V.I.R.A.L - Chapter 245

The Dawn family was wildly known for their true identity after their failed revolution; across Victoria, word spread quickly of the Syndicate family’s return. V.I.R.A.L wasn’t one to leave pages unturned hunting down the last stragglers of the broken house. All that was left of their old ways was the manor Scarlett grew up inlay waste to rot away. Serval riots and looting expeditions over the years have left the once mighty and beloved home a mere ruin of yesterday. Not something Scarlett was fond of returning to. Standing at the helm of her family, she did well to keep out of sight, not wanting to draw any unwanted attention. While her goal was fixed on getting revenge on Alton, she had the urge to return home. A voice called to her. She wasn’t going to deny it’s calling; she had lost everything and now was looking for her purpose in this life once more.

Climbing through the destroyed entrance, Scarlett glanced over the ruined hallway. The chandler crashed onto the floor, and anything remotely valuable was looted, no questions asked. The stairs had caved in alongside the end of the corridor leading to the kitchen. She didn’t have much idea where to start finding it, rather depressing to see the last thing she could call her own destroyed and left abandoned. Just another nail in the coffin for Scarlett, a grim reminder she failed the only task expected of her. Pushing the door to the right open, Scarlett looked on at the main meeting room. The table was broken, caving in through the middle. Serval chairs were missing, and all the paintings of the family’s former heads were either torn apart or vandalised. Scarlett walked through, running her hand over the table, finding her father’s painting thrown to the side, his face torn out. Picking the painting up, she held it tightly, staring at it blankly. She dropped it to the floor after hearing the creaking of the door again. Spinning around, she stopped in her tracks, seeing her great uncle Daemon standing idly with a dull look. Neither spoke up as he sighed, walking in. “I always hated these paintings; it was always a reminder of our mistakes. The past leaders could never achieve what we tried. Yet they all believed that a single girl could. How naïve we were.”

“Uncle… You’re alive?”

Daemon limped in with a walking stick, coughing. “They can’t kill me. It’s rather ironic I saw the rebirth and the death of this family all in one lifetime. I saw two leaders rise and fall; maybe that’s a sign. I am surprised you are still alive, Scarlett, although it’s not that shocking considering who your father was.”

“Where is everyone? Don’t tell me…”

Daemon slowly collapsed into his chair, taking a long-winded breath. “Dead. Mostly, after our failed attempts two years ago with the death of your mother and father, the family fell apart. Some kept fighting and shared their fates. Others went into hiding, waiting for their chance to strike; others just fled, never looking back. After the fall, Emi came and found me; she was the only one willing to fight at all ends. She ended up joining the half-baked resistance led by that Hawthorne girl. Last I heard, she was killed during a raid.”

“So, some are still alive?”

“The few who are were captured. Most likely executed by the CEOs, I get stragglers like you come here for refuge from time to time. Those who seek it help them gain a new identity and make a new life for themselves. It’s all I can do.”

Scarlett turned on her uncle with uncertainty. “You allow our family to flee like cowards?! The Syndicate family never run from our foe. We would stand until the last man if my father was still alive!”

“But he’s not Scarlett. He’s not; he was just as foolish as the others on this damn wall. Each of them was well over their head, thinking we could make a difference. We are no match for V.I.R.A.L, never was and now never will be, and now we are left right where we started. Syndicate is gone, Scarlett. It’s time you move on.”

Scoffing at this, Scarlett turned around, staring through the hole in the wall out the city beyond. Heavy rain began taking the area drowning the two in their regrets. “I can’t quite believe you. Alton said something similar to you, and that disgusts me. My whole life was built up for the sole reason of destroying V.I.R.A.L. That is my only purpose, my only reason in living to think you’re telling me to throw all of that away.”

“If you’re so sure of that, why are you here?”

“I came hoping for allies. All I found was a broken coward too afraid to fight.”

Daemon stood up, leaning on his cane as he walked over to Scarlett. “I watched your father from birth. Stood by your grandfather through hell and back. I watched them both die for their stupid goals chasing something that was never there. The family is dead Scarlett, all you are doing at this point is chasing pointless phantoms. You’ve been given something not many members of this family get. A gift worth every bit of blood spilt. Freedom, freedom to choose what you want to do. That was something your sister tried fighting for, no doubt.”

Scarlett stared at him, biting her lip. “After everything, those scumbags took from us. The bloodshed and lives lost, you expect me to walk out into the night with a smile on my face and shout freedom? No, no! I refuse; if I did that, all those lives would be for nothing.”

“No, Scarlett, if you did that, all those loses would mean something. I’m sure no one in this family wanted this outcome. Your father was raised on the same principles as you as his father; thus, the Syndicate family’s curse carries on. Your life is planned out and given to you on a silver platter without much leeway. That’s how it has always been, but deep down, all we wanted was freedom—the freedom to make our own lives and be proud of that. You and Riley were always like that as children. Running off to experience the outside world. Truth be told, your father was no different. If he could be given anything in the world no matter what, he’d most likely choose for your freedom.” Daemon admitted. “Knowing his daughter could be granted, that would allow him to rest easy.”

“Don’t talk to me like my father meant something. He abused and tortured me to his will, left me to die on serval occasions and even had Alton try and kill me to prove my worth. That man was not a father; he was a monster who treated his own like toys.”

“If that is the case, then why are you still alive?” He asked, getting a slight reaction from Scarlett. “He sacrificed himself to save you, correct? If he was really the evil man you made out, why would he do that?”

“That… That doesn’t matter; one good act doesn’t make someone a saint uncle. I’ll never forgive him for what he did!”

“That is understandable.” Daemon acknowledges walking away. “There’s nothing else left here for you Scarlett, no one can help you. If you want that freedom your family craved, I can help. I can change your identity. I don’t have much left in me, but I can do that at the least; you’ll become a new person entirely where you can start your own life from the beginning.”

“I cannot. Not until V.I.R.A.L is destroyed, for everyone here I will not fail.”

“I see. Then this is goodbye, Scarlett. Take my word of advice, throw away that guilt of yours before it gets you killed. Others will always be there to help you. All you need to do is ask.” Daemon sighs leaving, he stops at the door, smiling faintly. “You know I always thought Team Rhapsody suited you… How did it feel? The small taste of freedom?”

Scarlett glanced down to the floor, gripping her fist as a single tear fell to the ground. “Thinking about it, I guess it was sad.”

“Sad?”

“Sad to think it couldn’t last.”

“Things only end if you let it. I wish you the very best, Scarlett. May you find for whatever you are looking for.”

Scarlett was left alone; that’s what she thought. She sighed, sitting on the floor, her back pressed against the wall looking around the room. “Am I doing the right thing? Is this path my destiny? What would you do in my shoes, Alton?”

“So much guilt and pain. Guilt and pain. It’s eating away at you, Scarlett, like a parasite.” A voice whispered. Scarlett jumped up, looking around, unable to find the source of the voice. Soon enough, she stumbled back, dazed to see the last person she ever expected. Percy stood in front of her in a shadowy aura covering his body. Serval crows flew around him, taunting her. “Shall we take those feelings away?”

“Percy?! That’s not possible…”

Percy stared down at Scarlett with an insane smile tapping his head mockingly. “You’re right; I’m not Percy. Not anymore; you may address me as one of the stages of grief representing the stage of pain. Now Scarlett, shall we see it?”

“See what?”

“What else? The pain and regrets of your past.”