Meracle and her family…..

By next morning, everything was put back to normal, the living room was cleaned up, and the four were sleeping on furnitures.

One by one they woke up.

Meracle was the first to wake up and she was staring at the wall with a lifeless look. She couldn't believe that Jason was such a douche bag. Once again, she fell for his act and for that reason she wanted to die so much. But a sudden sound caused her lifeless look to be filled with life.

“Ngh…. Oh god… Leah… Leah!” Blake rushed over to his wife’s side. “Are you okay!? Speak to me! Leah! Leah!”

“Ngh… Let me sleep more Blake…. It’s still early…” Leah groaned. Leah got right up when she realizes that she and Blake was not dead. “!!! Blake!? This isn’t a dream right? I-Is it really you?”

“N-No. This isn’t a dream. Ha ha… But if this wasn’t a dream….” Blake looked around the living room to see that Meracle was looking directly at them. “M-Meracle? Y-You’re fine! You’re okay!!!!”

Her father jumped off his wife and ran up to hug his daughter. “I’m so sorry. Meracle. I’m sorry”

The same goes for Leah. She too ran up to embrace her daughter. “Meracle!!!!”

“M-Mom? Dad? What are you-?” Meracle didn’t know what to do. But seeing how they were acting all happy, she reciprocated the two back with a warm hug as well. “Wait… What about Ophelia!?”

“Ugh… I’m fine… But why?” Ophelia felt really groggy. Mainly because Jin injected her with a bit more of the sleeping drug than the average dosage to keep her asleep.

The front door swung open wide as many children ran into the house. “DAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAD!!!!!! MOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!!!!!!!!” The children cried and jumped into the arms of their mother and father.

“W-What? What’s going on? How- what- huh!?” The father was speechless.

So was the mother. Just then, two figure walked in on the joyous moment. “Ania? Aria!? How!? I thought you two were-”

“haha… We’ll tell you everything later mom. Dad. Just that, we have no school today strange enough. But we did have a fun time over brother Jin’s house didn’t we girls?” Ania smiled.

“Yeah!” The children shouted together.

The smallest one bounced up and down like a ball. “Dad! Dad! Brother Jin brought many toys for us to play! He even got some of the movies we wanted to watch for a long time as well!”

Blake’s and Leah’s face changed slightly. The two look at each other and did not know what went on.

“Haha… Jin apparently got some movies pre-ordered. Meaning, the movies he had came out before they got the director’s cut or even before it was released. It was interesting as well dad. We should go over to his house sometimes.” Ania told them.

“W-What? No no no no. This doesn’t explain anything one bit! Now tell us, what’s going on!? How are we still here!?” The mother demanded an answer from Ania.

It was understandable. What happened last night contradicted to what is happening now. Aria weakly smiled and said, “Everything was Jin’s doing. It was no a dream. Blake, Leah, Ophelia, and Meracle. We’ll need to talk once we get some private time. Let’s have some breakfast as well. I’m sure everyone is famished.” The aunt walked to the kitchen humming a small happy tune.

Meracle and the other three victims of Jin’s scheme stared at the aunt’s strange expression who was in the kitchen cutting up some vegetables. Before, she disapproved of Jin, scorning him with hateful words and expressions. Now, she looked the complete opposite.

But before they could wonder any further, their stomachs cramped and waves of sickness engulfed their body. The four instinctively ran for the bathroom.

The problem with running into the bathroom was the number of bathrooms and layout of the Cross family house. It was a two story house with the interior almost matching perfectly to Meracle’s house. The only differences was the interrogation room in the Cross’ house and that the entire upper floor had eight bedrooms and two working bathrooms. The two bathroom were on opposite ends so it was easier for people of both sides to have access to the bathrooms. But it also meant that the four had to run a great distance before getting their stomach problems solved. Also, since there were only two bathrooms, that mean there would only be two toilets. Thus, the moment the four got to the upper floor, they fought over the bathrooms.

“Honey. Darlings. Do you guys mind if I take the right bathroom first?” The mother asked.

“Mom. As our mother, you should let me and Meracle go first. WE ARE YOUR DAUGHTERS aren’t we?” Ophelia kindly asked. But behind that kindness were traitorous thoughts.

“Can’t we just decide with rock paper scissor?” Meracle hurried the others. Her stomach couldn’t take it any longer.

But the father said nothing and ran straight into the bathroom on the left leaving the three women to their own arguments. *SLAM!* “Hargh!!!!! URF!!! UGHHHHHHHHHH!!!” Monstrous, antagonizing, and overall inhuman sound echoed from the left bathroom. Blake was in extreme agony because he was throwing up, urinating, and blasting out wastes all at the same time. The pain of having his three orifices expelling wastes and drugs simultaneously was unbearable.

After hearing the father, the three women no longer argued. With a face full of fear and shame Meracle pushed Ophelia and her mother in in urgency. “Hurry! I don’t want to be like dad out here!!!!” There were no shame in seeing family members naked but there were shame to see each other doing their own businesses. It was a terrible time for the four Cross family members. One that they’ll never forget for their entire lives as long as they live……

…………

……

…

After the horrible event, the four staggered out the bathroom after bathing and freshening themselves up. The father came out looking the worst of the four with a dark greenly paled face. Leah was next in line for looking terrible for her face looked like she aged ten years. Meracle and Ophelia weren’t looking too bad because they didn’t expel wastes like their parents did. The two only retched out whatever was in their system and looked slightly pale because the bathroom smelled so bad because of their mother.

The four came downstairs to see that Aria just finished cooking with a smile on her face. “*Pfft* You guys look terrible. As green as an evergreen tree. Especially Blake. Come on. Let’s eat after the four of you wash your hands. The five of us will talk after Ania drives the children to Jin’s house.”

The morning breakfast became more awkward because there was nothing Meracle, Ophelia, Blake and Leah could say. They had a rough night compared to the Ania and the rest of the group. When the family was done eating, Ania drove the other five girls to Jin’s house, leaving the other five to talk to each other about what happened the other night.

Aria, the aunt, led Meracle, Ophelia, Blake and Leah to the living room. They repositioned the sofas to face one another so the discussion would feel a lot smoother. Blake and Aria sat on one side while Leah, Ophelia and Meracle sat on the other. He still felt a little awkward now that there was a rift in between their relationship.

“Ahem. For the first part, I know everyone is wondering why Meracle’s boyfriend did what he did and what really transpired yesterday. So I’ll explain. Just don’t get too loud.” Aria spoke in a leveled voice. After confirming that the four was not going to get too loud, Aria resumed re-telling. “Everything, as you know now, was staged by Jin. The sleeping gas Jin used was a mean to get us all to be quiet as he search through the house. Why? Because he didn’t want anyone to hear. Specifically, the people from the government.”

“That’s absurd!” the father roared. “Why!-“

Aria quickly places her hands over Blake’s mouth and neck and glared fiercely, showing that she was not joking. “Shut it Blake. If you want us dead, keep talking in a loud voice. If we are going to die because of you, I’ll kill you first.”

“I-I got it. I’ll keep things to a minimum.” He settles back down because he was worried if Aria would actually kill him.

The side of Aria’s head ached as she continues. “*sigh* As I was saying. Jin was searching through the house for wiretaps and the such. I was the first person to be woken up by him because he needed help to find these wiretaps. Which was about thirty minutes after we were knocked out. The second person he woke up was Ania. At first, Ania and I was against him searching our house, but while searching, we found over fifty wiretaps, twenty cameras, and ten sensors inside the house. The kitchen, the living room, the bedrooms, the bathrooms and even the basement, the interrogation room, and the yard had all these present.”

“Wait. How do we know if everything Aria said is true?” Leah asked.

Aria sighed to herself. “Leah. I was not knocked out for a long period of time. How do I know? My cellphone time and the clock time didn’t change much. Also, the digital timer all around the house were still the same as the sky outside looked the same as well. Same goes for the date. Thus I can vouch for the time he woke us up to be true. Also, there was no way Jin could set up that many spying devices by himself.”

Blake frowned. “Then how was it possible for Jin not to be caught? Surely, the government would find out something was wrong if their cameras were removed.”

Aria felt a little annoyed because she was cut in. “Let me finish Blake. They did find out. That’s why Jin had to hurry with the entire charade. His original plan was to do things slowly as he explained to me while getting rid of those spying devices. But things changed when Leah brought him into the interrogation room. He tapped on the wall not only to find the double sided mirror, but to check the walls for the spying devices. There were subtle differences when tapping on the walls with the double sided mirrors as well. There was something more than just a double sided mirror. When he led me and Ania to the other side of the interrogation room, we discovered that the entire event was not only recorded, but the data was also sent to five different places. Which is also why Jin couldn’t tell you his secrets or his personal information as well.

As for why Jin was acting that way… He wanted to stage everything. To fool those listening that there was a psychopath that suddenly came into the Cross family’s lives and murdered everyone. But that was not his only purpose in acting that way. In Jin’s words, ‘Humans only show their true colors in the most dire situation. Be it emotions, purposes or even another face they hid. Again, only when people are put in situations where they feel like they are in the most danger will they show their own true colors. If Blake and Leah really love each other, they will do their best to protect each other in the end even if their secrets are exposed. Ophelia… I’m just trying to get her away from Darius. As for Meracle…’ He wanted to see if you would still be fooled by Jason’s acting. His face became conflicted with pain because he knew you would hate him.” Aria explains.

Meracle’s heart ached even more now. Meracle remembered yesterday and felt guilty about saying things in anger. It was the same exact thing Rosa said that she might do because she wasn’t thinking straight. Meracle didn’t know what Jin was thinking and his act was so extreme that she believed he was a bad person. Thus, her actions were only based on her emotions in the extremity of the moment. Tears welled up on the corners of her eyes because Jin’s words resounded in her ears before she was numbed and forced her to see who Jason really was, ‘Stupid woman I’ve grown tired of the stupidity….I’ve grown tired of this stupid loyalty of yours Meracle!’

Aria felt pity for Meracle. Not many boyfriends were willing to act villainous just to protect their girlfriend and her family. “Awww don’t cry Meracle. Jin doesn’t blame you for what you said. Of course he was sad. But he was prepared just to show what type of person Jason was. It was clear that Jason had no heart and that his acting really is top notch. Everyone else fell for it. I almost fell for Jason’s acting as well.” Aria grabs Meracle’s hands to reassure her that Jin really didn’t hate her. “Tell me Meracle. Of all the people who Jin victimized, who was the only person he didn’t hit?”

Recalling the entire event, Meracle realizes that out of everyone, Jin never hit her once beside the stab with the fake knife. “Huh? You mean…”

Upon hearing this, Ophelia and the other two frowned.

“Ah… Oops… shouldn’t have said that. *Ahem*” Aria embarrassingly coughed. “But to continue on. Jin wasn’t even sure that he got rid of all of the spy cameras and spying devices. So he used a jamming device while he put up the act of a villain. He wasn’t even sure the jammer was working because there are now more advanced version of spying devices that he had to choose his words and actions carefully. Now for Jin’s other purpose. He wanted the family to get back together. So, one by one, he exposed the truths and he had little time to tell the entire story. The only story he told so far, or so I’ve been told, was the story of the family’s secrets. Jin needed to break down the walls between the family members even if it means he had to force it out in a bad way. In the end, I think everyone stuck together. Sadly, I had to play the role of a mutilated woman for everything to be real. Sorry If I got you guys worried.”

“This is plain old stupid. If he wanted us to get back together, then all he had to do was make us spend time together and slowly reveal the secret.” Blake snorted.

“If he could he would Blake. I’ve said it before. Jin didn’t have enough time. Do you think you can survive if the government finds out that there was national level secret was being leaked? Do you think the government was willing to lose two military general for just one person? Blake, even if your status is higher position-wise. Francis and Drake already done many dirty deeds for the government and thus their values are higher. Also, if you found out that your friends were your enemies, you would go after them would you not? That would also makes the government your enemies as well. They willing to back Francis and Drake up and were not willing to lose two constantly corrupt general who could be blackmailed to work as slaves later on compared to a general whose only worth lies in his position and talent. Talent are easily replaced Blake so don’t try to argue. Anyway… So once the secret was leaked, Jin had to move quick. If the government actually came to this house, and thank god they didn’t, everyone would be dead. If he stayed longer, they might’ve come to this house and kill everyone.” Aria said in a low and grave tone. “There are also many families like ours Blake. There are other sides to this story that we may know about that only Jin knows. But Jin set the goal of breaking down the walls of distrusts within our family and bringing Meracle and the family back together as his number one priority. Even if it means he might die.” She sighed longly and looks down at the table with a blank look. “Do you guys understand now? What he did wasn’t just brave. It was insane because he is risking his life not only to save a family that he should not care about. His methods may have been crude but effective. Like he said, he wanted the family to be put back together. Everything worked out the way he planned for the most part. But from this point on, we might never see him again. Maybe… He might be able not see his family either.”

Her words caused shivers to go down everyone’s spines. They weren’t ready for this level of truth. The more they took in, the scarier it became. If what Aria said was true, then the world they know is nothing more than an illusion. Even Blake, when he was in the military, saw many things and he tried not to let his family know of such darkness. Blake was never aware that he was living in such a corrupted world. They could’ve died at any moment should Leah tell Blake about her affair. In fact, the family could’ve turned out worse.

“I’ll end the explanation here because I also got a list of things Jin instructed me to do as well. He didn’t want me to reveal too much anyway…” Aria shifted her eyes to look around the room. “Jin and I already took the liberty to dispose of the wiretaps, spy cams, and other spying devices. As you can see, some of the statues of the savior we bought were destroyed. Same goes for the paintings we’ve burned. That being said, the house might be ninety percent clean of spying wares. But just to be safe, Jin told me to ask you this.

‘Hey Meracle and… family members… The government might’ve been spying on you guys for a while now. They might find me. I might be dead. But know this, I want to help you guys out. I want to help you guys out because I want to help Meracle out. Though I might not remember why I love Meracle so much, I know I just do. So I’ll give you guys two options. The first is to burn your own house down in the middle of the night to make it look like an arsonist attack. Move into my house to where your children are right now. That will be your new home. I would suggest that you would take only the bare minimum. Don’t take laptops, computers or even cellphones. Best off if they burn. Old contacts cannot be trusted. Trojan viruses could already be in the electronics. Sell your car also. They are full of spywares inside the computer systems. I cannot remove them without getting caught. The house isn’t that far. Don’t quit your job Blake. Act as if nothing happened besides feeling angry that your house burned down. If you can’t do the first option then do the second option. The second option is to fly out of the country. But even then the second option is not as safe as the first. I cannot protect Meracle if you guys fly out should I still be alive. But even dead, I can assure that living in the house I provide is better than the outside countries and has better protection. This is not a threat. This is only a warning. You can choose to stay and bet the safety of your family and loved ones in your house. You can believe me or doubt me. You could try to find all of the spywares, cameras, and spying devices. But, in the future, should the government find out and take action, then everything I’ve done was for a naught.’

… Charming words no? But I think we can believe in his words. But it sure sounds like a threat to me. Aha ha ha…. But what do you guys think? Should we do as he said? Hm? Ha ha…” Aria laughed.

“I don’t know what to believe Aria. The kid just comes into our house, terrorized us, exposed a sh*t load of things that might be lies. I don’t know anymore. I can’t even believe the country I am serving anymore.” Blake depressingly spoke. “I’m still… *sigh*… Meracle. What do you think? Should we trust your boyfriend and do as he said?”

It was strange for Meralce to answer because not too long ago, she was fighting with her father. But now he is asking her in a gentle tone. Meracle thought for a while about everything Jin had done for her in the past. “… Not even two weeks and he’s already gone… I said I would chase after him… But he doesn’t even give me a chance to get near him… I’d like to believe him…”

“I’d say let’s not.” Ophelia suddenly spoke out. “We can say that we are grateful for his help. But don’t you think that if by some possibility that if we move into his house that we could follow his fate?”

Aria’s eyes became hawk-like and glared intently at Ophelia. “Ophelia. Just so you know, Jin didn’t put the bet in his mind. If he did, you would’ve lost a long time ago. Also, I don’t think being enslaved by your boyfriend is a better fate.”

Ophelia didn’t say anything and turned away.

Leah thought for a bit as well. Though she didn’t like the idea of moving, she wanted to start her and Blake’s lives with a better start. In addition, the house they currently lived in only reminded how unfaithful she was for the past few years. “Maybe… Blake… if we do move… Then let’s think this as starting our lives over. You know. New slate, new house, new everything. I think we should take this chance. When you do quit the military Blake, I think getting a nice job like being a gun store clerk or a florist wouldn’t be bad. Not to mention the military pension you would receive.” Leah tried to urge her husband. But the uncertainty in his eyes grew when her hands touched his hands.

“Blake. Remember you saying that you would try to love your wife? I think taking this chance will also help you start over as well. Think of this like being marrying your wife for the first time all over again. Try it out on Jin’s behalf. Don’t make all of his efforts in vain.” Aria really didn’t like Leah for being unfaithful. But she still wanted the family to be happy and so, she gave Blake a little push.

Being urged by Aria calmed down his uncertainties. Nodding his head in approval, he said, “Alright. I don’t know who this Jin guy is. But if he got 3/5th of the vote for the first option, then I… guess… I can… give it a try. Come on. Let’s pack out things and go.” Blake left the living room first. Following him was Leah who was trying to call out to him, asking if he needed help to pack his things.

Tension still exists between Ophelia and Meracle because Ophelia didn’t like how Meracle had the favoritism treatment. “Go Ophelia. Meracle. Pack your siblings’ things as well. Ania and I are already prepared.” Aria urged. She shot Ophelia the glare of death should Ophelia try to talk back. Without saying another word or another gesture, Ophelia left. Meracle also went up to help pack the other five suitcases needed.

Only when Aria was alone did she turn on the TV to the news channel. Didn’t matter which channel it was, every channel had the same thing. Breaking news of the return of Prosecutor Sloth.

There, she saw a blue haired masked man carrying ten people behind him walking to the court where a trial was going underway.

The court wasn't like a closed door court with closed doors and all. It was an open court trail in the open air in a grassy land with stands for the people to judge who is the criminal and who is truly innocent just like in the olden days.

A semi-true democratic way of judging people. Why is it semi-true democratic? Simple. It exists as public exposure. For public's relief. It was entertainment for the outside world who sometimes don't have TV and for those who want to judge people. But also, it only counts the people who were willing to participate in judging criminals along with ten other juries. Thus, this would be a slightly fairer way to put people on trial without having to spend much money on juries. The only problem was, this trial was held in the middle of the suburbs and was usually reported by the news. It would attract much attention. But that was what the blue haired masked man wanted.

Behind the ten people who the blue haired masked man carried were angry mobs brandishing there weapons with murderous intent. Each had their reasons to pick up their weapons. Each had a vengeance and a person they wanted to exact upon. Each had their own hatred. But the main targets were the people from the church.

The blue haired masked man left the people he carried in the middle of the streets and in that moment, the mob swarmed in and mutilated those ten people he carried to death.

Without looking back, the blue haired masked man dashed all the way to the judge's stand, threw the judge off his seat, and sat in his place. He shouted, “From this day forth, I, Prosecutor Sloth, return to the field of Justice! I don’t care if you do hate me. Blame it on those who dare to wake me up from my slumber! I will judge who is right! I will judge who is wrong! For those who dares to side with the criminals, I don’t care if my justice seems wrong to you. I will also expose your crimes just to show you I am right!”

That person, Prosecutor Sloth, was none other than Jin. Aria trembled in excitement. “Ooooo I love it when he does court cases. Always so…. Exhilarating! I shouldn’t tell Meracle that her boyfriend is such a well-known figure. That would just kill the family’s resolve to move over to Jin’s house. He is no doubt an evil person… But behind that evil façade is the kind man who has enough power to protect the ones he loves. So I don’t mind if he is a bit evil ^.^. I’m also a big fan of his justice anyway. Country’s Justice System was better when he was here. Justice System gotten worse when he left…”

Aria watched the spectacle for a bit. The blue haired man suddenly summoned a group of fifty cloaked men who also carried people behind them. But each person could only carry two compared to the blue haired masked man. One by one, the blue haired masked man judged them on the spot without asking the juries. There was no real reason to ask the juries because he, Prosecutor Sloth, already had every single solid evidence of their crimes. He also riled up the people's sense of hatred and justice. The only real role the people play were the executioners. Meaning, it was up to them to decide whether or not if the guilty dies. For those who didn't die, they were sent to a far off prison that gives only two meals a day for the rest of their lives.

Aira then turns the TV off once she saw enough. The bloody scene of people dying became… repulsive. So she went up to help Meracle and the others pack their things. Nonetheless, she still liked the fact that Prosecutor Sloth was back. 'Three years ago he was gone... But now... it seems like there will be justice at last in this corrupted world and many more stories to report. ^.^ This will be fun.'