Beautiful beast

Chapter two

MEGAN

And just like a criminal who had just been caught in a heinous crime by the Police, I walked into the house with my trembling hands positioned carefully at the back of my head. I saw Emily and Mum at one corner of the living room, their faces bowed to the ground. Raising their heads to look at me, the man who stood in front of them with a gun barked at them to keep their heads lowered. They obliged immediately, their bodies shaking like fishes out of water.

With the gun still pointed at my head, I was pushed roughly to join them, and we trembled with fear at the spot.

“You shouldn’t have come”, Emily whispered into my ears after seeing that the men were now distracted by the boxes of gold the rest of them were carrying from upstairs.

“What’s happening, Emily? Mummy?” I asked with a confused expression on my face. The reality was staring at me in the face, yet I was trying so hard to stay in denial.

“It’s okay, Megan. I know that we will come out of this situation in one piece”, my mother reassured me.

“In one piece?” Emily scoffed. “They are taking the gold, Mum. How on Earth are we going to survive without it? How is Dad going to pay for my college tuition fees without it?”

“Keep quiet, Emily, and enough of this obsession about the gold. I have noticed that you always had an eye for the gold, which is really none of your business”, my mother rebuked her.

However, Emily didn’t stop. It has always been difficult to keep her quiet whenever she decides to rant out her feelings.

“Dad even claimed that he got some of the gold from work to make personal deliveries to certain clients. How is he going to do that now? And can you imagine these stupid robbers, these animals! They are taking everything!” she blurted rudely, yet calmly.

“Emily, can you stay quiet?” I cautioned her, noticing the presence of the man who seemed to be the leader. He appeared with my father, whose face was white with fear. Oh, my poor Dad! It looked as if he had peed in his pants. He must have been so scared.

“But I thought you had always suspected foul play in Dad’s claims about the gold?” I suddenly felt curious, succumbing to the thoughts that peeped into my mind after I turned my face away from him.

“Not you too, Megan!” Mum cautioned quietly.

“That doesn’t matter now, Megan. The real deal is to teach these monsters a lesson they will never forget for the rest of their lives”, Emily still answered, kissing her teeth agitatedly.

It was at that moment I had a better look at Emily’s face, and all I could find was rage. With that expression on her face, she could do anything disastrous. I knew her too well. She was not the cool-headed type, and her love for the gold, despite the suspicions around it, was palpable.

Touching her arm, I said, “Emily, calm down. Don’t do anything stupid”.

But it was too late. Emily was already livid, it showed from her blood-shot eyes. Her face was twisted in a scowl as she glared at the robbers who kept marching in and out of the house carrying big boxes of her father's gold.

“Go to hell, all of you”, she muttered under her breath. I silently prayed that she wouldn't do anything stupid.

When they were done packing the boxes of gold into the white bus they came with, Emily decided to show her true ‘colours’. Ignoring the restraints from me and my mother, who also noticed her attitude, she jumped to her feet, pinning the leader of the gang down with a glare.

“How dare you come into this house and take my father’s gold?”

The leader, a middle-aged man, ran his hands through his amber hair, perhaps as a sign of his irritation, stepping closer to Emily. Dad was trying to use body language to caution Emily, yet it was up to no avail.

“Are you out of your mind right now?” he asked, an inch closer to her face.

“I am in my right senses. The only deranged people in this room are you and your gang. But you guys are not just deranged, you are animals!” Emily spat on his face. The tension on my mother's face heightened. I was not an exception, and no doubt, Emily was going to get into trouble.

“I can see that you are petty. You have no fear, girl”.

“And why should I be scared of you? You are nothing but a group of pathetic thieves who have no ambition or future. Wait a minute, you are not even thieves, you are just really good at ‘redistributing wealth’ from others to yourself! You cannot survive on your own and that is why the best you can do is to steal!” Emily screamed out her lungs at them.

The leader was angry, it was obvious from the fury that burned in his eyes. And the next thing we heard was a burst of gunfire, which shattered the air. It was a deafening blast but I couldn't see anything because Mum instantly covered my eyes with her hands.

“Emily!” I heard Dad scream.

Her whimpers were the only responses that proceeded from her mouth.