A Red Scarf Stained With Blood | Teen Ink

A Red Scarf Stained With Blood

February 4, 2015
By Master_Dylan_Bishop GOLD, Beaumont, California
Master_Dylan_Bishop GOLD, Beaumont, California
13 articles 0 photos 6 comments

Favorite Quote:
"If I had a flower for every time I thought of you...I could walk through my garden forever.” ― Alfred Tennyson


I was very young at this time in my life… I was playing the cello in our study room and my little brother was laying down on the rug, intently listening to my music. Suddenly, a bottle crashed through the window and shattered on the floor, a fireball engulfed one side of the room and the fire quickly spread. I dropped my cello as I jumped out of my chair and grabbed my little brother. "Dad!" I cried out as we raced out of the study room. I heard bullets ripping through the side of the house as I ran past the open windows. "Dad?!" I cried out once more but I ran into my oldest brother instead. "What is going-" My oldest brother covered my mouth and pulled us into his room. He slammed the door shut and guided us over to his bed, my little brother and I sat down because my oldest brother started speaking. "Brothers, you need to stay here… I don't want to frighten you but it is too dangerous outside." My oldest brother explained. He turned to exit the room but I stood up and grabbed his arm, "Let me help… I'm old enough to help." I protested. My oldest brother pushed me away and ran out of the room. I turned to my little brother and told him to hide in a nearby closet, he didn't protest. He ran into the closet and slammed the door behind himself. I raced after my oldest brother and discovered he was outside, the screams of British soldiers and musket fire was ringing in my ears. I ran towards the front doors and saw my oldest brother in the street, he was surrounded by British soldiers but that wouldn't stop him. He let his rage control him as he tossed British soldiers across the street like they were nothing. He even split one British soldier in half with his bare hands. He was unstoppable...  He was a monster. The bullets ripped through his skin but it seemed like that couldn't even stop him. A cannon was being rolled down the street, British soldiers were going to extreme measures to take out my brother. I didn't understand why but my brother didn't seem to notice the cannon rolling down the street and I was sure that would kill him. The British soldiers loaded in the cannonball and lit the fuse, "Brother!" I cried out. I ran towards him and selflessly dove in front of him, "No!" My brother screamed. The cannonball went straight into my gut and flung me back into my brother; my brother and I viciously rolled down the street until we slammed against a wall that was only a few yards away. "Brother!" My oldest brother quickly regained his footing and saw that I wasn't moving after the impact. He grabbed my shoulders and shook me as much as he could, I jolted up and was speechless when I discovered no damage had been done to me. "Brother… Y-You survived. I didn't know you had powers." My brother was speechless. "I don't know what just happened… I just— wait… Powers?!" I too was speechless but more astonished. When we were taken off guard, a british soldier came charging at my brother, which was quite foolish. My brother whipped around and grabbed the british soldier by his head. My brother ripped the British soldier's head clean off his shoulders. My brother dropped the head, "I'm sorry you had to see this side of me, brother." He apologized with great sorrow. He turned away from me as more British soldiers were swarming the streets, "Head onto the rooftops and find father, he is at the market today." My brother explained. I tried to protest against leaving my brother but he grew with great anger. He grabbed me and launched me up onto the rooftops, it was a good two stories off the ground. I was so afraid and confused but I got up to my feet and sprinted across the rooftops, heading towards the market in a desperate attempt to find my father. My oldest brother roared with so much anger, that it brought tears to my eyes. I was so afraid but I couldn't look back.

I got to the market in a flash and desperately searched for my father and mother, "Father!" I yelled at the top of my lungs. Many heads turned in the market but my father knew his child's cry, he pushed through the crowd and met with me in the middle of the crowd. "What's wrong, son?!" My father asked. "Something is terribly wrong, father… British soldiers are attacking our home." I explained. Before we knew it, a group of ten British soldiers stormed into the market and immediately spotted us, one of the British soldiers fired a shot into the air and the crowd scattered, leaving our family in the open with only a few merchants left. My father stepped in front of me and my mother as he pulled out his own flintlock pistol, the British soldiers stood in formation with their swords and flintlock pistols. Six of my father's best friends stepped out from the scattering crowd and pulled out swords of their own; they formed a wall in front of my family and I. "This family has done nothing wrong… Leave them be." One man spoke up. The leader of this British group walked out and approached the man who spoke up, "You will die with them if you don't step aside". The man who spoke up didn't move a muscle, he stood his ground with the rest of my father's friends. "Very well…" The British leader groaned. He turned his back on us and walked back to his group. As he passed by his group, he whispered something into one of his soldier's ear. Suddenly, the ten British soldiers charged us but my father's friends pushed back, a bloody sword fight broke out in the market. "Run! We shall hold them off!" One man yelled. 

My father grabbed my mother and I as we escaped the market, we were headed home but I had this terrible feeling we were being followed. We were running quite fast and returned home in just a few minutes but something was wrong though… It was completely silent. The top floor was completely burnt, the fire had gone out but this wasn't my worry. My little brother was hiding in a closet on the top floor, he was sure to be dead and it would all be my fault. "Little brother!" I cried out. It was silent and my heart was beginning to doubt but then… The backdoor flung open and my little brother ran out, we embraced in a hug as tears ran down his face. "Oh, little brother! You're alive! What has happened? Why has it gone quiet, little brother?" I asked. My little brother just wept and ran to my mother and father. I ran off into the house and called out for my eldest brother, all I heard was a soft cry. I rushed into our dining room and my brother laid their on the floor, his body was torn a part by bullets and several swords ran through him. The whole room was covered in blood, British soldiers were scattered across the room but my brother laid defeated in the middle of the room. "Brother?" I barely could speak, the sight of my brother like this silenced my soul. "It was too much, brother." My brother managed to speak but he was quickly fading. My brother pointed out a bullet hole in his head, it had struck his brain and the bullet was stuck right in the center of his brain. I didn't know it at the time but my brother had the power to heal himself. Although, after he took so much damage, he begun to grow weak. The bullet in his brain cut off his ability to heal and he was finished, we were losing him. "Brother…" My oldest brother focused me in on his eyes. "I want you to know… I fought for our family. I-I… I fought for you. Promise me this… You will have vengeance. You will slaughter the rest of those bastar….-" Those were my brother's final words. He died before he could finish but I understood every word. This was one moment that my life completely changed. I tore a sword out of his chest the moment I heard a cry behind me. It was a British soldier who was on the brink of death. I was full of rage and my heart had turned cold, I showed no mercy to this fallen British soldier. I approached him and pierced the sword through his heart several times. After I finished the British soldier off, I walked back outside to regroup with my family but I found no one. My family was gone and this tore my heart apart… I heard nothing when I was inside our home because of my rage against the British solider. I cursed as I blamed myself for not watching out for my family. "I'm so selfish!" I cried out.

Before I dwelled in my self pity, I spotted a red scarf on the asphalt. I jogged over to it and I discovered that it was my father's red scarf! I cheered as this red scarf had given me hope but that hope was soon diminished. Blood trails were smeared across the street and they went on as long as I could see. I wrapped the scarf around my neck and held on tight to my sword, I knew there was trouble ahead. I took off down the street as I closely followed the blood trails and my heart grew heavier with each step along the way. As I closed in on the end of the blood trails, I found a crowd of people swarming the area. They were blood thirsty and full of hate, it was nearly impossible to get through the crowd. Although, when I pushed through, my heart dropped at the sight I witnessed. My mother and father were standing at the gallows and the nooses were wrapped around their throats. "No!" I shouted so loud that the whole crowd went silent. A group of men in cloaks stood in front of the gallows and turned to face me when I shouted. One man stepped forward, it appeared that he was the man in charge of all this and all he did was smile. His smile engrossed me and my anger boiled within my chest. I charged the man with my sword but I was soon knocked down by a guard to my right. The guard got me to my feet, then wrapped me in his arms so I could not move. The man in charge smiled and the whole group of men laughed at the sight of me. "Foolish boy… Let him watch." He said as he went to turn around. Just before he turned his back, he turned back around and said, "We'll be keeping this one." They  revealed my little brother, who was at first hidden behind them. I screamed with rage and tried to break free of this guard's hold but it was pointless. The man in charge turned his back on me and signaled the executioner to pull the lever. The executioner smiled with delight as he wrapped his hand around the lever and then pulled…

I couldn't believe it happened. My whole life shattered right in front of me. My parents were dropped and I watched the life drain out of them. The men in cloaks turned to look at me one last time and then the leader ordered to have me killed as they simply walked away with my little brother. This despair was overwhelming and it was crushing my already broken heart. As the guards swarmed in, I remembered my brother… The look in his eyes when he told me to kill these b*******. My eyes shifted up as I looked at my parents one last time. Something snapped in my brain when I saw my parents dangling there. I grew with the rage that was similar to my brother's rage and I broke loose! I kicked up my sword and it landed perfectly in my hand as I stabbed the guard straight through the skull. I ripped the sword out of the guard's skull and turned to face the others. I was surrounded by fifteen guards or more; I was clearly outnumbered but this would not stop me. I picked up another sword and now wielded two swords. As I stared into the eyes of all these guards, I could feel the fire burning in my heart. I could feel the hate pumping through my veins… These men didn't stand a chance. I tore through each and every one of these guards, they dropped like flies and not even their swords could hurt me. A final guard tried to run but I threw one sword at him and it pierced straight through his heart. I stood in the mix of these dead bodies that were scattered around the gallows, I couldn't believe what I had done. I couldn't believe what I had become.

I grew exhausted and the sound of soldiers marching down the streets scared me off. I ran back to my home as fast as I could… I knew I had to get out of here but I couldn't leave just yet. I made it back to my home in a matter of seconds and I went straight to my room, which was on the burnt top floor. I took a bag with me, gathered a few supplies but not much and then headed to the study. I was searching for my cello but I could not find it. I almost gave up but then I saw something underneath a fallen bookcase. I dug down deep and pushed the bookcase out of the way and there it was… My beloved cello. I heard more soldiers coming down the streets and I leaped out the window with my items in hand. The cello did not even slow me down because I just wanted to get out of this town. I just kept running until I got out of town and from there, I never looked back.

I would never forget those cloaked men at the gallows. They had my little brother and they were responsible for my life shattering before me. No one could ever know who I truly was, I couldn't risk anyone tracking me down. I changed my name and I isolated myself from the world for many years. I became a man of vengeance at the gallows that day and that was also the end of who I truly was. I will track down the men who murdered my family and I will not stop until they all have taken their final breath. I have become The Man with the Red Scarf and my family will be avenged.



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