-WHAT'S GOING ON? -Nihil's mother shouted as she saw armed men in the kitchen.
-WHO ARE YOU PEOPLE?! -shouted the father, before being beaten and dragged away.
Nihil had his headphones on. He was playing on his computer while listening to music on maximum level, oblivious to everything.
Until he heard a loud bang, then another. And then, silence.
He turned his head. His door burst open. Two armed men entered and grabbed him.
They dragged him down the hallway. When he reached the living room, the scene took his breath away.
His mother, his father, his brother... all on their knees, gagged and beaten.
A man in a black trench coat and a scraggly beard approached. He had a murderous look on his face.
"So you're the mouse who got into our nest? All right, kid. Give us the blueprint, or your family will pay the price."
Nihil turned his head, not understanding.
"blueprint...? What blueprint?"
The man looked at him silently. And then, he smiled cruelly.
"So you want to make it difficult, huh? I like it, I'll have more fun that way," he said in a mocking voice.
Nihil is lying on the floor, being stepped on by a mercenary.
-What is your name? -asks a deep, emotionless voice.
Nihil looks up. His nose is bleeding. In front of him, a man in a black trench coat, corpulent, with a scraggly beard, an arm covered with tattoos and a broken smile.
-Your name is? -insists the boss. -Nihil Shiro," he says in a nervous voice.
-Perfect. Let's see if you can help me with something, Nihil.
-To... help?
-We were robbed today. An important blueprint. The most important fucking blueprint. Something that would make us invisible to the law. And that was stolen today.
The boss walks around the room. And he reluctantly kicks his brother who's on his knees.
-You know what's funny? Today only one person who wasn't from our gang entered our building today. Guess who?
-Shit! Shit! Someone saw me," he said to himself.
Nihil feels his blood run cold.
-Building? ....
The boss interrupts him laughing. -Haha, kid, a mercenary saw you leave the building. Stop lying to me.
The boss raises a hand. He snaps his fingers, and his men start beating his family. One by one, they beat them. Punches, kicks, rifle butts. The sound was wet, violent. Nihil screamed, but it was useless. His throat burned. But he could only see.
Helplessness seeped into his pores. His chest ached. His head throbbed. His vision was blurring, as if the world itself was beginning to tremble.
And something, in fact, began to change.
First it was the sound. The echo became distorted. Voices grew longer as if someone was rewinding a broken tape. The walls began to sway, as if they were smoke.
Some of the mercenaries smoking and watching outside looked around the house.
-Don't you notice something strange going on?
-What the fuck with this cigarette...? -said another.
The boss and the mercenaries inside didn't seem to notice.
-ENOUGH! THEY'LL KILL THEM! THAT'S ENOUGH!
-Okay, I'll give you one chance, kid. Give me the blueprint. Give it back. Or I kill one by one.
-I DON'T HAVE IT! I DON'T KNOW WHAT YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT!
The boss sighs, he's heard that many times.
-I think you do. -He shakes his head to order his mercenaries to load their weapons. Where is the blueprint?
Nihil cries. She screams. Begs.
-Please! I didn't steal anything! I went in there to commit suicide, not to steal your stupid blueprint!
-Suicide yourself? -says the boss with a harsh laugh, "Then why did you go into the room where the blueprint was hidden? How convenient. The blueprint was there. The blueprint that is now gone.
It all made sense to Nihil. The thief... had been in that room. The room he entered when he was hiding from the mercenaries. And now, because of that... his family is in danger.
-For the last time... where is it?
-I don't have your plan... -he answers with tears.
The chief raised a hand. One of the soldiers grabbed Nihil's mother and gave her a sharp blow in the stomach. She fell to her knees, out of breath, coughing up a lot of blood.
His mother falls.
Nihil screams. With a lump in his throat.
-MAMAAA!
The chief crouches down in front of him.
-You see? This is your fault. You still won't talk... and your father will be next.
-THAT'S ENOUGH! I DON'T HAVE IT! I DIDN'T STEAL IT! -I SWEAR TO YOU, I DIDN'T DO IT!
-Then you're an idiot. A suicidal idiot who ruined everything.
He punches him in the face. Nihil spits blood, and he feels something break inside him.
Is this my purpose...?
To see my family killed...?
To have failed even to die...?
Is this where my existence ends...?
In lying on a cold floor, screaming...?
No.
NO!
Inside his mind, a voice, his own, screams at him.
"Are you going to die here doing nothing? That's your story? That's you? No one! No reason? No courage?"
"NO!"
"Look at them! They're still alive! You can save them! Do something, damn it!"
Nihil looks at his parents, and his brother... still breathing, still waiting.
He takes a deep breath. He feigns weakness.
And begins to speak.
-All right... I'll talk..." he says in a weak voice.
The boss smiles.
-See? That's how he cooperates. Where is he?
END OF CHAPTER 3.