e s p o i r

21. Panacea

He clicked his tongue and shook his head. Taking a deep breath he continued,

"Listen child, you know me well. I'm the leader of team flare. I've killed thousands of people and I'm not afraid to admit, you know I run the mafia, killing people is my job. But your father?" He laughed mockingly, "That coward committed a suicide. He was too afraid to fight me for you."

Tears flowed my cheeks and I wiped them off with the back of my hands, I gulped, searching for suitable words but nothing came out.

"B-but My mother didn't leave me!" I finally mumbled.

"Oh really?" He scoffed. "Where is she?"

"She's gone on - w-work. A-a business trip." I said as I inhaled shaky breaths.

"That snake of a women, she's always fooling people. I'm afraid she's lying to you too, kid. She's too afraid to die. She knows very well that I'll kill her if I saw her around you again so she ran away." He shrugged, taking a bite from his apple, "As expected."

"That's n-not true." I bit my lips and blinked to hold back more tears. I wanted to defend her but it was every bit of what he spewed was a fact.

"Oh really? When was the last time you've talked? Even on phone." He laughed.

Three months. It was basically a voice message she had sent that she'll have to extend her business venture. And then she never answered my calls, texts or mails. She just sent her wellbeing information through my uncle.

"Why have you came back?" I sobbed.

A grin appeared on his lips most instantly and he neared me, the sole of his shoes clicking against the polished floor as dead silence prevailed. His mischievous grin sending cold shivers down my spine.

"To celebrate my dear daughter Serena's birthday, of course." He grinned, bitterness visible in his blazing red eyes.

"I'm not your daughter." I spat aggressively.

His expressions grew serious as he gave me a cold glare. He raised his hand and gripped on my jaws, quenching them with so much strength, his nails digging into my cheeks, piercing them as he looked down upon me with pure malice and hatred in his eyes.

"Oh come on, I've come all the way from Kalos for your birthday. I've even left my recent drugs smuggling project halfway. Just for you. To give my daughter the best birthday ever." He proudly announced whilst gritting his teeth, finally setting my cheeks free as I rubbed them to ease the stinging pain.

I shivered at the mention of it. He was a criminal, and not just any criminal, he was the leader of Kalos' biggest underworld mafia gang, team flare. Everyone feared him. I was nothing compared to him. Fighting back was out of question.

"Please leave." I looked away from him.

"Besides, who was that boy?" He scowled.

"None of your business." I shot back.

"Weren't you two too close for comfort?"

"Go away, Would you?" I growled.

"I recognized him pretty clearly, isn't he that guy - your only childhood friend? Who left you? The cause your of depression state? That little -"

"No he wasn't! You were. He was my friend. And you? You caused my father's death. My mother's sudden departure. The emotional breakdown. People stayed away from me because they feared you. No one would even near me in your presence. I - had no friends." I gulped, "Because of you."

"Mhm, I see. He's casting a spell on you." He clenched his fists, "I should've killed him back then so he wouldn't be back to trouble my daughter. Guess I got carried away."

I gasped in fear as I fell on my weak knees, tears streaming down my cheeks.

"What?! No, No, You won't! Y-you can't! P-please don't harm him!" I pleaded.

"That's the main problem. You beg too much. Just like your venomous father who always begged me to leave his family alone and stuff. Glad he's dead now. Stop acting like that coward." He grumbled as I clenched my fists, digging my nails into my palms.

"But you don't have to beg anymore. Stop keeping things to yourself. The way those bullies always created problems for you and you never told anyone about it. Especially me." He ruffled my hair as I scowled at him.

"Because y-you would've killed them!" I yelled, stuttering with fear, "You were always a threat, you played with lives. You actually did kill some of them!"

I recalled that day, when Lysandre caught a senior bullying me in the empty school ground, when I heard the first ever gunshot in my life. He killed that bully in front of my own eyes, The blood, the screams, the pain. It wasn't pleasant. It was so traumatizing that I had lost my consciousness. And later, I had to double my intake of antidepressants. How could I let that happen again? Maybe that was why I never complained about my bullies. The consequences were way too treacherous.

"Just for your safety! Nobody messes with my daughter, or even dares to touch her without paying for it. With their lives, that is." He smirked, sending shivers down my spine, "You are MY daughter after all."

He stretched as he walked towards the door, "See you on your birthday, child."

And without another word, he left. I broke down on the cold floor, my heart thumping with fear. Fear refusing to subside. It was hard comprehend whom this monster was but one thing I could say is that he is the antagonist of this story, Lysander.

Who was Lysander?

He was a psycho with a gun.

He had lost his only daughter in an accident while he was in Kalos. He couldn't even make it to her funeral because his wife decided not to tell him because of his temper issues. As soon as he returned, he killed his wife in rage and refused to believe that his daughter is dead.

Now, how did I enter this tale?

Unfortunately, his beloved daughter resembled none other than me. And that's when the psycho laid his claims on me. He thought I was his daughter and did every inhumane thing to get his custody on me. He attacked my parents. Made their lives hell. He emotionally tortured them so much that my father finally gave up and committed a suicide.

My mother, however, was stronger. She supported me for longer than I expected. She never showed it but she did. But finally she withdrew too.

Why I didn't give up on myself in all this chaos and remained firm and steadfast was maybe because I loved life too much - or perhaps because a certain someone always told me, "Never give up until its over."

And why I lost my heart to him - I don't know. I just did.