Chapter 6: The Message My Father Left Behind
The first sound after the glass shattered was silence.
A terrible, unnatural silence.
The kind that happens when everyone in a room realizes danger is already inside.
I couldn’t see anything.
The clubhouse lights were gone.
The computer screen had disappeared into darkness.
For one second, I forgot how to breathe.
Then I heard Reaper’s voice.
“Everybody down.””
The command was calm.
Controlled.
But I could hear the anger underneath it.
A second later, the room exploded into motion.
Boots moved across the floor.
Chairs scraped.
Someone grabbed my shoulder.
“Caleb, get behind me.””
It was Reaper.
Even in the darkness, I knew his voice.
I felt his massive hand guide me away from the center of the room.
My mother called my name.
“Caleb!””
“I’m here!””
I heard her exhale.
Good.
She was okay.
Then a small beam of light appeared.
A phone flashlight.
Marcus stood near the broken window.
His face had changed.
The guilt was gone.
Now he looked like the man everyone else saw.
A fighter.
“Window’s broken,” he said.
Reaper stepped beside him.
“Anyone outside?””
Marcus looked through the opening.
“Nothing.””
“That’s impossible,” another biker said.
Everyone looked toward him.
The biker pointed at the shattered glass.
“Whoever did this wanted us to know they were here.””
My stomach tightened.
He was right.
This wasn’t a random attack.
It was a warning.
Reaper looked toward the computer.
“The file.””
Nobody moved.
Because everyone knew.
The person who broke in might not have come for us.
They might have come for what my father left behind.
Marcus grabbed a flashlight and aimed it toward the desk.
The computer was still there.
The screen was black.
Then suddenly—
It turned on.
Everyone froze.
A single message appeared.
*ACCESSING PERSONAL MESSAGE.*
My heart started pounding.
Nobody touched the keyboard.
Nobody needed to.
The file had opened itself.
A video began loading.
Then my father appeared.
Again.
Michael Johnson.
Older.
Tired.
But alive.
I forgot about the broken window.
Forgot about the people around me.
Because for the second time in my life, I was seeing my father.
Not a picture.
Not a story.
Him.
His eyes looked directly into the camera.
“Caleb.””
My knees almost gave out.
He knew.
He knew I would see this.
The room disappeared.
There was only his voice.
“If you are watching this, then I need you to understand something.””
He paused.
“I’m sorry.””
My eyes burned.
The first thing my father said to me after eleven years was an apology.
“I’m sorry I wasn’t there when you needed me.””
My mother covered her mouth.
Michael continued.
“I’m sorry Angela had to carry this alone.””
He looked down for a moment.
“I’m sorry you grew up believing I left you.””
I swallowed hard.
My entire life.
Every birthday.
Every school event.
Every time I saw another kid with their dad.
I had wondered why I wasn’t enough for mine to stay.
But now he was telling me he never chose to leave.
“I need you to know the truth.””
His expression became serious.
“I didn’t disappear.””
A pause.
“I was taken.””
Nobody moved.
Not even Reaper.
My father continued.
“And the person responsible is someone you may trust.””
The room changed.
Everyone looked at each other.
The same fear returned.
The same question.
Who?
Michael leaned closer to the camera.
“Caleb, if you are watching this, then you’re old enough to hear what I couldn’t tell you before.””
His voice softened.
“You were born into something dangerous.””
I looked at my mother.
She was crying silently.
“Your mother tried to protect you.””
He paused.
“Don’t blame her.””
That sentence hurt.
Because I had spent the last hour blaming everyone.
My mother.
Reaper.
Marcus.
Everyone except the person who caused it.
Michael continued.
“But protecting you meant keeping you away from the truth.””
The video flickered.
Then came back.
“There are two things you need to find.””
Reaper leaned closer.
“Two things?””
Michael raised one finger.
“The second file.””
Then another.
“And the person who helped me hide it.””
My heart raced.
“Who?””
It was impossible.
But I whispered the question anyway.
Like he could hear me.
Michael looked directly into the camera.
“The person who helped me is the reason I was able to survive.””
The room went silent.
“Because that person betrayed me.””
Everyone stared.
“What does that mean?”” one biker whispered.
Michael continued.
“Sometimes the only way to protect someone is to make them believe you hate them.””
The video glitched.
Then his voice became softer.
“Caleb…”
I stepped closer.
“I know you don’t remember me.””
My throat tightened.
“But I remember you.””
A tear rolled down my face before I could stop it.
“When you were born, I held you in my arms.””
My mother started crying harder.
“You grabbed my finger.””
Michael smiled faintly.
“And you wouldn’t let go.””
The image blurred slightly.
Maybe the camera.
Maybe my own tears.
“I promised I would always protect you.””
He looked serious again.
“That promise is why I had to disappear.””
The video stopped.
For three seconds, nobody spoke.
Then the screen changed.
A new message appeared.
*SECOND PART REQUIRES LOCATION KEY.*
Reaper stared.
“Location key?””
Marcus walked closer.
“Michael always used codes.””
I looked at him.
“You knew him better than me.””
The words came out bitter.
Marcus accepted it.
“I’m sorry.””
I looked away.
Reaper noticed.
“Caleb.””
I didn’t answer.
He lowered his voice.
“You have every right to be angry.””
I looked at him.
“But being angry won’t give you the truth.””
I hated that he was right.
Before I could respond, one of the bikers outside shouted.
“Boss!””
Everyone turned.
The clubhouse door opened.
A biker rushed inside.
His face was tense.
“We found something.””
Reaper stepped forward.
“What?””
The biker held up a small object.
A memory card.
“It was attached under the window frame.””
Marcus frowned.
“Whoever broke in left it?””
The biker nodded.
My stomach tightened.
“They wanted us to find it.””
Reaper took the card.
“Bring it here.””
The biker connected it to the computer.
A video file appeared.
No name.
No description.
Just one word.
*MERCY.*
Reaper stared.
His expression changed.
“What?””
I looked at him.
“You know that word?””
He didn’t answer.
Marcus did.
“That was Michael’s code.””
Everyone looked at him.
“For what?””
Marcus swallowed.
“For when he found someone he couldn’t save.””
The computer screen opened.
The video started.
This time, there was no image.
Only audio.
Static.
Then a voice.
Not my father’s.
A woman’s.
“You said you would protect him.””
Everyone froze.
The woman continued.
“You promised.””
A man answered.
“I tried.””
The voice was familiar.
But I couldn’t place it.
The woman sounded angry.
“You didn’t try hard enough.””
A pause.
Then the man said:
“If I reveal the truth, Caleb dies.””
My blood ran cold.
My name.
Again.
The woman whispered:
“He deserves to know.””
The man replied:
“He deserves to live.””
The audio distorted.
Then one final sentence came through.
A sentence that made Reaper step backward.
Because he recognized the voice.
“He was never supposed to find the Dust Reapers.””
The recording ended.
Everyone looked at Reaper.
I looked at him too.
“Who was that?””
He didn’t answer.
“Reaper.””
His face was pale.
For the first time since I met him, he looked completely lost.
Marcus stepped forward.
“Boss?””
Reaper stared at the computer.
Then slowly looked at me.
“That was Michael.””
I shook my head.
“No.””
He nodded.
“Yes.””
“That was my father?””
“Yes.””
“But he was talking to someone.””
Reaper’s eyes darkened.
“Yes.””
“Who?””
Nobody answered.
Then my mother whispered:
“I know who.””
Everyone turned.
She looked terrified.
Not because she was remembering.
Because she knew what came next.
“Angela,” Reaper said.
Her hands trembled.
“The woman speaking…”
She looked at me.
“She was me.””
The room went completely silent.
My heart stopped.
My mother.
The voice.
The secret.
The betrayal.
All connected.
“No,” I whispered.
She looked at me with tears in her eyes.
“I never betrayed your father.””
“Then why were you talking like that?””
She couldn’t answer.
Not immediately.
Then she reached into her bag and pulled out something else.
Something I hadn’t seen before.
An old envelope.
Yellowed.
Worn.
With my father’s handwriting on the front.
My name.
Written by him.
She handed it to me.
“Because before he disappeared…”
Her voice broke.
“Your father told me that one day, I would have to give this to you.””
I stared at the envelope.
My fingers shook as I opened it.
Inside was a single piece of paper.
Only one sentence was written.
And when I read it, I felt the entire world shift.
*Caleb, if you are reading this, then the person you call your father is not the only thing I left behind.*
Below it was a second line.
May you like
A line that made my blood freeze.
*There is someone else who has been protecting you your entire life.*
