Keir took a deep breath, gripping her hand more tightly. This is it. This is the point where she learns that he had a fucked up past that turned him into this monster.

He never told anyone about it, anyone who knew about his past, witnessed it along with him. Selene is the first one. He is not sure how to narrate this nightmare into a story. He just hoped that this would all be worth it in the end and that Selene would understand him better.

Selene moved closer to him and looked up to meet his eyes, "Whenever you are ready."

He got lost into her deep blue eyes for a moment. This time it was easier to breathe.

"My Dad was a well known criminal prosecutor. He uh-" He paused, and gulped, suddenly at a loss of words.

He looked at Selene, she gave him a small encouraging smile. That was enough to make him believe that he could do this.

"He worked with the government to legally screw criminals." He put out in his own words. "I was around nine when the incident happened."

—"Mama! Look what Dada and I made!" The nine year old giggled, holding a tray of baked chocolate cookies between his gloved hands.

"Mmm..That looks delicious. Let me have a bite." Olivia, his mom reached out for the cookies.

"Uh-huh! Not now." Her husband, Kenneth hit her arm playfully.

She pouted at him which he kissed it off. The boy jumped between them in glee, "I want a kiss too, Dada!"

"My lil' Kay Kay will get one, once he finishes his breakfast." Kenneth took him into his arms and walked into the dining room.

The three of them sat down on the table and the boy started to savour the pancakes.

"Keir!" Olivia gave him a look of disapproval.

"Sorry!" He mumbled with his mouth full and smeared with honey. He chewed down the pancakes and joined his hands before him to pray to the almighty God.

The couple chuckled at their son's childishness and prayed as well.

"Where's Mum?" Kenneth asked Olivia once they started their breakfast.

"Don't worry, your mother had her breakfast and is resting in her room." Olivia shook her head at his concern. He always acted as if she isn't capable enough to take care of his widowed mom.

Olivia glanced at Keir, making sure he was busy with his pancakes and honey.

"Do you really have to go for these court trials?" She asked in concern.

Kenneth glanced at Keir as well before speaking, "That's my job, Liv."

"They threatened you, in your own office amidst so many people. Don't you think it's worth considering again? This criminal might be very dangerous." She whisper yelled.

Kenneth stopped eating and gave her a hard look, "If I have been scared of threats and criminals, I wouldn't have become a prosecutor. Much as well been a chef!" He snapped back in a slight harsh tone.

Keir was successfully distracted from his breakfast now. His big black eyes stared at them with concern. He never liked when Mama and Dada argued.

They both gave him a meek smile and silence once again fell at the table.

Once they were done, while placing the plates on the kitchen counter, Liv turned to Kenneth for a last attempt to change his mind again.

"I know you are doing what's right but I'm scared about this threat. We can't risk it." She placed her hands on his shoulders, "At least complain to the officials about this threat."

"Criminal prosecutors get threatened everyday, Liv. I'll be a laughing stock, if I complain about such a trivial matter." He placed a soft kiss on her forehead, knowing that it'll calm her down.

She nodded begrudgingly, "When does the trial start?"

He looked at his wrist watch, "I've still got an hour and half to go."

"Can I play soccer with Sasha now?" Keir's cheery voice and small footsteps soon approached them.

"Sure you can, but give a kiss to Dada before you go?" Kenneth crouched down on his toes and opened his arms wide for his son.

Keir ran into arms letting himself attacked by the sea of kisses his father always placed on his face. He always tickled him with his jaw stubble. Kenneth swung Keir around and hugged his miniature with all the love.

"You know what Kay Kay? We are going to have a lasagna-night tonight!" Kenneth announced in a bold cartoony voice.

"Yes! You and me, Dada! We will cook for Mumma?" Keir looked at his mom with an excited smile on his innocent face.

"Yes, we will. Now kiss Mama too. Or she'll be jealous." Kenneth teased.

They both kissed Liv's cheeks on either side, making her giggle. "I don't feel jealous." She waved them off though she did feel jealous at times by Kenneth's top notch parenting skills.

Keir ran off to grab his soccer ball, giving a final wave to them. Liv turned to him with sadness again.

"I don't know, Kenny. I have a really bad feeling about this."

And she was right. Women always have an intuition whenever something wrong is about to happen.

That day Keir came back to his home, after playing with his best friend, Sasha. The home he left an hour ago was not the same inside.

He was too young to understand what happened there. Had there been an earthquake? His little mind questioned looking at the broken furniture and shattered glass pieces everywhere.

He walked around the glass, trying not to step on them. The low grunts and yells in pain were growing clear as he walked into the living room.

"No!" A loud groan was heard from the room on the down floor. He ran towards the room recognising his father's voice.

He froze in his tracks and hid beneath the dining table when two men with knives in their hands walked out of the room.

"Where are the others?" He heard them talk in a peculiar accent.

He tiptoed into the room, making sure the bad guys didn't see him. He had a bad feeling about this though he didn't know what was going on.

Are they robbers, did they take all the money and artifacts that his grandma was fond of? Questions ran in Keir's mind.

Looting or robbery would have been much better than what he saw that day. His Dada, who laughed and tickled him an hour ago was now in a pool of blood, barely breathing.

Keir ran to his Dada, not sure why he was lying on the floor or why there was red liquid around him.

"Dada! Dada!" Keir's tiny hands shook his father's torso. The red liquid was oozing from his chest, he realised. Keir stopped and looked at his now red painted hands.

The thick reddish black liquid dripped from his fingertips and some ran along his forearms. The smell of the liquid was different, almost nauseating. Something he never experienced, something he can't compare it with. His heart pounded in his chest. Something is wrong, that's all he could tell.

Kenneth glanced at his miniature one last time, fighting back the pain. He could feel his breaths growing shallow, maybe it was his soul leaving. He placed his large hand over his son's face and smiled trying to make him stop crying.

Keir's cheeks were red as a tomato, puffed out with fat tears running down. Kenneth wiped away the tears with his thumb but the tears never stopped watching his dad in this state, helpless.

"Be strong, Kay Kay-'' Kenneth gulped trying to control the pain. His heart hurt more than his wound and rightly so.

"Take care of your Mama and Grandma. Remember Dada loves yo-" His words never finished, soul left from his eyes first as he stared at his son lastly. His arm fell off of his son's face.

The man before him was no longer his Dada. He was gone. But Keir didn't know that.

"Dada? Dada?" He shook his father's body. His father's word 'Mama' resonated in his mind. He came out rushing back to the large living room.

He froze in his tracks again. His grandma was standing on the top flight of the stairs. Two men cornered her with her back to the stairs. Before he could register what happened, one man thrust his leg onto her shin and pushed her down the long concrete staircase.

"Grandma!" Keir shrieked and ran towards her twisted body at the down step.

He sobbed, shaking her body. After what felt like hours of trying to call her, she steered into consciousness and looked at his grandson.

Tears ran down her eyes, looking at her helpless grandson who had to endure all this.

"Keir-" She tapped his cheek, trying to catch his attention. "-Run my son. For the love of God. Just run." She urged him.

Keir didn't understand why he had to run away from his family. Did he do something to anger them? Why is Grandma asking him to leave? Questions ran in his mind.

"Mama?" He asked but Grandma went back to her sleep.

Keir ran upstairs in search of his mother. His small legs felt tired as he ascended the large stairs but the thought of his mum crying urged him however. How he hated to see her cry.

He heard an ear piercing scream from the right hallway on the first floor. He ran into his parents bedroom. The chaos that happened that day was not enough to prepare him for what he witnessed in the room.

His mother was pinned down by a bulky looking man and another man was over her, covering his mother from his view.

"Mama!" He shrieked from the door frame.

The men turned to look at the small boy whom they left behind. Olivia turned to his son and shook her body out of her rapists grasp. She sobbed uncontrollably feeling humiliated and helpless. How did the day go from a happy family to this? She asked God.

"Run, Keir! Run!" She yelled with all her might but was cut off when the man humiliated her once again.

She grunted in disgust and looked at her son through her teary eyes. She doesn't want him to see her like this. "Go!" She shrieked, scaring him to the core. He ran off to the other room.

He opened his closet and hid inside hoping that he would wake up and it would all be a nightmare. His body shook uncontrollably, he only hoped that his mama and dada would come and soothe him into a more blissful sleep, whispering sweet nothings into his ear like they usually do.

But he never woke up, he was already wide awake. The grunts and the strange noises that were coming from the room of horror were all clear to his ears. He didn't know why mom yelled at him, he didn't know why the men were with his mom. He didn't know why his dad was lying in a pool of red liquid. He didn't know why his grandma wouldn't wake up.

But he knew one thing, this is not a dream but a virtual nightmare he is living in and there's no turning back.

He heard the large footsteps approaching the room he was in. He scooted back in the closet trying to hide from their view. He was shaking but hoped it wouldn't give away his location.

Suddenly the closet door opened making him vulnerable to the robbers before. He wasn't sure if they were robbers anymore.

"Please. Please." He begged, shutting his eyes in fear.

One of the men crouched down and looked at him squarely. He would never forget the look in the man's eyes. Raw and monstrous than anything he had ever seen.

"Listen you little son of a skank. This is what happens if you double cross our boss. You pay for your Dad's deeds. Now you learn never to challenge powerful men." He spat in the similar accent as the men before and everyone left in no time.

Keir didn't understand a word the man spoke. At that time it felt like the devil man from the legends came here to teach Keir a lesson but Keir was a good kid. He never did any wrong.

Keir wished he never understood the events that happened that day. He wished he never realised that what happened was a family destruction for double crossing a criminal.

But as he grew old, his memories of the unfateful night became clear. He understood, his dad was brutally murdered and his mother was apathetically raped. It was not clear then but it's clear now. He indeed paid for what happened that night and he is still paying now.

A lone tear travelled down his left eye before the gates of tears opened. He let the tears of agony and unjust flow that were held back for years now. He didn't care if Selene was watching him cry, he didn't care if that made him weak.

Selene gave a small squeeze to his hand, blinking back her own tears. Her turned to look at her searching for pity in her eyes, there were none. Her eyes were filled with anger and pain similar to his. Her hand in his, reminded him that he wasn't reliving the worst day of life but retelling the day to her.

"I don't know what that case was about. I just know that it was something related to the mafia in Italy. Dad had full evidence enough to bring down their lives underground to dust but before he could -" He blinked back the tears that were threatening to fall again.

"I was there Selene." He shook his head, "Watching all of it happen and did nothing but cry like a fucking coward, that I am." He bit his lip and that was it, the tears fell from his eyes again. He was straining to hold back his tears, she could tell from his popped up veins on his neck and reddened ears.

Selene left his hand and placed both of her hands on his cheeks. "Shh...it's not your fault." She shushed him. "It is not your fault. You were nine."

"I can't help but blame myself."

"They want you to, that is why they left you, unharmed." Selene rubbed her palms over his jaw trying her best to calm him down.

He shook his head, his face slowing loosening from her grip.

"Hey! Hey! Listen." She forced him to look into her eyes. "There is nothing you could've done any other way." she said strongly, for a moment Keir believed her. "-Look at what you have here. You mom, Grandma, Jenny.." She trailed off.

"Jenny?" She whispered to herself.

Keir sniffed, placing his palm over her hand, a long silence followed before he opened his mouth.

"A boon left after the chaos that night."

Selene hung her mouth in disbelief. Jenny was a result of Olivia's rape. It was a fact but the more appealing one is how his family welcomed her.

"She doesn't know." He said after a while.

Selene sat back beside him, taking in all that he went through. Selene knew that they both had fucked up pasts but his was just more unhinged than hers.

"The people responsible for your father's death?" Selene questioned softly. Though Keir trusted her with his past, he never said that she could ask questions but her curious nature gave away.

"We spent five years circling around the courts and precincts in search for justice. The convicted ones ran away and were never caught. The government never took the blame for what happened to my dad. They were useless and ungrateful. Now my dad's case is just another unsolved case."

"Is that why you hate the government? The cops? Is that why you kill criminals?" She asked.

Keir was silent for a moment and then nodded, "Justice is not given, it's brought. The government can never do that. That was when I started killing. For myself and for my family. Every time I see a criminal, I see my dad's killers. Everytime I kill a criminal, I kill my mom's rapists." He seethed.

Selene understood that it was when his blood lust must have started. The urge to bring justice for what happened to him eighteen years ago. How long was he killing people? How many did he kill? Now that she knew his past, more questions popped up in her mind.

She decided not to voice them out. It was a tough ride for both of them today. He trusted her with his past more than what he was capable of.

Selene snaked her arm around his and leaned over his shoulder. A sense of belonging washed over her body, for the first time. Keir made her realise that there are people who suffered in life similar to hers.

Keir looked down at her deeply thinking self. He leaned his head over her head and closed his eyes, breathing in her familiar scent. He felt her arm tighten around him protectively as her eyes slowly dropped.

He felt a rush of happiness hit his heart. It was rare but this one is different. She took his sob story better than he expected. How could she not? She is an angel in disguise after all.

His own unpredictable angel sent from above.

*****

Yeah, that was his big secret. A horrible past that left behind terrifying memories that haunt him everyday.

Can you imagine our nine year old Keir going through any of that?

These things happen guys. World is a scary and cruel place when it wants to be.

OK I should stop 😅. Anyway, did you like this chapter? Tell me what you think about it >>>

Don't forget to vote.

~Aurora. 💜