3 Bestir (Prologue 3)

"Big Brother…?" Violet mustered the strength to call me from her deathbed.

"I'll… I'll be fine, Big Bro." She reassured me with her usual happy smile that she only showed me, but I could tell even that smile was waning.

"I promised that we would go on an adventure together… as sisters. Right, Big Sister?" Her usual teasing only serves as a dagger through my heart as her delicate voice hauntingly echos in my ears.

• • •

"We tried everything we could, but there's nothing we could do for her… I'm sorry." The doctor spoke dispiritedly.

"Chemotherapy is no longer an option. I'm afraid the cancer has already spread too far." The doctor continues.

"We put her in hospice care. We'll make sure she's comfortable with the time she has left." The only thing that's going through my mind at this point… is that I'm going to lose another one who I considered family. And it has to be the one who I cherished the most.

• • •

"I love you, Big Bro…" Through her deteriorating health, she gave me her biggest little sister smile. "I love you... John..."

• • •

I woke up from my sleep. My eyes looked around to confirm that it was my room. I looked at my clock which shows 8:00 AM.

I sigh heavily at my current predicament. I decided that I wanted to sleep in today so I switched off my alarm clock last night, yet I woke up at the same time by myself anyways.

The same lethargic feeling was ever-present, the kind of feeling I'm just sick to death of.

I got up and decided to wash up. As I was taking a shower, I looked back on my life as I tend to do because these dreams always remind me.

My mother passed away in an armed home invasion. Out of everything I've seen in my life, nothing could top that dreadful day... She lost her life trying to protect me and my sister. So in order to protect the next most precious person in my life, I put a round between the bastard's eyes with my dad's gun. I was only 16 at the time when I watched my mother die—and when I shot someone for the first time. Me and my sister, who was only 11 at the time, were left to fend for ourselves. I did my best in the military so I could support my sister.

But then after the death of my best friend, James, I could no longer focus on my work which had already taken a toll on me. My sister then passing away shortly afterward was the final straw. I was then discharged from the military after 10 years due to PTSD and depression as it reached the point where it was unbearable. Years of therapy barely got me back on my feet.

My aunt and uncle did their best to offer us support back when my sister was still alive. They were there to take care of my sister when I'm not home from the military. They showed a lot of compassion like we were their own children. And even now they still try to reach me. I did notice earlier that I missed their calls this morning since my phone was on vibrate.

I got out of the shower, washed my hands—despite having just gotten out of the shower, got dressed, and decided to just read some novels. I didn't get to read too long as shortly after, my doorbell rang. I head to my door while curious since I'm not one to get any visitors these days at all.

I open the door to greet whoever it is.

"Hey, Nephew…" Speak of the devil. I gave a sigh when my uncle greeted me. Behind the door stood both my aunt and uncle giving me a warm smile.

Both of them were in their early 50s and already showing a lot of signs of aging, probably due to stress most likely as they both already have plenty of grey hair.

"…Hey Uncle, Auntie," I said with a sigh. They both then gave me a look of concern.

"We tried to call you earlier… to check up on you. To see if you are doing all right." my uncle said.

"Yeah well, I'm hanging in there," I replied while scratching the back of my head as I stepped aside to welcome them in.

I was a little uncomfortable since I haven't spoken to them in a long time. During those times I kept to myself blocking off everyone else. But even then, they never gave up on making attempts to reach out to me. Honestly, I'd rather be left alone.

"We're just here to make sure you are fine and healthy. Have you been eating enough meals, John?" My auntie spoke to me.

"Y-Yes I have been," I answered back to her. I have been eating just enough though, but there are times when I don't have the appetite to eat at all.

After a few seconds of awkward silence with them continuing to look at me with concerns, my uncle spoke.

"John? …are you sure you're all right?" My uncle asked with a concerning yet serious tone.

"I'm fine." I quickly said. He didn't seem to buy it as he continued to give me a concerned look.

"I'm fine," I repeated in a more calm manner.

After a few seconds, he reluctantly gave me a small nod.

"Alright," he said. "Just making sure. It's just-"

He paused for a moment before continuing.

"It's just that after your sister passed, you haven't spoken a word to us. We tried to call you earlier. Look, I understand what you are going through, but you can't continue to push everyone away." He stated.

I gave a narrowed stare at the mention of my sister. "Look, uncle, I appreciate your concerns, but it's unnecessary at this point. I'm fine the way I am right now. I don't need any money or pity." In truth, I'm not exactly doing okay, but I don't want to worry them any more than I have to.

A lot of acquaintances I used to know started keeping their distance from me. As words spread about how I have some kind of cursed fate of losing everyone I cared about, people close to me, how I'm fated to be alone or some bullshit along the lines. I didn't want to drag my uncle and auntie down as well or have them waste any more of their time on me.

"John, you know that you are like a son to me. And due to that, I know that you are not doing fine. I'm sure your dad would've been proud of you for how hard you worked and-"

"But you're not actually my dad now, are you?" I snapped, cutting him off. I was beginning to get annoyed hearing something I didn't need to hear right now. But it only took a second to regret what I just said. I shook my head and briefly looked down, indicating frustration and despondency—a mixture of Violet in my mind, my real dad that I missed, and my regrets for expressing it.

"You're right… I'm sorry. It's just that you're the only one we have left. And I can't bear seeing you destroy yourself. WE can't bear losing you when we already lost enough. I know what you are going through so please let us help you." My uncle begged. "I'm sure Violet wouldn't want to see you like this."

"Dear!" Auntie admonished him. She knows that hearing my sister's name brings me a lot of pain. My uncle knows this too, but he thinks I needed the push. I look back up at them; I appeared more fatigued than before but was still disgruntled and cross about how things had played out... and what my uncle had said...

They stayed a bit longer with my auntie voicing more of her concerns over me or how much she misses me before I see them to the door.

"Alright, John, make sure you take care of yourself. Can you at least promise me that?" My uncle asked.

"Yeah, yeah I will," I reassured him.

"Alright, make sure you call whenever you need anything. You'll always have a place with us." My uncle gave me a caring smile.

"Please be safe now, John." My aunt hugged me.

"...sure," I said as I hesitated before hugging her back.

I contemplated for a bit after they left. That visit already took a lot out of me mentally for the day. So I decided to go for a walk down the street for some fresh air and a change of pace.

• • •

As I was walking down the street of the city contemplating life as I tend to do, I noticed something bizarre. A blond teenage girl was quickly running through the crowd in panic. I recognized the girl to be Lucy, the same girl I met just yesterday. Curious, I moved towards her to see what's going on. She noticed me and immediately made her way towards me with haste.

"John!" She called out to me. She was out of breath once she reached me.

"John y-you gotta help me! Please!" She said desperately.

"What? What is it?" I quickly asked her.

"Them!" She answered and pointed at what appeared to be two men quickly making their way towards us. I recognized one of them to be the same bearded man I met yesterday that tried to take Lucy. Both of them were running with one of their hands in their jackets concealing something I could easily guess were guns.

"This way!" I said to Lucy as I grabbed her arm and quickly made our way through the crowd of pedestrians while thinking of ways to lose our pursuers.

I turned the corner of the block and unfortunately, it led to a more isolated place. I figured that there's no way we'll lose them like this. So I decided to take them out while I could jump them from the corner.

"Quick, hide behind there!" I instructed Lucy to hide behind a car that was parked on the curb away from sight.

"Wh-what are you doing, John?" She frantically asked.

"Just trust me! I'll be back." I quickly told her.

She agrees and hides behind the car as I lean against the corner of the building waiting for them to turn the corner.

As they turned the corner, I noticed the bearded man had his gun out pointing ready to shoot. Taking advantage of this opportunity, I went for his gun as my left arm elbowed him in the nose. As he recoiled from the blow, I tightened my grip on his arm that was holding the gun, twisted it over my shoulder and shoulder throw him to the ground. As his back slammed onto the concrete sidewalk, I took his gun from his hand and shot the second guy in the chest as he turned the corner, knocking him down. I then pistol-whipped the bearded guy that was still on the ground in front of me, knocking him out.

Full of adrenaline, I looked at both of them. Seeing that both of them were unmoving, I called out to Lucy.

"Let's go!" I shouted. That gunshot would have alerted people nearby and sticking around is definitely not a good idea.

We didn't even take a step yet before a dreadful feeling hit me. It was the kind of feeling I'm all too familiar with during my military days. The feeling of incoming death as it looms over me. As my head moved in the direction my instinct was screaming at, I noticed a speeding black SUV as it already turned the same corner the two men came from. Time slowed down to a crawl as my reflexes kicked in.

I noticed the windows on the right side of the SUV were open revealing a couple of men in black ski masks all armed with various SMGs pointing at me as the vehicle continued to drive by in slow-motion. I was able to discern all that in just a matter of seconds but felt like minutes during the brief moment that time slowed down for me.

My body moved on its own, grabbing Lucy and making a dive toward the car that was parked on the curb of the sidewalk as the masked men opened fire. Time was now moving at a normal pace again as loud automatic gunfire drowned out every other noise as it pelted the car we were at with endless bullets as shattered glass from the car windows rained down on us.

The vehicle slammed on the brakes a bit away from us. The armed men ceased fire for a brief moment and the driver could be heard shouting at the armed men.

"You fucking idiots! You could have hit the girl!" He shouted. "Hurry up and grab her!"

As he said that, the men rushed out of the car towards us. With the pistol I got from earlier, I popped up and fired a single shot at one of the armed men, hitting him dead center in the chest and knocking him down. All the others started returning fire and I was forced to duck back down.

I noticed one of them was trying to flank me on my left to get an angle. Knowing that I can't let that happen, I started shooting at the guy that was flanking me, forcing him to stop and take cover behind a parked car. While I was doing that, a scream behind me immediately caught my attention.

"John!" Lucy screamed.

Turning around I saw one of the masked men had grabbed her and was quickly pulling her towards the SUV. I raised my gun to try and take a shot but was suppressed yet again as they continued to fire at me.

"Move your ass! Let's go!" The SUV driver shouted as he was leaning out the window over the car shooting at me with his pistol.

As more bullets flew towards me, I started seeing flashes of scenes again. But then a scream from a girl caused me to quickly snap out of it. Seeing Lucy struggling with her holder and screaming, I realized I had to make my move quickly. I forced a deep breath to calm my nerves and started listening between shots from the masked men, listening for when some of them were to stop shooting to reload.

As some of them stopped firing to reload, I took this opportunity to counterattack. I popped up from cover and nailed a headshot at the one that was trying to flank me.

I then turned and pointed my gun towards the SUV and started firing shots at it, missing most of it as it hit the vehicle, but some of the shots managed to hit the one at the front passenger seat killing him, and one on the shoulder of the driver.

The driver flinched in pain and got back into his seat.

All that's left were the driver and the one dragging Lucy. I would have continued to fire, but the one that was holding Lucy started shooting a couple of shots at me causing me to take cover again.

The masked man threw Lucy and himself into the rear passenger seat. The driver immediately floored it as I got back up and unload the rest of the rounds at them trying to hit the driver, but the slide of my gun locked in place indicating that I ran out of ammo.

"Shit!" I cursed as I watched the SUV drive off. My aim was rusty due to how long it has been since I fired a gun.

I dropped the empty gun and picked up a fresh pistol from the ground that was dropped from the bearded man's partner earlier.

During all the commotion, all the civilians were running and panicking due to the gunshots. That's when I noticed a little girl standing in the middle of the street looking scared and confused. I turned and noticed a speeding 14-wheeler truck heading towards her.

My body moved on its own again as I noticed the truck tried to slam on its brakes but was still moving too fast. I managed to reach the little girl on time and tackled her out of the way as the truck missed us by inches. We both rolled on the ground as I held the little girl tightly in my arms.

"Are you all right?" I asked her while checking to see if there are any visible injuries on her. The girl was surprised by what just happened but said nothing.

The truck stopped meters away from us and the truck driver got off the truck and checked on us to see if we were unharmed.

Seeing the opportunity, I ran towards the truck.

"Sorry, but I'm borrowing this." I quickly said to the truck driver as I got on the truck.

"Hey wait!" The truck driver shouted and tried to stop me but was too late as I already slammed the door and drove off towards the direction the SUV went.

What I just did back there, I did it without thinking. I haven't felt this gung-ho in such a long time. It's like the life I had before never left me, instead, it was lying dormant all this time, stirring and clawing inside just waiting to wake up. And now it has awakened once again, pushing me forward, not stopping until I complete my mission.

Flooring the gas pedal as hard as I could, the truck zooms past multiple cars and traffic. The cargo truck must have been empty as it is moving pretty fast. After just a couple of minutes dodging traffic half-hoping whether to get the cops involved or not had they noticed, I finally noticed the same black SUV with tinted windows and a couple of bullet holes on it.

As I got closer to them, the SUV probably guessed that the truck was me as it started driving faster. The guy in the back passenger seat leaned out the window and started firing at me. Spider-web-like cracks appeared on the windshield of the truck as I lowered my head a bit and started swerving to try and dodge the bullets and cars at the same time.

Seeing how risky this plan was, I started thinking up another plan. That's when I noticed the street we were driving through as I happened to know a faster route. Deciding to go with this plan, I did my best to control the truck and turned the next corner of the block away from their sights.

• • •

"Did we lose him?" The driver of the SUV said.

"I think so." The one in the passenger seat next to Lucy responded while looking back.

"Who the fuck was that asshole? He gave us more shit than the amount of money we're supposed to get from this job." The driver cursed.

"Well... we could always help ourselves with a little extra 'bonus'." His buddy in the passenger seat smiled lustfully gesturing to Lucy.

Lucy's eyes widened in surprise as she gasped and gave him a frightening and hateful look.

"Hehe well I don't mind a little stress reliever after thi-." The driver said looking back to get a good look at Lucy, but was immediately cut off by his buddy's shout.

"Hey! Look out!" He shouted and pointed at the front.

That's when they noticed a familiar truck as it rolled up at the intersection perpendicular right in their way.

"Fuuuck!" The driver screamed and tried to slam on the brakes but was too late as the car slammed onto the side of the truck at top speed, causing a massive dent on the side of the cargo truck.