6 The last of Us

I

He has no one left but the twins, whom he will protect fiercely more than ever now that their mother had been murdered. How could it be? Who could it be? What is his mother's past? Why her? Why did she not answer him all this time? Why are they hiding all their life? Why did the murderer left them alive?

"Mother, what are you not telling me?"

His eyes heating to form tears, even saying her name brought him pain. He looked at the amulet hanging across his chest. After finishing his fits of mourning for his mother, he began to feel angry about her, why was she so secretive? He tried to piece all the things he was confused about. He slumped on the chair and sighed as he tried to calm what he feels, he looked towards the twins sleeping on the bed not far from him. They were temporarily residing in a safe house. He didn't care if he was under the police's custody or of the girl named Lysa. There's another time to give gratitude.

II

He got a piece of paper and pen to try and piece what he ignored over the years. He searched his memories, wiped the tears off his cheeks, and began to write. Maleva always warned him to never take the amulet off his neck, for protection she says. But from what? She never really answered him and tends to dance around the subject. The salt spread around the house, the fearful prayers, numerous beads and rosaries hanged from every corner. She always was fearful when the sun sets, and even when they were younger she'd make sure that they would be inside the house before dusk. She would waste money on sacks of salt and spread it in thick lines around the house, the locks and all those locks for only two doors. The gates too had numerous locks and before going to bed, despite his age, Maleva would gather them to pray. And since his father forsook them, they never knew any family member that they could go to for visit. There were only the three of them. Sigmund never remembered his encounter with the stranger he came across on the road that night. Nor did he remember anything that came after that, how he got home, or what it did to him that he still made his way in one piece. All he remembered was he was walk ing from the construction site and arriving at the pharmacy to make some purchase, nothing in between. He rose from his seat and reached for the day's newspaper lying above the coffee table.

"24 dead in last seven days, all victims found in the same gruesome position."

he repeated the headlines. He scanned to the article's page. He red that the crime scenes were all dead ends, no possible evidence of the culprit could be found and that the victims were found dead in the same position his mother had died. Chest ripped open with the heart gone, and bled to dry by the opened wrists. He covered his mouth with his palm.

"Mother.. I'm so sorry, Mother. Oh who did this to you." He said, his voice shaking. He threw the newspaper aside and sat himself on the edge of the bed. Feeling tired and exhausted, He wiped his eyes and laid his back beside his siblings.

III

Sigmund woke and saw nothing but pure darkness. He rubbed his eyes and tried to see again, but his sight was as clear as a blind man. He closed and opened his eyes repeatedly but the darkness never went away. Added to that, he also noticed that he was alone. He started to think of the situation but the rising panic in his heart was making it difficult for him to think clearly. He waved his hand fervently in all directions trying to make sense of his surroundings, then he started calling the name of her younger siblings but neither of them answered. Where are they? He asked in his mind. He tried calling them again but silence was his only response. He pushed himself from the bed and tried to grab something to guide him as he walked.

"Where are they?" He gasped. His eyes were wide but there was nothing to be seen. "Boris! Martha!... Children!" He screamed their names. "Boris! Martha!! Answer me!" He tried to walk faster but feared that he would stumble. "Boris!! Marth-"

"Psssst." A voice suddenly hissed in the dark.

Sigmund cocked his head in surprise. "Who's that? Show yourself!"

He tried to walk faster as he could, grabbing anything to guide his steps. The voice hissed again, but the sound only brought Sigmund fear that he decided not to ask for who could it be. The thought that he is alone with a total stranger in the darkness brought a new set of fright and panic. He decided to let go of his one hand from the walls and started to jog, to where he does not know.

"Come to me."

the voice said softly and inviting. Yet its tone failed to hide the hostility Sigmund had sensed. Sigmund started to pant harder, his steps accelerating to almost a run. Yet as he ran to the direction he knew nothing of, the voice calling to him started to grow louder. He immediately decided to run opposite the direction where the voice came from. He started running faster, catching his breath with every stride of his steps. He never felt so in danger, so exposed and so vulnerable in all his life knowing he is in the same place with someone whose voice he has never heard before. Yet as he was increasingly frightened, the stranger started to feel more familiar to him, as if he had met him a long time ago, in the same situation. Scared and running for his life.

"Tell me your name. I know where they are, I know they are safe. Let me take you to them."

said the voice slowly. Almost to a whisper. All his instincts warned him to never answer, never voice one single word to the stranger that was inviting him. Sigmund found that one thing was clear, that as he was blind to everything, so is the stranger to him. It also kept asking for his name. Sigmund felt that whoever this was, also felt his presence but it could not pinpoint where he was. The stranger also kept tempting him with the twins as if it knew of them. Everything became silent for awhile. But Sigmund kept running despite his sudden blindness. The feeling of fear, that feeling that his life is in danger, never goes away no matter how fast or how long he ran. Then he heard it. A chuckle, then a maniacal laughter, giddy and excited, made his skin crawl up to the back of his neck. Sigmund tried to shout in his mind, the name of the four God fathers, to save him from wherever hell he was in, but mysteriously he could not remember their names and the laughter grew increasingly louder. Then Sigmund screamed as the laughter was suddenly right behind him. Then the stranger yelled.

"YOUR NAME!!!"

a brief flash of a face jolted Sigmund to wake. He rose from the bed, panting and sweating profusely. Lysa's hands caressing his shoulders. The twins behind her looking terrified. "You were shuddering, It seems that you were having a nightmare." Lysa exclaimed. Sigmund looked at them with frightened eyes. Yet the only thing he could see in his mind was the face of the one he was with in his dream. The stranger he met on the road.

IV

Sigmund donned his jacket and wiped the dust off it's shoulders. "I need to go back to the house." Sigmund said, his eyes trailing along Lysa's curvy body.

"You know that as a police detective I could not allow you to do that." commanded Lysa. "I did not ask for permission, there is something I must do." he said looking at the twins huddled together. They haven't spoken much since that day. They did not deserve this, he said to himself.

"Have you seen the papers?" he asked glumly.

"There's another report of death in the fourth district, total death count should be twenty eight now." said Lysa as she caressed the back of her neck. Her eyes swollen of eye bags, her hair was messy and tied into a ponytail. Sigmund looked at her breasts while she briefly closed her eyes, it looked larger under her white shirt. He can feel the lust seething in him. How long has it been? "I haven't been pressured like this before, not in my whole career." She sighed. "Most ACPD detectives have been pulled out and been tasked into focusing in cracking this case, our case, me and Damian Rhodes. Deaths pile up faster than we could investigate. But each case is the same, and all were dead ends. But one thing is certain, as long this serial killer is at large, bodies would continue to pile up. Fast." she moved and seated herself. "There hasn't been any case like-"

"I need to go detective, I need to look at something inside our home." Sigmund said ignoring her statement. "Could you, uh, stay a bit? Only until I get back? I need someone here for my siblings."

Lysa looked at Sigmund with steady eyes. "Do I look like a fucking babysitter to you? You're so lucky we provided you safe custody, do not abuse our generosity, had you have any other family you would not even be here." she said sternly.

Sigmund sighed heavily. "I apologize, I'm sorry detective. I do not mean to impose; I'm just desperate is all. If it's too much for you guys, we'll just pack up and leave." he said calmly.

"You were working in construction are you not?" Lysa asked.

"Yes, ma'am." He answered. "You're too smart to be one, you know that? Yet so naive. We can't just let you leave. You're still under observation and we'd like to keep you close for investigation since you were the first victims of this slaughter." she said, and regretted her last word as soon as her lips had voiced them. "I'm sorry, Sigmund. It was not my intent to cause any offense, it was just, and all this has been-" she said softly.

"None taken, detective. My mother's death weighed heavy, but the twins. I need to do this for them, I need to go back. Hopefully,This might help in your investigation as well." he said. "In what way?" she asked immediately.

Sigmund shrugged. "I cannot discuss this right now, detective. I need to go. Will you help with the kids? I'll be gone two hours at most. But probably I'll be back before then. You could use a rest." She looked at the twins, the boy combing his twin's hair.

She sighed. "Okay. Be back here within two hours, I need to be somewhere else." she turned to look at Sigmund but he was already gone.

V

Sigmund's breath stopped and his jaw tensed as he could still smell Maleva's scent across the whole of her room. His eyes misty and wet. The scent that calmed him whenever he felt fearful when he was a boy, the scent that put him to a deep restful sleep whenever he was tired, and the scent that made him feel how much he was loved. He grabbed their family photo that fell off the bedside table. It was their picture; Maleva holding the twins from the left, grinning and Sigmund the last on the right. The twins were younger during this time. Sigmund seated himself on the bed, his tears dripping on the picture frame. He threw the photo beside him and broke down. He bent, gripped his head with both hands and cried harder until his chest tightened and ached. Tears continued to fall as he wailed his pain; the sting of regret was maddening at the thought that he hadn't made her feel how much he truly loves her, he wanted to hold her hand and say I love you very much but it was too late. He wanted all in the world to kiss her on her forehead, yet he was cold to her all these years.

"Mom, I'm sorry. Mother, I'm so sorry. I'd give anything to get you back, Mom. I'd give everything to take fully what you've suffered, you don't deserve this! I love you, forgive me!" he shouted. "It was Him, that devil in the road! That night! He took you away!!" Despite his grief he began to shudder and feel cold. Mixed with the pain he was feeling, his eyes sore yet tears continue to roll down his cheeks. The pain of loss came with no warning, and it was too much to lose someone so sudden and without notice.

V

After Sigmund calmed down he collected himself, and after more than half an hour of searching inside Maleva's room, Sigmund pulled a small crumpled parchment with numbers and initials written on it. The way it was hidden, shows that their mother was really desperate at hiding things. She lived in fear all her life. The paper was hidden inside another crumpled paper placed inside a small jar with its cap held firmly by a thick thread. The jar was hidden inside the crack at the corner wall of her room. Sigmund had to move the antique closet before he had seen the unusual crack.

"Lagerton phone-booth. One at Harvestad City. 334-337-468 I.O.D" he repeated the writings.

He folded it into a smaller size and tucked it underneath his jacket. He shivered as he recalled the night he encountered the demon. He didn't wear the amulet during that time. And his mother was killed that night as well, and she was hiding them all along until the amulet hasn't been worn. Was she hiding them from this demon? What could be the connection? Was this personal? But how? And why didn't this demon killed him and the twins while he's already at it? There were others killed like his mother, for what purpose? His mind was all over the place, in utter chaos and piled with questions only Maleva could have answered. He always believed that these things existed, but he never thought that he could experience it in his life. He needed to be brave despite the fear he was feeling, for the only family he has left. He bowed his head and uttered a prayer. "Fathers of heaven, help me in my darkest hour."

VI

"Detective, I need you immediately in Fritz Corner Street. Another incident has been reported, I need you here right now." Rhodes said. Lysa breathed heavily when the caller hanged up.

Lysa looked out the window, it was almost evening and Sigmund hadn't returned yet. he put the phone back and walked up to the worrying twins. "He'll be here, my love. He's not going anywhere, okay?" she said to the girl, Martha, while wiping the small tear from her eyes. "He'll be back; in fact I could feel that he's already near." She said trying to cheer them up. She stood up and patted the dog on the head. "You know, my loves. You're very lucky to have such a protector; you know that dogs are pure creatures of love? They would do everything for their owner. They will never judge you, or forsake you, they will always be here for you. And, if you are away, they will wait for you patiently and endlessly, their whole lives if they have too, just to be with you again." she said to distract them.

Boris looked at her with a blank expression. He looked to her as if he knew what she was doing. The boy is smart beyond his years, the girl hasn't left her shell yet, which is normal, she surmised. There was a knock on the door. Lysa pressed the back of her index finger on her lips while looking at the twins. She got up and pulled her gun out and readied. She peeked through the spyglass. She calmed herself and opened.

"Where have you been? You said two hours? Get in here before someone sees you, idiot!" He looked at Lysa without a word and walked to his siblings. "I'm sorry, guys. Brother's a bit late, but I was safe." He said affectionately.

Then he turned. "Lysa, I think I knew what killed my mother."