The Impostors

Chapter 4: Abandoned

My eyes darted open as confusion smogged my face. "What was that?"

The sound of light footsteps downstairs made me flinch. Panic swept through me like a fire. Ava, Calm down. It was probably just your parents. A voice echoed. I exhaled slowly to calm my accelerated heart rate.

Whatever the noise was had to have been my parents, maybe one of them got out of bed to get something to drink and possibly dropped their glass and it shattered? My head involuntarily shook at the idea, that couldn't have waken me up though.  If it wasn't my parents what could it have possibly been then?

I pulled my covers tightly over my head, instantly feeling safer. I knew they wouldn't protect me from the dangers that possibly lurked, but they gave me a sense of security, so I kept them over me.

That's more than two sets of footsteps. The voice echoing inside my head became frightened. My parents. I gasped out in horror. What if they're hurt- or even worse, what if they're-  I didn't allow myself to finish my thought, I couldn't bring myself to say the word. I need to check on them, I have to. I edged the covers off of me before silently getting out of my bed and tiptoeing to my bedroom door.

My heart rate quickly accelerated to a dangerous level, knowing that at any moment whomever was here could walk into my room and ask me the very well known phrase in scary movies, 'Any last words?' 

I pushed my terror aside noticing my door was propped open enough that would enable me to peer out of it. My back pressed tightly against the wall making me unnoticable to the figures who walked below. I wiped my hands down the base of my jeans removing the moisture that had acquired in the center of my palms.

You can do this, Ava.

 My breaths became shallower as my knees began to grow weak. Inhale. Exhale. Inhale. Exhale. Breathe, Ava. A voice reminded. Fear traced through my veins at the loudening of footsteps. I was normally such a brave person, but my gut was telling me that something was seriously wrong.

Ava, you have to, your parents lives could depend on it. I took a last breath mustering up enough courage and looked out into the danger that lurked. 

My heart felt like it stopped instantly- my body immediately froze from what was revealed before eyes. A semi-loud gasp was the only thing managed to escape my mouth. My brain was telling me to run, to hide, but my body refused to listen.

Seconds later, the stairs creaked beneath two body weights, instantly prying my body from the wall. I walked as quietly yet quickly as possible to the side of my bed and knelt down. Placing all of my weight on my forearms, I slipped underneath my bedframe and place my hand tightly over my mouth to keep my heavy breaths quiet.

Every breath I exhaled only became heavier, I tried my best to steady them, but fear was keeping my body anything but calm. Was hiding under my bed the right decision? Or would have calling the cops when I had the chance to been a better one? My head shook, No. I couldn't have called the cops, what if they are the cops- what if they're not? How am I suppose to know? They had guns so they had to be cops, right? 

Maybe this was a robbery? Every possible thought raced through my mind, causing me to become dizzy. I closed my eyes trying to calm myself until my door was slowly pushed open.

The first thing I saw was the red beam from their guns searching around my room before two men in armored outfits entered with caution.

My heart rate grew faster, louder. They know i'm in here, I clenched my eyes and fists shut, and most of all they know i'm under my bed. I was only inches, seconds away from death. I didn't know what to do. Whether I should crawl out from under my bed and give myself up willingly or be pulled out from beneath my bed against my will.

My mind immediately changed when a voice spoke from one of the unknown mans radios.

"Looks like they knew we were coming. By the looks of their room they certainly left in a rush, any signs of the girl?" The man on the other side of the radio spoke in a very smooth but serious voice.

The way he emphasized 'girl' frightened me and what did he mean by 'left in a rush.' I wanted to get out from under my bed and beat them all out of my house with a pillow, I felt like crying.

"I suspect they took the girl to, there is no sign of her here. Although it looks as if she didn't have time to pack any of her belongings." The man in the room spoke back to the radio in a disappointed tone. After taking one last look around the stillness of my room, they both exited and headed back down the stairs.

How could my parents just pack up and leave- without me? I was starting to think they were in some kind of trouble. I wasn't harsh enough to them about moving that they'd just leave me here to be captured? Was I? I recalled the look they were giving each other that seemed like a message that only I didn't understand. They knew something, that I didn't, and they were hiding it from me. I really didn't know what emotion to feel right now, scared, sad, angry, afraid, maybe I felt them all.

The sound of the mens footsteps reaching the bottom of the stairs raised the hairs on my arms and neck. Having these people- whoever they were, break into my house wasn't the most pleasant of things to wake up to.

I could here them talking amongst each other, but I couldn't make anything out of it. I knew that if I wanted to get any clue as to what was going on, I'd have to leave my safety zone and basically enter dangerous territory.

I waited for a moment to make sure I didn't hear anyone else upstairs. What felt like an hour that passed was really only 5 or 10 minutes. I didn't want to move but I knew that I had to. I knew that if I got closer there was a more likely possibility that I could hear what they were saying.

I crawled out from under my bed and slowly eased my way back towards my bedroom door. The front door suddenly opened, startling me. Hurry, Ava. A voice commanded. I began to walk a little quicker reaching my door in time only to see the men filing out of my house one by one. The last one made his way out before pausing a moment to look back inside. He glanced around and focused his eyes up to my room, my head quickly retreated and panic once again swept over me. The front door shut and relief enveloped my body as I slid slowly and shockingly to the ground