3. The Vow

Mia let out a gasp. She obviously couldn't believe what she just heard.

How could she when I still couldn't believe it myself.

"Bes." She called, her voice trembling. "I'm... I'm so sorry. Who... Did that to him?" She stuttered.

"I don't know who they are. It was my first time seeing them at our house... They looked like thugs." My lips quivered as I spoke. My heart was breaking into a million pieces.

"Why did you not call the cops, bes? You should have done that immediately." Mia admonished, grabbing my trembling hand in hers.

"I couldn't do it, Mia." I shook my head aggressively. "I couldn't leave or take my eyes away from him even for a blink of an eye." More tears slipped out of my eyes. "I think I lost my phone."

"They weren't putting on masks?" Mia caressed my hand softly, emboldening me to continue.

"No. I saw their faces. All three of them." I replied. How could I possibly not? Their faces were engraved in my mind and I didn't think it would ever fade. I knew I would never forget, perhaps until I have made every single one of them paid and the mastermind won't be left out, in fact, he was going to pay severely. "I was by the door when he was shot mercilessly. Before that, I wanted to go in, even though I knew I was powerless in their midst, but still I wanted to go in. To shield him at least, but he made me promise not to show myself. Till his last breath, he still had my best interest at heart. He wanted to protect me. He wanted me to continue my life. He wanted his dreams for me to... Come... True." I sobbed amidst words. The pang I felt in my heart kept getting more painful with every passing second. I felt weak, useless and hopeless. The only family I had left was snatched away from me so brutally.

Tears had already began to run down Mia's cheeks as she listened to my poignant narration.

"I must have lost consciousness, because I didn't know what happened after that. When I regained consciousness, I was on the floor. I looked around for my dad, but he wasn't inside the house. They took his body." I drew in a breath and a lump made its way to my throat, making it extremely hard for me to swallow. "I ran outside and fortunately, I was able to see their car. The same car I had seen on my way in. I shouted on the top of my lungs, begging them to bring him back to me. I wanted to be able to see him, at least one more time. I thought they were going to do as I wanted when the car screeched to a halt. It reversed in full speed seconds later and at that moment, without a doubt, I knew they weren't going to return him to me, but were planning to hit me with the car."

"Oh my God!" Mia gasped, her eyes widening, horrifically.

"I remained glued to my spot, until they were getting incredibly close. I didn't want to run. What was I living for anyways? My life had already been ruined. But recalling how ruthlessly he was killed, I knew I still had something to live for, so I turned to my heels and ran, but I wasn't fast enough, I was hit and that's how I ended up here." By the time I was done narrating everything to her, I could feel more tears forming in my nasolacrimal duct.

Wordlessly, Mia engulfed me in another hug. "I'm so sorry for your loss, Mia. I hope you forget everything s—"

Realizing what she was about to say, I aggressively pushed her away. "Forget? I'm never ever going to forget, Mia! I will make them pay for what they did to him. I will stop at nothing to see them fall to their knees, begging for a little mercy from me and that would be when I will have my laugh." I vowed, my voice dripping with venom. I was hellbent of avenging his death and I would stop at nothing to make my mission successful — it didn't matter what I had to do. I would gladly do anything. The moment my dad died, my conscience died along with him. "I will never have peace knowing my father's murderer are somewhere living their lives peacefully."

"Juliana, I know you are hurt but—"

"Don't even try to talk me out of this," Juliana warned. "I'm going to get mad at you. If you won't help me, you certainly shouldn't discourage me." I spat, feeling my insides burning with rage. I was ready to practically do anything to achieve my goal, even if it meant ending my friendship with Mia for no sacrifice was too great, and no deed was too dark as long as it brought me to my target.

"Don't take the law into your hands," Mia continued. "It won't end well. It never has. I understand that you are grieving and—"

"Please go, Mia!" I beseeched. I was very angry and I didn't want to say mean stuff to her. I respected our friendship too much for that. But I felt I would be forced to if she kept on trying to discourage me. My father was brutally killed right in front of me and she expected me to leave everything in the hands of the authorities. I was a tad disappointed in her because I felt she wouldn't have had the same mentality if the same thing had happened to her mother. I expected her to encourage me and not try to talk me out of it, but it didn't matter. I would still go ahead with my plans. My mind was already made up and no one would be able to change it.

I promised myself to make the mastermind pay for ruining my life.

It became my only mission in life.