70- Origin Of Screams

With a deep respect in my heart, I grew. Life was lovely, beautiful. I had everything a teenager would dream of. I was living the life of dreams like a normal guy. Before I realized, years passed and I was sixteen. It was all fun and games but I had one dream. Surpass Valencia. A wish whose depth I was ignorant to. I couldn't realize the intensity of it. But, one day, I went to show Father my result in which I obviously passed and heard them talking. "I didn't intend to take away his teenage, Melissa. But, his admiration for Valencia had shown me a path." Intrigued, I stopped to listen to what they were talking about. "What path, Albert?" "Valencia's reign proved that there can be a King and judging Sebastian's excitement. He would gladly follow her steps to take the throne." My eyes widened, not expecting Father to recognize my wish finally. "So you want Sebastian to…?" "Yes. If trained well, Sebastian could take the throne of the underworld and become its King." I almost gasped, covering my mouth with felicity. Excited to no extent to hear that. "What about others? Wouldn't they try?" Mother asked, worried about all I could see what the position my ideal had. I was honestly naive, unaware of the worldly filth. "We won't but there was no promise of the future generation. Nathaniel is a good-for-nothing. Sufiyan is no good either, he is from the weakest legion. That left Sebastian and Zaviyaar and I know my son, he could do this." I could feel my chest brimming in encouragement. My confidence boosted to hear the amount of trust Father held in me. "Are.. You sure? Should we wait at least until he is eighteen? I know he wanted to but wanting and having are two different things. Can he bear it?" Mama asked, speaking what I couldn't forget. How I used to be and what I became were entirely different- 'Our son cannot hurt a butterfly, his hands tremble. Hurting an actual human is way too far. Sebastian can't hurt anyone." To which Father replied impassively, "He must." I discarded her worry. I thought I was ready, I thought I could. My excitement suppressed all my other emotions, and my determination overwhelmed other factors. Taking a deep breath, I entered their room, resolved plastered on my features. "I am so sorry for listening to your talks, Father but don't worry, I won't disappoint you. I will take the position Valencia once held." I enunciated, grining, panting from the thought of it. Mother and Father looked at each other in astonishment and returned a sweet smile, bringing me into a hug. They were proud of me. I had faith in myself. Father grinned, patting my head proudly, "I know you can, Son." After talking with my parents, I went to Ruben. He was studying for his test but I sprinted and couldn't use my brakes and ended up bumping into Ruben. I was way too energetic. 'Ow, what?" Ruben frowned but grinning madly I held his arms, astonishing him. 'What? Did Vinnie say yes for the date?" He asked, studying the glee on my face. "No! Father is taking me with him, Ruben. I am so happy!" Laughing, I told him, barely controlling my happiness. "Can you tell me what happens there? I heard they beat up guys there. Even kill them." He asked, almost worried but my happiness didn't allow me to think otherwise. "Nah, why would I kill someone? Don't worry, it must be the way of work. We don't get our hands dirty, we have people for that." Chuckling, I shook my head, pulling away and sitting on his bed. My perception was we would hold the top and let others do the work. I was wrong. "I hope I can be like you and become useful. I couldn't do anything." He sighed, putting his book back. "You didn't have to, Ruben. I can work in your stead too." I giggled, taking his words jokingly, shrugging his talks off. 'You fulfill your dreams. Live however you want. You don't have to follow our footsteps. So even if they hurt people, you don't have to hurt anyone. I would work for you too." Smiling, I showed him a thumbs up to rest assured and give me the weight of his responsibilities as well. Whenever I recall old times, I couldn't recognize this person. It was me. Too much smiling. I smiled way too much. "Really?" Ruben's face glowed to hear that as I nodded, "Yes." "Okay!" The following week, Father took me with him. I expected he would take me to his workplace to show we handle work and the underneath layer but instead, he took me to a hideout. It was dark, dim. It was nothing like how I imagined. Things were gloomy, a strange atmosphere of misery was spreaded everywhere. I knew we were bad people, I knew we weren't counted among the justified ones but the smell of horror gave me a stern reminder that things were not how I imagined them to be. "Sebastian. Today, you are going to take an important step in life. A path of no return." Father began to say but I was too engrossed in the place around me. "It would be a rough path. The deeper you will dive, the darker you will go. Are you ready for it?" He asked, stopping in his tracks, glancing from his shoulder when we stopped outside a door. Swallowing hard, I tried to act bravely and nodded, "Yes, Father." "Then come with me." Pushing the door open, he took me somewhere. We went down the stairs, there was another door and the moment he opened it, a scream reached my ears. Gasping, my steps froze but the painful shouting came but Father took me inside and closed the door quickly. They were torturing a man who was screaming constantly from pain. The place held a smell of death, disgusted, my steps stumbled as I covered my mouth with the amount of blood. "W-what are they doing? He is screaming." I gasped, trying not to throw up from this repulsive smell, failing to ignore the screams, echoing in my mind. "Pain is the most important lesson, Sebastian. It etches fear, the most important component of ruling. Remember what Valencia said? It's not respect, it's fear." 'But- But…" I almost cried, covering my ears, turning my head away. Gasping for air as my head throbbed badly. An unbearable sting traveled in my mind. My head hurt badly. "Didn't you want to follow Valencia's steps? Then bear the sound of it." Growling, Father roughly removed my hands, forcing me to listen to the sound of his screams, his anguish. The clarity of the sound evoked a tear. "Stop his screams, Father… They are making my head hurt. My head is hurting so much." I whispered, pulling his shirt but he didn't listen. If I had stopped back then, I might not have- leave it. "No. You must bear it. You must surpass all of them." He ordered, making me listen and I could bear it. I didn't know Father would put me right at the edge from the start. I thought we were going to take baby steps, not getting right into business. "He is screaming so loudly, Father, make it stop… Please…" Sobbing, I tried to pull away, unable to bear how they were ruthlessly stabbing him, making him bleed. The screech turned my mind into a blur, the booming voice inebriated my mind to the point I became powerless to hear anything else. 'Please, Father…" Whispering, I pleaded and with an unaffected face, recalling Mother's words. She was right after all. I should have waited, I wasn't ready. I couldn't bear the blood or misery. "Then end his breaths to stop him." Ordering, Father gave me the gun and my shaky hands were too weak to hold it, so I dropped the gun. "Don't look at me like that, go ahead and do it." Father frowned, leaving me. I looked at him in disbelief, horrified. "I can't…" Shaking my head, I refused. "Didn't you want to-" Shutting my eyes, I cried, refusing to take a life. That moment broke my dreams, ripped my determination, I was left at nowhere. When the realization of bloodshed I must cause in order to acquire that position- It stopped me.