Trauma, Back Home

Jay walked up to Jean and Ley. 

With a concerned voice, he asked, "You two, how are you feeling now?"

Looking up to him, they didn't answer immediately. 

After a while, Jean was the first one to open her mouth and speak. 

"Well… to be honest, I still feel scared, brother."

"I feel insecure with the surroundings and it feels like another bad guy might just appear from out of nowhere."

Jean lowered her head with a jittery look. 

After seeing her speak, Ley also didn't keep her feelings to herself anymore. 

She said, "I am the same. I don't know, but I just feel anxious right now. I feel like someone around might be staring at me…"

After saying that, Ley went silent. 

Seeing the reaction of the two, Jay felt distressed. 

But just then, another loud explosion happened from inside the mall. 

BOOM!

The floor to window glass on the right side of the third floor of the mall shattered. 

Shatter! 

Debris flew all over near the surroundings of the mall and strong hot wind flew by.

"Ahh!!"

People screamed from surprise at the sudden explosion. 

Jay even saw Jean and Ley scream with startled and frightened looks on their faces.

The two of them ducked down, with extreme fear covering their faces.

Jay hurriedly hugged the two of them, covering them with his arms. 

"It's okay, it's okay. We're safe here, don't be afraid."

Jay comforted them, caressing their backs like an adult consoling kids.

While calming down the two, Jay turned his head to the mall and saw the damage to it. 

Fire caught the right side of the mall's third floor, burning it fiercely.

Thankfully, the current location of them is already a distance away from the mall and the debris from the broken glass didn't reach them.

However, after seeing what just happened, Jay knew that they needed to get out of here immediately. 

'If more terrorists appeared and targeted all of us here who's outside, we won't be able to do anything to them.'

Thinking of that, Jay shift his gaze to his parents and said, 

"Mom, Dad, I think it's best if we leave here now!"

Hearing his words, his mother and father whose eyes were still on the burning fire on the mall immediately turned their eyes back to him. 

Then without hesitation, the two of them nodded. 

"You're right, Son. Let's hurry up and get out of here. It's so dangerous here!"

His mother said with fear in her voice.

At the agreement of the two parents, the five of them left the place. 

Jay helped his sister and Ley as they walked because their legs were still shaking from fear. 

At the same time, he took out his phone and booked a ride on a car-hailing service called "Safe Ride".

Actually, Jay also has the 'Drive-in' app on his phone. It was a very popular app and is number one in terms of car-hailing service companies. 

However, with the events that just happened this morning, Jay can't really put his trust in them that's why he booked on 'Safe Ride' this time. 

After waiting for less than five minutes, a black car stopped on the side of the road not far from them and at the same time, a notification sounded from Jay's phone.

Looking at his phone, Jay raised his head and looked at the plate number of the black car.

After seeing that it matched with the one on the app, he said, 

"The car is here guys, let's go."

Leading his family, they stopped in front of the black Toyoto SUV. 

The window of the car lowered and the driver inside looked at them. 

"Mr. Jay Mendez?"

The driver asked. 

Nodding, Jay said, "Yes, that's me."

After the confirmation, the driver opened the car door and Jay entered with the others. 

After the door was closed, the car started moving. 

Jay sat on the passenger seat while the others sat behind the car. 

Throughout the whole time, everyone was silent. 

Each of them with their own thoughts running in their minds. 

After experiencing what just happened at the mall, the mood of everyone is actually pretty complicated at this moment. 

Even after they got out of the mall, the situation around them was still pretty tense, not giving them time to think about things. 

But now that they are already away from the dangerous place, their minds are starting to calm down. 

They finally have the time to process all the things that they've been through and feel glad that they managed to safely leave that place. 

… 

The journey back home wasn't that long. 

15 minutes later, they arrived near their house. 

To avoid having to walk those steep stone steps, Jay pinned the destination at the top where he found his friends earlier. 

After paying the driver through the app, Jay and the others stepped out of the car. 

Without them, the car soon left and disappeared from their view. 

In silence, Jay and the others walked and finally arrived at their house. 

Going inside, Jay's parents, Jean, and Ley, sat down on the wooden sofa. 

Standing on the side, Jay looked at them and asked,

"How are you all feeling now?"

At his question, his father seemed to want to say something but after a few moments of silence, he just sighed and looked down. 

It was his wife, Jay's mother, who spoke up at this time. 

"Honestly, Son, I'm still scared right now. After experiencing something like that, I don't think I will be able to go outside our house without feeling afraid."

Jay nodded understandingly as he listened to his mother's words. 

For a while, Jay's mother continued letting out her feelings and in the end, tears fell out of her eyes.

Jay's father immediately consoled her, caressing her back. Excusing themselves, he led his wife inside their room to calm her down.

Seeing that, Jean also stood up and said, "I will go to the room as well, Brother."

With that said, Jean left, leaving only Jay and Ley in the living room.