“No! Stop! Please, we can fix this! Just please don’t hurt her” My seven year old body stood frozen at the frame of the kitchen door. My heart was beating erratically against my chest, causing a numbness to captivate all my senses. My dad’s pleading voice struck my heart and made a whimper escape my mouth. Don’t hurt her. What did that mean? “You and I both know what I want and we had a deal, now pay up or your pretty little wife gets a bullet to her head.” Mom? I shuffled my feet uncomfortably closer to the door, pressing my whole body against the frame, staying hidden within the shadows, holding on so I wouldn’t crumble to the ground at the scene played before me. My mom was being held tightly against this man’s chest, his forearm tightening around her neck causing her face to turn a slight shade of red by the lack of oxygen. Her eyeliner was streaming down her face making black sloshes appear on the man’s arm. A gun was held up to her temple and she was trembling slightly. Her eyes were dead locked on the man in front of her, her bluish green eyes piercing into his, sending an unknown conversation to radiate between them. I looked up and saw my father, his eye swelling into a blue and black bruise and a line of blood down trailing down his chin. He was bent over slightly by the unknown pain that was hidden under his clothes and had his arms behind his back, his black hair descending down his tan skin and cheek bones. His eyes containing a combination of hate, fear, and dread. What was going on? Just an hour before, my parents received a call on the phone and rushed me up to my room, practically dragging me up the stairs and forcing me into bed. My father quickly lent down and kissed my forehead and made me promise not to come down until one of them came to get me, and then he was gone. In the midst of an hour, I was getting worried and I needed to see what was going on. I carefully tiptoed down the stairs and here I was, trying to stay as quiet as I could when my dad finally spoke. “You can take the girl, just don’t hurt my wife” Pain immediately coursed through my soul, pounding on my heart like a hammer. You can have the girl. He was getting rid of me? But as I looked into the eyes of my father, the glint in his eyes told me that he was just saying those words to fool him, as if his eyes contained a hidden message just for me. But what happened next didn’t fool anyone. The gun shot vibrated in my ears, sending a ringing shockwave to penetrate down my ear drum. I watched as the blood splattered clear across the wall, covering the beige walls in a coat of red paint, and the lifeless body falling to the floor. A sob started to build up in the back of my throat but I quickly swallowed it down. They weren’t supposed to know I was watching. “I hate liars. You think I couldn’t see what you were planning on doing this whole time? Your clearly are holding a gun in your hands and the moment you saw your chance you were going to take a shot at me, take your wife, your child, and run. Did you honestly think I was that stupid” his voice dripped in acid. My father dropped to his knees and he crawled over to my mother who was pouring blood out from her head. I shifted slightly and pressed myself harder against the doorframe, trying to blend with the shadows of the unlit room. My father could now clearly see me. He grabbed my mother’s lifeless form and pulled her into his lap as his tears cascaded down his cheeks and landed in her face, the salt of his tears and her blood mixed together, rolling on the floor around him. “You sick bastard! This isn’t what we agreed to!” My father’s eyes shot up and before they were able to look up at the masked man, they fell on me. He immediately stiffened and silently begged me with his eyes to run, but I couldn’t run, not after the gruesome scene that took place in my kitchen. My legs felt like they were cemented to the tile floors. “I don’t give a fu-“ He suddenly realized that my father wasn’t paying attention and he hit him brutally with the back of his black sleek handgun forcing my father to snap his head fiercely to the right, blood gushing from the side of his head. The deep metallic scent hit my nostrils, sending bile to rise in my throat, burning its way to my mouth, threatening to spill. “Look at me when I’m talking to you!” His dark, eerie voice echoed and bounced off the walls and landed in my heart, engraving the hideous tone in my mind forever. My father’s head snapped up and his eyes were so dark and menacing it sent a chill down my spine. “You’ll fucking pay for this” his deep cold voice narrated. In an instant my father was on his feet, causing my mother’s head to clash against the floor, causing a whine to utter from my lips. My father pushed against the man in the mask so hard in the chest it sent him flying a couple steps backwards. The man, obviously not liking the sudden boost of confidence, pulled back the trigger and aimed it towards my dad’s head, my dad instantly freezing. “I see we’ve become a little cocky, you don’t want to end up like your whore wife now do we?” Before he could reveal another word his eyes met mine. How did he know I was here? I was being quiet! Before I could even beat myself up for giving my hiding place away, I felt fresh, salty tears along my cheeks and realized I was crying. I blew my own cover. He gestured for me to come close and I just pushed myself more against the frame, feeling like my security was being ripped away from me. His eyes flashed hot anger and he fired a shot at the door frame, causing me to instantly drop to the ground and throw my hands over my head. “LEAVE HER ALONE! SHE HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH THIS!” My father’s voice reflected through the tense air and caused a slight ringing to overcome my ears, the man just ignored him completely. “Get. Over. Here. Now” his voice bellowed. I found the willpower to throw myself up and walked slowly towards him, gently aware that my dad was now watching me to. I snuck a glance at my dad but couldn’t make myself move my eyes away as I came to a halt in from of the masked killer. “Common Trevor, leave the girl alone, she has nothing to do with this!” My dad screamed in his face, turning his attention to Trevor. . I looked up at the man to see a wicked smile wrenched upon his face. “Hello Ella, your very beautiful…Like your daddy said” he looked back at my father with a knowing glance and turned back to me “Why don’t you come with me and I’ll be your daddy” His voice quivered down my ears. He wanted to be my daddy? What was wrong with this man? Before I knew it, Trevor grabbed my hand and pulled my closer to him. I dug my heals into the ground to stop him but it was too late. He pulled me close to his body and trailed his fingers down my hair, while I stared down at my feet, suppressing a shiver to come down my spine. I couldn’t take the suspense anymore and I looked up. But I was the one in for surprises. The silence was cut through by a large squishing sound and before I knew it, I saw my dad had grabbed his pocket knife and stabbed Trevor in his right eye. A screech projected from Trevor’s lips as he fired a couple of shots at the same time as he was stumbling back in pain. A scream lifted its way through the darkening room and both bodies collapsed to the floor. I stood wide eyed, watching my father’s body tumble to the ground before me. My mind expressed commands to my body and trudged me over to my father’s body. I stumbled on the floor and reached him as groaned in pain. Blood was flowing from under him, a bullet shot stabbing him in the stomach. He quickly put pressure on the wound and looked at me; I’ve never seen such pain in my life. “I love you so much Ella my love, I’m sorry I couldn’t protect you or your mother, but promise me you’ll stay alive. You can do it baby girl, I know you can.” He reached out his hand and weakly placed it on my cheek, blood staining my tan face. A sob etched its way out of my throat as the fresh salt tears flowed down my cheeks and landed harshly on his now paling face. “I love you so much daddy, you c-can’t leave me. Please” my whole body slumped over and I collapsed on top of him crying my heart out. Suddenly it started getting harder to breathe and my lungs felt on fire, I released the breath I didn’t realize I was holding. My father’s breaking got shallower and his chest was taking a while to rise and then fall. Then just like that, he died. His hand slamming against the tile floor. “What do I do now?!” Tears were still collapsing down my face. A sudden hand on my shoulder brought me back to reality and my heart stopped beating. He was still alive? I slowly glanced at the masked man, Trevor; blood was gliding down his face. “You’re finally mine.” Was all I heard escape from his lips before I plunged into an unconscious state.
