The End

Death is many things when viewed from the perspective of mankind or rather from the perspective of mortals, for some it is the object of their greatest fear, for others a sweet relief to finally end their pain and sufferings, some view it as an end while others as a new beginning.

For me death was a sweet relief since it allowed me an escape from all the pain I was going through but it didn't allow me to escape the sufferings because death was also a new beginning for me. I am Austin Markiv and I am dead. I don't know exactly how much time has passed since I died but from the information that I gathered I am in the ghost realm or the realm of the undead but the residents here know it by the name "Vespera".

The people or rather the ghosts present here stated that I hold a desire or an attachment to the living. Which in my case is true since all I want is to ensure the wellbeing of my children after all they don't have anyone to look after them. To watch them grow up, to watch them get happily married, play with my grandchildren. Is it so much to ask for? I must kill everyone who was involved in my death, yes I must kill them, they will die .. 

Pardon me for my sudden outburst, you see the negative emotions are amplified here thus leading to the outburst. On that note let me tell you about Vespera in more detail. 

Vespera has existed since time immemorial and will continue existing as long as creatures with unfulfilled desires exist. The ghost realm has no sun or moon, it's skies though are blood red. It looks like the people are still living in the medieval era, cities surrounded by walls, nobility residing in the centre of the city, houses made of wood, lively streets, carriages being drawn by animals. This was the trend present in the majority of the cities.

So it got me wondering as to how it was possible to develop a place where negative emotions are amplified easily into such a lawful zone? Well, no matter how barbaric the people are, one law holds true that you bow down before those who are stronger than you.

In this case it was to a total of five people. The five strongest warriors of that time period came together and formed an alliance to bring peace and stability to the realm. And what followed was a society slowly taking shape. But still strength of five people warrants only a certain amount of control. After some time there will come those who will try to revolt because peace can't be everlasting.

Thus, a system was introduced similar to the one found in the Roman Colosseum but the difference being that the winner would get rewarded. Thus Colosseum were built in all of the cities to ensure the peacefulness was present outside of the colosseums. And right now I am also headed towards the Colosseum to have my first battle in my new life. But before that let me tell you how I ended up here.

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"Today's weather seems awful. It looks like it will rain a lot along with a lot of thunder. Let's close all the windows and watch a movie." I said to my eldest son, Ragnar, while bringing some snacks to go along with the movie. Ragnar who was about to enter his teens was taller than other boys of his age but not that tall that it made him seem like a giant. His chocolate coloured hairs along with his light blue eyes sometimes made him stand apart.

Because of the rain it had become quite dark outside and to go along with the atmosphere, I decided that we should watch a horror movie. 

With the decision made I turned towards Joshua, my second and youngest son. " Joshua, today daddy is going to play a movie that you will absolutely like." While saying this I was grinning like a fool which made Joshua alert. Joshua who was eight years old stood at 3 foot 7. He wasn't that tall for his age. Just like Ragnar he also had chocolate coloured hair but his eyes carried a shade of black. Joshua fell on the shy end and as a result his personality was bit closed off to others.

With that I swiftly embraced him and he yelped like a chicken who had just fallen into a wolf's trap. He looked at me with alligator's tears in his eyes which just made my grin wider. 

After some struggle Joshua resigned to his fate and just sat there since escape wasn't a possibility anymore.

Ragnar just watched all this happen with a smile. This was my family. Just me and my 2 children. Their mother died while giving birth to Joshua. Thus I try to make up to them by playing the role of both the parents. It was tough in the beginning but now I am able to manage. Due to this Ragnar become a matured kid despite his small age. He had to stay at home and take care of Joshua when I was at work. Sometimes I feel a pang in my heart when I see Ragnar helping me around the house when he should spend his time with other kids his age.

"Now let's get the movie started." I exclaimed in a voice full of vigor for a moment even drowning the voice of the rain outside.

This sent both of the boys in a fit of laughter.

Being a little embarrassed I decided to immediately play the movie. The movie was about a home haunted by a djinn, who decided to possess the daughter of the family to resurrect itself in the girl's body. And unlike normal movies in this one the djinn had acquired itself a body but it was of a friend of the girl who was used by the girls family as a scapegoat.

The movie was suspenseful till the end. Even I got scared for a few scenes. Speaking of Ragnar and Joshua, well both of them just decided that sleep was a better option than facing the horror of the movie. 

I chuckled after seeing them and decided to take them to their room to put them to bed. 

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I was woken up in the middle of night by the sound of glassware shattering. At first I thought it might be Joshua or Ragnar and decided to ignore it. 

But afterwards I heard someone scolding in a shushed voice. I immediately drew the conclusion that someone had broken into our house. 

I got up from the bed and went to my wardrobe. There laid my shotgun. I slowly crept towards the room of the children to check their safety. After opening the door of their room and finding them sleeping soundly I locked the door of their room from the outside.

Then, I dialled 911 to inform the police about the presence of the robbers. 

I disconnected the call once they had got the confirmation of my location. After that I left my room and came into the passageway connecting our rooms with the staircase. From there I peeked just enough to see what the robbers were up to.

I wasn't able to see all of their activity but I was able to see them going through all the stuff in my house. Rummaging through all the stuff trying to take all the things that have any value.

Once they were done they gathered in the hall.

There one of the masked men started giving instructions, "Alright guys let's go upstairs but remember we just tie them up get the money and get the fuck out of this place. And also no harming the residents and no personal names."

With that said they started making their way upwards. 

While they were coming upstairs I was starting to panic. I didn't know what to do. It was either giving my money to the robbers or trying to somehow draw enough time by fighting it out with robbers so that the police could catch them.

Both the options had their pros and cons. I was running out of time and still couldn't decide what I had to do. If I was to describe what I was going through right now it would be like solving a math problem at a supercomputer speed. So many thoughts were going through my head it was becoming hard to focus.

In the end I thought it was better to try and hold it out until the cops arrive. After all even if I was to get into a direct confrontation I wouldn't die due to the instructions given earlier. Thus I quickly ran towards my bedroom and hid behind the door but kept it open just enough for me to see the passageway.

While I ran towards my room the robbers who were climbing the stairs got alerted of my presence due to the sound of my footsteps. The leader ( the masked guy giving instructions) signalled to others about my presence and told them to tread carefully.

After reaching the passage way the leader seeing the door of my room open spoke in a loud voice, " We don't want to do harm anyone in this house. So just give up all of your money and we will leave."

Hearing this I couldn't help but frown. I yelled back, "How is taking all my money not gonna do me any harm. You might as well kill me as that would at least let be a better option than being financially cripple."

I knew what I said didn't make any sense and that this commotion was going to wake my kids up but I couldn't care more. All I wanted was to stall for time.

Hearing my response the leader yelled again," Listen, we will give you 2 minutes if you surrender all of your cash to me we will leave immediately. Otherwise we would have to get it forcefully. And don't blame me if you somehow get injured in the process."

His words made me falter for a moment. I began thinking. After all what good is money to a dead person. But the faces of Joshua and Ragnar on the streets in tattered clothes strengthened my resolve.

I shouted back, "If you leave right now I will not call the cops. If you insist on staying I will dial the number immediately and tell them about this robbery. It is your call." Who was I kidding I had already informed them.

The mentioning of cops made the robbers hesitant. One of them said, "Boss is it really worth it taking this guys money. Like is he even carrying that much money with him."

This made me glad thinking that they didn't know about all the money I had been stocking since my wife's death.

"Oh, he does alright. He has stored so much money that it could take care of all our needs for the next few months", said the boss while laughing.

This made my heart crash. I hadn't told anyone about this money since it was black money. I then begun recounting who had come to my home in recent days. The image of a certain engineer who came to repair the air conditioning flashed in my mind.

But now I had a clue about the identity of the thieves. But then came another shock.

"If you give me your money now I swear I will not harm your kids.And with you hiding in your room we can easily enter their room before you can even come out" said the leader.

He then signaled one of his men to make way towards the kids room.

With this I Instantly knew what I had to do. I swung the door open and fired the gun in the direction of the robber who was about to open the door.

I purposefully aimed at his knee. This sent the man shouting hysterically due to the pain.

Seeing their fellow robbers yelling so much made the other robbers back down because they hadn't thought about getting injured. Some of them even thinking about running back.

But right then the boss said, "What are you getting afraid for. He is alone and there is three of us." This stopped them from backing and stay in their position.

But then I was able to hear my saving grace. It was the sound of police siren. The sound was distant but I knew the cops would arrive in few minutes.

Like me the robbers were also able to hear the sound of siren but unlike me their hear sunk because they knew they were screwed.

In that instant the boss fired in my direction. As I heard the sound of the gunfire I felt my world shift. I was able to see them running in my bedroom and destroying all the furniture in search of money.

But right now I couldn't care more about that money. I was regretting my decision so much. I felt stupid. Money can always be earned again but a life once lost cannot be earned again.

As I was dying all I could only see was the faces of my kids from how they looked as babies and how they looked as they grew up. Tears started forming in my eyes as I knew I was going to leave my kids as well.

A stupid thought formed in my head that at least the insurance money would help Joshua and Ragnar. I was glad and sad at the same time. Glad because Ragnar ans Josh wouldn't have to see me die in front of their eyes. But sad because I couldn't see their faces one last time.

As my consciousness was fading away I could see the cops from the corner of my eyes. I was glad that I had at least managed to hold out until the cops arrived and that I managed to save the kids. With that my consciousness slipped away with my face adorning a smile.