19 The Hateful Heart (2)

Akuro stood at the large barn doors. He felt a dreadful sense of familiarity of this. It reminded him of how he sat, waiting in the car, unable to move even though he knew he was running out of time. But this time... this time, he thought, he could control the situation. This time he had a chance.

He opened the doors then, and as the slowly swung open he saw four men, including his father, standing there waiting for him. Hope sat on the ground tied to a post. She appeared unharmed for the most part. And then his sight flashed as he fell to the ground, his ears ringing.

"Akuro!" He heard Hope cry, but it was distant, like an echo. Coming out of his gaze, Akuro began to be able to see again. There was fifth man there who had been waiting for him and had punched him in the face as soon as he opened the doors. One of the men by Hope came forward and helped the man who'd punched Akuro pick him up by the arms, raising him and holding him on his knees by his father's feet.

"Akuro, there you are. I've been waiting for you. Been well?" His dad spoke.

Akuro scowled up at him. "Let... her go!" He growled through his busted lip.

His father flared at him, then kicked him in the chin with his boot. Akuro's ears ran again and he tasted blood in his mouth.

"Don't tell me what to do, you piece of shit. I do whatever I want." Jackson's eyes widened. "I am above the law, ya hear? And you... you're a worthless, pathetic weakling!"

Akuro glanced at Hope, tears running down her face. Rage filled his chest. He wished that he had the strength to break free of the men holding him, he wanted the strength to kill his father in that moment. He tried to move and break free of the men, earning him a crack over his head, and then he felt something cold pressed against his cheek.

"NO!" Hope screamed, and then Akuro realized it was a gun. Sweat ran down Akuro's head as he shook.

"What do you want.." he growled.

Jackson smiled. "Your pain. You need to realize something, boy." He leaned low, putting his face near Akuro's. "You are worthless. Hear me? Worthless. And it's your fault Alina's dead! It should've been you, not her! You're nothing but a waste of life, you don't deserve shit, especially not this girl! You don't deserve to be happy while she is dead."

Akuro bowed his head. He hated his father... but he couldn't help but feel these words hit him. He couldn't help but believe them.

"And so." Jackson smiled maniacally, "I'm taking everything you love."

The gun at Akuro's cheek shifted then and time seemed to slow as it pointed at Hope. Akuro tried to move, but he could not, as as the gun fired, the sound echoed in his ear as the bullet flew through Hopes chest. Her eyes turned to Akuro, and in her last breath, she said something, but Akuro couldn't hear her through the ring in his ears. And then her body went limp. Akuro watched helplessly as blood pooled around her body. Silence fell across the barn.

Then Jackson let out a laugh, which turned Akuro's hate to rage, and his rage turned to pure hatred. He let out a cry of anger and swung his head into one of the men behind him, knocking him off, then he spun and crashed his elbow against the other man's head. When he was free he leapt at the man holding the gun, forced it from his hands and cracked it over his head again and again. Then the other man who had been holding him tackled Akuro to the ground. As they wrestled in the dirt, akuro managed to get the gun's barrel against the man's chest. He pulled the trigger once. Then twice. Then three times before the man collapsed on his side.

Akuro stood, blood covering his clothes, cold, dead eyes glaring his father down, who only looked at him with contempt.

Akuro raised the gun at his father and the other two men moved to attack him, but Jackson waved for them to stop.

"Well?" His father said calmly. "Are going to shoot me? Or are you too scared. Look at your little girly friend." He pointed at Hopes corpse. "You are taking out your rage on me..." he looked at Akuro coldly, "when in the end this is all because of you. It's all your fault. You killed your sister. And you killed your lover. You killed your hope, you killed your heart. You're nothing but a worthless killer."

Akuro let out a cry of rage as he pulled the trigger then. His father did not even flinch. No bullet was ever shot. The gun was out of ammo. Akuro collapsed onto his knees, dropping the gun. He felt lost, broken. He'd lost everything. And that's what his father wanted.

Jackson walked up and looked down at his son with only hate. "What a waste." He spoke as his fist crashed into Akuro's face, knocking him to the ground. But he didn't care anymore. He just lay there, staring at Hope's lifeless body as his own father kicked him repeatedly, over and over. But this physical was nothing compared to the shattering pain in his chest. And then he realized... if his father killed him... he wouldn't care... he didn't care about anything anymore. He didn't want to.

He thought back to the bridge where he'd first met Hope, and he thought, maybe, maybe he should've jumped that day. Maybe he should've died then, rather than feel this pain now. Tears streaked down his face as his father continued to kick him while he was down. But he didn't care.

After a few minutes of kicking his own son, Jackson stopped, brushing his hand through his hair. "I'm not gonna kill you." He spoke, breathing heavily. "I'm gonna let you live in misery and suffering. That's all I want for you, after all it's what you deserve. Let's go boys."

Jackson and his men left then, and the barn went silent. Akuro did not move. In his mind he was just one of the corpses on the ground, a soulless body, a hollow shell. He had nothing left. He just lay there in pain, staring into Hope's lifeless face. He stayed like this for over three hours before he finally got to his feet. He turned his back on the barn and slowly limped out of the building and outside.

He threw his head back, stumbling, as he looked up at the sky. He began to cry once more, his pain only growing as he realized it was the same night sky as that night. Hope's voice echoed in his head on repeat like a broken vinyl, looping the same verses again and again. Then he bowed his head. He limped to his car, opening the door, and getting into the driver seat. He sat there, staring at the steering wheel as he did before he went to see his sister.

And then he burst, screaming at the top of his lungs hitting the steering wheel again and again before hunching forward and crying.

That night Akuro attempted to drive, to the place he had made so many memories, the place he'd found Hope. But then he was hit by a drunk driver. That night Akuro died. Weeks later, Akuro was blamed for Hope's death. Everyone believed he'd gone insane after the death of his sister and had killed Hope. Jackson had come to the authorities saying he came with some friends to try and stop, Akuro, but had failed.

This is the life of Akuro Zaizen.

This is his pain.