Chapter 2 The Loss

His heart pounded, feet jerked swiftly like a hyena. To the gun clung the shaky hands. Every step seemed like an eternity had gone by, but the truth of the ambush kept sinking like a chilled soda drink on a sunny day.

He had only just narrowly escaped death, but now something weightier pulled at his guts, an unsettling sense of foreboding. Something was not right. He didn't know what, but he felt it deep inside him. He stopped, breathing in rough gasps, and pulled out his phone. The screen still cracked from the last time he'd thrown it in anger.

A message.

His finger hovered over the screen, his eyes narrowing. It was from his cousin, Titi. His belly tightened as he read the message.

Robinson, you need to come home. Your parents. It's bad. Please, come.

His blood ran cold.

"Home?" He spoke the word aloud, as if it would change the meaning somehow. The last time he was home was a time before the gang, before the strife, before he became someone he did not even recognise in the mirror. That home, with its small, worn walls and the gentle hum of his mother's laugh, was a distant memory now.

On his way home, his mind was a mess of thoughts-images of his mother's friendly smile, his father's stern expression, but a warm face. Yet something had generated a flash of panic that had headed straight to his stomach. What was it? Why wasn't Titi telling him?

The city was noisy, but it seemed muted in his ears as he journeyed. The swinging lampposts cast long shadows, and the world narrowed down to one tunnel of black. His legs and other body parts hurt, but he didn't care.

He opened the door.

The house was quiet.

Robinson's heart thudded within him as he stepped into the house, his gaze taking in the room lit by shadows. His mother's favorite chair stood near the window, empty. His father's shoes were placed at the door, but there was silence.

No smile. No laughter.

"Titi?" he called, his trembling voice as he proceeded deeper into the building.

Quiet.

The only sound in the room was the floorboards creaking under his feet.

He wandered around the house, his head befuddled, his eyes fixed on the old family picture of him and his parents, grinning at family reunions. He was queasy as he passed by the old kitchen, where his mother would hum at dinnertime.

Finally, he arrived in the living room. And there, sprawled on the sofa,

"Titi, what is it?!" Robinson rushed to her, panting in ragged gasps.

She didn't look at him. She stared down at the ground, lips quivering. She was ten years older in those last few hours.

"I. I didn't know what to say to you," she breathed, her voice barely audible. Robinson. Your parents... they're dead."

Robinson stiffened. The words hung in the air, thick and suffocating. His face went white, his legs trembling. Gone? His parents couldn't go. They had to be-no, they couldn't be.

Gone! To where?

"I-I don't get it." His voice cracked as he grasped Titi's shoulders, shaking her softly. "What do you mean, they're not here?"

Titi's eyes filled with tears, and she finally looked up at him. Her face was blotchy, her cheeks streaked with the marks of sleepless nights. "Robinson, your mother... she she-she died giving birth. "And your father-" She choked on her words, her breath ragged. "Your father...had a heart attack while thinking of your disappearance into the underworld earlier, before your mother's death."

The world tipped, spinning off beneath him. He jerked back, shoulders scraping against the wall. His dad's lost? His mom-dead? No, no. He couldn't catch his breath. He couldn't think. He couldn't understand. This wasn't real. This couldn't be real.

He shook his head. "No. No, you're lying. They can't be... they can't..."

Titi's eyes softened with sorrow. "I wish I were lying. I wish I could take it back. But Robinson, it's true."

Robinson's world turned upside down. He felt the ground had been pulled from under him. His knees buckled, and he collapsed on the floor, his chest heaving as waves of grief engulfed him. His mind whirled in a thousand different directions. How? Why? Why had he not been there? Why hadn't he returned home sooner? As a young teenager, his peers had a very great negative influence on him, leading to his disappearance into the underworld. He couldn't be more sorrowful as he missed the warmth of family he once had before he took a bow of shame to nothingness- the underworld.

Titi knelt beside him, her hands trembling as she placed them on his shoulders. "Robinson, your mother's last wish... she wanted you to come back. She never gave up on you."

The tears welled up in his eyes, his throat closing under the pressure of it all. His parents were lost forever. The pain hit him like a hammer. He had stayed away too long, too deep in the underworld. He had abandoned them. And now... now they were never coming back.

But then, as if to add salt to the wound, a phone rang. Robinson barely registered the sound, his body numb, his mind spiralling into darkness. Titi's phone.

She grabbed the phone with a shaking hand, her voice shaking. "Hello?"

Robinson did not hear what was said next.

She spoke once more, but what she said sent Robinson's blood cold.

A sickening realisation washed over him, a hollow void in his chest. His sister? But. How? His mind grappled to wrap itself around it all.

How could she be alive?

Before he could speak, Titi put the phone down, her face pale and grim. "Robinson... your mother didn't die alone. She gave birth to a baby girl... she named her Lucy before she died."

Robinson's world spun again. His mother had died, giving birth to his sister.

But why had no one told him? Why hadn't anyone-?

His thoughts were interrupted by the distant wailing of sirens, shattering the otherwise peaceful night. Robinson's stomach twisted. Police? Or something worse?

Suddenly, the door exploded open and Robinson's heart leapt up into his throat. The police? A raid? His mind whirled, adrenaline coursing through him as he instinctively went for his gun hidden in the waistband of his jeans.

But then he saw it.

A man in a suit.

And then another.

Both are carrying official documents.

Robinson's eyes widened.

The twist he hadn't expected.

The letter in the man's hand.

A death certificate. His mother. His father's.

And there, at the bottom of the page, something that sent a chill down his spine:

The child, Lucy, was also missing.

His sister... missing?

Robinson's breath hitched. His entire world shattered in an instant.

Who had taken her? And where was she now?