The Teddy Bear War!

Chapter 5

"Ari!" Jake cried, running across the hall and into my arms. He looked so confused and scared, and I couldn't help but think how cruel this person was to put a 6 year old through such horror.
"Jake! I'm so glad you are ok!" I cried picking him and up and spinning him around in my arms. He giggled, completely oblivious to what was happening. I sighed a breathe of relief, glad that he was back to his old self.
I turned around, expecting to see Dad smiling, waiting for Jake to see him, but I couldn't see him. I walked back to the front door of the hall and into the room that was just inside the hall. It was the store. Nothing could have prepared me or Jake to see what we next saw, when we walked into that room. There was Dad's precious body lying on the floor. Blood flowing from a wound in his head. He had been shot.
"Dad?!" I cried, as I kneeled beside him, just like I'd done to Mum. I rolled his innocent body over so that his face was facing me. His face was in a shocked expression, but he looked happy. He was still lightly breathing, and I was just about to call the ambulance, when he took his last breathe and fell motionless on my lap. I started crying hysterically as I hugged Dad's lifeless body and Jake to me. Fear and sadness concealed my body. I couldn't believe that Dad was gone. What was going to happen now?
"Is Daddy sleeping?" Jake asked innocently, as he looked at Dads dead body with confusion.
"Yes Jake. He is sleeping, but he's in such a deep sleep that it will be a long time before he wakes up," I told Jake sadly, before taking his hand and leading him out of the Middle Hall, leaving Dad's body there. I decided that going to Lily's house and telling them that Dad was dead was the best thing to do. After all we had no where else to go, and they would know exactly what to do.
I had forgotten completely about the gadget Mum had given me, and I feel completely terrible about it. Maybe if I had read his mind I might have been able to find out who he was and the police would be able to catch him, once and for all.
"Where are we going Ari?" Jake asked. He kept looking back at Middle Hal, as if expecting Dad to run out to him, calling his name. He was so confused. When Mum died she was pregnant with Jake, so Jake was really lucky to survive, as when the ambulance got to our house they had to cut him out of Mum's stomach. Jake was put on life support for 3 weeks and had a lot of surgery, but eventually he was well enough to come home. Dad treasured Jake and I with all our might, so Jake and him were very close. I can only imagine how Jake is feeling right now. I don't need to use a mind reader, as his feelings should stay as his feelings.
"We are going to Lily's house. I have a few things I need to take care of, and we can't go home without Dad," I told Jake, trying with all my might not to start crying again. I had to stay strong for Jake.
"Hey Ari! What's Dad going to think when he wakes up in Middle Hall?" Jake laughed as he ran along in front of me, having forgotten about all his troubles. I wish I could be young again, when I had no idea what was happening, and I had no reason to be upset. I fake laughed with Jake, not ready to tell him that Dad was never coming back. He would find out when he was ready.