206 DARK AND BEAUTIFUL PAS (2/2)
\”It seems that my business trip will last a little longer. I have to handle some issues here personally in one of our major operations here.\”
\”I hope that it's nothing serious.\”
\”No, it is just a lot of meetings that I have to attend. I will not make it back within my projected timeline.\”
\”Oh, is that all? It's not a big deal. I am a big girl. I can entertain myself.\” She laughed.
\”No, it's not that.\” Zhong Feng sighed. \”You know that I sent Chen Li to handle a certain matter. I charged him with the responsibility to handle the matter with your father. I wanted to ensure that your father's remains were recovered after the investigation was completed.\”
\”Oh, I didn't think of that.\” Hu Lei had chosen to suppress everything that had happened.
\”I was hoping to be with you in person when I told you this. But Chen Li returned earlier today with your father's ashes. What would you like to do? Do you want to wait until I come back?\” He asked gently.
Hu Lei felt like her mind was clouded. She shook her head. \”No, no, it's alright. Tell Chen Li to deliver the ashes to me tomorrow. You know that I had a difficult relationship with my father. But I loved him, and he loved me. I think I need to do this alone. I should honour him by facing his memory without fear.\” She spoke.
\”Are you sure?\” Zhong Feng wanted to return home and hold his Xiao Lei. But he also knew that she wanted to grow and overcome the past. He would not stand in the way of her determination.
\”Yeah. If I need you, I will call you, and you must come back immediately without delay.\” There was a smile amidst the sadness.
\”Always, always.\”
When the call ended, Hu Lei could not help but think of her father. She could not focus on one side of him. The images of him as a good father and a mad scientist merged into one, like a kaleidoscope from a dark and beautiful past.
As she slept, the nightmares returned, and her warm knight was not there to fight the dragons for her. She dreamed of a father gently instructing her on the way of medicine. That wonderful father was imparting on her his knowledge so that she could become the next godly doctor, capable of snatching life from hell itself.
Then, the loving father turned into a dark monster. The dark monster told her that she had to fight, she had to kill. The kind face contorted into a dark shape with red eyes, threatening a little girl who knew no one else. And that little girl found herself unable to flee the monster, bound by the blood they shared.
That sleeping girl, now a young woman, woke up but remained tied to her nightmare. Like a zombie, she walked to her living room and picked up her computer and began recording the horrors that she hoped that she would forget when she awoke.