In The End

Six years ago...

"Avani!" The tired man calls out for his daughter in panic. His voice echoes throughout the big empty house with no response back. He yelled her name once again but louder this time. Worry and concern was evident in his voice. He knew that he wouldn't be able to forgive himself if anything ever happened to his precious little girl.

When he got a call from her school that she had ran away from class, he was scared. Scared that she might have been taken away by his enemies. Scared that he wouldn't be able to see her ever again. Even though he had left his past behind, he was still scared of the evils that lurked at night and the harm that his children could be in.

"Daddy!" The little 10-year-old girl comes out of her hiding spot from under the bed and runs to her dad, frightened. Her dad, relieved, picks up the girl and pull her into a tight hug as if his strong arms will protect her from all the danger in the world but he knew this was not true. He knew that one day, she would find out about all the horrible things that he had done. The things that he couldn't undo.

"Daddy, is it true? Are you really a bad guy? Did you hurt a lot of people?" Avani asked her father curiously. Her father covered up his shocked face with a smile.

Avani had ran away from school because she was lonely and all the people who she thought were her friends hated her. Everyone didn't want to be near her because of the things that her father had done. They were scared of what would happen to them if they were seemed hanging out with the daughter of a wanted criminal.

Making up his mind, he decides that it's time to tell her about the secrets of their family. Even though she was too little to understand, the sooner she knows about it, the better prepared she'll be. With a heavy sigh, he sets his daughter down on her bed then sit down next to her.

"Avani?"

"Yes daddy?"

"You must listen to me carefully, okay? Even if you don't understand everything right now, you must remember what I'm about to tell you, okay?" He tells his daughter in a soft tone, preparing her for what she's about to hear. Avani nods her head in understanding.

He breathes in a big breath of air and exhale, thinking of a good way to explain this so a 10-year-old girl would understand. "A long time ago, in order to protect our family, your grandfather and several other people decided to form a secret group that promise to protect each other from bad people out there in the world. By doing so, they had to make money and earn respect. When your grandfather died, he passed the responsibility onto me. So, I did the best I could to protect you and your brothers. Many people think that it's a bad thing to try to protect your own family, so they think that what I'm doing is bad."

The little girl looks at her father dumbfoundedly.

"Listen carefully, Avani and always remember this. Our family is built on trust and loyalty. That's what keeps us together. You will hear people talking, saying bad things about me but you must never believe what others tell you. You must remember Avani, everything I do is for a reason." The man, now, can only hope that her daughter will remember this.