Flashback from the Future III

"*Sigh*, She is finally asleep now" said Lia as she sighed and she walked down the stairs, she had just tucked Joy in, and she was exhausted, this was not how she imagined that she would spend her night, she was in bed sleeping, and now suddenly all this happened.

"Dom…" called Lia as she walked into the living room and she saw him, sitting on the red armchair, with an extremely blank expression on his face.

"Dom… please talk to me" said Lia as tears dropped from her eyes.

"What happened??" said Lia as she just stood there, she needed an explanation, she had tried to be calm, but she just could not, and Dom was not helping the matter at all by keeping quiet.

"Dom… you cannot just sit there, and look so quiet" said Lia.

"What happened to Natasha?? What happened to my best friend??" asked Lia as she raised her voice, she needed answers, how could Natasha just die like that??She had just seen her yesterday.

"I don't know" said Dom as tears dropped from his eyes, sure he and Natasha were not on good terms, but he never wished for her to die, she was still his wife, and the mother of his daughter, now… now she was gone all of a sudden.

"What do you mean you don't know??" asked Lia.

"Wasn't she supposed to be home??" asked Lia as she cried.

"When I got back home, I didn't see her in bed, I thought that maybe she had finally decided to leave me alone, and I went to bed, the next thing I know I receive a call from Peter… and…. And…." said Dom as he could not say it, he would not believe that Natasha was dead.

"What was she even doing in the dark forest at this time??" asked Lia as she was in pain, her friend… her best friend, was now gone.

"I don't know, believe me, If I knew things were going to turn out like this, I would have gone and looked for her when I didn't see her in my room" said Dom as he cried, nothing else mattered anymore, not what she did against him, not how obsessed she was with him, none of that mattered right now, if he could bring her back he would, she did not deserve to die like this, no one deserved to die like this in cold murder.

"Who would even want to kill her???? Oh Natasha, what did you get yourself into?" asked Lia as she cried, this was too much…. Just too much.

"Peter said that he will investigate this, and he will get to the bottom of this" said Dom as he wiped his tears, no matter how much he hated Natasha, he still loved her… as his friend, she had always been his friend, they had grown up together, all of them had.

"Whoever did this has to pay" said Lia with anger, this was injustice.

"I agree with you there" said Dom, he needed to be strong… he needed to be strong for his daughter, because she had just lost her mother, and she loved her mother more than anyone else in this world, his princess was greatly affected by this, and he had to show that he was strong, so she could be too.

"Poor Joy, she… she was so devastated" said Lia as she could not help but to shed tears, the desperation of Joy's face just hurt her so much, no child deserved for their mother to die, and much more less for them to find out in such a horrible way.

"If I had known that things would be this serious, I would have insisted that she stay home" said Dom as he blamed himself, but he just could not leave her in the house alone, Alfred had gone on a leave, and well Michael, Charlie and Nine were not home then, so he had no other choice than to take her along with him.

"Don't blame yourself Dom" said Lia as she sniffed and she wiped away her tears, this was the worst night of her life.

"How am I going to tell Grandfather this??" asked Dom, he was overwhelmed with many things, guilt, sorrow, fear and how was he going to explain to his Grandfather that Natasha, who he was supposed to take care of, had gone just like that??

"Dom I… *Sigh*, We need to let him know, the longer we keep it from him, the worse he will react" said Lia, she knew how Ernest was, and he would blame them even more for not telling him as soon as they found out.

"You are right… but it's late now, I can't tell him now, I will go to the estate and tell him tomorrow" said Dom as he sighed and he shook his head, it would be even more crushing for his Grandfather than anyone else.

"Alright" said Lia as she sniffed.

"And we need to tell Uncle Larry as well… he… he deserves to know" said Lia as she rubbed her teary eyes.

"No… we cannot…" said Dom as he refused immediately, he could not bring himself to tell Larry.

"Dom, you cannot say that, she was his daughter, and if we don't tell him… he will go on living a lie" said Lia as she explained, she knew how Dom was feeling, but he needed to be truthful now, because no one deserved to be lied to.

"*Sigh*" said Dom as he sighed, he could not do that, he could not tell Larry that his only daughter was now gone, it would break his heart.

"Fine, you are right, but I am not going to tell him" said Dom as he just could not do it.

"He would take the news better from an elder, so Grandfather would be in the best place to tell him" said Dom.

"Alright, fine, you have a good point" said Lia.

"And what about Joy?" asked Lia.

"I will call the school and tell them that she needs a few days off" said Dom as to him the most important thing was his daughter's wellbeing.

"Should I call Lulu or…?" asked Lia as she sniffed.

"Yes, call Lulu, Joy would be happy to see her" said Dom.

"Alright" said Lia.

"Thank you for being here Lia" said Dom as he looked at Lia and he smiled sadly, once he heard the news, the only person he could think of to call at that time was Lia.

"You don't need to thank me, what are friend for?" asked Lia as she smiled and she sniffed.

"What happened?? I got your call" said Michael as he quickly rushed into the living room.

"Oh Michael, I am so glad that you are here" said Lia as she sighed and she walked to hug Michael who was just standing there in utter confusion.

"What is going on? You sounded so devastated on the phone" said Michael as once he had received Lia's call in the middle of the night he had rushed back here while Nine and Charlie stayed behind.

"It's Natasha" said Dom as he sighed and Michael looked at Dom.

"What happened to Natasha?" asked Michael as he eyed Dom.

"She's gone" said Lia as she let go of Michael and Michael looked down at her.

"What do you mean she's gone?" asked Michael as he looked at Lia.

"We don't know what happened… but the Police called, and well…. She…she's dead" said Lia as she broke into tears, she could not say that Natasha was gone so easily.

"What do you mean dead??" asked Michael as he could not understand anything, he had confusion written all over his face, and as he looked at Dom, he knew that this was no joke.

"Dom, what happened, what are you two saying??" asked Michael.

"Michael… she's gone" said Dom as he looked at Michael and Michael was speechless, he did not know what to say, all he could hear was Lia's crying, and Dom's grim, sad face, this was impossible, how could Natasha be dead how?? She never deserved to die.

"What happened??" asked Michael but this time his voice came out a bit cracked.

"We don't know, but the Police called us, they found her in the forest… she was murdered" said Lia as she cried and she hugged Michael.

"Who… who killed her??" asked Michael as in that moment tears began to drop from his eyes as well.

"We don't know anything at all" said Lia as she sobbed even more and Michael just let the tears drop from his eyes, this could not be, Natasha could not be gone just like that, she did not deserve such a death.

"Dom, Dom" said Michael as he looked at Dom with his tear filled eyes.

"Michael... I'm sorry" said Dom as that was all he could say, he did not know what else to say, this was like a dream, a horrible nightmare that he so much wanted to wake up from, he wanted to wake up and see Natasha right beside him, like she always used to be… but… his hopes were wrong.