The Achamo Family

--7 Years Ago--

--Buusu's Perspective--

"Mom! Look at what I made!" I said. I held up the colored-in picture of her and me and put it near our refrigerator.

Her eyes were fixated on the radio, listening to how a girl named 'Ali Asterio' was being praised for her actions so long ago in defending MTG and HTG. That's where I wanted to go when I was older!

"Why can't you do that?!" Mom said. Her eyes left the radio and she swatted the paper out of my hand and put a clump of my long, black hair in her hands. She put my head close to the radio and I heard it loop on that name... 'Ali Asterio'. It repeated the name around fifteen times before she picked it up and threw it at the wall. All small components in the radio burst around and scattered across the floor.

"I wouldn't hurt you if you were better." Mom said, slapping me. I fell to the ground next to the components of the radio, hearing that name over and over again... 'Asterio'...

"Did you like the drawing? I made it to cheer you up..." I said, through my tears. Mom was just upset, this was normal for her, she would snap out of it and go back to her normal self.

At least her hits didn't hurt as Dad's hits did.

I picked up the long broom by our counter and tried to sweep up the pieces, but Mom grabbed it out of my hand and hit me in the face with it. I took the hit while standing and put my hand on my nose, as I felt blood dripping out of it.

"YOU SIT DOWN WHEN I HIT YOU!" She yelled at me, slamming the broom into my face again. I hit the floor with the back of my head first and was sprawled out.

I didn't really remember much, but when I got up, I was tucked into bed with the lights out. My face was perfectly fine, it didn't hurt anymore!

I slowly slid out from under the covers and picked up my pencil again, grabbing a piece of paper out of my tattered closet and a broken dresser inside of it. I only had three pieces left... I should go get more soon.

I wanted to draw Mom and me again, but all I could remember was that name... 'Asterio'... time and time again it repeated in my mind. I drew it on the paper.

A... S... T... E... R... I... O... that's how I spell it, right?

I knew how it sounded at least. When I looked at it, I was reminded of the times Mom hit me and crumpled up the paper, throwing it away and running back under the covers.

It hurts me when she does that... why does she do that to me...? I just want her to like my drawings... I need to get better, so good that she stops in her tracks and doesn't hit me. I need to get better!

I moved the covers off of my head again and went over to my desk, but I heard yelling in the kitchen... I peeked my head through the door so Mom wouldn't find me and hit me again when I saw Mom and Dad arguing about something.

"I'm not going to hit her! Are you insane you crazy bitch?!" Dad yelled out to Mom. He sounded angry... really angry...

"You will hit her, or else I'll ---- her." Mom said. I've never heard that word before.

"You're insane... ABSOLUTELY INSANE!" Dad yelled out, putting his hand on her collar and pushing her against the counter.

"A normal child won't help me beat her, you deadbeat shitface!" Mom yelled out. She summoned something with her power and cut Dad's face, right across his nose. It looked like he hurt him a lot, as he grabbed his face and reached for the counter behind him to prop himself up.

"I'll gut you time and time again, and then I'll fulfill my promise and kill her." Mom said.

There was that word again...

"Kill me... don't take it out on Boo! She doesn't deserve that... and she doesn't deserve the shit mother you are!" Dad yelled out to Mom on the kitchen floor.

"FUCK YOU! You don't understand... I need somebody! I need her to kill my mortal enemy... I need her power, and she won't be allowed to disobey me. You wouldn't understand. You won't ever have to, either." Mom said. She dragged the knife in her hand through Dad's stomach. Red and pink guts spilled out, which looked like some of the animals in the forest...

My eyes were stuck open as I peeked through the door and watched as my dad's eyes began to turn glossy. He turned his head to look up at me and horror filled his eyes.

"RUN! BOO!" He screamed louder than he ever had before.

Mom's one eye turned toward me and Dad stuck his fingers into both of her eye sockets. She screamed out in pain and while struggling, ended up severing both of his arms before kicking him in the face and walking toward the front door. I put my hands on it and tried to turn it as hard as possible, but I couldn't get it! How can I get this open?!

"Hey, Ali, are you sure this is the house she was staying at?" I heard from outside. Mom went dead silent and looked over at me, darting over and covering my mouth with her hand as hard as possible. I screamed as loudly as I could, and the slight gaze I spotted through the window paralyzed me in fear.

Mom dropped me on a broken piece of glass by the kitchen window and darted out the back toward the forest. I screamed out in even more pain as the glass pierced my skin and hurt me so badly that I couldn't even cry properly.

Blood was pouring out of me! I tried to cover it, but every time I touched the piece of glass, it ached in my body more and more!

The door was kicked off of the hinges that were holding it and a nice-looking man entered the room. He turned his head away from Dad, who was dead on the kitchen floor.

"Just look toward me, honey. My lovely wife is going to fix you right up, okay?" He said to me, putting my head on his shoulders. I couldn't help but cry as the piece of glass was torn from me. Luckily, the pain soon stopped as a smaller hand than the man who was holding me was placed on my back. I didn't feel like everything hurt anymore... everything felt... good...

"Who are you guys...?" I asked them. I tried to turn my head toward my dad again, but the man holding me stopped me.

"It's okay, don't look over there. What's your name, honey? Do you know what you're doing here?" The man asked me again.

"I'm Boo... but my full name is Buusu Achamo," I told him slowly. He nodded with a slight smile and carried me out of the house while the girl he was with stayed in the house.

"Thank you... for helping me... is my dad going to be okay?" I asked him. He looked to the side while I asked him and I could see tears well up in his eyes.

"No... but your dad was a hero. He called for us. Your dad saved your life, isn't that pretty cool? Your dad is like a superhero!" He told me with a smile.

"So... I won't see Dad anymore?" I asked with wide eyes, looking back into the house.

"You'll be able to see him all you would like... when I was your age, my parents taught me this trick. My grandma died when I was younger and they said when people die during the night, you can look up in the sky and find them. Look at that! That set of stars right there. That bright one, and that bright one. It kind of looks like a person, doesn't it?" He asked me.

"Yeah! I see it. Dad does look like that! So, he's just up there now?" I asked the man. With a slight nod, he agreed, pointing to even more stars.

"You know what, honey. Let's cover our ears for a moment." He said to me. He put his hands over my hands, which were now blocking my ears. Still, I could clearly hear what was being said by the girl he was with.

"PROVIDENCE! YOU FUCKING COWARD! YOU GET YOUR ASS OVER HERE AND SUFFER THE CONSEQUENCES! I SWEAR TO YOU! I WILL TRAVEL TO THE ENDS OF THE EARTH AND MURDER YOU IN COLD BLOOD BEFORE I LET YOU KILL ANOTHER PERSON!" I heard from his wife.

I looked up at the man who was smiling down at me, and through my blocked ears, I asked him, "What's your name?" He looked at me in surprise, then chuckled a little.

"You don't know me? That's probably for the best. I can be your hero, okay? I'm okay with not being anything else to you... well listen, do you have any friends around that we can bring you to?" The man asked me again.

"I have friends over there I play with..." I pointed down the street, over next to Mitra's house. He was my best friend.

"Am I going there to play with him?" I asked the man again, and he lightly laughed.

"No, hopefully, it'll be a sleepover! And, if you're lucky, it might never end. Come on, let's go, okay?" He said to me. I nodded and smiled while following his path.