Alternations

Deceits

         I stood, feeling dead. My adorable baby brother, so innocent, so sweet, who looked up to me and only me, was laying limp, a knife besides him. Crimson blood literally poured out of his throat. I stared helplessly at my brothers limp body, feeling a strong hand clasp around my throat. The hand only tightened the grip, to the point where I was almost gagging. Then, a large man, with curly brown hair leaned in, whispering into my ear, "How does it feel? To be in true pain. True misery? The feeling when you see someone completely and UTTERLY innocent, KILLED." Tears flooded my eyes. My head dropped, as I stared at the half blurred ground. The man's voice was slightly deep, though his voice could hit a high note randomly and then drop. He was probably around the age of twenty to twenty-five. "Griffin, shut up. You're suppose  to hold them, not scare them. It's not like you could anyway, you sound  like an emo girl." I glanced up to see a skinny, ginger haired girl. She was wearing an ugly and stained grey shirt, along with shorts that were torn. The man apparently named Griffin immediately hushed. Even though I couldn't see him, I could feel him shaking with rage towards the girl. "Kailey, one day, I'm seriously going to kill you." He murmured, almost inaudibly. Kailey glanced at him, knowing he was muttering something he would regret if he said it out loud.

    "Allow us to introduce ourselves. We're The Bloody Deceits. I'm Kailey." The ginger-haired girl pointed a scrawny finger at me. "If you're wondering if there is a reason we came here, and took something so PRECIOUS from you.." She turned, facing my mother. All the other Deciets turned to look at her as well. Some looked enraged and furious. Others wore expressions that seemed...DEPRESSED..? I made a mental note to question my mother about this later. My mom froze, realizing something. She searched the members of The Bloody Deceits, looking for one person in particular. When she didn't find him or her, her hopeful and desperate expression sank, into one of sadness.  My dad was still unconcious. I wrinkled my brow. Who was she looking for? Why would she want to find someone in the Bloody Deceits?

     Kailey looked bored and continued before anything else could happen. "We like to categorize ourselves with terrorists. This is the first and last time you'll EVER meet us. And it's time we leave. So buh-bye hun." Kailey smirked and walked past me, slapping me hard across the cheek. Her mark stung, but it was nothing compared to the treachery I had just witnessed. Griffin tied me up once more, reinforcing the ropes around my wrist, putting duct tape over my mouth. He rose to his feet, smiling down at me. Then, glancing over to see if Kailey was still watching, he threw his hands around my throat and throttled me, choking me. I gasped for air, but could only breathe through my nose. I fell to the ground, shaking with silent sobs. Griffin kicked me in the back, forcing me to inhale and exhale loudly through my nose before he walked off, meeting up with Kailey.

       My face was a contorted expression of pain, sorrow, and anguish. But there was nothing I could do, except wait for help and cry. So I lay across the ground, writhing when occasional spasm of pain were sent up my spine. Each time I closed my eyes, all I could see was Ivan's dead, innocent body laying across the ground.The silent shuffles of the Bloody Deceits kept me from closing my eyes again, and I listened to them leave quietly. I could occasionally hear muffled cry's from my mother as she watched me writhe in pain, probably thinking about Ivan. My father was starting to stir, twitching this way and that frequently. Finally, my father got up, feeling the blood on his head. He ripped off a piece of his shirt as a makeshift bandage. I watched him quietly, waiting for him to gain consciousness of what just happened. I could tell he was in a lot of pain. He stumbled this way and that, and when it finally hit him, he screamed. Quickly, he stumbled over and untied us, fumbling with the ropes. After that, he ripped off the duct tape, starting to gain a bit of balance. When he caught sight of Ivan, he stood for a moment, emotionless. Then he fell to his knees, sobbing and cursing.

   
      My mother had a few bruises here and there, but it looked like they would go away.  She was silent and stared at nothing. Then she turned and started to mourn with my father. I squatted, my knees a foot away from the blood stained ground. I wanted so badly to mourn with my parents. But my eyes were dry, for it seemed I used up all my tears. Finally, I let out a sputter and broke into a coughing fit. Eventually, I ended up sobbing, watching Ivan's limp body get cradled by my mother, and stroked by my father. I inched over to them, dragging my knees. I bent my head to give Ivan a quick kiss, pressing my lips across his forehead. "I love you." I whispered, trembling with such sadness one could not describe. I felt like my heart had just gotten ripped out. I glanced at my dad. He was pressing his blood stained makeshift bandage-rag against his head. I gently took it off, and led him to the sink. The cracked, uneven tile made it hard for me to stay upright, considering the fact I felt like a twig. About to blow over and fall dead at any moment now. I washed the blood out of my dad's head, and then hastily found some bandages. It looked like the Bloody Deceits didn't take anything. They just wanted to kill. I pressed the bandage to my dad's head, letting out a sigh of relief when his face of contorted pain melted into one of ease. This expression lasted only a moment.

     
     For the rest of the day, until what seemed like sundown, we mourned. I glanced out the window. The sun was setting, a beautiful pink and orange, bright colored sky was surrounding the circular ball of fire. Ivan would be resting atop this sunset, living a beautiful and even better life somewhere up in heaven. At sundown, there came a loud, frantic knock. None of us budged. Soon, Maia and Bella's voice came. "Arianna, we know it's bad, but you've GOT to let us IN! We see blood through the window! Let us in! NOW!" Shrieked Maia, pounding on the door with angry fists. "Arianna! We know how bad you feel. What HAPPENED!? Why is there so much blood on the FLOOR!? We're gonna call the police!" Screamed Isabella, her voice slightly calmer then Maia's, although there was a hint of hysteria in her voice. Finally, my mom shoved me, signaling for me to get the door. I reluctantly got to my feet, blood soaking my ankles and the bottom part of my jeans. I dragged myself to the door, and threw it open.

     Bella and Maia looked shocked. Once they saw Ivan, they both started crying and spazzing out, pure fear in their helpless gazes. "What happened to IVAN!? WHO KILLED HIM!? WHY!?" Bella screamed. I craned my neck, looking at my parents. After what seemed like forever, my mother started to explain. "A ginger-haired girl crept in somehow through the chimney-" I cut her off mid sentence "Kailey. corrected, watching my mom blink with slight irritation. "Kailey  came in through the chimney and whacked dad on the head with a crowbar. Before I could scream or do anything, some man grabbed me by my throat, clasping his hand over my mouth and gagged me. Soon he put some duct tape over my mouth, and started beating me up until I thought I was dying. But he kept me conscious, just so I could see him start beating up dad. Soon he caused a giant gash along his temple. I'm just thankful he didn't kill him." We all watched in stony silence, each time my mom continued, it got worse and worse.

    I looked over at my father. He was cradling Ivan and whispering soothing words into his ear. That might've been the scariest, or the saddest thing I have ever been disgraced upon seeing. He looked absolutely TRAUMATIZED. "Each time this MONSTER raised his hands, he only dropped them to smack or beat Dad. It looked so PAINFUL.." My mother finished. We all turned to face dad. He shifted, the first movement he had done all day. His shaky, faltering, deep voice all shook us to our very core. "Bloody Deceits. Soon, Arianna came home, crying for some reason. Then someone named Griffin grabbed her, tying her wrists, and slapping duct tape over her mouth. Then he grabbed Ivan, who wandered into the room. He slit. His. THROAT!" Screamed my dad, his voice growing louder and louder. "H-h-how did the police or anyone else not notice?" Maia asked quietly. "They did it without making a sound." Whispered my dad, looking jittery. A noise behind me caught all of our attention, and looked out the window. There were  people crowding the house, watching us.