TWELVE YEARS AGO
It was the last week of October. The night was colder than any other before. The sky was darkened with ash colored clouds and the ground was it's damp and foggy reflection.
Fourteen year old Sam was very excited for his fifteenth birthday, unaware of the events that were going to change his life forever.
"Woah mom, I am gonna be fifteen in next few hours and soon I'll go to highschool....Wow." He said, reclining on the sofa, that was placed in the centre of a medium sized living room with black tiled floor and peach colored walls.
"Ofcourse honey. You're growing up so fast." Replied, his mother, Susan Williams, a beautiful middle aged lady with teak brown hair and bluish green eyes.
Sam glided by her mother, baking his favourite chocolate cake, and hugged her from behind, "You always work so hard for me mom. One day I am gonna make you proud." She turned, after wiping her hands in the apron, she placed her palms on his cheeks and placed a soft kiss on his forehead, "I know you will." She said and resumed her work.
By and by, time passed they were done with their dinner and it was around eleven in the night. Sam couldn't sleep cause of the excitement and since it was sunday, the next day, they were enjoying the night together, talking about her work life at Margaret's Daycare, a place where working couple usually drop their little kids so that they can be taken care off in their absence. It was a descent job as she was easily able to pay their bills and since Sam was on a scholarship in a quite renowned middle school, she didn't have to worry about his fees for the time being.
Their chat carried on for a while with Sam telling her a few stories of famous kids of his middle school and soon, the clock hit 12:00 AM.
"Happy Birthday, my love."
"Thank you, mom. I love you." She smiled, "I love you too." Sam cut the cake and celebrated his fifteenth birthday night with his mother. They were about to go back to their bedrooms when they heard a knock at the door. They frowned.
"Who could it be so late ?" Susan muttered to herself.
"Maybe him....now-a days, whenever he comes, this is his only time." They heard the knock again. Cautiously, she neared the door and peeked out of the peep hole. Indeed, it was Ryan Miller, Sam's father. A man with disheveled light brown hair, hazel brown eyes and stoic body.
"Where's he ?" He questioned, in a deep voice, just as she opened the door. A look of hurt crossed her face upon looking at the man she loves selflessly and still couldn't be with anymore.
"Sam." She called out slowly and stepped aside for him to enter. He walked inside the house and saw Sam standing by a staircase, that lead up to his room.
"I got you a present, son." He said, forwarding a small box, wrapped in gift wrap.
"I don't want it. Go away."
"Sam...." Susan scolded.
"It's okay. I'll leave. I am sorry, son. He said. "I know you cannot forgive me, son but I still hope you might." After keeping the present on the table, he walked out.
"Ryan...." Susan breathed out. "He is your dad." She said to Sam. "He left us." Sam countered while she ran after her husband in the cruel darkness of night.
Sam plummeted down on a stair, bringing his knees to his chest, he hid his face in between as hot tears wet his face.
After sometime, he slowly stood up, walking towards the table, he kneeled down infront of the present. For a moment, he contemplated whether he should open it or not and finally decided to take a look. Wiping off his tears, he unwrapped it and found a small photo album along with an envelope there in.
As he flipped through the pages, he saw many photographs. To begin with there were pictures of him and Susan in the hospital in which he was hardly a day old or two. Then, there were pictures of his first, second, third and many other birthdays, there were photos of their christmas celebrations, picnics and so much more. Anything that all those photos carried in common was that they looked like a happy family, a family who made so many beautiful memories together.
New tears pricked his eyes. He grabbed the envelope and pulled out the letter, that said, "I am sorry, son. I did a huge mistake and it's too late to mend it. Now, I can't get out of the swamp, I put my feet in. Please forgive me. I am sorry." Tears rolled down his cheeks, he firmly gripped the letter and tore it into pieces, then slumped down, crying.
More time passed and Susan didn't return. He was starting to get worried when a loud bang resonated throughout the street.
His head jerked up, a cold wave embalmed him, raising the hairs on the back of his neck. And then there was another bang. Terror sucked every ounce of breath from his mouth.
He slowly walked closer to the door, and peeped out when he saw fallen bodies of his parents and a bike, disappearing in the misty night.
"Mom..." He cried, running towards her. He kneeled down infront of her and cried, "Mom...mom.." His arms went under her body, and he realised something wet on his hand, blood.
Color drained from his face, his eyes looked around and he saw a pistol thrown near her body. Involuntarily, his hands grabbed it and then threw it back. He moved to his father, who was now a dead man.
He slouched down in between them, crying and screaming.
By the time police had arrived at the scene......
PRESENT TIME
"I was charged for the murder of my parents and was imprisoned. Those officers tried but I never accepted their false accusation and told them about my father's contact with the gangsters.
"After losing all his savings in an investment, my father nearly lost it. He became a drunkard and I don't know when or how he came in contact with those gangsters. After my mom came to know about it, she begged him to leave it all but instead.....he left us. She was broken completely and I couldn't do anything to help her. After sometime, he did come to us occasionally and my mother couldn't stop him but I never forgave him for what pain he put her through. At the end, he didn't just broke her but also killed her."
"I was in the jail for six months, when those officers realised that my words weren't all lies. Thereafter, I was sent to juvenile. It wasn't as if I was not torn apart that I became famous as 'the most notorious kid' who killed his own parents due to bad temper issues. No kid wanted to befriend me and those teachers and officers never said it, but it was visible in their eyes that they were either scared of me or despised me."
"There wasn't a day, I never missed my mom, her soothing words, her loving arms but she was gone so far away from me. Five years later, when I was released, I tried...I tried, Chloe,...to move ahead and start fresh but this world...it never let me. And I was shattered, so broken that killing myself seemed an easy escape from all this pain." Chloe's hold around him tightened. "But destiny had something else planned for me, and one day when I decided to jump off a cliff, out of now where, Markus came and saved me. Later, he introduced me to this place......and here, I changed completely, from a coward weak boy to a strong man, they were all afraid off"
"And after doing some research, I did find out the name behind my mom's murder.......It was him, Clara Luciano's husband, Antonio Forelli, a rich and feared mob boss."
"You know what I wanted to become, Chloe ?" He asked, wiping away her tears.
"No...." She whispered.
"A Rehab counsellor....I saw my parents falling apart. I wanted to help others, so that they don't......but I broke myself, just like my father."
After speaking his heart out, Sam leaned back and closed his eyes.
They fell in silence and the only sound was roaring in her head, audible to no one but herself.
She did came to know about his demons but the cost was so high, he looked so lost and tired that it was breaking her heart.
Mustering up all the courage she had in herself, she slowly leaned forward and placed her lips softly over his.
At first, he was caught by surprise and it took him a few seconds to respond, and once he did, it became a kiss of passion, it was as if their million thoughts had found a way to communicate.
"They call me 'devil', Chloe and for the first time, I really like it." He whispered, rubbing her flushed nose with his.
"I am always gonna be here for you." She said, securely wrapping her arms around his neck.
Thereafter, they were silent for a long while.
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