Double Assignment

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Goosebumps crept along my skin as I took in the all too familiar, empty yard lying desolate in front of me. I'd been here a thousand times, but I'd never gotten cozy with the scene. The fires were bigger and brighter, the stale stench of blood heavy in the air. In fact, I was highly repulsed by it, but somehow and every time, I always walked right back into it.

I took a cursory glance at my surroundings and suppressed a shudder. With no knowledge of where my feet were headed, I trudged to a huge iron barrel and ducked behind it, my heart thundering in my rib cage.

"Drop your knife, Richard!" A voice boomed behind the barrel as my father's figure came into sight, squaring his shoulders with a man whose face I'd etched into my mind over the years." We both know how this is going to end."

"Of course. " Dad stood his ground, not flinching as the man stepped dangerously close. His black cloak spread around him like a dark aura while his face was shielded by a hoodie. " One of us dies."

"And I think we both know who that is." The cloaked man aimed a pistol at dad's head." Let's get this over with old man."

No! I swallowed a huge lump in my throat, blood rushing to my ears. I won't let history repeat itself. Not again.

"You wouldn't dare." Dad's voice snapped me back to the scene unfolding before me." You're a coward."

"That's it." The hooded figure seethed, a finger resting on the trigger of the pistol." Goodnight and say hello to Jesus for me will you?"

"Noooo." I cried as my feet moved on their own accord, pushing me out of my hiding spot and into the not-so-friendly exchange between my dad and his enemy.

I dropped to the ground with a loud thud, more pain shooting up my ribs. Despite it all, my eyes searched for the man whose life I'd always so desperately want to save. The burly man was no longer in sight, while my father stood close to me, his eyes glazed over.

"Dad!" I yelled, covering my pain with as much enthusiasm I could muster. I reached out to him and he stepped back immediately, his expression stoic. "Dad?"

"You," his index finger pointed towards me." You'll pay."

"What?" I whispered, my face scrunching up in pain. My rib cage was basically on fire, but I refused to look at it, not even a glance. I hated the sight of blood. Especially mine... "What are you talking about?"

"You failed me." He reached for his back pocket, something silvery glinting under the moonlight." You failed me."

"Dad no." I wheezed, coughing up mouthfuls of blood." It's me, Vivi."

"You failed me!" He yelled and an intense jolt of pain shot up my chest. In an instant, I felt an unnatural chill seep through me as my body felt limp and my eyes blackening before me.

"No!" I jerked up from the plush comfort of my bed, my right hand pressing over my left rib while the other flew to my butterfly pendant that never left my neck no matter what.

Inhaling as much oxygen as I could to calm my nerves, I took a glance at my surroundings and my heartbeats seemed to go back to normal. Dark blue walls with tiny pink butterflies surrounded my medium-sized room. A huge dresser and nightstand occupied one side of the room while standing far off it was my trusty bookshelf. A bean bag chair lounged lazily under the window, with a small round table to complement it. The wind rustled my satin curtain, allowing a gush of cold wind to rush into the room. The moon shed its light on my butterfly journal on the table, which reminded me of the case I was trying to crack the night before.

Before the nightmare. The same one I'd been getting for the past thirteen years.....

It was always the same dream but sometimes, some things would change. Either I ended up shooting dad with my very own hands or vice versa, one thing was constant. The burning hatred in his eyes and his words that had become an unhealthy mantra for me; you failed me...