The house slaughter

It was grandfather's memorial night; dad threw a little feast in his honor. I couldn't stay till the end of the feast because I had an entrance examination the next day for the popular Brooklyn college, so I had to go to bed early.

I was half awake when I heard a car pull up at our front yard then I reached out for my table clock to check the time, it was 2AM in the morning. Why was mum and dad still up? I thought, I stood up to look outside. My parents weren't there, but I could see three people standing, it looked like they were having a conversation. Then all of a sudden one pulled out a gun and shot the other two, they were my dad's men. I saw two figures come out from the car immediately. We were under attack, I should tell my parents.

The gunshots got louder which woke everyone because I could hear people screaming downstairs. it was as if they shot everyone and everything they saw. I was very scared as I ran through the hallway to my parents' room but before i could get to there I was pulled into a dark corner by someone and the person had their hand over my mouth to prevent me screaming. I could tell by the voice that it was a lady.

"I won't hurt you" she kept repeating

They were close because I could hear the sound of their shoes as they passed through the hallway. What about my parents? cant we save them? I had to be with them even if it meant dying together. They would go into the other rooms before getting to their room, I thought. My plan was to run to my parents once they go into any of the rooms, so I tried struggling with her to let me go. As I struggled to break free from her grip, the men walked past us, straight to my parents room. I heard may mum scream then I heard gun shots and that was it! I tried screaming but the strange lady put a tape over my mouth then she took my arm and dragged me downstairs to the basement. I didn't even know what to feel at that moment. Were my parents really dead? I could feel tears forming in my eyes, I had to hold them back, in order not to get the attention of the armed men. I could see their feet through the window of the basement.

"Where is she? "I heard one of them shouting.

"We checked her room and other rooms, she must have escaped"

"Escaped to where? I made sure all of them were at home, you cant tell me she escaped".

"I found something" I heard one of them say and the others followed.

I wondered what they found. Was there another way which led to the basement or something?

"I came in through the back gate, so they will assume you left through there, they will be gone for just few minutes to search for you, hurry up and get a few things lets go" the lady said.

I ran back up to my room as my tears flowed freely, I picked a handful of clothes and I threw them into a bag and ran back to the basement fighting all the temptations to stay back and let them kill me.

"lets go" she said.

I hesitated at first, I just stood there watching as she walked away. When she noticed I wasn't following she turned back and dragged me with her.

Go where exactly? I said to myself. My parents are dead and I'm following a stranger? What If she is part of them? Why is she even helping me? When we got to the road side, away from the pathway to my house, she took me to a car packed beside the abandoned building close by.

"Get in"she said opening the back door.

I was reluctant at first, then she yelled at me to get in.Well I had no choice, so I got into the car. She slammed the door and got into the drivers seat, she put the ignition on and zoomed off, with that  we were on our way to wherever she was taking me to.

We stayed on the road for almost two hours, those hours felt like hell to me. I was very uncomfortable and I looked back every minute to be sure no one was following us. She made a stop after a while, it was a house at the outskirts of the city.  I'm not an outcast, so what are we doing here? Why here? All I could think of were the questions I wanted to ask her.

"We are here" she said, as she opened the back seat to let me out.

"Where exactly? who are you?" I asked demanding for an answer.

"How do I explain, uhm, how about your guardian angel "

"Guardian angel? you are right, why didn't you save my parents too if you are one?"

"Your life would have been in danger...." She was saying when I cut her short.

"In danger? What could be worse than this? at least we would all be alive" I said as tears rolled down my cheeks

"Trust me I wanted to save your parents as bad as you wanted to"

"Lies! you don't even know them. So why would you want to save them? Tell me who do you work for? This was a rivalry attack right" I yelled at her face.

"You are such an ungrateful brat, I shouldn't have put my life in danger to save you!"

"Yea.. You shouldn't!" I said attempting to walk away to I don't know where.

But she grabbed my hand roughly.

"Let's go inside..quickly!" She said .

It was more like she was threatening me. I freed myself from her grip then I walked over to the car and picked up my bag and I walked inside.

When we got inside she showed me the room I would be staying in and I knew this would never feel like home. I threw myself on the bed immediately and buried my face in the pillow crying out my guts. The universe wasn't really being fair to me, everything was gone in the twinkle of an eye.

"Food is ready!" I could hear her scream.

I must have slept off while crying because the sun was up and the rays captured my face like the flash from a paparazzi camera.

I forced myself  to get out of bed then I  walked downstairs to what I assumed was the dinning. A bowl of freshly prepared spaghetti was on the table and I guessed it was for me.

We ate in silence for a while before she finally spoke.

"We are leaving this house, tomorrow"

"To where, what about my exam?".

"Australia, you will start a new life, as from today you (Mia Carter) died with her parents after the home slaughter".

She said pointing at the television, which I didn't take note of, because the volume was low.

The headlines read "Lucas Carter, son of one of L. As top drug dealer Brad Carter found dead with his wife Maria Carter, together with their workers after a memorial party at his place in honor of his dead father, while their daughter Mia Carter still remains missing".

I ran to my room with tears and I wasn't even done with my food, I had lost my appetite. How did everything change overnight? I had been consoling myself with the thoughts that my uncle would see the news, he would  definitely come looking for me. I wont live here forever and I wont have to move to Australia, I said to myself.

I said a very short and silent prayer, hoping everything would turn around quickly or maybe I would wake up and realize I had been dreaming, but none of this seemed to be happening anytime soon.

I could not even make a call because  she did not allow me to take my phone with me, she destroyed it yesterday before we even got here. I just lay down on the bed thinking about how I lost everything I cared about few hours ago.

I dozed off again because I  woke up to find out it was already 4PM in the evening and it was raining. I didn't know we had neighbors till now. I looked out of the window and  watched the children play happily in the rain even though they had little or nothing, I imagined them growing up to find out they were outcasts but at least they had their parents. Growing up really sucks!

"Dinner is ready" she shouted.

I hadn't really eaten anything since morning, I walked to the dinning.

She seemed pretty nice, she never asked me to do the dishes or help with cooking. I still had to be careful because no one could be trusted at the moment and she was just a random stranger who I still wasn't sure of the reason she saved me.

I sat down to eat my food, I carefully inspected the bowl filled with Mac and cheese placed in front of me. I began eating immediately I was done with the meaningless inspection. I was really hungry and I didn't want to hear anything that would disrupt my meal so I didn't say a word to her as I ate my meal.

"Whats your name? "I asked as I took the last spoon that was left of my food.

"Why do you ask?"

Wait what? did she just ask me that? I thought.

"Yes, I did" she replied.

"Did I just say that out loud? you know what never mind, who are you? why are you taking me to Australia? I have other relations who are still very much alive"

"Relations you say, who are they?" she asked.

I was silent for a while then I replied

"My uncle he lives here in Los Angeles too, you cant take me anywhere, I bet he has seen the news and is already looking for me"

She let out a loud laugh and was quiet for a while then she said

"What?"

"Yes, he is looking for you, but what makes you think he wants you alive?"