TW: There are mentions of guns, blood, and violence.
“Little star, little star,
Shining brightly in the dark blue sky.
Little star, little star,
Please guide me through the night.”
A soft and mellow sound came from a fourteen-year old girl. She was holding a little boy no older than 4 years old.
“It’s so dark.. Uwaaaaah!”
“Shh. Sister is here. Nothing bad will happen.”
Ah. It turns out they are siblings.
The girl hugged the little boy tighter as he cried louder and louder.
“I want mommy! Uwaaaaaah! Mommyyyy! Uwaaaah! Uwaaaaah!”
“Let’s sing again, maybe mommy will hear us through the moon and stars. Hmm?” The girl consoled her brother. The little boy stopped wailing and sniffed three times before wiping his tears away.
“L-l-l-itt-*sniff*le s-*sniff*s-tar, little *sniff sniff* star,” The little boy sniffed and sniffed while singing, his sister still holding him in his arms which somehow made him feel secured and safe.
“Shining brightly in the dark blue sky.” The girl continued singing. After a few seconds she heard no continuation from her brother. She looked down to see him sleeping already. His face was red, his cheeks and eyes were red and puffy from crying nonstop. The girl adjusted her brother’s position and let him lay on the mat. She continued patting her brother’s head until she fell asleep too.
In the middle of the night, while the two were still sleeping, someone went inside the room. A man a head shorter than the door is holding a tray. He placed the tray on the table carelessly that created a loud noise in the room. The siblings woke up due to the sound and the girl’s reflex was to hug her brother.
“Daddy!” The little boy ran towards the man and clung to his thighs but the man violently shook off the little boy and kicked him. The little boy’s small body flew a few steps away from the man.
“Daddy! Uwaaaaah! Bad daddy! Uwaaaaah! I-I-I-I will tell, tell mommy! Uwaaaah!” The little boy wailed and his sister ran to his side to console him.
“It hurts! Uwaaaaah! T-tummy! It hurts! I want mommy! Uwaaaah!” The man just ‘tsk-ed’ and went out of the room, locking the door.
“Where does it hurt? Sister will heal it. Hm?” The girl held the little boy’s stomach and caressed it very softly. Tears fell from her eyes as she did the action. Three days. It has been three days since they were kidnapped. She did not know the reason why either. They are just average people. They are not from some wealthy family and they are not famous either.
Three days ago, she accompanied her little brother to the playground. As usual, they walked to the park, she watched over her little brother as he played with the other kids in the park. When she realized that she forgot to bring water, she asked the other guardians who accompanied their kids to watch over her little brother while she bought some water. When she got back, the parents were having a commotion.
“Little girl!” One woman called her hurriedly. She ran over to see what was going on. The other guardians are holding the other kids and one woman is holding two kids, one is her brother.
“Little girl! Your father is here!” She knitted her brows. Their father went overseas with his boss.
“Ohh! He’s gone.” The woman breathed a sigh of relief and turned around.
“I’m glad nothing bad happened. Little girl?” Her frown disappeared when the woman called her.
“My father is overseas.” She bent down on her knees and picked up her little brother.
“I thank you, Ma’am.”
“I can tell from the man’s face that he’s lying. That’s why we asked him to wait for you so you can go home together.”
“Even though what my son did is a bad thing, it's good that he pushed your brother down or else something bad might have happened. I’m sorry, little girl.”
“No, ma’am. It’s alright. I must thank you all for protecting my brother.”
“It’s nothing. It’s nothing. By the way, what is your name, little girl?”
“We always see you accompanying your brother. Where are your parents?”
“I am Mika. My father does not often go out when he’s home and my mother is a nurse. When they are at home, they will only play with us inside the house.”
“That makes sense, Mika. To make ends meet at this time is hard indeed. You are a very filial child.”
“Be careful next time. Make sure to always accompany your brother. The world is a scary place.”
“Thank you for earlier. I should go now.”
Mika carried her brother on the way home. The playground is a seven-minute walk from their house. At that time, she did not know that the moment they both got out from the sight of the adults in the playground, someone would take them by force.
“M-m-mommy… *sniff*” She came back to her senses when her little brother cried and squirmed in her arms.
“Shhh.” She caressed her brother’s head and lulled him in her arms.
“Little star, little star,
Shining brightly in the dark blue sky.
Little star, little star,
Please guide me through the night.
Mommy’s here, mommy’s here,
I will sing you a lullaby.
Daddy’s here, daddy’s here,
I will chase the bad dreams away.
Little star, little star,
Shining brightly in the dark blue sky.
Little star, little star,
Please guide me through the night.”
Five days. It’s been five days and they are still locked up. Someone will give them food at fixed intervals, there is a bathroom inside the room so they do not need to go outside.
‘My parents must have been very worried. They must have been sleepless for days.’ She thought to herself.
Five days. She still didn’t know why they were kidnapped.
It’s not that she did not try to find out. The moment she woke up after being taken away, that was the first question she asked.
“Why did you take us away?!” The man in the room did not answer her nor did he spare a glance at her direction.
“Who are you?! What do you want?!” There’s still no reaction from the man.
She is free to move, there are no chains that bind her either, the door is also open however, she chose to squeeze herself in the corner of the room while hugging her still sleeping brother. She doesn’t have the strength to run away alone, let alone while carrying her brother so she could only squeeze herself in a corner and ask for information.
“What do you want?! Why did you take us?!”
The man did not answer her for the third time but he somehow spared her a glance. But, that’s all. A glance.
“M-m-mommy… nghh…” Her little brother continued mumbling in his sleep. He also kept crying but what scared her was that he was trembling very hard. She touched his forehead with her hand. “He’s burning!”
She hurriedly covered her little brother with the blankets that she could find and she got up and banged on the door.
“Please, I need medicine!” The first bang, no one answered. She banged louder and screamed again. “My little brother is sick, I beg you! Please give me medicine.”
She heard the keys dangling outside and the door was opened. She shrank herself on the spot when the man opened up the door. The man looked down at her and walked over to the little boy. He checked his temperature and went out again.
The door was left open but she couldn’t escape. The man knew this. She can’t leave her sick brother. Furthermore, she did not know where they were. If somehow, they manage to get out of the house and they are in a deserted area, the man will only catch up to them and may even not give them food anymore.
The man went back with a tray with food, water and medicine and then he left.
She attended to her sick brother and lulled him every time he cried in his sleep. She had no other things to do aside from eating, sleeping and taking care of her brother.
It was still night time, she woke up to the sound of two men arguing outside.
It must be the kidnappers. She cannot hear the words clearly but she heard the words ‘mistake’, ‘children’, ‘doomed’, ‘give back’, ‘clean your mess’, and ‘stupid’ repeatedly. She’s fourteen, she only knew how to take care of her brother, not comprehend this kidnapping thing and what they were saying. While she was immersed in thinking about what the words were about, she did not hear the bang from outside. She only came back to her senses when the door was suddenly opened and a man was standing there, holding a gun.
She shivered in fear but she did not forget to hold her brother. She backed away as the man walked towards them. The man raised the gun and put his finger on the trigger.
“Bad luck. HAHAHA! What a mistake!” She shivered more as the man laughed like he had gone crazy.
“Say goodbye!”
She’s a child. Avoiding a bullet is not something a child is taught, this is not something that a child is prepared for so she could only bravely hold her brother tightly in her arms and close her eyes.
“BANG!”
1… 2… 3… 4… 5… 5 seconds. She did not feel any pain. Did the man’s hand slip and his aim gone wrong or is she dying that’s why she cannot feel pain.
“Run, little girl!” She heard a man shout. She did not know which of the two he was. She opened her eyes and saw the man holding a gun passed out and a man holding a brick was panting. His head was bleeding.
She cannot process what was happening. She was too scared to move and speak. She was still shivering.
“RUN!” The man shouted again.
“There will be two more who will come here, so run!”
Amidst the fear and panic that she feels, she somehow managed to get up and carried her brother away. She ran outside as far as she could but luck wasn’t on her side. She’s a child, her legs were too short and she’s not very strong to carry her brother far away.
She looked around, it seemed that they were still in the city but on private property. She can see the city lights that she’s most familiar with but the surroundings are covered with trees. She somehow managed to find a place to hide. She tried waking her brother and luckily his fever had already subsided.
“Mommy.” The little boy was still in a daze and mistaken his sister for her mother.
“Sister is here. Shh.”
“Where are we going?”
“We’re done playing so we’re going home. Okay?”
“I can see mommy and daddy?”
“Hmm.”
It was still night time. When she went outside the room, it was 9 pm on the clock. She hasn’t even run for 30 minutes. They waited for a while before they tried to find their way out. There were no pursuers so naturally, they walked. She let her guard down too early.
“I found the kids!” She flinched when she heard a voice coming from behind them. She grabbed her brother’s arm in reflex and they ran as fast as they could.
“Hey!” The man shouted and hesitated whether he should run after them or wait for his colleagues when suddenly a loud bang was heard. The man who pointed the gun at the two siblings earlier succeeded in pulling the trigger this time.
The little boy collapsed on the floor. His left leg was shot.
“Aster!” Mika, shouted. Panicking and in fear. The two men were approaching them. Her brother was wailing, he was hurt! He’s very little and he was shot! She did not know what to do at the moment. She only knew how to hold her brother’s hand. She did not know what to do when someone was shot. She cannot call anyone.
“S-sister! Uwaaaaah! Uwaaaah!”
She only knew how to chase bad dreams away. She only knew how to put her brother to sleep.
“I DON’T KNOW HOW TO STOP A BLEEDING DUE TO GUNSHOT! I DON’T KNOW IF WE WILL LIVE TO SEE ANOTHER DAY! I DON’T KNOW WHERE MOMMY AND DADDY ARE! I KNOW NOTHING! PLEASE”
She desperately wanted to shout but she’s afraid that she will be shot next. If the next shot goes directly into her heart or head, who will console her brother? She’s afraid to die and leave her brother alone so she could just hold her brother in her arms and protect him from the approaching men.
“It’s our mistake for taking the wrong kids but, no hard feelings, we can’t just let you lose.”
She heard them. She heard them talk but she cannot understand a thing. All she cares about is her little brother in her arms, crying because of the pain of being shot.
“Goodbye, lit-”
Before the man finished speaking, the other man fell down and blood immediately formed a pool around his body.
“Son of a b*tch.” The man turned around ready to pull the trigger at the two small bodies but before he was able to lift the gun, he was shot on the head.
Two bodies - dead bodies- are now lying in front of the siblings. Fear, disgust, anxiety, disgust, they felt different emotions.
Aster coughed up blood. Mika did not have time to care about the dead bodies. She checked on her brother and… It wasn’t just one shot.
“When? When? When was he shot again? Was it the man who shot the two men in front? Was it earlier too when they were running?” She did not know what to do anymore. Her brother was shot in the leg and in the back. She held her brother. ‘He’s turning cold.’
She couldn’t help but cry. She cried very loud but she did not stay sitting on the ground. She cried while carrying the little brother on her back. She ran. She ran as fast as she could. Sha ran until she saw a car passing by.
The owner of the car was perplexed to see their situation but moved fast and drove them to the nearest hospital. She cried when they got in the car and she was still crying when they reached the hospital.
She doesn't know how to do anything but to cry. She couldn’t stand nor walk anymore. She took a huge toll from crying and running through the night.
The people in the emergency room put them both in the stretcher and carried them inside.
“Please make way! GSW to the chest!”
“5 years old, GSW to the chest and leg! Prepare for surgery!”
“14 years old, multiple fracture and burns and-”
“Pl-please… my brother…”
“The doctors will do their best.”
“Please… please…”
The people on duty looked at each other but she did not notice this.
“Let’s give her a sedative.”
The moon was shining so bright. The sky was also lit up by fireworks. It’s a very cold and lovely night.
“Little star, little star,
Shining brightly in the dark blue sky.
Little star, little star,
Please guide me through the night.
Mommy’s here, mommy’s here,
I will sing you a lullaby.
Daddy’s here, daddy’s here,
I will chase the bad dreams away.
Little star, little star,
Shining brightly in the dark blue sky.
Little star, little star,
Please guide me through the night.
Mr. Moon, Mr. Moon,
Please give me some light.
Mr. Moon, Mr. Moon,
It’s such a lovely night.
Sister’s here, Sister’s here,
I love you little star.
Sister’s here, Sister’s here,
Close your eyes now, goodnight.”
She knelt in front of the tomb, caressing the gravemarker. Three years have passed but the memories of three years ago are still alive in her heart.
“Sister’s leaving, okay? I will be back again.” The gentle voice that sang earlier was now broken. Her tears are falling down her face. She put offerings and sang a song hoping that her brother will have a good night’s sleep from now on. No nightmares that haunt him at night, no more darkness in the night.
She stood up and walked away with tears.
“Let’s go?” A man walked up to her and gave her a handkerchief.
“Thank you. Where are we going?”
“We have to meet the producers. They loved your songs.”
“Really?”
“Yes. Let’s go now.”
The man opened the door for her but she stopped the door from getting closed.
“Hm?”
“Thank you, Sir Rile.”
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