Broken Glass

I was twelve years old when it all happened. I remember it was late at night when I heard rattling noises coming from my parent’s room. I remember the man standing there, pointing the gun at my parents. He stood there smiling like the cold-hearted person he was. The man was wearing a large black overcoat and some cargo jeans. I wasn’t sure what he wanted but I remember his exact words were:
“Give it to me. Give me the formula.”
At this point my father stepped in and said:
“You will never get your hands on it. I will take it to my grave.”
The man snarled saying “So be it.”
The loud noise of the gunshot rung through my ears and then all I could hear was my mother screaming. Soon after that another loud bang pierced through my ears. I could no longer hear the screams of my mother. The man ran to the window and smashed it with his weapon. The sound of the glass scattering everywhere is one I have never forgotten.

My parents were well recognised scientists who dedicated their lives to discovering new ways to help people. Our house was huge but most of it was filled with documents, computers and wacky scientific concoctions, half of which I had no idea what they were for. I am currently celebrating my fifteenth birthday. My father used to make a giant cake out of jelly for my birthday. Of course these people here don’t know the first thing about science, no respect for it at all. Without it we wouldn’t even have half the things we have now. Whenever I remember this though, I remember that night. So much blood. It was unbearable, but what happened that night changed me. I no longer have any fear, no pain, and no love. When the police performed their investigation they found no leads at all but they weren’t looking hard enough. Right after it happened I saw a strand of hair shining from the light of the bedside lamp. I quickly picked it up and hid it in the lab. I had no idea how to run DNA tests, however, I knew we had the right equipment for it. These past three years I have been studying about it and I think I found out how. I took the test tube in which the strand of hair was encased and tugged on the cork. As I was twisting the tube fell from my hands, slammed on the floor and shattered. As soon I heard this it reminded me of the shattering glass from the terrible night. When I ran the test I was hoping for an instant result, however, it took several hours. Finally the results were in, I was so joyous but at the same time angry. I was going to seek vengeance. An image of a man’s face appeared on the screen with a name beside it: Carlos Alberto. The face was exactly the same as the one I saw three years ago. I looked at the address: 32 Edna Av. That is only a ten minute walk from here. It was finally time for me to take vengeance

I still didn’t understand though. What was this so called formula he talked about? My parents worked of many formulas to assist people, to help cure diseases but they were never accredited. Someone else would always jump in and steal their thunder. I began to pack my things. Some rope, a lock-picking set and some highly reactive rubidium. I left the house and soon arrived at Alberto’s residence. It was a fairly small place and looked like something that came out of a shanty town. I went to the front door and picked the lock, I remember my uncle showing me how. It didn’t take too long as I was soon in. There was a long hallway and at the end of it was a room with the light on. I sneaked up to it opened the door and there he was. He was shocked to see someone in the house as he yelled:
“How did you get in here?”
“Do you remember that night three years ago when you shot my parents dead. Do you!” I demanded an answer what he said.

“How did you find me?” Carlos seemed so shocked that someone else had known.
“Why did you kill them? Why? What was the formula you wanted from them?” I become even more frustrated with him.
“Why should I tell you? You’re just a kid.” He replied.
“Because I have this” I pulled out the piece of rubidium from my pocket and grabbed a bottle of water that was lying on the table next to me explaining “this is some pure, highly reactive rubidium. When mixed with water this thing lets of one hell of an explosion. So are you going to tell me now or not?”
He began to panic and said “Ok. Ok I’ll tell you why. Me and your father use to work together and he thought that he had found a cure for cancer. You guys were living it up whilst I lived in this scrawny old home. I needed money so I thought I could take his formula and sell it for thousands of dollars. He began to become aware of my motives so I had to rid of him.”
“This changes nothing. I have no sympathy for you and for that I will kill you.” At that moment I put the rubidium in the water and we were both gone.