A Dad and His Son

A father and his young son were running down a dark, empty city street. The only noise they heard was the sound of their own feet rapidly slapping the concrete below them. The street lamps revealed much sweat dripping from their tired bodies. As they ran, the father and son entered a long alleyway. Suddenly, their hearts were pounded by a massive hammer of grief. They hit a dead end.

There was no use in backtracking. The boy’s sweaty face was utterly horrified. His father suddenly noticed a metal balcony about ten feet above them. Without a second thought, the dad grabbed his son’s skinny waist, and hurled him up toward the balcony. Instinctively, the boy grabbed the edge of the balcony’s floor, and pulled himself up on top of the metal. Right next to the son was a ladder that led to a higher balcony, and on top of that balcony was another ladder, which led to another balcony, until 6 stories up, where there was a ladder that led to the building’s rooftop.

“Take the rooftops!” the father commanded. “Go!”

The son hesitated.

“Go!” the father said once again.

“D-dad…” the son said. His young face expressed great fear.

“Jer!” The father then softened his voice. He looked deep into his only son’s teary eyes and said: “Go make me proud.”

After a few more excruciatingly long seconds, Jer finally traveled up the ladders.

Once Jer was out of sight, his father turned towards the entrance of the alleyway. Ten short yards in front of him, there stood a terrifying figure of a man. This man wore baggy black pants on his legs. His long sleeve shirt had a gradient design, transitioning from a deep black bottom half to a dirty white top. On his back he wore a long black cape. His face was hidden by a disturbing white mask, the front of which featured many random black lines. It almost looked like a dog with soot covered paws had repeatedly scratched the man’s face.

“Are you a Coltist?” the masked man asked the father. His tone was emotionless.

“Yes I am,” the father replied.

Immediately after the father’s answer, the masked man pulled a small pistol from one of his pockets and pointed its muzzle at the father. “I kill Coltists.” The man’s voice was still unexpressive. “But don’t worry. I’ll give you one chance to repent.”

The dad’s face was fearless, but his hands were fidgeting. He repeatedly clenched and opened his fist. Clench, open. Clench, open.

“Are you a Coltist?”

“Don’t hurt my boy!” Jer’s father commanded.

“Is he a Coltist?” the man asked.

The father gazed at the man’s mask for a few seconds, then answered: “I’m not the one who decides that.”

There was a moment of silence, but the hunter soon broke it. “Now answer me. Are you a Coltist?”

Closing his eyes, the father took a deep breath.

“Answer me,” the masked man said once more, his voice still emotionless.

The father opened his eyes.

“I am.”

BANG!!!

As Jer rushed across the dark rooftops, he heard the heart shattering gunshot. Jer stopped, then turned around toward the direction he had come from. After a brief moment, he turned back around and started running again. As the boy ran, teardrops flew behind him.

Eventually, Jer climbed down from the roofs. The tired young man made his way to an eerie playground inside an unfamiliar park. He climbed inside the bottom of a tube slide and curled himself up inside the plastic tube. The air felt chilly, but that wasn’t the reason he couldn’t stop shivering.

“What do I do?! What do I do?!” Jer thought to himself. He knew that the best course of action would be to head to the nearest police department, but he had no clue where that was. “He won’t look in here. I’ll just wait here until morning.”

Suddenly, Jer’s heart skipped multiple beats. The slide was moving.

The tube tipped onto its side, sending Jer flying out the hole he had entered, and onto the sandy ground. Horror-stricken, the boy turned his face upward. In front of Jer, there stood the awful figure of the masked murderer.

Immediately, the terrified boy picked himself up and ran like the wind. Before Jer could get very far, the masked man threw a sharp rock into the boy’s right leg, which was already worn out. Jer fell to his trembling knees, his back facing the masked man.

The man took a few steps towards the boy. “Are you a Coltist?” he asked. His voice was just as unemotional as it was when he spoke to Jer’s father.

Jer hesitated to reply. Eventually, he was able to tremulously utter an answer. “I… I am.”

“I kill Coltist.” Jer couldn’t see the man’s pistol, but somehow, he knew it was pointed straight towards him. “But don’t worry. I’ll give you one chance to repent. Are you a Coltist?”

Tears fell from the poor boy’s eyes. He didn’t answer.

“Your father was an idiot. Don’t die following in his footsteps.” Surprisingly, Jer suddenly noticed a miniscule amount of emotion buried deep inside the masked man’s words. “Live your life.”

As he knelt helplessly, all of Jer’s dreams and ambitions arose in his mind. The boy would’ve loved nothing more than to become a police officer and protect innocent civilians from bad guys. If he was being honest with himself, he really didn’t care if he became a cop or a fire fighter or a doctor; he just wanted to help people. But then, Jer recalled many of the beautiful memories he made with his father. His dad was an amazing person. So kind. So loving. So humble.

Jer grit his teeth together. “I’m gonna make my father proud!” The son turned his crying face toward the masked man and his deadly weapon.

“I am a Coltist!!”

Jer quickly slammed his eyes shut and braced his entire body. But surprisingly, the man didn’t shoot. After a few seconds of silence, Jer opened his drenched eyes.

“Gotta admit, I’m impressed,” the man said in a hushed tone. Jer gazed at the masked face as it spoke. “You’re very, very brave.”

BANG!!!

Jer dropped dead.

The masked man walked up to the body. The man took his gloved right pointer and spread the fresh blood on the boy’s clothes. When he was finished, the blood appeared to read: "DRED."

The masked man continued to speak as he left the boy. “But courage is futile…”

The murderer pulled off his mask as he walked away.

“...when you’re in the wrong.”