Gunpoint

Nightmares

I couldn't sleep. Recently I've been having terrible nightmares that kept deciding to come back the very next night. Plus my 4 year old sister, Millie, just so happened to be crying really loudly in the room next to mine, and the maid in charge of looking after her still hadn't come.

So being the 6 year old boy I was, I decided to go try and find my mummy and daddy so they could comfort and help me fall asleep, like they always do. So, with my extremely important task in mind, I made my way to their room.

Our mansion consisted of many floors (5 to be exact), along with the two different wings; the east wing and west wing and then the central area or main part of the building.

My bedroom along with Millie's were on the 4th floor on in the east wing, along with a kitchen, a bathroom, a lounge room and our very own game room. We also had some servant's rooms to keep an eye on us in case we needed anything.

Then our parents lived on the 3rd floor in the east wing. Like us they have everything they need, although they share a room (EWWW, I know right!). However mummy and daddy usually came up to our floor and we'd eat breakfast, dinner and sometimes even lunch altogether! Oh and they also get a fireplace! We once asked why we couldn't have a fireplace and all they said was that it wasn't safe for us to play near fire. I don't know why though.

Because their bedroom is on the 3rd floor, I have to go down the hallway to a separate set of stairs that leads directly to their living room. These stairs can only be used by our family and no one else. The reason is well, nobody actually knows about the stairs, they're a secret. In fact there are actually a lot of secrets, not only in the mansion but also just about our whole family in general. Even I don't know everything about my own family!

As I silently padded my way downstairs I suddenly heard voices.

Who could be awake so late at night?

As I continued to make my way down, the voices became louder and I soon I managed to identify who the voices belonged to and I almost ran straight down the stairs. But as they came into view I immediately stopped dead in my tracks.

Mummy was sobbing quietly into daddy's chest. And daddy had a very serious expression on his face. I didn't understand, why was mum crying and what didn't they look happy?

"w-what are we g-going to do about it, h-he's be-been missing for a- a year! And the authorities still haven't found him," sobbed my mum, trying to form coherent sentences.

"Don't worry honey" dad soothed, "we will find him and bring him back home, even if it takes my whole life to do so."

"My poor baby," mum burst into tears, "Daniel was only 7 years old and he was taken right under our noses! I don't know what I would've done if Jase was taken away from us as well!"

I had no idea what my parents were talking about and I was confused and upset that mummy was crying so much. So I did the only reasonable thing a 6 year old would do in this type of situation, I made myself known.

"Mummy? Daddy? Why are you so upset?" I asked in a timid voice.

Both of my parents visibly tensed and mum quickly wiped her tears away.

"Honey, what are you doing out of bed," said my mum, her voice seeming to shake slightly. She was trying to avoid the subject! I might be 6 but I wasn't dumb!

"Mummy, why are you avoiding my question?" I asked again, my voice rising in anger.

Dad sighed, "Our children are way too smart for their own good."

That's when it happened.

I felt a stab of pain and my heart rate started picking up. Everything around me started to blur together.

"M-mummy, da-daddy what's ha-penning?" I was starting to panic what was happening to me.

Then someone screamed.