memories I've made in a while. There was music, dancing, singing, joking around, and just overall having a good time. I made sure I kept Lia close since she tends to get overwhelmed when she's around a lot of people. I turned to be met with a familiar face. My boss, Martin Brenner. "Glad to see you made it!" I greeted him as we shook hands. "Well, it's nice to see that your sister-in-law is finally getting married. Besides, who'd miss out on such a fun opportunity, right?" he laughed. "Anyways, how's Lia holding up tonight?" he asked, concerned. I'd been working for him for a long time and considering that we were as close as siblings, he was basically an uncle to her. I sighed. "She had to be taken into a quiet room a few times. Other than that, she's been pretty good tonight. We think we found the reason. They're saying she might have a condition called Hyperacusis. It's rare and it causes sounds that would otherwise seem normal to us just sound unbearably loud to her. They recommend starting therapy as soon as possible since she'll be starting school next year." I explained. He always seemed so focused when I updated him about Lia's health. At first, it seemed a little odd, but I figured it was just him being concerned. "Sounds about right. It'll be worse at school if that's the case. Well, I'm gonna head home for the night, but if you need anything-" he held my shoulders comfortingly. "Do not be afraid to call me. You know I see Lia as if she were my biological niece. If there's anything I can do to help, I will. Just call me." he assured. I smiled and nodded before escorting him outside. When I turned to go back inside, I was met with Radha and Rukmini. Lia was walking beside her Mother whilst holding hands. "Thank you so much for coming tonight!" Rukmini was saying. "No need to thank me. It's your wedding reception, silly. And you're my little sister. I wouldn't miss it for the world. Thank you for having us." Radha replied. "Are we ready to head for the night?" I asked, approaching them and standing next to my wife. "Well considering it's almost 10 o'clock, yea." Radha replied with slight sarcasm. We all laughed a little, including Lia. We all said our goodbyes before getting into our car. "I swear that is the most fun I've in so long!" Radha exclaimed. I laughed and started up the car. My favorite song, Bade Achhe Lagte Hai by Amit Kumar started playing. To be honest, it wasn't just my favorite. It was actually more of a family favorite. Lia always calmed down when she listened to it. I started singing the lyrics while glancing over at Radha. The more I looked, the more blessed I felt. The moonlight hit her face just right as we drove the dark streets of Hawkins. She noticed and laughed before humming along to the lyrics with me. We ended up singing the lyrics aloud while I also focused on the road. Suddenly, two bright headlights came towards us. It happened like the blink of an eye. I blinked and suddenly, our car was upside down on the side of the road.

*3rd Person POV*
The cars collided as the family rolled over twice before hitting the ground faced down. A black BMW drove up and stopped beside the shocked family. A group of men stepped out before heading towards the shattered window of the backseat. Sure enough, the now terrified little girl was there. She screamed as the men grabbed by her arms and carefully, yet forcefully grabbed her from out of the car. Her screams were desperate as she struggled against them, wanting to go to her Mother. She continued pushing and shoving while keeping her eyes fixed on her bleeding Mother. "Mama! Papa!" she screamed. "Hey! Put my daughter down!" yelled a protective voice. "Papa!" she screamed again as she saw her Father run towards them. "Get him!" one of the men screamed. Another man in a black suit stepped out of the BMW with two others, who looked to be his guards stepping out behind him. They quickly grabbed the Father and pulled him back. "NO! LEAVE MY DAUGHTER ALONE!" he screamed as he struggled. The man with the suit walked and finally showed his face to the desperate Father. "Hope you're having a good evening so far, Desai. Like I said, I care for your daughter. I won't hurt her. Promise." he said, hoping to be allowed to go without a fight. "Let. My. Daughter. Go. Fucking asshole." he spat. The guards pulled out a shocker and began shocking. More screams from both the horrified girl and her pained Father echoed through the sky. She watched helplessly as they continued torturing her Dad. "PAPA! PLEASE STOP! YOU'RE HURTING HIM! STOP!" she pleaded. With another motion from Brenner, they stopped. "Now, you can let us take her, or we can do this the hard way." he said orderly. "FUCKING ASSHOLE! I TRUSTED YOU! GIVE ME MY DAUGHTER!" he continued screaming. Brenner sighed before doing another motion. In one swift move, three gunshots were heard as they put an end to the desperate screaming. The little girl's scream split the night sky as she watched blood flow from her Father's lifeless body. Knowing there was no other way to get her to stop, they filled the syringe with a sedative and carefully injected it into her. Her screams began fading before completely.disappearing as her life gave away to darkness. "Put her in the car and clean the scene." Brenner ordered.