2022-08-15 20:49:14His blood dripped from his hands, and his breathing hurt. The two broken ribs hurt his torso badly as he advanced.
“Just one more hit!” He said through gritted teeth.
But, the fight didn’t stop as he kept hitting until his eyes opened suddenly in the darkness of his room.
It was just a dream… Barrett feared that he was still in his dream as he looked at his hands.
Barrett’s fingers moved as he smiled nervously.
He shook his head to forget the nightmare. He looked at his sleeping wife and tried to reach out to her.
As though by reaction, the woman moved away from his caress as she slept.
Seeing her like this made Barrett remember his dream again.
How many people had he managed to hurt with his hands?
But I should be a different man... Barrett thought as he let out a nervous smile.
Barrett went to his closet and took off his shirt. He looked at himself in the mirror. His face was weary from lack of sleep. He looked at his shirtless chest.
He still was still reaped and scarred, like a warrior.
“You have slept less now than in that place!” He said to himself before going to the bathroom.
He got soaked in cold water. This time, he preferred it. Like his bed, the hot water was too soft.
Four years hadn’t gotten him used to this comfortable life. Too quiet, and he likes it.
Once finished with the shower and dressed, Barrett left his room and went straight to his daughters’ room.
Two pink beds placed next to each other sheltered the silent dreams of two beautiful creatures.
As he arrived, he spotted one daughter, sleeping carefree. When he tried to caress her face as if she knew his father’s scent, she smiled and allowed him.
His daughter’s happiness was one of the reasons to continue with his current life.
Barrett raised a brow. It looked like his daughter was smilingly waiting for him.
Barrett grinned. He approached and kissed her forehead. After kneeling right in front of her bed, he asked in a whisper, “What are you doing awake, miss?”
She, smiling, raised her hand to touch her father’s face and said, “I always wake up early, daddy, and I like to see when you come….”
Barrett smiled widely. He grabbed his daughter’s hand to kiss her before he glanced at his other daughter, who was still sleeping.
“You’re not that identical,” he commented jokingly.
So as not to disturb her sister, the girl giggled quietly. Her father carried her after she clutched his neck. Both left toward the kitchen.
“Pancakes?” Barrett asked, going to the kitchen.
The girl nodded. She glanced at the window before asking, “Daddy, why do you always get up so early?”
“Early to bed, early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise,” he softly said.
The smiling girl nodded, and then they both saw how her sister, with her hand on her face, walked out like a small zombie.
“Daddy…” she mumbled sleepily.
Barrett walked towards her and carried her. He asked, “Emily, what are you doing? Wake up now, darling?”
The girl, in incoherent words from sleep, replied, “Melanie is awake, and I want pancakes!”
Barrett nodded, and both were waiting for the pancakes from him as they watched him work.
After a long hour, his wife woke up. The woman was completely messed up while the girls watched the morning cartoons.
Barrett was ready to go to work when he saw his wife. He greeted, “Good morning, darling.”
She looked at him with eyes swollen with disappointment before she grumpily retorted, “What’s good about it?”
Instead of replying, he smiled and looked at his daughters.
He said, “I have to go to work. Take care, girls, and obey your mother!”
“Get them to school on time this time, please,” Barrett said to his wife.
“If you think you can do better than me, why don’t you take them!” She replied sarcastically.
Barrett took a deep breath. He nodded and replied, “Okay, don’t worry. No problem.”
And he, walking, listened to her speak.
“No problem? Of course, there’s a problem. Look at this place. I don’t know how I could leave my family to come to this place… for real!”
The sound of the door closing behind him was reassuring. As he walked, he could not help but mumble, “Maybe if you did something other than spending money...”
As he walked to the bus stop, Barrett sighed. He arrived at work quickly.
“Boss, how are you?” His secretary asked, when she saw him.
“What’s up, Rose?” He replied, waving his hand.
“Boss, why don’t you get a car? Isn’t it better?”
“No, I like the bus, I don’t have to worry about driving, and I can prepare for work perfectly,” he replied casually.
She looked at him as if she didn’t understand anything the man was saying.
“Don’t worry, and I know what I’m doing,” he assured, chuckling.
“That’s clear. I guess,” Rose smilingly replied.
After entering Barrett, he changed and began carrying boxes to load trucks.
His company’s trucks delivered various goods.
Barrett was the owner and president, but he also handled loads.
Rose looked at him funny when he did that, but that’s how Barrett operated his business.
“Boss, why are you doing this? I always ask, but I still don’t understand. You are the owner. You shouldn’t wear yourself out with the load,” Rose remarked. It was her usual comment.
He glanced at her without replying. At that moment, he was dealing with three boxes, and at the same time, he lifted them without a problem.
“That weighs like two hundred kilos, boss!” Rose said, surprised.
Barrett shook his head and replied, “No way, at most like a hundred and twenty kilos.”
His phone rang after hours of work. “Barrett speaking.”
“Mr. Barrett? Are you Barrett Willis?” The voice of the woman on the other end of the receiver sounded nervous.
“Yes, it’s me. How can I help you?”
“We are calling you from the central hospital. We need to inform you that your daughter was admitted to the hospital this morning and is in intensive care!”
A million thoughts crowded his brain at once, and none of them made sense.
He shook his head. Barrett doubtfully asked, “Are you sure she is my daughter?”
“Yes, sir. She came in this morning for a stomach ache, but it’s much more serious than that. I think you should come right away!” The woman said.
Barrett hung up and told Rose that he would go to the hospital without fully explaining the situation.
The young woman imagined that it was something to do with his daughters because it was the only thing that made the Boss upset.
Melanie was waiting in the hospital when Barrett arrived.
When she saw her father, she ran towards him and hugged him. She said, “Daddy, Emily threw up, and now mommy brought us here!”
“It’s okay, honey, everything is fine. Daddy will take care of everything. You are very brave, and your sister will be fine,” he said as he rubbed his daughter’s head.
Walking a little more, he saw his wife. He approached her and asked, “What happened, Claudia?”
She glared at him and said, “And what the hell would I know? Do I look like a doctor?
Barrett looked at her and felt a huge snap hit her. A small voice in his brain stopped him.
He shook his head and asked, “The doctor hasn’t talked to you?”
She reacted negatively to his presence. Just then, a man with white hair and round glasses entered the hallway with a folder and white.
“Are you Emily’s parents?” The man asked while looking at them.
“Apparently, he’s Emily’s only parent!” Claudia said, glaring at Barrett.
“Can I talk to you alone?” The doctor asked, looking at Barrett.
Barrett kissed the head of his other daughter. He looked at Claudia and asked, “Can you take care of her while I talk to the doctor?”
Claudia looked at the girl and remarked, “I don’t know, maybe I’ll make this one sick too...”
Barrett was angry, but he couldn’t give free rein to his anger. He never should.
He kissed his daughter’s head again and instructed, “Go with mom for a while. Daddy will take care of everything!”
She nodded and walked and took her mother’s hand.
The doctor then looked at Barrett seriously and said, “Mr. Barrett, your daughter, is stable. We induced a coma so that she would not suffer too much from the pain. Her vital signs are fine, but the bacteria that brought her here was only a symptom of a major congenital problem. A genetic disease. I must say.”
“I caused this to my daughter?” Barrett asked suddenly. His mind could not help but wander for a moment.
The doctor shook his head and said, “We can’t be sure without testing, but most likely, this illness comes from your family or your wife’s. In any case, that is not important now. It is a rare disease, but detecting it in children is even worse. Your other daughter shows no symptoms, but it would be good to have her under surveillance. Mr. Barrett, this disease is complicated, and its treatment is long and expensive. You must be ready for the process. I know it is in bad taste, but I must ask, do you have funds for this process?”
Barrett felt stiff. He was really worried, but as long as the doctor said it was curable, there was hope.
He nodded slowly before replying, “Yes, doctor, no problem. I have enough money for the treatment.”
“In this case, I will start the preparations. There is no time to lose, my friend,” the doctor said with utmost seriousness.
Barrett thanked the doctor. He called Rose then.
“Rose, I need you to see how much funds we have in the company’s capital account and also see in the ledger. I need all the money you can collect! ASAP!”
However, his secretary remained silent.
“What’s wrong, Rose?” Barrett asked with a deep frown.
Rose sighed deeply before replying, “But… Boss, there is nothing... your wife, she took everything.”
Barrett felt the ground swallow him up, and at that moment, the voice in his head woke up.
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The Rise of The Barbaric 02: The Price Of Saving Someone
It is a significant amount of money to have $500,000. That was what his brother had said to him about the wager when he had finally made it out of that dark place. If he had $500,000, he could have retired, but his daughter needed his help. Barrett’s fingers nearly damaged the phone. Before speaking again, he took deep breaths to calm down. “What do you mean my wife took it all?” “She opened the safe and took the cash. She emptied accounts. She said she needed to make a deal, and everything would be okay, and you know everything!” Rose worriedly replied. Barrett’s wrath made him tremble. He showed great restraint to resist lashing out. He tightened his teeth and focused. He shook his head to get rid of bad thoughts. “Don’t worry. I’ll talk to Claudia to see what happened,” He said, breathing hard. After the conversation, Barrett headed to the cafeteria. He expected to see Claudia and her daughter, but they weren’t there. Barrett called Claudia, but she didn’t answer. He went ou
The Rise of The Barbaric 03: Abandoned
Barrett and Rose walked from the company. Rose could not help but gaze at him in surprise. The incident made his face black. Rose tried to break the silence, but her comments might sound pointless because of her old boss’s dilemma. “Boss, do you really think this is the best option?” Rose asked. “It’s not like I have many other options, Rose,” he said with a forced smile. “Only then could treatment begin. I sold what remained. Without money, the company couldn’t survive. Therefore selling the trucks and building was the best option.” With Barrett’s burden on his shoulders, she couldn’t imagine what decisions he would make. Perhaps, selling the company was the wisest choice. “All that was in your wife’s name. Is it really okay to sell all that?” Rose asked, frowning. Barrett paused before he looked at the building behind them. “They’re his daughters too... so yeah, it’s fine,” Barrett said. He took a deep breath and looked at Rose with a smile, “Relax. I negotiated with the buyer
The Rise of The Barbaric 04: A Garbage Asking Help
Barrett was bloodied because of the beating that the security guards had given him. So he went home to change before returning to the hospital. Barrett observed some trash in front of his house. He grimaced and approached. “F*ck!” He cursed when he realized that those were his clothes! Barrett ran towards the house to check for any more stuff damaged, but his key could not open the door! Barrett also found another envelope, addressed to him, hanging on the door. “What now?” The owner of the house sold it, and you can’t access it! “Damn it!” He tiredly sat on the floor. Barrett still could not believe what was happening. But he knew he could not stay there. He sighed and stood up to get his clothing. Barrett grabbed some before heading to the park. It was the usual place where homeless people stayed for the night. Barrett washed his face and changed his shirt, and then went to the hospital. He was feeling so heavy and gloomy at that moment. All options were closing on him.
The Rise of The Barbaric 05: Sickening Selfishness
Barrett knew where his brother wanted to talk decently. Bobby did not have the hobby of reading. For some reason, however, he liked collecting books. Because of that, Bobby has a small library in his house.It was in that place that Bobby liked to talk serious stuff.He went into the library and sat on the nearest couch. It did not take long for the woman and Bobby to arrive.The woman served Barrett some tea, to which he drank casually. He glanced at Bobby and saw him leaning at the door with arms crossed over his chest.Bobby was looking at Barrett with displeasure, but not so bad as earlier. After all, Bobby would never do anything that might cause his collection to be destroyed.Who knows how long they were in that position? Bobby just looked at him in deep thought while Barrett waited. “Brother… How long are you going to think?” Barrett asked finally.He was glad that his brother was not hitting him anymore, but he did not have the whole day waiting for him to decide if he would
The Rise of The Barbaric 06: Barbaric, A Joke
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The Rise of The Barbaric 07: On the Way to the Hole
Barrett struggled to lift himself up from the cold, hard ground, despite an incredible surge of anguish coursing through his body. His eyes were fixed on the horizon straight in front of him, filled with purpose. He leaned down, his fingers scrabbling for a handful of the coarse, dry dirt underneath him, as he began to regain his equilibrium. Barrett raised his hand high, clutching the earth within his tight fist with grit and resolve. Then, with all his effort, he tossed it across the gap, aiming straight at Mustafa on the back. “Where are you going, fagot? I’m not done with you yet!” Barrett screamed out while maintaining a fake smile. Mustafa looked at Sahid. “Boss, if I pay his debt, can I kill him?” Mustafa remarked while maintaining eye contact with Sahid. At that very time, he was raging with fury. Sahid shook his head and said, “You don’t have to pay his debt. Death is a possibility in this business….” Mustafa’s eyes widened. They exchanged a look that said everything, a
The Rise of The Barbaric 08: Hate Is Free
As the sun began to rise and cast its light on the city, Barrett was sitting shotgun in the back of a black pickup truck that was driving down the highway. This was it for him. He was traveling towards the very life that he had left behind years ago. The situations that he was in these past few days were something he was not prepared for. In spite of the fact that he was thinking about the daughters he had left behind, he shifted his focus to the constructions. Barrett clung to the hope that it wouldn’t be for too long, but he was aware that the wolf’s jaws were getting closer and closer to his neck, and he understood that, at that point, anything might have happened. It was always the case, even before. The people in this dark would always relish the opportunity to bite you when you least expect it. It was like a form of entertainment for them. While he was concentrating on what was going on outside, his attention was taken by a voice that was coming from the passenger seat. Wh
The Rise of The Barbaric 09: Danyio
The three individuals went into the primary room. Barrett recognized the significance of the large empty rectangle in the center of the room as soon as he saw it because the tables had been arranged in such a way as to create it.No matter how thoroughly they attempted to clean that location, it had an overwhelming odor of blood and perspiration.At the far end of the room, several staircases supported a makeshift throne that was occupied by a guy dressed in a green silk robe embroidered with gold flowers.“Barrett, the Barbaric, the undefeated, the invincible... The traitor!” The man with a glass of whiskey in his hand said.Barrett advanced and looked at him directly, the man was smiling, and on all his fingers, he had gold rings that gleamed against the lamp in the room.“You are a legend…” the man said, smiling.Barrett advanced. After kneeling down, he said, “Nice to see you, Danyio….”The man let out a hearty laugh before replying, “Manners… that is useless for a man of your lin
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256: Connected
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255: Own Weapon
Yuyi got up, hearing him coming back as well as seeing him and looking in front of him said, “Sorry, I have nothing to say! His tricks surpassed me.”Satoru nodded and, seeing Yuyi said, “Sometimes it happens. I’m not one hundred percent, but I think between the two of us, we can eliminate this clown.”The man with the smiling bat said, “Look at the state you’re in! How sad when the big ones fall. Nobody ever told me that I would have to fight with one of the parents, but hey, all the prize without any of the effort, if you want to give away money, by my voucher.”The air crackled with energy as Satoru and Yuyi faced each other. Both fighters were skilled in their own right, and the tension between them was palpable.Satoru was the first to strike, launching a flurry of punches and kicks at Yuyi. But Yuyi was quick to respond, dodging and weaving around Satoru's attacks with ease.As the fight continued, Yuyi began to take the offensive, landing several blows on Satoru's body.But Sat
254: Protesting
He raised the bat, preparing to strike, but Yuyi was too quick. With a burst of speed, he lunged forward, his fist connecting with Joseph's jaw.The man staggered back, his grip on the bat loosening. Yuyi seized the opportunity, grabbing the weapon and wrenching it from Joseph's hand. With a fierce cry, he swung the bat, striking Joseph across the face.The man crumpled to the ground, blood gushing from his nose and mouth. Yuyi stood over him, panting for breath, his body racked with pain.But he had emerged victorious, and for that, he was willing to endure any amount of suffering.“What the hell was that?” Yuyi asked firmly.The man looked at him and said with a smile, “That, my friend, was the power of gunpowder!”As Yuyi stood over Joseph, clutching the bat in his hand, he felt a wave of dizziness wash over him.His body was on fire, every movement sending fresh waves of pain through his muscles.He knew that he had won the fight, that he had emerged victorious over his opponent.
253: Formidable Fighter
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252: Unwavering Resolve
In a split second, he was once again poised and ready for action, his eyes never leaving Ray's figure as the man recovered from the impact.Without wasting a single moment, Ray launched himself at Jay once again, his every movement driven by a fierce determination to emerge victorious from the fight.But Jay was more than ready for him, his senses attuned to every nuance of the fight as he dodged and weaved with a fluid grace that seemed almost supernatural.For what felt like an eternity, the two combatants continued to trade blows, their movements a blur of speed and precision as they fought with every ounce of their being.But through it all, Jay remained a steady and unyielding force, his will and determination unbreakable in the face of the relentless assault.In the end, it was Jay's skill, strength, and unwavering resolve that emerged victorious, his triumph a testament to the power of the human spirit and the indomitable force of the human will.The dark king was a formidable
251: Ready To Take Down
However Barrett was not going to let that happen on his watch.With lightning-quick reflexes, he deftly swept her feet out from under her, causing her to fall forward with a loud thud.The impact of the fall was enough to momentarily stun her, and as she struggled to regain her bearings, Barrett was already moving into position, ready to take her down and neutralize the threat once and for all.As Barrett stood over the fallen woman, his breaths coming in short, sharp gasps, he couldn't help but feel a sense of unease creeping over him.He knew that what he had just witnessed was brutal and gruesome, even by his standards.And yet, he couldn't help but feel a twinge of satisfaction deep within his chest, knowing that Satoru was safe, and that the woman who had threatened him was no longer a danger.As the woman opened her eyes, she was met with the cold, unyielding gaze of Satoru, who had wrapped his powerful palms around her neck and ripped apart her arteries with unflinching precisi
250: Emerge
The final warrior hesitated for a moment, clearly intimidated by Barrett's skills. But Barrett wasn't about to let him off the hook.With a fierce cry, he charged towards the warrior, delivering a barrage of quick punches and kicks.The warrior tried to defend himself, but he was no match for Barrett's speed and agility. Within moments, he lay defeated on the ground, his body bruised and battered.As Barrett stood over his fallen opponents, he couldn't help but feel a sense of satisfaction. He had proven himself to be the stronger fighter, and he had emerged victorious.While looked at the remaining three and said, “Listen, listen to me, don’t try to attack. The same thing will happen to you. Your joints are filling with blood from all the effort I put you through. If you attack, you will be left with broken joints, just like these men. Please don’t make me hurt you.”The woman hesitated for a moment, looking at the bleeding men on the ground and then back at Barrett.She realized tha
249: Charged
The air crackled with energy as the other men and women watched, unsure of what was going to happen next.With a sudden burst of speed, Barrett launched himself forward, his movements fluid and graceful as he delivered a series of rapid blows that left the man reeling.Though the man tried to fight back, his efforts were futile against the sheer force of Barrett's attack.As the man fell to the ground, gasping for breath, the other men and women knew that they were in for a tough fight.But even as they braced themselves for the next round, they couldn't help but feel a sense of awe and respect for Barrett's skills and strength.Though they knew that the battle was far from over, they also knew that they were facing a true warrior.As each impact that came out with force was stopped before generating much power, the five warriors realized that they needed to change tactics if they were going to have any chance of defeating Barrett.With a nod of mutual agreement, they decided to attac
248: Bleak Situation
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