Tragic Melody

No one can predict what fate has been holding for you. One moment you are living a lush, beautiful life and the next second it shatters and you get left with broken and excruciating fragments of yourself. Fragments, which will require a lot of work and patience to become something like a whole someday. In hindsight, the situation may appear to be forthcoming, but there was nothing that could be done about it to make it less severe.

That is how destiny plays—cruel and unfair.

And that's what that day felt like to her—barbarically cruel and unfair.

13 years old Melody Alders was riding her black bicycle around the house early in the evening, enjoying herself. The autumn season was at its peak, making the weather to be calm and pleasant, which enticed her in riding. The sky was clear and blue, a mild breeze was blowing and the sun was on its way to set. She just couldn't resist the tempting invitation of nature to explore its beauty.

So she gave in to her desire, grabbed her bike and went around the vicinity.

Melody loved riding because it provided her with an escape from many things, like the way her classmates treat and say brutal things about her, or the fact that her father, Dominik Alders, and mother, Sienna Alders, were busy with work from the last 1 week and wasn't spending time with her as much as they used to before.

Cycling was her meditation that she performed to silent her inner havoc.

Her father always told her not to go out when they were at work but she couldn't help it today. They promised to wrap the work early and spend the evening with her but hours passed and nobody showed up. She had been home alone for almost 3 hours. Usually her aunt Jade babysits her—although she was now big enough to stay alone—but today she was also out of the town to attend some family gathering.

That made her furious. First, it was her elder brother Maximus Alders, and now her parents. The most important people of her life were busy and didn't have time for her. She tried her best to understand them but nothing helped.

And when nothing helps, only cycling does.

So she went on. The sight of trees shaking because of wind and the sheer pleasure of riding a bike brought back her happy spirits.

After riding around for some time she decided to head home, hoping that nobody would have arrived while she was gone because if they did then she'd be in big trouble. Her parents were so uptight about the rules and deadlines.

That's what happens when you have a fitness coach as a father and a lawyer as a mother.

But this did not mean that her parents were tyrannical, workaholic or didn't love her and her brother. If anything, they loved them the most. Melody and Maximus were the centres of their universe and everything they did was always to keep them happy. Even though their careers were high demanding and kept them busy, they didn't let it hinder their family time. Sienna and Dominik balanced their work and home life tremendously well and raised their kids with utmost love.

"MELODY! Thank god you are safe."

That was the first thing she heard when she parked her bike in the front of the yard. Her mother came rushing and engulfed her in a very tight embrace.

"Thank god you are alright. We were so worried about you," she cried in her neck.

Melody was confused for a minute but then smiled and wrapped her arms more tightly around her mother, rubbed her back and relaxed in her presence. "Hey, I am all fine, sweet thing. Nothing happened to me."

"Don't you ever dare to scare me like this again, honey. I was so scared."

Melody sunk deeper into her mother, trying to assure her that she was alright. "I am sorry, Mom. I didn't mean to scare you but I was getting bored all alone at home."

Her mother sighed and held her for a while before letting her go. "I understand and I am sorry, honey. I was on my way to home when suddenly my client arrived and it was important to attend to him. I didn't know it would take me that long."

Melody could see the sincerity in her mother's eyes which instantly made her feel bad about inadvertently scaring her.

The world saw Sienna Alders as a cold lawyer, who knew exactly how to manipulate a situation in her favour to secure a win, but for her, she was her ideal and the most favourite woman. Sienna was the anchor of their family, without her nothing could work properly in Alders household and their life. Melody admired everything about her. From her strong personality to the passion for work, from her sweetness to her ferociousness. Everything. There was never a time when she, her brother or her father needed her and she won't be there, holding and supporting them.

"You don't need to apologize to me—"

"Thank goodness!"

They both turned to the voice and Dominik coming towards them. When he reached them, he pulled Melody in a hug. Anyone could see him visibly relaxing when he held her tight in his arms and was sure that his daughter was safe and sound and that's how exactly she felt in his embrace.

Dominik Alders was the only superhero that Melody knew and believed in. If there was a place where she felt safest, then it was her father's arms. He may come out to people as intimidating, stoic and broody but for his family, he was that human teddy bear who was protective of them like a lion. He could kill and get killed for the people he loved. His work demanded a tough exterior but he made sure to never let it appear in front of his kids. Not at least when they are alone and bonding. He loved them dearly and made sure they know that he would do anything for them.

"Sorry, coach. I didn't know that you both would be that much worried," she apologized to him but didn't make a move to free herself.

A minute passed in comfortable silence. Then he kissed her forehead, pulled away, held her shoulders in a strong grip. "How can we not? It's not every day you see a 50% sale on the Ice-cream shop."

Her eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "I don't get what you are saying."

"So you were not at the Ice-cream parlour?"

"No."

"Then I was worried for nothing," he said, shaking his head. "Since there was a sale, I thought you would not miss it, given to your love for food. When we didn't find you at home I was sure you must be out there, terrorising the shop owner for giving you as much Ice-cream as he could for half the amount. We were actually worried about the owner."

Melody's jaw fell at his reply. "So, you were worried about me extorting someone else "

Dominik nodded.

"Dad. Not fair." She backed away a little and folded her arms.

Sienna, who was silently watching the scene with a warm smile, let out a small laugh too which made Melody look at her.

"Mom. Not you too please," she complained.

That made the couple laugh. Melody couldn't hold herself for long and joined her parents. She was happy that they were not sporting that distressed look on their faces. Their smile felt like a blessing to her and she was glad to be the reason for it.

"Let's go inside."

"I will park my bike in the garage."

Sienna nodded before they both head in.

After parking her bike, she went inside her house but just before she could reach the living room, the doorbell rang.

"Melody, see who is it."

"Yes, Mom."

She checked from the peephole before opening and saw her brother.

"MAX!"

"MEL!" He opened his arms wide and she jumped in them and he spun her around. The excitement and happiness of seeing each other again after one and a half month were clear in their voice.

"Why didn't you tell me you were coming?"

"Telling is not a part of a surprise, idiot."

They both laughed together before he put her down. She punched him on his shoulder hard and he winced. "You deserve more than that for not showing up last Saturday."

"Dad is making you train hard. Your punches have become stronger than before, little one. And that reminds me of mom," he said before bolting past her. "MOM! I AM HOME. WHERE ARE YOU?"

"MAXIMUS!"

She could tell that her mother was just as pleasantly surprised as she was but what made her chuckle was the way Max literally ran to see her. He was still a big momma's boy.

That pleasant feeling didn't last for long.

When she turned to close the door then only she noticed him standing on the steps of the porch, her cinnamon-brown eyes collided with his familiar sea-blue ones, which were shining with amusement.

"Melly-boo!"

Her smile automatically disappeared and she scowled. "Of course you just happened to be here. Don't you have your own house to go Sk-Ape ?"

His smile widened at this and he walked towards her. "How cute. You are still learning to speak," he said and draped his one arm around her shoulders and leaned just a bit to spite her more. "Let me give you a hand in pronouncing my name correctly. It's Skylar. Sky—Lar"

She snorted. "I only say what I see. And trust me when I call you ape is just me putting the reality very mildly. You are far worse and annoying than an ape."

"Seems like you are enjoying your stint at the zoo with your cool ape mates."

"That—my not so real and existing—stint has me convinced that monkeys have more productive brain cells than you. They are at least capable of understanding when and where they are unwanted, unlike you."

Skylar laughed heartily because he knew that there were no hard feelings under that insult. "I missed your animal planet insults Melly-boo."

Melody rolled her eyes but a small smile settled on her lips. She did miss a little bit of their banter and him irritating her.

"Let's go in before dad come here out from the kitchen and kill you for keeping me hostage."

Dominik's mention caused his laughter to subtle down and become more attentive to his posture. "Dominik's home?"

"I wonder how they allowed you to study in their school when you are clearly lacking a brain." She eyed him curiously like it would explain her question. "Didn't I just said what you asked?"

"Smart-mouth," he muttered and steered them towards hallways.

She let him guide her even though it was her house. "Moron."

Later at night, when everyone was soundly asleep in their home, 5 hooded men were on their way to execute a sinful plan. Most of the times their boss let them work on their own but this time he joined them too and was looking forward to success. He wanted to personally make sure that the woman, who dared to threaten and slap him, suffer from slow excruciating pain.

If she was daring to fight against him and expose his secrets, she should be aware of the consequences.

"Go now. We don't have all day."

They both nodded. "Yes, boss."

They ran out of the car and one of them knocked on the door. The rest of them stayed hidden around the area.

The Alders family was sleeping when a banging sound on the door jolted them up.

"Who do you think it could be at this time ?" Sienna asked getting out of the bed.

Dominik got both the Glock 19 from under the table and handed his wife her gun. "I don't know. But be aware and stay behind me."

She nodded and followed him.

Dominik felt frustrated because today morning he noticed that the security cameras were not working and he couldn't make the technician repair them because they were not available. He made a mental note to get it to repair first thing in the morning.

That person on the other side knocked again on their door and kept ringing the bell.

"It's a woman," he said after checking from the peephole.

"She must be in some danger. We need to help her." She opened the door without even listening to his reply.

"Oh thank god! We are so sorry to bother you at this odd hour of the night but we are in desperate need of your help," the woman said, sounding restless and on the verge of crying.

Dominik noticed the man beside her who was trying to comfort her but he looked frightened himself. "Okay. Calm down and tell us what's the matter. We will try to do anything that we could to help you."

"We got a call half an hour ago, telling about our daughter's accident. We instantly left the house and made our way to the hospital but the car ran out of gas. That hospital is 3 miles away from here. It would mean the world to us if you would help us," the man said.

"Please, please, please help us. I need to be there with my daughter. I can't lose her."

Their pleading stirred Sienna and Dominik's heart. They could understand their position. They would have been the same or even worse if something would happen to Maximus or Melody.

"Hey! Hey! Calm down. Don't worry we can help you. We will drive you to the hospital," Sienna told them.

"Yes, I will grab my car keys." He went in to grab them.

"Thank you so much. You don't know how grateful we are for this," the woman cried.

"We can get it. We are also parents of two."

"Okay let's go. Sienna, lock the doors," Dominik said, walking out.

"Drive safe and I love you." She pecked him on the lips.

"I love you too." He nodded and they went to board his car.

She locked the doors and went to the living room and put her gun on the coffee table. Melody and Maximus both came out of their room and came downstairs

"Where did dad go this late?" Maximus asked, making his way to kitchen.

"Helping some people. Nothing to worry about honey," she said with pride for her husband. "Why are you both up so late?"

They both shrugged and joined their mother on the couch.

"You know we are light sleepers," Melody said.

"Just like your father," she chuckled and held her hands. "But everything's fine. You both can go back to sleep."

"And leave you here, waiting for him all alone. Nah." She raised an eyebrow before snuggling to her, wrapping her arms around her mother's waist. "Also I prefer your arms better than my bed. They are the most comfortable."

Maximus followed suit and laid his head on Sienna's lap, perching his legs over the couch. Instantly as a subconscious reaction, Sienna started caressing their heads and they both sighed in contentment. She didn't say anything after that and just smiled to herself.

But that moment was short-lived because after 5 minutes some people broke into their house with a bang.

"What the hell was that?" Maximus yelled, jumped and stood up.

Before anyone could have understood, those people came marching into the living room and pointed their guns toward them. Sienna grabbed her gun too, came in front and covered her kids.

"Don't make any noise if you do not wish this to end in a pool of blood," one of the masked men warned.

"Who are you and what do you want?" She demanded, pointing the gun at them.

A chuckle could be heard but it was difficult to point out from whom it came because of their hoods.

"I will advise you to put the gun down and surrender. The odds here does not add up in your favour."

She recognized this voice and anger flamed in her eyes. "So, it's you."

"Yes. Were you expecting someone else to ambush you?"

Sienna laughed ironically. "No. Only cowards like you can do this. I will remember to add this up in your tellies of crime, Alejandro."

"Won't need to trouble your self bitch. You will be resting in peace by the time I will leave."

Max couldn't contain his temper and came forward. "You dare talk to my mother like that and I guarantee to make sure you are the one who will be resting in peace."

"Max, back off. This is not your fight," she yelled at her son.

"Like mother, like son. I like it. Both are prone to invite trouble that should have been easily avoided."

"Listen, Alejandro. This is between us, so keep my children out of it."

Alejandro shook his head, finally stepping forward pulling off his hood and lowered his gun. "You should have thought about them before meddling yourself with my work."

"Alejandro—"

Before she could say anything else, he tried to punch her but her reflexes were fast and she dodged it.

"Get the kids," he ordered. His cronies followed it and attacked Melody and Maximus.

"Melody, run!" Max told her and she jumped off but before she could make it far, one of them caught her.

Maximus was putting up a good fight and attacked both the men who were almost twice his size. All the training he did these years was paying off. He injured their most sensitive parts with calculative hits, left them rolling on the floor, and went to help his little sister.

Melody also trained with her parents and brother but she was still fairly young to cause great damage to people who were double in her size and weighed four times more than her. Those men pecked few punches in her ribs and banged her head on the wall. She fell on the floor, half unconscious. But she had done her work of pressing the button of the tracker by then which would have sent a notification to her father.

But how would have Dominik could do anything when he was passed out in his car, unaware of all the dangers his family was facing. That fake couple made him drive from a dark and lonely neighbourhood of Hillford, where they chloroformed him and ran away.

Here, Alejandro and Sienna's fight turned brutal. It was evident that he wanted her to experience pain. But Sienna was a lioness, willing to do anything to protect her children. She didn't make it easy for him and kept assaulting profusely. But soon he became tired of fighting, pulled out a knife from his pocket and stabbed her on her right thigh. Blood started pouring out and pain shot through her whole body that made her fell on the floor.

"MOM!" Max cried.

"Watch it, kid. If you came near I will shoot your loving mother right now."

Max ignored it and bolted in his direction but one of the men came from behind and hit his head with a baseball bat. The force of that hit blacked him out in an instant.

Sienna's heart was thumping wildly because of fear for her kids' safety. But she didn't let it marred her face and give Alejandro the satisfaction of breaking her. "Leave them alone, Alejandro. I will stop my investigation against you and leave you off the hook. Just leave us."

A smirk made its way to his lip and he looked down at her. "I know you will but I was not here just to make you drop it. No."

"Then what else do you want from me?" she snapped.

"Now now, patience is the virtue, isn't it?" he said, tightly gripping her hair and pulled them with a brutal force. "You dared to slap me. Slap the mafia god and thought you could expose me. Not that easy, slut. I hate you and women like you, who think they are superior to men. Bitches like you need to know where they stand in front of us. You are surviving because of our mercy so just keep doing what you are meant to. Dress like a good slut and please your master. But you seem to forget that and that's why I am here to give you a lesson for life."

"You are a psychotic fucker, Alejandro."

He again smirked, this time a little more cruelly, like that's normal for him. "You haven't seen how psycho I can be."

An eerie silence filled the place when he stopped talking. The clock's ticking, dogs howling could be clearly heard and when Alejandro started walking away from Sienna, his shoes' sound echoed. It only stopped when he reached Melody and halted.

Melody was silently listening to all of this in her half-conscious state with head bent down and eyes closed. Her stomach churned and she felt nauseated because of the way Alejandro talked to her mother. The night felt like a very long bad dream that she wanted to fade away as soon as possible but the stars were not shining on their side that day. The only thing that stopped her from not screaming out was the fear of something happening to her mother or brother. She couldn't risk their lives.

"Don't you fucking dare to think about doing anything to her. I was the one to slap you so take your revenge from me," Sienna yelled. "If you have the balls of real men like you claim, then you won't even touch her."

He grabbed Melody from her throat and yanked her up. "I definitely have the balls and I am going to put them on a good use." He viciously smiled this time and sardonically eyed Melody's body. "You will watch me fucking your slut of a daughter. Watch me how good I can get at that. So it will always serve you as a lesson that what happens when you mess with a powerful man like me."

Never in her life, Sienna ever fell on her knees and begged to someone. She made sure to always have an upper hand in every situation, but she begged this time to save Melody. She couldn't see her becoming a victim of this heinous debauchery and she didn't deserve to be the one paying for her stubborn decisions. So, Sienna begged and pleaded like never before.

But nothing affected Alejandro. He was determined to destroy her. "Your daughter is a good catch, bitch. She would make a perfect hoe if her body kept growing like this."

Those words were something that will keep echoing in Melody's ear forever.

Whatever happened after that scarred her for life and broke her beyond any repairing. Even in her half-consciousness, she could feel her dignity getting knocked and shred into pieces with her clothes, by a man who didn't even deserve to be called human.

His roaming hands on her body felt like nails tearing her skin. His skin swapping against her burned her soul. A loud cry for help was on its way to coming out but he muffled it by putting his hand on her mouth and choking her. He didn't look away for any second from her and his cold green eyes shined with a sense of victory.

Those goons had injured Melody to the extent where she wasn't able to do anything to stop Alejandro from ripping her honour. She felt utterly helpless and she hated it the most. She heard her mother's pleadings and cries which got blurred with the sound of her thumping heart beating in her ears. She watched him annihilating her modesty, confidence and belief in humanity, cruelly with a cold look of conceit and satisfaction, that was now imprinted in her mind and was going to haunt her for life.

She felt herself dying at that moment but nobody had ever told her that there were ways to kill a person without actually physically killing them. She was sure that the pain of dying wouldn't even come close to the inferno that she was experiencing. Her heart might have not stopped beating but Alejandro sucked the life out of it. Time passed in slow motion and made sure that each second of that agony engrave itself in her mind, body, heart and soul. She wanted to pass out—or die for the better—but her mind didn't oblige there too and endured that torment in its half—yet still enough to feel, sense, memorize and survive—conscious state.

The only thought that comforted her at that time was her mother's safety. She couldn't imagine her going through any of this and was glad in a way that he chose her instead of her mother. Her mother was safe and that's what mattered. She would suffer it all again if it meant that her family is safe.

Because love trumps all the pain and vendettas.

And the love for her mother was enough to make her endure and survive that assault to her dignity.

When that monster was done playing and destroying her, he got up, laughed sickly like he conquered the world.

Melody thought that's it. The torture was finally over. But fate wasn't having an easy time on her at all.

After Alejandro, his cronies followed up his actions and destructed whatever strength was left in her. They feasted on her like starved animals who didn't even leave an inch of her body untouched with their stinging touch.

If only she could combust in flame to give them a slight taste of what they were making her go through.

At last, her mind also became tired of that constant beating and violation and fell into the deep abyss of darkness from which Melody didn't wish to wake up.

Ever again.