The little version of me is hiding under the bed. The woman screaming happens to be my Mother. She's crying near the body of my father who is being soaked in a pool of blood. A pool of blood. I don't see faces of the assassins, they're all wearing a mask. I don't know who they are. I don't know why they're doing this to my parents.
"Please spare me! Don't kill me, please!" My mother is begging. "I don't want to die, please, I can't die like this."
The masked men are three. One of them slaps my Mother hard in the face and starts pulling her hair, dragging her away from the body of my father. But she's screaming so hard and crying.
"The boss wants all your family dead. I know you have a daughter, where is she?" The masked man slaps her hard in the face as he waits for her to answer. But she doesn't. "Jun Ho ya, search the house for the kid. Make sure you find her!" He gives an order to one of the men.
"She's not here! She's not here!" My mother is panicking as she tries to struggle away from the big man gripping her hair. "I said my daughter is not here!"
The man laughs and throw her down on the floor. He starts moving towards the bed where the little me is hiding under. But my Mother rushes and holds his legs. He turns around, smacks her so many times until her body goes weak. He frees his legs and walks to the bed. He look under and our eyes meet through his mask.
I scream.
Suddenly, he's pulling me out from under the bed. I'm scared and screaming as he throws me down next to my mother. He takes a gun and points it to her head. She is barely moving with her fingers.
Sound of gunshots rumbles in the air. I'm screaming loudly with blood all on my body. Not just the blood of my mother who has been shot. But with the blood of the masked man who has killed her.
Three bodies are lying in a pool of blood. Two are my parents and one is the masked man. Another fourth body of a masked man is lying close to the door of the room. Someone rushes and hold me, pulling me to their chest. I'm still screaming uncontrollably when the third masked man comes into the room and the person holding me shoots the man so many times on the chest, head, and everywhere else.
I'm breathing so fast. I take in the face of the person holding me. He's not a big man like the three masked men he has shot. He's a young boy holding a gun. But he's taller than me and he has features that looks like a younger version of my father.
"Who. . . Who are you?"
"I'm Kai. I'm your brother, Hana. I'll keep you safe." I blink at him as he takes my hands in his.
He said he's my brother. But I've never seen him before. I don't trust strangers. My parents taught me to be wary of strangers.
I pull my hands away as I look at the two familiar bodies on the floor. "Eomma! Appa!" And I'm crying so hard and hyperventilating. . .
My eyes break open and I realize I was having a nightmare. I meet a pair of eyes studying my face like I'm an organism under a microscope. Master Jin is looking at my face.
"You're awake." He says. "You were crying in your sleep Hana."
I'm speechless and a little bit confused. It takes me a few minutes for my eyes to adjust to the light. It's source is a fluorescent bulb directly above my head. There's a window high up in the room but no light is filtering through it. I can tell it's nighttime. But nothing is back to normal.
We are in a cell and I remember the gunshots. The accident. The fire. Memories of everything that happened begins to flash in my head over and over again. I try to rise up but the back of my neck feels stiff and hurts a little. I must've strained my neck.
"Here. Let me help." Master Jin suddenly pulls me up with one arm.
"Where's Kai?" It's the first thing I want to know. "Where did they take him to?"
"Remember he was shot. He might be getting treatment for his wound."
"How do you know? What if they kill him?"
"They don't want him dead. They will keep him alive because they want information from him." Master Jin replies and I stay silent for some time. "What were you dreaming about?" Master Jin asks. His face looks concerned.
"It's something that happened to my parents, I think."
"Do you remember them?"
I shake my head silently, my eyes tracing the length of the floor. "They were killed by some masked men. Kai saved my life. I remember it all. I just don't understand why he lied to me about the orphanage."
"He did it to protect you."
I look at Master Jin. His face is that of a person who knows something I don't. "What are you not telling me? You know something about my parents isn't it?"
"I didn't know before until recently. Your Father was part of a Mafia. He use to work for Sergio's father, until he betrayed him and took sides with my Father. The Alfonsos ordered the assassination on your parents."
"How do I know you're not lying to me?"
"I have documents. Evidences. Kai has been gathering evidences and keeping them safe. He gave me something the Alfonsos have been trying to find and destroy."
"The Codice Segreto?" I ask.
Master Jin nods slightly, but he raises a finger to his mouth. "Shhh. . . You must not mention this to anyone no matter what. Else, everything your half-brother has worked hard to protect will all be in vain."
"My half-brother?"
"That's what he is to you. Kai is your Father's bastard."
I suspected as much. It makes better sense to me. It must be the reason why he was not a part of my family. He only showed up that night to save my life. How did he even knew my family were in danger?
I have so many questions I want to ask him. So many explanation I want to hear from him. I hope he stay alive. I hope my half-brother will survive through this.