Cold-Blooded and Diabolical

Zekiah bit his lip when he recalled the day when someone set their house on fire and trapped them inside a room. It was the naughty and mischievous little girl who saved them all, but she was not left unscathed.

He was only seven when the fire incident happened. On that day, he and Zenia were playing in their yard. Their house was just a simple one back then, and they only had few servants. Those servants had been with them since they were young. They treated the servants as part of the Anisen family. Among the servants, he and Zenia loved Nanny Roshe and Uncle Moe the most.

When they were young, he and Zenia had always thought that the servants were like their real aunties and uncles. Since they lived so far away from their parents' relatives, they were not used to having them around. In fact, they rarely visited either side.

"Sister, don't you feel like something's different today?"

"What do you mean? Is it because we are expecting guests today? Father said that they are his important guests, and we are off limits. I wonder who will come?" Zenia grinned from ear to ear, and it gave Zekiah the creeps.

He knew that Zenia was thinking something sinister again.

"Oh no, whatever you're thinking, please don't. Father may spare you, but he won't go easy on me because I'm a boy. Father said that boys will turn into men, and we should be disciplined well while young."

"Really? Father doesn't tell me anything."

"You're a girl! That's why Father does not let you go through that training as punishment." Zekiah proudly declared.

Zenia smacked him on the head. "You're saying that now? I'm the one who finished all your training. Luckily Uncle Moe could not tell us apart when I'm dressed as you."

"But you enjoyed doing all of those." Zekiah protested as he rubbed the part on his head that Zenia had hit.

"But I let you attend all of the art classes that mother assigned to me because you enjoy doing them too and I don't."

The guests finally arrived. Zenia looked at each of them with admiration. She liked their colorful clothes and fancy hats. Zekiah looked at the faces of the guests and felt like something was off.

The guests were smiling, but it was a kind of smile that gave off an ominous feeling. It was more accurate to say that they were sneering.

"Sister, sister, look at that man. He gave something to the other man."

Zenia looked at the direction that Zekiah pointed, and found nothing wrong.

"You must be seeing things. Everything looks fine to me."

"Zenzen, it's time for your embroidery lesson with your mother. You need to go now." It was Nanny Roshe who came to fetch Zenia.

"Aw, why is it Mother? I can never escape this time." Zenia protested as Nanny Roshe took her hand, and walked together with her.

Zekiah continued observing the men that came. The one with a scar on his left eye noticed Zekiah's gaze. He stopped on his tracks and looked at the little boy. They maintained eye contact for a period of time. He admired the courage of the little boy who seemed to know something.

The man sneered and went on his way. Zekiah looked at his departing back as if engraving the man's image in his memory. Zekiah could tell that the man was not someone trustworthy. He wanted to tell his father, but he was not allowed to go near the place where the guests had gathered.

He went back to his spot and continued playing on his own as he waited for his sister's return. Knowing his mother, his sister wouldn't be returning anytime soon. His brother was with his father to welcome the guests, and no other children were there. He sighed and looked up the sky.

'I wish it would rain.'

"Aw, Mother can I not learn this?" Zenia asked her mother as she held a piece of cloth and a needle with embroidery thread.

"Hush now, why do you complain so much? We have just started and you haven't even poked your cloth with your needle."

Zenia brought the needle up and showed it to her mother. "See this? It's too small. How can I hold it properly?"

"How big do you want it to be?"

"As big as a sword!" Zenia laughed out loud. Zekiah heard her laughter and knew that she could be saying something outrageous to their mother again.

"That's how you want it, then I will tell your Uncle Moe to make a needle as big as a sword so you can use it." Zenia did not expect that her mother would agree.

"Really?"

"Really!"

"Would I be able to poke this small cloth using that kind of needle?"

"It's what you want, you go figure it out."

Beads of sweat began to form on Zenia's back and the side of her face. How could she use such a big needle to embroider?

"M-mother, I take it back. I'm going to use this small needle instead." She flashed an awkward smile.

"Madam, Master is asking for your presence. The guests would like to meet you, the young mistress, and the young master Zekiah." A maidservant informed Renaria.

"Tell my husband that I will just freshen up a bit and change. Go tell Uncle Moe to fetch Zekiah and bring him to Ovid."

Renaria looked at Zenia who was busy poking her cloth. She went to her room to change. When Zenia saw the departing figure of her mother, she placed her work neatly on the side and jumped out of the room. She quickly went to find Zekiah, but Uncle Moe already took him to where Ovid and the guests were.

"Zenzen, change into th…" Renaria looked for Zenia all over the room but couldn't find her.

"Zenia Anisen, come back here at once!" Renaria shouted.

Zenia heard her mother and ran away as fast as she could. She hid inside the hollow of her favorite tree. She was the only who knew that hiding place. Even Zekiah did not know that there was such a tree not far from their yard.

Zenia fell asleep while waiting for someone to fetch her. Suddenly, she smelled something burning. She went out of the tree and saw their burning house. Somehow, she heard Zekiah's cry and knew then that they could be trapped in a room.

She went to their shed to get the ax. Ovid taught them the things that they must do in case of emergencies. It was a good thing that Zenia had been training hard for years. She was way stronger than girls her age.

The fire was already big when she reached the room. The door was locked outside and she did not hesitate to use the ax to open the lock. She had no idea what happened to her father and big brother. It should be easy for them to open the door.

Clang!

Zenia hit the lock with the ax, she hoped to break it. Suddenly, a hot iron fell on her left shoulder.

"Ahhh!" Renaria heard Zenia's heart-wrenching cry and knew that something must have happened to her little girl.

Clang!

"Ahhh!"

Clang!

Each time Zenia would raise her arm to strike the lock, she would let out a cry. The hot iron burnt the skin on her left shoulder and the skin peeled off. Her flesh was already exposed and the heat made it worse.

"Zenzen, save yourself. Don't mind us anymore." Renaria was pleading to her daughter to leave.

She knew that all the servants were dead and there was no one around to help them. Ovid miscalculated and thought that he could always keep his family safe, and choose the secluded area for a place of residence.

Zenia tried her best not to cry anymore. The fire was beginning to toast half of her back, but she continued hacking the lock.

"Mother, I'm almost there. I'm okay."

Renaria cried silently. She could hear the muffled cry of her daughter, and she knew that Zenia was enduring so much pain. Renaria looked helplessly at Ovid who was knocked unconscious by their guests. Zander had no strength left after he tried to fight all the men on his own.

"Zenzen go away from the door. I will try to kick it." Zenia did as she was told and Renaria used all of her strength to kick open the door.

Zenia felt relieved when she finally saw her mother's face.

"Mother…" It was all that Zenia had muttered before she dropped to the ground, face down.

Renaria saw that almost half of Zenia's back was burnt. Tears kept rolling when she saw the exposed flesh of her daughter's left shoulder. The brothers saw it all, and they swore not to let anything bad to happen to Zenia again. They would protect her with all their strength and power.

Ovid finally regained his consciousness and saw Zenia lying on the ground as Renaria scooped her up. Ovid never felt so helpless as he watched Renaria turned to him and smiled while tears kept rolling down her cheeks. She bobbed her head and ran away from the burning house while holding Zenia. Ovid took the two boys in his arms as they escaped from the hellish nightmare.

* * * * *

The family moved to a bigger property. Among the servants, only Uncle Moe survived. Someone knocked him out and thought that he was already dead. They left him by the stream.

The family gathered the remains of the servants and gave them a proper burial. Uncle Moe bid goodbye to the Anisens. He was guilt-ridden for what happened to the other servants, even though he too was a victim.

In the following years, Ovid and Zander tracked down everyone who was involved in the fire incident. They killed them all, except the leader of the assassins. They also tried their best to find the thing that could remove Zenia's scar. They just stopped when Zenia told them that it was more than enough and she was not ashamed of her scar.

They were able to settle peacefully in their new home, but Ovid no longer allowed guests in their manor. Zekiah was blaming himself for not telling his father about his opinion regarding the man with a scar on his left eye. He kept blaming himself for what happened to Zenia.

He read different books about swordsmanship and fighting. He began training in secret. He didn't want his family to know about his plan. He knew that the leader of the assassins was the man with a scar on his left eye. He commissioned someone to trace that man and report his activities. His hard work paid off when he finally learned the whereabouts of the man.

A day after his eighteenth birthday, Zekiah paid Old Moe a visit in the morning and commissioned him to forge a weapon. Old Moe did not question Zekiah's design but was puzzled. The edge of the sword was serrated and could easily turn blunt. The sword was meant for cutting the flesh. It was indeed a unique design.

As soon as the sun had set, Zekiah went to a place – alone. He hid behind a haw tree and waited patiently. After two hours, a familiar figure appeared. The moon was shining brightly and Zekiah saw the scar on the man's left eye. It was indeed the same man.

"How are you living these past few years?" Zekiah suddenly appeared from behind the tree.

The man seemed to be expecting Zekiah. He looked much older and his good eye lacked the usual menacing look.

"I know you will come after me someday. You have to understand that I had no other choice."

"For someone who's about to die, you're unusually calm."

The man gave Zekiah a weak smile. "I have sinned greatly. You don't know how despicable I've felt when I learned that a young girl tried to save her burning family and suffered so much. It reminded me of my own daughter who died saving us from the fire."

Tears rolled down the man's cheeks, but Zekiah remained unmoved.

He sneered. "You're telling me this to pity you? The burnt mark is still imprinted on my sister's body. She tried not to shout even though she was in so much pain. She was only a little girl."

The raging anger soon took over Zekiah's whole being. The incident seemed to be happening all over again. He could clearly hear Zenia's muffled cry and see the exposed burnt flesh on her body.

Zekiah closed his eyes for a moment and when he opened them he slashed the man in front of him without hesitation. He did not give the man a chance to make a move. He continued cutting him with his serrated blade until it became blunt. The loud cry of the man broke the silence of the night.

Zekiah got irritated and cut off the man's tongue. He continued hacking and cutting the body of the man who was too weak and too numb to feel the pain.

"Ahh!" Zekiah shouted as tears fell from his eyes.

All the frustrations that he felt and his hatred for the man immediately flowed like a river. He couldn't control himself. He was still hacking the man when Ovid found him.

"Zekiah!" Ovid called his son's name and stopped him from what he was doing.

"Father…" Zekiah recognized Ovid. But when Ovid looked at his son, he was nothing but an empty shell. "He's the one who made sister suffer so much."

"I know. That's enough Zekiah, let us go home." Ovid tried his best to sound calm, even though there was a raging fire in his heart. The man hurt his daughter from years ago and he was still able to inflict emotional and psychological trauma on his youngest child.

Zekiah was covered in the man's blood as Ovid took him home. Ovid and Zekiah kept everything to themselves and vowed that they would take the secret to their grave.