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“You were always so naive, thinking you could outsmart me,” he sneers, pacing back and forth and waving the gun wildly with his words. “Thinking you held all the power. You thought you could keep her hidden from me, thinking that I wouldn’t find out. But I’ve been one step ahead all along. I loved her mother, and she confided in me years ago.”
Confusion swirls in my mind as I struggle to comprehend his words. Who is he talking to? There’s a crazed look in his eye but I get the feeling he’s mentally checked out of whatever conversation we were just having and now he’s facing a different demon.
The gun trembles in my father’s grip as he comes to a standstill. He rounds on me and takes a step closer, his voice dripping with malice. “You killed her! That’s twice now you’ve killed the woman I love and I won’t stand by and watch you do the same to my son. I won’t let you destroy him the way you have me!”
He raises the gun, aiming it right at my chest. My heart lurches, fear gripping me like a vise. Time stands still, his finger squeezes the trigger in tiny increments. My eyes are glued to it, transfixed, waiting for the biting point, waiting for the bullet to tear through my chest and end me once and for all.
The shot rings out, deafening me, and my eyes close.
When I open them again, my father’s on his knees, staring up at me with a confused expression on his face. A red peony blooms across his chest, spreading and distorting until I realise it’s blood. I’m not bleeding. He is. He didn’t shoot me. Someone shot him.
“Princess—” my father gasps, staring at something past me.
“Oh my god, Kaiden, are you alright?” Odi cries, rushing to my side, the smoking gun still clasped in her hand.
I stare at my father lying on the ground, still gasping for breath as life slips away from him. Odi’s eyes are filled with tears and fear, her hand twitching where she still holds the gun. I can’t believe this has happened, but somehow, I can’t find it in me to be angry at her. She was just trying to protect me, to save me from the monstrosity that is my father.
As I kneel beside my father, gripping his hand tightly, a mix of sadness and relief wash over me. He was never the father I wanted or needed. But he was still my father, and as he takes his last breath, I can’t help but think of all the choices he’s made, all the pain and suffering he’s caused, and how it’s led us all here.
He opens his mouth to speak and I have to lean in close to hear his feeble, whispered words. “She’s…the…key… The hidden…princess.”
Odi looks at us both, her eyes dark with confusion and sorrow. My father exhales and then he’s gone.
“I’m so sorry, Kaiden,” she says, her voice breaking. “I heard a noise, woke up and you weren’t there, and I saw the gun so I grabbed it and then your dad was…he was…he was going to—”she breaks off in a sob which wracks her whole body, and I’m on my feet scooping her into my arms before I can even think.
She clings to me, tears streaming down her face as I rock her back and forth.
“I’m so sorry, Kaiden,” she whispers again, her voice breaking. “It didn’t even register what I was doing. Why was your dad pointing a gun at you? He was going to shoot, I could see it in his eyes. I couldn’t let him do that, Kaiden. I couldn’t watch you die again.”
She sniffles and nods, wiping at her tears. “It would kill me to lose you again.”
As Odi sobs into my chest, I hold her tightly, feeling a mix of relief and sorrow. The situation with my father had been unbearable for far too long, and though this was not the resolution I had hoped for, at least his reign of terror is finally over. Odi was always destined to kill him anyway, I couldn’t take that away from her.
“Shh, babygirl. It’s okay. Remember, his death was always part of the plan…you’ve just sped up the timeline a little,” I remind her.
My father’s last words haunt me: “She’s...the...key...the hidden...princess.” It’s a riddle, but one that contains the answers to everything we’re seeking.
The gun now lies abandoned on the ground, its cold, metal surface reflecting the reality of what has just transpired. As I hold Odi, I can’t help but think of the irony: she was wielding a weapon in defence, while my father was pointing a gun at me. It’s clear that Odi is the true hero, the one willing to risk her own life to protect me. Again. Just like she did for Axel.
This woman astonishes and astounds me, every single day.
I gently pull away from Odi, my eyes scanning the room as I try to process what has just happened. The reality of what has transpired hits me like a ton of bricks. I’m filled with a mixtureof emotions – relief that my father is gone, sorrow that he had to be killed in such a violent way before we could glean anyrealanswers from him, and gratitude that Odi was there to save me.
As I help Odi to her feet, I notice my father’s mobile phone on the floor under his desk. I grab it and hold it up to his face to unlock it.
“Did you hear any of what was said, Odi?” I ask her, my attention on the phone as I skim through his recent messages and emails. There’s nothing note-worthy.
“I didn’t hear anything before I grabbed the gun,” she says, taking a shaky breath, her green eyes meeting mine. “And then when I got to the room, all the blood was roaring in my ears and I couldn’t hear properly. Why? What did he say?”
“He was drunk. Talking in riddles. Trying to tell me something about you.”
“Do you think he might have a safe? Something hidden where we can find more answers?” she asks.
I shake my head. “I’ve got a feeling…Fuck,” I hiss as I access my father’s hidden photos. “Odi, you need to see this.”
Together, we huddle over my father’s phone screen, trying to process everything we’re seeing while my father’s body turns cold at our feet.
Even having seen the photos we’re no further forward with our answers – we just have a thousand new questions to ask – and Odi is shivering.
