1 Haunting Past

The bone-chilling breeze of late December nibbled on her bare legs, ruffling her school skirt. The road teeming with cars at day was deathly quiet now.

The minor girl was in her little world unaware of her surrounding.

Her brows were tightly creased together nervously.

Maybe it wasn't a nice idea to intentionally trouble her parents by not returning to her home after school. She was having an unpleasant feeling that something happened making her anxious and regretful. All she wished was for her parents to give in to her demands so she just tried to throw a silly tantrum like how she often did. But maybe this time she had gone a bit far?

'Why did I do this?'

'they would be so worried for me!'

'How could I forget the doctor warned

mommy to not take the stress!'

When the realization hit her hard she started jogging towards the Parvis villa. She needn't do care about grabbing someone's eye who is out to hunt naive and lone preys at this bewitching hour. It was not like they can run amok whithersoever, this was 'The Jade Villas', the most luxurious and secured place in this city. Not any random person can enter this place, doubting the safety was a far cry. But for some weird reasons, she felt wary of her surroundings. She couldn't comprehend, why this place where she had been living for the past 15 years, felt so unsecured. Maybe she was away from the warm and secured embrace of her parents but her gut said otherwise.

Her throat began to tighten and her eyes began to moisten, her heart felt heavy and her palms began to sweat.

She had a sudden urge to see her parents, to hear their voice and to hug them tightly. As soon as she caught sight of her villa from a distance she began running towards it. But soon enough her steps full of vitality came to an abrupt halt.

Her grip on her bag straps loosened. Seeing the once glowing Parvis Villa shrouded in silence and gloom as if it was a haunted house itched at her heart. Not a single light could be seen. she had an ominous feeling that something was wrong.

She ran towards the towering iron gates which were left open as if some abandoned house lied behind it.

Her eyes darted here and there searching for those irresponsible guards. Her anger began to flare up at those useless pricks as she cast a glance over her watch. It was 13 am.

How can they be so reckless when working under the great Parvis? This attitude was unpalatable. She made sure to get them kicked out as she planned to tell on them to her daddy. Nothing came before the security of this house where her precious parents were, especially her frail mother.

Suddenly a smile grazed her lips thinking about her mother. She was just like a petite doll who needed to be protected and Karisa decided to take this responsibility of her father on her shoulders. Her father couldn't help but shake his head at her possessiveness. Even her father sometimes finds himself one step behind her daughter's love for her mommy.

Karisa suddenly came to her senses when something soft tuched her ankles. Her eyes alarmingly shot down to find a black cat there. Her heart suddenly stopped beating.

What caught her off guard wasn't that creepy looking black cat but her footprints.

Even in the darkness of night, she could make out that these were bloody footprints.

A chill ran down her spine as she stepped back a three her bag at the cat.

The car glared at her and meowed like a witch before running away.

Karisa breath was caught on her lungs. Her mind was reeling with the shock and panic after concluding that she wasn't having those ominous feelings for no reason.

She hurriedly followed those bloody footsteps which led to the bushes in the backyard. The

Her mind went blank sewing the bloodbath there. She covered her mouth to suppress her scream.

She didn't know what happens or why this happened but in her entire life, she has never seen such a gruesome sight. Bloody corpses were sprawled here and there.

She couldn't step forward or backwards. She stood rooted to the ground. She clenched her sweaty hands Into tight fist and placed it over her mouth as she sobbed. Tears began to stain her cheeks.

' mommy and daddy!'

As she recalled about her parents, she at once straightened her spine alarmingly. Now when she was back to her senses set could feel eyes in her from all direction. She felt as if she was being watched.

Her instincts couldn't lie. From a young age, she has been training in martial arts to protect her family and thus moulding her into a keen observer.

Without a second thought, she ran towards the entrance to her house. As she ran, her hair tie loosened and fell. Her silky brown hair fluttered in the cold wind and shined under the full moon. She was beautiful just like a flower in her full bloom.

The door was locked from inside. She was certain now that her parents were inside.

And maybe the murderer too...

Slam!

But anxiety got the best of her as she kicked the door with all her might, alarming the lurking shadows in the dark.

Someone might have taken her for someone professional the way she kicked open the door in one second. But in reality, she was just a scared little girl who didn't even notice her skills. She had been learning martial arts since she was seven but never once in all those years she was so good. If the circumstances were different she might have jumped with joy at her accomplishment but it was the last of things set would have cared now.

As the door opened, she at once barged inside. Inside the house was an utter mess. Broken glass shards were scattered here and there, furniture was tumbled apron each other.

A tear escaped her eye as she prayed for the safety of her parents. She searched every room on the ground floor but non one was there. The house was deathly silent.

She ran towards her father study but her steps came to half as soon as she opened the door.

There was no one except a pool of blood.

Documents were sprawled here and there. A half-finished cigarette was lying on the floor as the aftermath of abrupt barging and resisting that happened in this room.

She crouched down and touched the half-dried blood. A person couldn't stay alive after losing this much blood but she stayed adamant that her father and mother must be alive.

They had to be...

For her...

She gripped her skirt with her bloody hands and set stood up.

There was someone behind her...she could feel his breath on her neck.

Just when she was about to turn and attack someone grabbed onto her hair roughly.

"Time is over." The man snickered as he began to drag her out of the room. Karisa had no choice but to be dragged as she struggled to get free. She could hear several feet...there were at least 10 men.

"Let me go to you, bastards!" Karisa screamed in the top of her lungs.

Just then she has spun around and a harsh slap landed on her cheek. The assailant didn'tstop here as he gripped roughly on her hair and slapped her harshly non stop.

The impact was so huge her mind began reeling. Her lips were turned and she coughed blood. But the man didn't stop slapping. It was as if she was his mortal enemy. Just then someone stepped forward and punched the man in his stomach.

"Jack, are you nuts? Boss needs this slut alive!"

Karisa vision blurred from the pain and as she fell on the floor.

She could see someone rushing towards her as he lifted her head from with her hair, patting on her swollen cheeks. Her eyes became heavy as she lost herself to the darkness.

...