Pinwheel| A Seventeen FF

Stranger

Reader's POV:

The girl with her beautiful fluttering hair sat on her bed, facing the open balcony. The moon was shining brightly. She doesn't usually wear white, but it feels like white is all that can cause her peace tonight. The serenity didn't rest for long as she heard knocks on her door.

"Please come in. The door is open." She announced and waited for the person to enter. She wasn't surprised when her father entered the door. She calmly observed his actions as he roamed his eyes around the room before entering the balcony. He gestured for her to follow and waited patiently for her to react.

The girl immediately stood up and followed. She leaned forward at the railing, mimicking the man beside her. "Are you ready for the camp?" He asked her. " Yeah." She replied lazily. Her father was not dumb enough to ignore the uncertainty in his daughter's voice.

"What's on your mind, Somi?" He asked genuinely. She spent some time dwelling on the question before replying with a question that had bothered her for some time.

"Why did you adopt me?" Her dad paused to look at her. A spark of hesitation coated his face but he composed himself.

"Why would you ask that all of a sudden?" His voice was firm but internally, he panicked. The girl is his biggest weapon. He can't get years of his hard work wasted because of her teenage questions.

"I am just curious." She looked at him straight in the eye. Her ash-grey eyes struck his brown ones and she could see him breaking in sweat under the cool breeze. She raised her brows at his nervousness but decided not to think about it.

"Your family abandoned you. You looked as helpless and lost as I was. I lost my son and my wife. So, I decided to adopt you. Maybe that way, we both can live while sharing the sorrow." He answered with half honesty. 

"Did I help you then?"She asked again. As if her mind kept telling her that everything was a lie and she wanted to confirm things before concluding. She had seen someone who resembled her and she wanted to tell herself otherwise but the connection she felt knows no boundary to stop. She felt like she knew him. The one in the driver's seat yesterday.

"Yes, a lot. I have been able to live contently watching both my daughters grow into beautiful women." He sounded like a contented and proud father. She nodded and asked the last question she had saved for him.

"Then why do you want to revenge kill?" She said without looking at him. If her father was living properly, If he was contented with her and her sister, then why did he need to avenge his late wife's and son's death? 

His father gently held his daughter's shoulder and made her face him. He looked dead in her eyes and he looked furious. She was startled at first but she calmed when she knew that the rage was not for her. It was him reminiscing.

"You are precious my daughter, but he was precious to me too. He was the youngest. Imagine a boy as young as eight years old getting loads of bullets lodged into his tiny body. Imagine his parents watching the scene and not being able to help. I cannot just forget it. It keeps haunting me that the people who did this to my son are living peacefully and their sons are growing well, living life to the fullest." He removed his hands from her shoulders. Moon was still shining brightly.

His eyes were red and tears flowed down but he was not pleading. There was a shift in his demeanor and his veins became visible. He was consumed with the feeling of vengeance and greed. He wanted destruction and that is the only way his soul will attain peace. Her daughter identified the symptoms very well. She knew what was coming next and she braced herself for the impact.

"Promise me, daughter. Promise me that your bullet will pierce his heart right in front of me. That you will take revenge for your brother's and mother's death. PROMISE ME!!" He shook her up making her frightened. Her father may care for her but he loses his sanity whenever she questions the death of his son and wife. He behaves like a madman. She hastily nodded and hissed when his fingers freed her. There were fingerprints left on her pale skin where he held her. She was scared of him. No matter if she brace or not, he would never be less scary when in his other personality.