Black & White [COMPLETED]

Prologue

Who could have expected that my life would flip upside down on a day that started off bright and sunny?

My parents had just gone out to buy groceries while I was sitting in my room watching Netflix on television. I wanted to ditch school that day like a real badass. Sure, so I had my parents' approval, but I still liked to think I was a wannabe badass on days like this one. But my real personality was the polar opposite of that. I was a quiet girl who avoided being around people as much as I could. I just didn't like people. Being with people meant drama, and I didn't like fights or arguments. Being around people for too long was just so draining for me.

At a certain moment I heard the front door slide open. I didn't think twice about it. I didn't consider the possibility of it not being my parents. Besides, Dad had a tendency of losing his wallet or leaving it at home, so I just thought he was coming back to pick it up.

But to my dismay those weren't my parents. Two people stopped rummaging around our stuff to look at me. They were both carrying backpacks. I couldn't do anything. The shock had me glued to the floor for ten whole seconds. Chasing burglars was not my idea of playing hooky.

The burglars who stared back at me must have been equally surprised. They must have been sure that there would be no one at home. Perhaps they were watching Mom and Dad as they drove off and waited a few minutes before breaking in. One of them whispered something to the other before turning to me again.

Slowly the gears in my head started turning again. I sprinted to the bathroom and slammed the door shut. My bedroom still had to get its lock fixed, so the bathroom was my safest bet.

I was so nervous that my stomach was cramping up. I closed my eyes and pressed my back against the door. I forgot to bring my cellphone or the telephone along to call somebody for help. I forgot to turn the television off. My laptop was still on in my bedroom. There was a baseball bat in Mom and Dad's bedroom that could easily be used to their advantage if they spotted it. All of Mom's jewelries were about to get stolen. And yet there was nothing else I could do other than hide. I wasn't the fighting type. I've been leading quite the peaceful life up to this point. Why did this have to happen? I was hoping they would miraculously walk by the bathroom without noticing it was locked. It was stupid to think that. They both saw where I ran off to.

I could hear them shuffling stuff back and forth on the other side of the door. When I heard things breaking, I realized that they must have found the bat, because other than the guns they were holding they didn't have any other weapons that would cause so much damage. With every crashing sound, I flinched.

"What do we do about the girl?" a low husky voice asked. He sounded young.

There was a kick against the bathroom door. I had to think, and quick. The bathroom window was open, but there was no way I could fit through that. It was only a tiny square window at a height that I couldn't reach.

Another loud bump against the door made my entire body vibrate. It almost made my heart stop.

"Open the door, girlie," the older man's voice shouted, hitting over and over against the door. I jumped from it as if it was a disgusting insect and started backing up towards the shower. I took the shower head in my hand. If push came to shove, this would become my weapon. I couldn't take my eyes off the door.

Twenty-four seconds passed for that to happen – and yes, I counted them. There was a loud gunshot, and the door handle fell to the floor. Now there was a man standing at the door with a gun in his hand, pointing it straight at me. He didn't shoot though, which gave me the chance to think. He was using it to scare me.

I threw whatever was in my reach at him. But when he got too close for my liking, I turned the shower on. It made him pause for a moment, but it didn't do much. Obviously. It was just water. He just pushed the shower head a bit and tried to get to me. I gathered some courage to hit him with the shower head against his head. He threw it aside, angrier now, and the cold water made me completely soaked. There goes my weapon.

He grabbed my tiny shoulders tightly with his large hands and smirked at me. "What's a kitten like you doing home at this hour? Shouldn't you be at school or something?"

I wanted to say something back, but my voice couldn't come out. His arms were now wrapped around my neck, choking me. I've never been so scared before in my entire life.

The man was wearing a mask. I couldn't identify his appearance except for his deep voice. I squirmed as much as I could and tried to break away from him. He was probably in his forties, but I couldn't be sure.

He held the gun against my head. I instantly stopped moving around.

My throat was in so much pain. I was having trouble breathing. I really didn't want to die like this. But that was when a young man appeared at the door. The younger husky voice must have belonged to him. He was wearing a black hoodie and a dark mouth mask, had dark brown hair, a strong jawline and sharp brown eyes that were looking right at me, his head slightly tilted to the right. His eyes were completely devoid of emotion.

Just when my vision started turning dark, I thought of a plan. It was now or never. I shoved the gun away with my head, despite my numbing fear of it, and it fell to the floor. The man was surprised and tried picking it back up. I stepped on it with my foot and pushed the man back. He fell backwards. I leaned over him and took his mask off. At that moment I memorized his face as fast as I could and started running. He really was older than the other one. But the younger guy holding the bat stopped me abruptly by swinging the bat and hitting me against my back. An immense jolt of pain struck me, and I fell to the floor, screaming.

That was when I heard Mom's car arrive.

The older guy put his mask back on. Then the guy who hit me with the bat told me: "Just try and report us, you'll see what happens. I'll hunt you down myself."

The two burglars ran off. I couldn't even feel relieved, because the pain surging through my body was just too much.

And... that was when I heard another gunshot. My mother died that day. Of course, I reported everything to the police. I had no other choice. It was my form of avenging my mother. But they only found one of them, the older one who I was able to identify, and he was arrested for murder. The other one was never found.