Punkson is lucky, because as he looks to one of the corners of the kitchen, he spots an AKM gun next to a freezer. He quickly walks over to it, grabs it, and positions himself to threaten his enemy, preparing to shoot if necessary. He breathes heavily. First, he organizes his hair, tucking it behind his ears several times as the steps of his enemy sound closer to the kitchen.
It does not take long for the owner of the steps to appear in the entrance of the space. Without thinking twice and without seeing who or what it is, Punkson pulls the trigger, but no bullet leaves the gun.
"Many wars we have fought, and they all started this way," the words come from someone else, different from Punkson.
The eyes of the man in the white suit begin to let warm tears overflow from his orbits.
The owner of the steps is a large, hefty man wearing a hat and a toothpick in his mouth, also holding two pistols, one in each hand, aiming and about to shoot at the other.
"Father..."
"Darkin?"
"You are alive?" says the man, not believing what he has just heard.
"Fortunately, I love you," Punkson says, his tears continuing to escape his eyes in front of his father.
"I..." with a sad look, the man says, reaching his right hand to his hat as if trying to adjust it.
"You do not need to say it now. I know you still have not forgiven me, I understand."
"Now is not the time," says Punkson's father, putting the two pistols back where he took them from.
Punkson lowers the gun and runs to embrace his father, but as soon as the other feels his son, he rejects him.
"What happened to your eyes?" Punkson asks with great concern.
"That is exactly what you are seeing."
"It can't be."
"Relax, I just went blind, but I can still fight against the Zralkies."
"I'm sorry. But what are Zralk..."
"Zralkies."
"Exactly."
"I am not sure what they are, I am just certain that they are our enemies," the man says, running his hand over his large belly, and slowly walking over to the freezer, where he grabs a bottle of alcohol and a golden gun. "Here, you will need this," he says, handing it to his son, as if trying to avoid the topic.
Punkson takes the gun and then wipes his tears with the back of his right hand.
"Father... Did you say Darkin?"
"Did you expect me to say something other than your name? Wait, are you also having severe memory lapses?"
"Well, I lost a good part of my memory and I am recovering it little by little, but I always ask myself the same thing. What is happening to me?" The man in the white suit says, then pauses to analyze his father's words and continues "What do you mean I am having severe memory lapses too?"
"Your mother, before she died, also had the same lapses you have. She would forget simple things like names, nicknames..."
"No, no..." says Punkson with a broken voice, collapsing to his knees as tears once again begin to roll down his face. "Why is all of this happening? She could not have died..."
"In fact, no one could." The blind man says.
Punkson can not believe that his mother is dead, and what consumes him the most is losing his memories in such a strange way that he cannot understand.
"What happened to her, how did she die?" Punkson asks his father, who silently looks at his son with no answer. "Father, please answer me."
The man says nothing, only looks at his son, then says:
"Let us eat before the food gets cold, but first, take this ammunition to have a good appetite... you will need it." The man, in a cold tone, gives his son the ammunition for the golden gun and takes the food he cooked to the living room.
With the ammunition in hand, Punkson looks at the wall, where a photograph is displayed that includes him. He sees his parents hugging him and his sister, who is smiling beautifully and innocently. Next to the photo is a name written: Thomas Punkson. It is then that he discovers that "Punkson" is not his first name, but his last name, and his first name was pronounced by his father — Darkin.
Darkin takes the ammunition and loads it into the gun before leaving the kitchen to join his father in the living room. He looks at his progenitor and says:
"I will eat with you, but first I want to make sure that the creature in this house is dead or still lurking around."
"What creature?" asks his father, but then realizes what his son is referring to. "Zralky."
"Tell me more about that, it seems you know something about..."
"Let us eat," the man coldly says to the young man in the white suit, and he does not waste time before starting to eat.
"Alright, enjoy your meal," Darkin says, and he does not waste any time heading to the room where he hid when he was running from the skeletal creature.
He organizes his golden gun, a gift from his father.
He walks slowly into the room, gun pointing ahead cautiously, looking in all directions, even as fear tries to take over. Standing in the doorway, not seeing anything clearly, he extends his hand to the light switch and presses it. The light in the room turns on, and then he faces one of the most horrific sights he has ever seen. He cannot believe it, for he has never seen anything so gruesome.
Darkin continues pointing, and his target is right there in front of him...
To be continued...