Total Darkness

6

"Mom! Dad?" I burst through the front door and shine my flashlight around frantically. I jog into the kitchen but find nothing other than an unfinished sandwich. I run through the living room and up the stairs, shining my light everywhere as I go. Every bedroom is empty, I even check the closets and bathrooms but no sign of my parents.
  "Amelia!" I sigh in frustration.
   "What?" I can hear her thumping up the stairs. "Did you find something?" She shines her light at me.
  "No, and get that light outta my eyes!" The sound of the front door slamming interrupts my annoyance. I'm about to yell, expecting it to be my parents, but an unfamiliar voice keeps my mouth shut. I grab Amelia by the wrist and pull her into the crawlspace at the back of my parents room. It used to be my favorite hiding spot when I would play hide and seek with my friends when I was little.
   "Shh! Turn that light off and stay quiet." I whisper as I pull the door shut and scoot to the back of the crawlspace, sliding behind a pile of boxes filled with old family stuff. Amelia follows and I flick my light off. We are immediately surrounded by the dusty darkness, the only sound is my pulse beating in my ears. A thump from downstairs causes my heart to jump into my throat.
"Anyone here!?!" A deep voice bellows from below us. It's muffled, but clearly coming from the kitchen area. "Take anything valuable!" I hear the voice yell, and I realize there's more than one of them. There is a sinking sensation is my stomach when I realize something else, they're searching the house, which definitely includes closets and crawlspaces.
"Jo?" Amelia whispers. Great this girl is gonna get us killed.
"Shh. Please be quiet." I whisper as quiet as I can.
"I'm claustrophobic." She says and I can already hear her breathing start to pick up. I can also hear someone on the stairs.