A Mother's Blood Debt

My daughter was beaten into a coma. The scars all over her body were terrifying. The monster who did it stood there smirking, showing zero remorse. Her parents even had the nerve to claim my daughter started it—that their precious child was just acting in self-defense. My daughter's homeroom teacher kept pressuring me to sign a settlement, telling me not to ruin the school's reputation over such a "minor incident." A minor incident? I stared at the human trash standing before me. Since it’s just a minor incident, none of you need to get involved. I’ll collect this blood debt myself! By the time I rushed to the hospital, Chloe was lying in bed, completely unconscious. I couldn't believe my eyes. Underneath the stark white blanket was my little girl’s battered, bruised body. Just this morning, she had waved goodbye to me with the sweetest smile before walking through the school gates. Now, she was lying on blood-stained sheets, tangled in tubes, wearing an oxygen mask, lingering between life and death. The doctor told me her injuries were severe: a perforated eardrum and signs of blunt force trauma to the head. He also said that the CT scan revealed a shard of glass embedded near her heart. Before he could even finish, my legs gave out, and I collapsed onto the floor. "Doctor... can you get it out?" He frowned, looking grim. "I can't make any promises." "Her condition is extremely critical right now." I nearly blacked out. It took a nurse pulling me up by the arm for me to stay on my feet. After more than five agonizing hours of emergency surgery, the doctor finally came out in the early morning. He told me the shard near her heart had been removed. The surgery was a success, but tiny glass fragments were still lodged around the surrounding tissue. She would need more operations down the line. During this time, the police showed me a video. It captured every single second of Chloe being bullied. On the screen, Chloe’s clothes were violently torn. She was curled up in a corner, trembling with pure terror. A girl walked up to her, grabbed a trash can, and dumped it directly over her head. Filthy garbage showered Chloe from head to toe. Chloe tried to push the trash away, only to take a vicious kick to the chest. The camera shifted. Chloe was on the floor, clutching her stomach and writhing in agony. Then, a pair of hands grabbed her by the hair, yanking her up. Slap! Slap! Slap! A relentless barrage of slaps rained down on her, accompanied by vile laughter. She couldn't fight back; she could only take it. "What a pathetic bitch. Does whatever we tell her to do." "Right? Always playing the victim. Look at her—she definitely knows how to lead guys on." The vile filth spewing from their mouths went on and on. In the shaky footage, Chloe’s face became swollen and bruised until she finally collapsed, completely limp on the floor. Yet those monsters still weren't finished. At the very end of the video, a girl picked up a jagged piece of broken glass from the floor and drove it into Chloe’s back, aiming right for her heart. Blood and glass shards splattered everywhere. Chloe lay there silently, the screen cutting to a chilling, suffocating stillness. The video ended. I only had one thought left in my mind. I’m going to kill them. What they did was completely inhumane. Shoving glass toward a person's heart without a single shred of hesitation... My poor Chloe had grown completely numb to their abuse. This was clearly not the first time she had suffered this kind of torment. Right then, the homeroom teacher called, urging me to get to the school immediately. When I arrived, I saw the two little monsters. They were standing there, giggling and chatting like nothing had happened. I recognized one of them. She was the one who had stabbed Chloe with the glass. Her name was Kaylee, and she sat right behind Chloe in class. Sitting next to the teacher was a middle-aged couple. When I walked in, they merely shot me a glance before turning back to talk to the school administrators. The father kept repeating the same tired excuses. "They're just kids messing around." "We're so busy with work, we can't watch her every second..." Rage surged through me, but what came next made my blood boil completely. The two monsters admitted they beat my daughter in the classroom. Their reason? Simple: she just annoyed them. "Sorry." The hollow, careless apology only made it worse. "What kind of attitude is that? Kaylee, apologize properly to the lady and tell her you won't do it again." Kaylee looked up, rolling her eyes with pure disgust. "I said sorry, alright?" Then she turned to the police officer standing nearby. "Which hospital is that little bitch in, anyway? I didn't even get to slap her today!" The veins on my forehead bulged. I snapped, lunging straight at Kaylee. I kicked her clean off her feet. She slammed hard into the wall, and I followed up with a vicious kick straight to her head. Blow after blow, kick after kick—my mind was consumed by the video of her slapping Chloe over and over again.The other monster tried to step in, but I grabbed her by the hair and threw her aside like a ragdoll. Kaylee's mother screamed, charging forward to stop me. I grabbed a nearby mop handle and cracked it across her arm. She shrieked in agony. Kaylee's father saw his opening and blindsided me with a kick to my lower back. I hit the ground in pain. Before I could recover, his fist caught me square in the face. My vision flashed crimson, blood pouring from my nose. Like father, like daughter. What an absolute scumbag. I snatched the wooden stick off the floor and threw myself at him, swinging straight for his head. But the blinding pain in my back threw off my aim, and the blow grazed his shoulder. Total chaos erupted. Kaylee tried to crawl away in tears, but I grabbed her hair and dragged her back. Back to the corner. But this time, it was my fists landing, one after another, avenging every single hit Chloe took. "Somebody stop her! Do something!" The teacher panicked, frantically yelling for the officers. The cops only made a half-hearted attempt to pull me off. It wasn't until Kaylee was beaten within an inch of her life that they finally pinned me down. They glanced at the three wrecks lying on the floor, then looked at me, their brows furrowed, biting their tongues. I knew what was confusing them. I grew up training in martial arts. It's no exaggeration to say that even if another grown man jumped in, I could have handled him too. With negotiations completely out the window, the police took both parties down to the station, rescheduling our meeting. Before leaving, Kaylee's father glared at me with pure venom. "I swear to God, I'm going to kill you." I spat a mouthful of bloody saliva right at his feet. "Try it. Because if you don't kill me, I'm going to kill your daughter." The police separated us into different rooms, trying to calm me down. Calm down? Not a chance. From the very beginning, I had zero intention of talking things out. Scum like them are beyond redemption. After learning that their injuries qualified as minor assault, the parents started screaming, demanding I be thrown in prison. Even through several sets of closed doors, our shouting match echoed across the entire station. The officer tried to talk me down again, but how could I possibly be calm? "Officer, my daughter is in the hospital clinging to life! I can't even begin to imagine how terrified, how utterly helpless she felt when they were torturing her!" The cop in front of me was the one who had shown me the video. He knew damn well how evil those two monsters were. At the same time, he knew better than anyone how this would ultimately play out under the law. And that outcome was something I could never accept. "Disciplinary warnings and court-ordered counseling?" I stared at him in disbelief. "You're telling me those two monsters won't face any real punishment at all?" "You can sue them for medical expenses," the officer added quietly. "Do you think this is about money? I want justice!" My fists slammed onto the table with a deafening crash. "What the hell is a slap on the wrist going to do to them? My daughter was beaten nearly to death, and they get to walk away clean with a careless 'sorry'?" The officer sighed. "There are penalties for juvenile violence, yes. But if the perpetrators are under the age of criminal responsibility—under twelve—then..." Despair swallowed me whole. If I remembered correctly, those two were the same age as Chloe. They were only eleven... "Fine. I understand." Seeing that I had gone quiet, the officer stood up and patted my shoulder, offering what little comfort he could.When we met again, Kaylee's parents had calmed down significantly. The police informed them that pressing assault charges would require formal procedures, and since Kaylee was the one who initiated the severe bullying, making a scene wouldn't do them any favors. The couple who had been screaming for my head were now glaring at me with nothing but bitter resentment. Even if they couldn't send me to jail, they still demanded fifteen thousand dollars to settle out of court. "Fifteen grand? How about I burn it for you in hell?" Kaylee's mother sneered, her face twisting into a hideous scowl. "Listen to me, you ungrateful bitch. Fifteen thousand is doing you a favor! Look at what you did to my family!" Perhaps moved by a mother's instinct, a female officer standing nearby finally snapped. "What about her daughter? Her little girl is still lying in a hospital bed, fighting for her life!" But the words that came out of those vile parents' mouths next triggered another all-out brawl. "Kids have fights all the time! They would've been fine in a few days! Why the hell did a grown woman have to stick her nose into it? Besides, there are so many girls in that class. Why did they only pick on her daughter? Her kid must have done something disgusting to provoke it." "Exactly! She had it coming! My daughter taught her a lesson she deserved!" To hell with consequences. Even if this was a police station, right in front of the cops, I was going to tear the skin off their faces. I lunged forward, grabbing the woman's hair and yanking her down, using my momentum to plant a brutal front kick squarely into the man's gut. The woman clawed and flailed, so I gripped her hair tighter, driving her head toward the wall. The man scrambled to his feet, lunging to wrap his arms around me from behind. I bent my knees, dropped my center of gravity, and executed a textbook shoulder throw. The man slammed hard against the floor with a sickening thud. I followed up with two heavy stomps to his ribs. Kaylee's mother sprawled on the ground, shrieking hysterically at the cops. "What are you standing there for?! Arrest her! Arrest this crazy psycho!" She scrambled toward me, grabbing my arms like a feral beast, baring her teeth to bite me. I ripped my arm back violently, shaking her off. I looked down at my forearm—deep, bloody scratch marks. Pure adrenaline spiked in my veins. Turning around, my eyes landed on a heavy wooden pen holder on the desk. I snatched it up, ready to cave the husband's skull in. "Stop her! Restrain her now!" The officers rushed in, finally pulling us apart. Looking at her husband lying there half-dead, Kaylee's mother screeched at the officers, her face red with fury. "What the hell is wrong with you people?! You just stood there and watched her beat us! Are you in on this with her?!" An officer gave her a cold look, glancing from the man on the floor to the raw, bleeding gouges on my arms. "It was two against one. You didn't win, but this is clearly mutual combat." Kaylee's mother completely lost her mind. "I'm suing every single one of you!" Nobody paid any attention to her hysterical ranting. "You dare treat me like this? Do you have any idea who I am?!" She kept screaming until she noticed the officers' faces darkening with sheer disgust, realizing she had crossed the line. It wasn't until late afternoon that the police finally let us go. Kaylee's mother supported her limping husband, leading a bloody-faced Kaylee out of the precinct. Before leaving, she turned back and hissed at me, "Donna Miller, you just wait. This isn't over." Seeing her still acting like hot shit, I grabbed a loose brick from the curb and tailed right behind them. I had completely lost my mind. My only thought was one brick to each of their skulls, ending them once and for all. My daughter was already broken. As long as I could get revenge for her, I didn't care if I spent the rest of my life in a cell. Just then, my phone buzzed. It was my mother. The background was deafeningly noisy, but one sentence pierced through loud and clear. "Chloe's awake!"I raced back to the hospital. From down the hall, I could see a crowd swarming outside the room. I shoved my way through. My elderly mother was shielding Chloe with her own body, surrounded by four or five grown men. Leading the pack was Chloe’s homeroom teacher, pulling on my mother’s arm, trying to force her to sign a document. "Get your hands off her!" As they turned their heads, I grabbed an empty metal IV pole from the next bed and cracked it down over the nearest guy’s skull. He dropped to the floor, howling in agony. I swung the heavy pole through the air, creating a barrier of steel. Nobody dared to take a step forward. Seeing their hesitation, I turned all my fury on the guy writhing on the ground, beating him mercilessly. "Take one more step, and this is what happens to you!" Realizing they were dealing with a lunatic out for blood, the rest of the men scattered, scrambling toward the doorway. Guilt written all over his face, the teacher hastily tried to tuck the settlement waiver behind his back. But I had already seen it. "You bastard!" I snatched the papers from his hands and tore them to shreds. Backing toward the doorway, the teacher couldn't resist barking at me one last time. "Why are you being so unreasonable?! This incident has severely damaged the school’s reputation!" "If you just sign the agreement and drop all charges against the school and the other family, we can handle this quietly!" "And now you tear it up? The kids don't know any better, but you're an adult! Do you still want your daughter to have a future in this district? Do you want to survive in this city at all?!" I couldn't believe this was coming from someone who claimed to be an educator. Trembling with lingering fear, my mother cried out, "They just don't want to take responsibility! They wouldn't let the doctors examine Chloe, and they snatched my phone so I couldn't reach you!" "I begged them to give it back, but they ignored me. If someone hadn't threatened to call 911, they would have thrown an old woman and a sick child out into the street!" The teacher sneered, completely indifferent. Shaking with rage, I grabbed him by the collar, winding up and slapping him twice across the face with everything I had. If hospital security hadn't tackled me back, I would have dragged him into the bathroom and shoved his head down a toilet. Late into the night. Traumatized by the chaos, Chloe had slipped back into unconsciousness. When she finally woke up, tears rolled down her cheeks before she could even utter a word. Her tiny, fragile hand weakly gripped my thumb. "Chloe, it's Mommy. I'm right here." "Mommy..." Hearing her fragile whimper, my heart shattered into a million pieces. "Don't be scared, baby. Mommy is protecting you." "Mommy..." "They kept hitting me." My fists clenched until my knuckles turned white. Those two monsters had been verbally and physically abusing Chloe for months. No reason. Just for their own sick entertainment. Chloe had tried to fight back, but she was outmatched and outnumbered. Once, she tried to run away. When they caught her, they forced her to eat... I couldn't bear to hear another word. After rocking my daughter to sleep, I walked up to the rooftop alone. I slapped myself repeatedly across the face, screaming inside, asking what the hell I had been doing with my life. Because I grew up enduring grueling martial arts training, I promised myself that once I had Chloe, I would protect her like a princess. Yet Chloe never acted spoiled. Whenever I was away, she cleaned the house on her own and stayed on top of her schoolwork without me ever having to nag her. After my divorce, wanting to give Chloe the best education possible, I enrolled her in the most prestigious private academy in town. To afford the steep tuition, I worked as a long-haul trucker, staying on the road for days at a time. Her grandmother would stop by to drop off groceries, but Chloe was alone most of the time. I could only FaceTime her at night. Every single time I returned from a haul, Chloe would greet me with her sweet, delicate voice: "Mommy, you worked so hard. Welcome home." And now, she didn't even have the strength left to cry...The next day, I went back home to pack some clean clothes for Chloe. Flipping through her private journal, I found three words scrawled repeatedly across every single page: "I want to die." Ding. A notification popped up in the school's parents' group chat. It was the teacher. "Attention parents: The recent unfortunate incident has brought negative publicity to our school. Both families are currently in mediation with local authorities. However, Chloe Miller’s mother has been intentionally causing disruptions and instigating physical violence on school grounds." "We urge all parents to refrain from sharing unverified rumors, or you may face legal liabilities." Right after it was posted, a reply popped up. "Well said, teacher. I know my daughter wouldn't just hit someone for no reason. She already told me the other girl bullied her first, and she was only defending herself." That was the mother of the other little monster. Just as I was wondering why Kaylee's family was staying so quiet, a message popped up from them, only to be instantly deleted. Still, I caught every single word: "As long as my daughter didn't kill anyone, I can bury whatever mess she makes." The teacher continued his damage control: "Please rest assured, there was no ongoing bullying. This was an isolated dispute escalated by Chloe Miller's mother. We hope everyone refrains from spreading gossip, so our children can enjoy a peaceful learning sanctuary." A learning sanctuary? A cold, ruthless gleam flashed in my eyes. More like a sanctuary for monsters! I picked up my phone and called my cousin, Troy. Our families had been close for generations. When he was younger, he had a wild streak and got into a lot of trouble, and I was always the one bailing him out and taking care of his parents. Eventually, he pulled himself up and made a name for himself. Now, he managed more than half of the commercial construction sites in the area. Looking through the glass window on the hospital door, Troy saw the raw, bandaged wounds on Chloe’s face. "How is she holding up?" I lowered my head, giving a quiet nod. "Donna, I know you wanted to let the law handle this properly." "But people like them? They see a single mother and a little girl, and they think you're weak. They think you have no power, so they can walk all over you." I knew everything Troy was saying. I had already made up my mind. If we didn't use some real muscle, those bastards would never learn their lesson. I laid out my entire plan to Troy. Within minutes, he had his men making arrangements. Looking at Chloe resting in that hospital bed, I vowed to myself: those two monsters were going to pay for every ounce of pain they caused!