It's at the start of the annual Purge that Max receives a desperate call from a family member that can't be ignored and has to risk absolutely everything in order to save them. But the Purge doesn't just bring fear, it also brings revelation. And th...
As I ended the call, my phone began to flash in red, alerting me that I had only five minutes before the 12-hour nightmare commenced. The phone vibrated with every flash, and as the silence in my home suffocated me, it become evident that they matched my heart beats.
I was nervous, but who wasn't? In just a few short minutes, all crime would be legal. All of your nightmares would come true and there would be no one to save you. The truth is . . . I was terrified.
Nothing had ever happened to me; every year I stayed safe and sound in my home, protected by the expensive security that my parents had bought for me. But there was always that one little thought in the back of my mind: What If?
What if today was the day I would not besafe and sound? It could happen. Better to live in a realistic world than a fantasy one that can't even save your own sane mind.
As minutes passed, I walked around my home, waiting for security to shield me from the pending crimes that were about to happen. By this point, I had turned off the phone alarm and just held the cold device between my shaky hands. I watched with wide eyes as the television screen in my living room flickered and then the familiar, eerie voice spoke loudly through the speakers.
"This is your emergency broadcast system announcing the commencement of the annual Purge. At the siren, all emergency services will be suspended for 12 hours. Your government thanks you for your participation."
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I closed my eyes at the sound of the haunting sirens, hearing the house come alive as security slowly locked me in my own home.
Then my phone rang.
It was strange to be called during the Purge. Nobody should ever answer the phone, but I looked down at the caller ID and my stomach flipped. It was my sister, Rose.
Immediately, I connected the call and brought the phone to my ear, expecting the worst. Neither of us spoke, for obvious reasons. Then I heard breathing, and it wasn't regular breathing.
"Rose?" I spoke quietly.
"Max," she whispered back. "I'm scared."
"Rose, what's wrong? Are you okay?" I asked.
Rose had never acted like this before, so I knew that she was in serious trouble.
"Mark didn't come back home," she continued to whisper. "I had to override the security or he was going to be locked outside . . . but he still hasn't returned and now I have nothing. I'm vulnerable and I think . . ." I heard her phone drop and then she screamed like someone had stabbed her and was dragging her away.
