Written In The Scars

Chapter 1

"Son, do you know what death is?"

"Yes, the end of the life of a person, when one's heartbeat stops they eventually die, right?"

She smirked and then looked at me, in her eyes, I only saw despair, sorrow, and grief never happiness or contentment. Maybe she has never experienced satisfaction but only anguish, pain, and misery. I never saw her contended, always stressed. She had told me about how important I was to her and that I am the only reason why she's alive which almost seemed like a lie to me.

I wonder what made her suffer so much, how much sadness she has seen, and how much she has struggled, I could only imagine as my mother did not like to talk about her past and my questions remained unanswered till the very end. 

"Alex, that's not a proper definition, would you like to know what's the most accurate meaning?

I nodded.

"A human life reaches its end when people forget its existence when people say one's name one last time and never again, in simpler words a human dies when he's forgotten.

"That means my father is still alive, isn't he? I always think of him and will always remember him" I said.

My mother looked away and wiped her tears, I wonder how many of them she has wiped away. 

"Look at me Alex," she said holding my face with her both hands, "Promise me you will be the winner, promise me you will get stronger and will eliminate evil from this world." She added.

I didn't know what she was talking about but for the first time, I saw anger in her eyes.

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Our house was isolated and was in the middle of nowhere, that's what I always saw when glancing through the window. I was told not to open it but the curiosity made me defy my mother. Soothing wind welcomed me every time I opened it and the presence of those stars in the sky was aesthetic, at night the weather used to be a bit cold and cozy. 

Many thoughts used to jumble up in my mind, like what lied beyond these confining walls? what's the meaning of life? If I'm gonna starve again tomorrow and what if my mum doesn't come back home? 

There was a gentle knock at the door, I peeked through the keyhole when I knew it was my mother, I opened the door.

"Welcome back, mother," I said in a boring tone, she forced a smile and put down her bag on the table as she sighed.

"Mom why can't I go outside, I want to see the world from the outside, you know", my voice raised a bit.

"You can't", her answer was a pretty straightforward one.

"Why not!" I argued.

"Because I don't want to lose you like I lost your dad," She replied

"What happened to him?"

"Bring your books, it's almost time to study," she said ignoring the question.

"Not until you answer me, mother. 

"He was killed by the bad people," she said looking straight into my eyes.

Our conversation was cut short due to a heavy thud on the door, 

"Hide", she shouted. I could see her panic over it, and soon some of my questions were answered without her telling me.

"Is that the house?" I could hear a heavy voice from outside.

"yes, she lives here".

The silence grew but in a moment the door was knocked out and the two men barged into our house. They both were muscular and wore a tank top with dirty worn-out trousers.  

"My my, look what do we have here." one of the men smirked.

"What do you want?" my mother shouted. They both took out a sharp knife from their pocket.

"Well, to put it simply, I want you to die," the other man said and charged towards my mother and I watched as the knife sunk into her chest. It was like the time froze at that moment, all I could do was stand and stare as they repeatedly shoved their knives into my mother. The smile they had on their faces made my blood boil. I was clueless, I didn't know what to do, I wanted to help my mother but I couldn't even move an inch, fear paralyzed me.

"Don't kill my mom, please" I begged. They both looked at me with those evil eyes of theirs.

"Too late, she's already dead", the man said in a mocking tone.

"Why'd you do that? my voice was shaky, the man approached me and said "Because that's our job, we are the dragons and we are gonna wipe every piece of shit from here" He said pouncing over me. I could see a tattoo on his arm it was of a dragon. My mum laid helplessly on the floor, her eyes wide open, staring at the ceiling. Lying in the pond of her own blood, I felt devastated, shallow, and hopeless. 

"Why is this happening?" I whispered to myself, Why did they kill an innocent person and my world? 

"The next one is you! the man charged towards me, however, was stopped by the other man.

"We were told not to kill the kid". 

"But we'll be taking the women with us," he added.

My world was shattered, I never felt that weak, my body went numb and my mind couldn't handle all the mess I was seeing. They lifted up my mother, her black hairs were still shining, her eyes wide open and that was the last time I saw her. Soon they went off, leaving me behind all alone, without my beloved mother. Tears rolled down my eyes as I stood there, I felt empty and the thought of living without her was making my head spin. I couldn't believe what I just saw, It felt like a nightmare but it wasn't one. I knelt down, with my gaze on the ceiling, questioning my existence. 

  That day I made a promise to myself that I am gonna avenge my mother no matter what. I cried a lot that night and eventually passed out.

"Get up" a voice filled my ears and I woke up in an instant, there sat a man not older than 20 sitting beside me.