Red Princess

Extra Chapter - From a Father to his Daughter

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Raydon pointed the tip of his gun to my head.

"How long did you think you could evade me, Red Phoenix?"

My eyes darted left and right, my mind weaving up n number of escape routes from the building. I really shouldn't have decided to take up overtime today.

"My brain can process the same number of escape routes that you can, and also ways to block them all. It's pointless. Surrender!" He barked at me.

The sound of a child's giggle reverberated through the silence of the dark cabin. I glanced at my phone that was lying on the table, and the screen lit up with my daughter's and wife's faces. They were calling me, and Alice's laughter was set as my custom ringtone for them.

The sound gave me the moment of distraction I needed to dive in his direction and yank the gun off his hand to point it at his head instead.

My child had saved me yet again. She truly was God's blessing to my tainted self.

"You can't flee; we have the place surrounded."

It was time to redeem myself, to right some wrongs. Perhaps my child was like a second chance provided to me by the almighty.

"Aren't you curious about Laila?"

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"Da-Dad, please don't go..." she managed to speak past the flurry of tears on her face. My lips curled up in a nervous smile as I tried to console her. It was her first day of school, and I had insisted to Lily that I wanted to be the one to drop her. I stood there, embarrassed among all the other moms, wondering what to do. If Lily was there, she would have simply scolded her, and Alice would have shut up. But I didn't have the heart to even raise my voice at her. If ever I did in the past, she would always cry a bucket full of tears, getting me an earful from her mother.

"Da-Da..."

"Alice... It's going to be alright." I tried to loosen her grip on my hand, but she held on to me like a drowning person holding on to a plank in the middle of the sea.

"N-No don't go, please! I want you to stay here with me!" she cried, tightening her hold on my arm, making me flinch. To be gifted with such strength, she surely was the daughter of the Red Phoenix.

"Alice, look, I am going to be standing right over there..." Yeah, there goes one of my casual leaves... "You can look at me whenever you wish to."

"You'll leave as soon as I let go, I know!"

It was a mixed feeling. I did want my kid to grow up to be strong, but at the same time, it made me feel flattered that I was her safest place in this world, that she trusted me unconditionally, depended on me. I didn't know how to explain it, but it was like a flicker of warmth in a cold desert.

"I am not going anywhere, I promise."

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"What are you talking about, Daddy?"

"Alice Reed, you are going to listen to your father right now!" I growled, and she shuddered away from me. This was the first time ever I frowned at her. I never meant to. But she was my priority. The Order got to my Lily, I couldn't let them take away my Alice too.

"Dad-Daddy... but... let me just...at least.."

My heart ached. She was barely thirteen. I couldn't expect her to act mature at that age. But for some reason, she understood me. She did continue to sob but at the same time packed her and her brother's stuff as quickly as she could and prepared to move out. I didn't know whether to feel proud of her or feel guilty. Lily and I had managed to raise a strong child, and now I was certain that if ever came a time when I wouldn't be around, she had enough strength to look after both herself and her brother. She was prepared for the world, and my heart filled up.

She managed to look after us for all these years. People said I was both a father and mother figure in the family, but the truth was she had taken over Lily's role in the family. No matter how much Alex may deny it, I always noticed the strength he drew at a glimpse of her, and as for me, if it weren't for her, I couldn't have survived Lily's departure. She was my pride. I need not worry anymore. However, at the same time, my heart sank at the thought that my kid didn't need me anymore. She was self-sufficient, independent, a reliable person that everyone around her trusted. Even I did.

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"Dad, please don't go. I still need you." I heard her faint voice. I was aware of my surroundings, the hospital room, the voices, the people who visited, but I couldn't respond. But her voice... Her voice was all the medicine I needed to recover and wake up again. I felt her tightly hold on to my arm just like her first day of school, and at that moment, I knew I could even defeat Death itself to come back to her. I was glad she was safe. I was happy that I was still the person who protected her.

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I signed my name at the bottom of the sheet, folded it and inserted it into an envelope.

"Who are you even writing to at this point?" Seydon asked me, his hands crossed and his back resting against the wall of the speed-post office. This kid really didn't know how to be thankful to the person who saved him.

"You guys still have the tradition to write letters to your loved ones in case of death, right?"

That piqued his interest as he raised an eyebrow and glanced at me. "You just posted two envelopes. Who are you writing for?"

I smiled and raised my right hand's index finger up to my lips and mumbled, "A secret."

In loving memory of my dear father, who departed on 19th Oct 2021. May his soul rest in peace.

On a hiatus until further notice.

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Edit: I am back to continuing the story, fellas! More energised than before! Thank you everyone for the support this far!