His daughter (Austin Carlile)

19

Erika

I don't remember falling asleep. But when I woke up to darkness I panicked and looked at the clock to see it was 10 at night. I checked my phone to see a bunch of texts from Alex.

'Babe I'm sorry.'

'Erika c'mon I'm worried about you!'

The list went on and on. I couldn't stand it so I left my phone on my nightstand and went downstairs. I knew Austin was asleep by how quiet it was but something didn't feel right.

I went to the fridge to get some milk and proceeded into the living room. When I turned on the light I saw two very unfamiliar men passed out on the couch and Alan passed out on the floor.

They didn't move an inch by the light so I assumed it was a pass out drunk kind of thing. I sat on the empty arm chair and scrolled through Netflix.

About a minute or so later I heard a groan come from one of the guys. "Ugh baby jesus I need an Advil. And I got drunk at Austin's house with Alan. That's nice."

The man seemed to be going on and on, talking to himself. I don't think he realized I was there or that anyone was even awake. Honestly it was kind of creepy and I was terrified to bring something up.

I heard Austin's door open from upstairs and his loud ass yawn as he made his way downstairs. I didn't know why everyone was waking up at midnight but I wasn't the most comfortable right now.

I saw Austin appear in the hallway and stopped abruptly when he saw the man on the couch. He must've seen my terrified look because he started making casual conversation with the guy to show me it was ok.

"Jack what're you doing in my house and why're you and Alex cuddled on the couch, and why is Alan cuddling a stuffed unicorn and a blow up doll. Austin pointed to Alan.

"Dude.....we got. Soooooooo shitfaced man....that was amazing!"

I sat there quietly and didn't move or make any advances to make my existence noticeable. I didn't want to disrupt the silence.

"Well Alex is passed out but i'll introduce you. This is my daughter Erika." He introduced. Jack looked at me like I was an alien that had just magically showed up out of no where. "Where did you come from?" He whispered. See?

"I live here and you were passed out with your buddy on the couch and I don't know who you are soooooo yeah I just wanna watch Netflix.." I wasn't making sense and was going off on a whole bunch of different tangents. I stopped my rambling and turned my head back to the tv. "I'll just shut up now." I whispered.

"No no it was fine. I'm jack by the way." He held out his hand for me to shake and I took it cautiously and shook it nicely. "Hi jack. Who's your sleeping friend over there?" I asked. "That's Alex. We're half of all time low." He introduced his friend.

"That's cool. So why were you like passed out in my living room?" I really liked talking to Jack. He was nice.

"Tour. We found out that were doing a headliner with Of Mice. Alan thought it would be good to celebrate." He answered.

"So you like it here?" He suddenly asked. It broke a quick moment of silence and prevented the awkwardness from settling in. "I love it. It's awesome. Really is." I trailed off and got up. "Well I'm gonna go upstairs and go to bed. I'll see you soon I guess." He nodded and laid back down next to Alex. Weird. Thought he would've at least gotten up.

Once I hit my head on the pillow I closed my eyes. But never fell asleep.

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I turned and looked at my bed side clock. I didn't get one bit of sleep last night. But time managed to speed by to 9 am with me staring off into space. Austin came through my door with a panicked look on his face. No knock and no yelling through the door which meant this was serious.

He didn't say one word, all he did was pick me up and carry me downstairs to the couch. "What the hell..-" "SHHHHH!! Look!" He said and pointed to the tv.

"Breaking news! There is an in progress hostage situation taking place at local Huntington Beach middle school. Police are surrounding the area, nearly ready to catch the perpetrator. Shots have not been fired but they aren't taking any chances. We will have more updates with new information at noon. I'm Kelly Harland for msn news."

I turned towards Austin with tears in my eyes. "I should be there." I whispered. I knew something terrible would happen. I just knew. He hugged me and rocked back and forth. "Don't you dare say that. Everything will turn out ok! You might not have middle school grad but you'll move on and everything will work out. I promise you."

I continued to cry for god knows how long, but when I finally calmed down the doorbell rang and Austin stayed with me. "COME IN!!" He yelled and relaxed again.

"Why didn't you get it?" I asked. I was semi calm now he could've gotten up to get it. I wouldn't have minded. "Because I'm not leaving you and that's a promise."

But instead of coming in, the doorbell rang again. Either the person didn't hear us or it was something really important.

"I'll get it. Just stay i'll get you if I need you." I said as I got up. I walked to the door and opened it to see Alex and smiled. "Alex hey! Oh my gosh I'm so glad you're ok!" I said as I hugged him. He hugged back. But he wasn't talking. He didn't smile when he saw me. He didn't make me feel secure in the hug. He was very cold towards me.

"Are you ok?" I asked. I touched his face but he slapped my hand away. He didn't talk at all. I didn't understand what was happening.

"Can I come in?" He asked as he pulled a gun out from behind his back.