"𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝘽𝙡𝙤𝙤𝙙𝙮 𝙀𝙡𝙚𝙘𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝘾𝙖𝙢𝙥𝙖𝙞𝙜𝙣"

𝘿𝙖𝙩𝙚: 𝘼𝙪𝙜𝙪𝙨𝙩 25

𝙔𝙚𝙖𝙧: 2013

𝘿𝙖𝙮: 𝙏𝙝𝙪𝙧𝙨𝙙𝙖𝙮

𝙏𝙞𝙢𝙚: 11:01 𝘼.𝙈

𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙥𝙚𝙖𝙠 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙚𝙡𝙚𝙘𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙞𝙨 𝙣𝙤𝙬 𝙪𝙣𝙙𝙚𝙧𝙬𝙖𝙮 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙖 𝙛𝙖𝙢𝙤𝙪𝙨 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙬𝙚𝙡𝙡-𝙠𝙣𝙤𝙬𝙣 𝙛𝙞𝙜𝙪𝙧𝙚'𝙨 𝙣𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙬𝙞𝙙𝙚.

"𝙈𝙖𝙣𝙮 𝙥𝙤𝙨𝙩𝙚𝙧𝙨, 𝙗𝙖𝙣𝙣𝙚𝙧𝙨, 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙨𝙢𝙖𝙡𝙡 𝙧𝙚𝙙 𝙛𝙡𝙖𝙜𝙨 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙂𝙤𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙣𝙤𝙧'𝙨 𝙣𝙖𝙢𝙚 𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙨𝙘𝙖𝙩𝙩𝙚𝙧𝙚𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙧𝙤𝙪𝙜𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙘𝙞𝙩𝙮 𝙤𝙛 𝙑𝙞𝙡𝙙𝙖𝙩𝙖𝙣𝙮𝙖, 𝙖𝙡𝙤𝙣𝙜 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙨𝙩𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙢𝙚𝙧𝙨 𝙪𝙨𝙚𝙙 𝙞𝙣 𝙘𝙖𝙢𝙥𝙖𝙞𝙜𝙣𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙂𝙤𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙣𝙤𝙧'𝙨 𝙢𝙖𝙞𝙣 𝙡𝙚𝙖𝙙𝙚𝙧𝙨𝙝𝙞𝙥 𝙞𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙘𝙞𝙩𝙮."

𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙂𝙤𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙣𝙤𝙧'𝙨 𝙣𝙖𝙢𝙚 𝙬𝙞𝙡𝙡 𝙗𝙚 𝙝𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙙 𝙤𝙣 𝙧𝙖𝙙𝙞𝙤, 𝙩𝙚𝙡𝙚𝙫𝙞𝙨𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙢𝙚𝙙𝙞𝙖 𝙥𝙡𝙖𝙩𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙢𝙨, 𝙚𝙨𝙥𝙚𝙘𝙞𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙮 𝙤𝙣 𝙨𝙤𝙘𝙞𝙖𝙡 𝙣𝙚𝙩𝙬𝙤𝙧𝙠𝙨.

𝙍𝙚𝙥𝙤𝙧𝙩𝙚𝙧'𝙨:"𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙗𝙖𝙩𝙩𝙡𝙚 𝙖𝙢𝙤𝙣𝙜 𝙢𝙖𝙮𝙤𝙧'𝙨 𝙞𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙘𝙖𝙢𝙥𝙖𝙞𝙜𝙣 𝙞𝙨 𝙝𝙚𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙪𝙥, 𝙚𝙨𝙥𝙚𝙘𝙞𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙮 𝙨𝙞𝙣𝙘𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙤𝙨𝙚 𝙬𝙝𝙤 𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙜𝙤𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙝𝙚𝙖𝙙-𝙩𝙤-𝙝𝙚𝙖𝙙 𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙗𝙤𝙩𝙝 𝙬𝙚𝙖𝙡𝙩𝙝𝙮 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙞𝙣𝙛𝙡𝙪𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙞𝙖𝙡."

𝙈𝙚𝙙𝙞𝙖'𝙨 𝙥𝙡𝙖𝙩𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙢'𝙨:"𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙢𝙤𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙖𝙢𝙤𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙥𝙚𝙤𝙥𝙡𝙚 𝙞𝙨 𝙞𝙣𝙩𝙚𝙣𝙨𝙞𝙛𝙮𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙤𝙣 𝙬𝙝𝙤 𝙨𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙡𝙙 𝙬𝙞𝙣 𝙞𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙪𝙥𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙚𝙡𝙚𝙘𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙮𝙚𝙖𝙧, 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙢𝙖𝙣𝙮 𝙨𝙪𝙥𝙥𝙤𝙧𝙩𝙚𝙧𝙨 𝙤𝙛 𝙚𝙖𝙘𝙝 𝙘𝙖𝙣𝙙𝙞𝙙𝙖𝙩𝙚 𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙤𝙪𝙩 𝙩𝙤 𝙨𝙝𝙤𝙬 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙞𝙧 𝙨𝙪𝙥𝙥𝙤𝙧𝙩 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙞𝙧 𝙘𝙝𝙤𝙨𝙚𝙣 𝙘𝙖𝙣𝙙𝙞𝙙𝙖𝙩𝙚'𝙨."

𝙉𝙚𝙬'𝙨-𝙁𝙡𝙖𝙨𝙝:"𝙁𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙘𝙖𝙣𝙙𝙞𝙙𝙖𝙩𝙚𝙨 𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙘𝙪𝙧𝙧𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙡𝙮 𝙨𝙝𝙤𝙬𝙘𝙖𝙨𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙞𝙧 𝙖𝙗𝙞𝙡𝙞𝙩𝙞𝙚𝙨 𝙩𝙤 𝙨𝙝𝙤𝙬 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙥𝙚𝙤𝙥𝙡𝙚 𝙬𝙝𝙮 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙮 𝙨𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙡𝙙 𝙗𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙤𝙣𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙬𝙞𝙣 𝙞𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙪𝙥𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙚𝙡𝙚𝙘𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣. 𝙀𝙖𝙘𝙝 𝙘𝙖𝙣𝙙𝙞𝙙𝙖𝙩𝙚 𝙝𝙖𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙞𝙧 𝙤𝙬𝙣 𝙜𝙞𝙢𝙢𝙞𝙘𝙠𝙨 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙬𝙖𝙮𝙨 𝙩𝙤 𝙘𝙤𝙣𝙫𝙞𝙣𝙘𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙥𝙪𝙗𝙡𝙞𝙘 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙮 𝙨𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙡𝙙 𝙚𝙢𝙚𝙧𝙜𝙚 𝙫𝙞𝙘𝙩𝙤𝙧𝙞𝙤𝙪𝙨 𝙞𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙚𝙡𝙚𝙘𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣. 𝘽𝙖𝙨𝙚𝙙 𝙤𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙨𝙪𝙧𝙫𝙚𝙮 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙑𝙞𝙡𝙙𝙖𝙩𝙖𝙣𝙮𝙖 𝙇𝙚𝙖𝙜𝙪𝙚 𝘼𝙙𝙢𝙞𝙣𝙞𝙨𝙩𝙧𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣, 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚 𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙨𝙩𝙞𝙡𝙡 10% 𝙪𝙣𝙙𝙚𝙘𝙞𝙙𝙚𝙙 𝙫𝙤𝙩𝙚𝙧𝙨, 70% 𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙨𝙪𝙧𝙚 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙞𝙧 𝙘𝙝𝙤𝙞𝙘𝙚, 𝙖𝙣𝙙 20% 𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙨𝙩𝙞𝙡𝙡 𝙪𝙣𝙨𝙪𝙧𝙚 𝙤𝙛 𝙬𝙝𝙤 𝙩𝙤 𝙫𝙤𝙩𝙚 𝙛𝙤𝙧.?

𝙕𝙚𝙧𝙤 𝙋𝙊𝙑.

I was sitting on the large sofa, watching television. I watched as my brother ran for governor, and a sweet smile spread across my face when I saw my brother waving on TV, just like he promised me he would, so I could see him. My brother is a good man, a renowned lawyer in the country, and loving towards the community, especially the people.

Even though I don't know the exact meaning of the word "politician" that I always hear in relation to my brother and his secretary, what I do know is that my brother is involved in it and he does good work defending those in need of help.

I suddenly stood up as my brother's face flashed on the screen again, raising a white flag with "Vote for Klein Vasquez" engraved on it. I furrowed my brow in confusion because I didn't understand the meaning of what I read on the flag my brother was holding. Nevertheless, I was still happy because I saw my brother being like a superhero, just as he told me he would be. "That's my brother!" I shouted, holding a stuffed toy that my brother gave me as a birthday present last week.

Suddenly, reporters approached my brother with microphones in hand, capturing everyone's attention. I was happy to see my brother on TV, even though I wasn't with him.

Reporter 1: "What can you say, Mr. Vasquez, about being the youngest official running for governor?"

Reporter 2: "Aren't you worried about the possibility of losing since your opponents are heavyweight candidates more experienced in the field of politics?"

Reporter 3: "If you win, do you think you can fulfill the role of being a governor in Vildatanya?"

Reporter 4: "What can you say about your competitors in the gubernatorial race and what message do you have for the people of Vildatanya?"

Reporter 5: "Do you have great confidence in yourself that you will emerge victorious as the governor of the city?"

Reporter 6: "Are you ready, Mr. Vasquez, to follow in the footsteps of your father in the field of politics in Vildatanya as governor, just like your late father did?"

Reporter 7: "Are you willing to risk your life if you become the governor of the large city of Vildatanya to protect it from those with malicious intentions? This is a question from the public, Mr. Vasquez."

The questions from the reporters were very confusing, especially since I couldn't understand some of them. But the last question asked to my brother really struck me, especially while I was in front of the large TV screen at our house.

That question may have made me wonder if my brother would also leave me like mom and dad did. I sat down on the floor, feeling overwhelmed by those thoughts.

I whispered to the wind, "𝙒𝙞𝙡𝙡 𝙢𝙮 𝙗𝙧𝙤𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧 Is going to leave me like Mom and Dad? What will I do if that happens?" Suddenly, the tears I had been holding back started flowing, and I found myself crying uncontrollably while looking at the TV screen. My gaze was fixed on my smiling and determined brother facing the camera, waiting for his response to the reporters.

I stopped crying as my brother spoke on TV, facing the camera. "I am not afraid to die for the city that my late father loved and served," he said. "I am ready to defend Vildatanya and die for it. I will not allow harm to come to Vildatanya if I were to win as governor." His courage and dedication were inspiring and heartwarming. I will prove to the city my integrity and sincerity in serving without expecting anything in return. I will show my little sibling that my brother is not just a superhero but also a good person. He smiled at the camera and waved.

I closed the TV and approached the door, trying to reach for the doorknob to open it even though I couldn't quite reach it.

I looked around the dining table to find the nanny and the butler because I was hungry. But as I walked through the mansion's hallway, I saw large photos in picture frames. There was a picture of Dad wearing a Black suit, and the three of us together with Mom. We looked so happy in the photo, with such sweet smiles. My brother and I were seated in front of Mom and Dad, who were standing behind us.

"I remember how happy we were with my parents before, especially when they were still alive, as I looked down the hallway, I saw how dark the path was but there was still light because of the lamp."

"When I looked around, I saw all the photos in a large frame hanging on the wall, each one bringing back happy memories as I gazed at them. However, it's also saddening to see that all of those are just hanging on the wall now, were mere memories. I can never bring back the happy times when we were a joyful family if only mom and dad didn't pass away. We would still be happy today. The events are heavy for me, but I'm grateful that my older brother is there to take care of me and love me."

"I continued walking and my eyes caught sight of dad's former office here in the mansion. It was spacious and luxurious to look at, but after dad passed away, my older brother never opened it again, and it remained permanently closed. I don't know why, but I didn't ask him about it."

"I have never seen my brother go into or even open dad's office. I was curious to ask, but I was also afraid that my brother might get angry. He's kind and has never been angry with me, but whenever he passes by dad's office, his face remains expressionless. That's why I didn't ask. I also didn't want to add to my brother's burdens because I've seen how he handles everything for the both of us. So, as much as I can, I don't ask about the things I notice around the mansion that make my mind seek answers."

"I shifted my gaze to the black carpet with red decorations on it. As I stared at it, I suddenly heard a loud bang at the end of the hallway, heading towards my brother's room. I quickly looked in that direction, my feet moving slowly as I felt scared."

"It was only as I walked that I realized the red on the black carpet wasn't a decoration but seemed like a liquid, resembling blood. As I scrutinized it closely, I realized it was blood. Then, I heard consecutive loud bangs coming from my brother's room."

"I ran towards my brother's room, and upon reaching the door, I heard a loud scream of a voice that sounded like a woman, begging and mentioning my brother's name, pleading not to be killed. I was shocked by what I heard, and after the woman spoke, I heard a loud bang. Slowly, blood started oozing out of the door, abundant blood, and I couldn't move my small feet. I dropped my stuffed toy and tried to stand up, but I was startled when the door opened, and my brother, dressed in a black suit covered in blood, faced me. His secretary was being beaten by the men inside his room, and I caught sight of the lifeless body of our maid lying naked on the floor."

"I called out to my brother, stuttering his name, but he didn't speak and his face showed no expression. It felt like I was drenched in icy water as a chill ran down my skin, especially with our gazes locked, feeling fear creeping down my spine. I was startled when my brother suddenly threw something like powdered substance at me, and slowly I felt my vision fading, eventually losing consciousness."

"After a few minutes, I regained consciousness and as I tried to stand up from lying down, I still felt dizzy. I was surprised to see the worried face of my brother, "zero". 'What happened to you? I've been trying to wake you up for a while. I saw you in front of my room unconscious,' he said as he hugged me tightly with a look of deep concern on his face. But I pushed him away and yelled, 'Stay away from me! You're evil, you killed them!' I saw with my own eyes that you were covered in blood, but as I looked unto his clothes, there was no trace of blood. I examined his clothes closely, repeatedly, but I couldn't find a single drop of blood."

I just arrived and I'm inside my room. I can't understand what you're saying. Who did I hurt? Who did I kill? I don't know anything about what you're saying or accusing me of. Please, zero, enough. You're hurting me with your accusations that I haven't done or committed. Desperately, he said while looking into my eyes with sincerity, and I saw tears welling up in his eyes.

But I saw everything, I saw what you did to them, I saw it with my own two eyes. And i heard her begging you, How can you explain to me what I saw inside your room? I shouted angrily at him while my voice cracked in speaking.

He held my hands and pulled me closer by my waist to him, then he calmed me down while stroking my back, gently he said in his soft voice, "Listen to me, I don't know what you saw or heard while I was inside my room, but one thing I know for sure, I didn't do anything bad to hurt someone, because that's not who I am." He kissed my cheeks and forehead, "Look at me, zero, brother loves you so much. I will never do anything to hurt you, I promise." Then he hugged me tightly.

I felt guilty for saying hurtful things about my brother, so I immediately asked for his forgiveness and promised not to repeat it even though my voice was trembling as I spoke. He just smiled and calmly said "it's fine as long as I'm okay now".

"As if in a rush, my older brother swiftly pulled me out of the room and led me towards his office. Following his large strides, I found myself almost leaping with each step, driven by the anticipation of the surprise awaiting me. Slowly, he unveiled a sizable box in his office, revealing a set of toy station boxes nearby. With a warm expression, he asked, 'Do you like my gift zero ?' I responded with a nod, In a tender gesture, he lifted me close to his chest."

"End Of The Chapter"