13th of February (DISCONTINUED)

Chapter IV

Previously:

"Hand over the girl and I'll leave your husband. Save the girl and he dies." said the man to a shocked Mrs. Matthews.

_

"James, take Sherin up to your room, stay there and don't come out." said Mrs. Matthews, trying to put on a brave face for her kids. James retreated without a word, dragging Sherin along despite her protests. He pulled Sherin into his room, which was right opposite to the staircase, giving him a perfect view of what was happening in the living room. He put Sherin on the bed with her back to the door so that she couldn't see what was happening.

"James, please listen. Why does that man want me?" asked a trembling Sherin. James sat opposite to her, sneaking glances at the room downstairs and trying to get Sherin to calm down at the same time. "Look here, Sher, it's okay, nothing's gonna happen. It's okay. No, no no no no, don't cry, it's alright. Come here." he said, pulling her into a tight embrace, completely engulfing her, trying to not let her hear what he was hearing. he couldn't help but keep looking at what was going on in the living room.

"What do you want? I'm begging you, please leave us alone." said Mrs. Matthews, going down on her knees in front of the stranger. James had to stop himself from shouting out to his mother, tell her that she did not have to beg to that nobody.

"I already told you, give me that fricking girl! Why do you care about her? She's not even your own daughter! Why do you care about that useless, filthy piece of garbage that just showed up on your doorstep? She's just an unnecessary burden! Hand her over, and you can live peacefully with your husband and your own son." yelled the man, making all of them go wide eyed.

James didn't know what he was feeling anymore. He was scared. So very scared. He already had tears lining his eyes, but he wanted to - no, had to - stay strong for his Sher. At the same time, he had his fists clenched and was gritting his teeth unbelievably hard. He was raging mad at what he just heard.He felt like his heart was beating in his throat, what did that - that creature have against such an innocent, sweet girl? But most of all, he was worried about his sister. James felt Sherin go still in his arms after hearing those words, despite his yet another feeble attempt to block out what she was hearing with his arms while just holding her tighter.

"What do you have against my daughter? What did she ever do to you? Don't you utter a single word more about her! I'm calling the cops!" yelled Mrs. Matthews, reaching for her mobile. "Hmmm........If I were you, I'd think twice. I intended to just come here, get the girl and leave, but it looks like I'm going to be leaving with more than one life. We'll see if you live to call the cops." said the man with a calm chuckle while tracing the trigger of his gun with his fingers making Mrs. Matthews stop dead in her tracks. "No! Honey, stop! Just go, stay with the kids, don't let him near Sherin, no matter what happens! Go! Save them!" shouted Mr. Matthews, not moving from where he was. "This is the last time I'm using my mouth, go get the girl." said the man, still unnervingly calm, and watched as Mrs. Matthews looked torn between her kids and her husband.

At this point, Sherin was quietly sobbing into James' chest. She called out softly "James?". "Yes?" replied James, quickly recollecting his composure as Sherin slowly looked up at him. "I'm scared..." she said, starting to cry again. Those two words broke his barriers. He pulled her back into his warm, tight embrace as he let the tears flow, and said " It's okay, Shery. It'll be okay.". He didn't know who he was trying to assure, Sherin or himself.

"I warned you." said the man with a smirk, and a gunshot left everyone's ears ringing. James' head shot up as he stared with wide eyes. He almost shrieked at what he saw, but resorted to biting his fist as an effort to not make any noise.

The victim of the shot was meant to be his father, but his mother had rushed in and pushed him away as an attempt to save him. The good news? Her attempt was successful. Bad news? In the process, she had taken the shot straight to her heart.

James could do nothing but stare with endless tears streaming down his cheeks as his mother fell, gasping for each breath, blood pooling around her. "James? Why are you suddenly so still?" asked a soft voice, pulling him out of his reverie. "N-n-n-nothing, Shery." he said, trying to not let anything on. "What was that sound?" Sherin asked him, and he convinced her that it was nothing, not once breaking the tight embrace just in case she decided to turn back and see what was going on.

James watched as his father ran to his mother's side, and as the man yelled at him, finally breaking his calm exterior. "If you want your son to have at least one parent, then get the girl! ". Mr. Matthews just shot him a cold glare and went back to trying to help his wife, though he knew it was of no use. "Well then, I'll find her myself. Goodbye to you too." James heard the man say, and watched on as he prayed for the man to not have meant what he thought he did.

The second gunshot. This time James froze completely, hands falling to his sides limply, completely forgetting Sherin. His sudden release and silence made Sherin look up at him. When she saw her brother staring at something, she followed his gaze. It was her gasp of sheer fright and horror as she began hyperventilating that broke James' trance. The moment she scampered back and fell onto him, he realised that she was probably going to scream. He immediately covered her mouth with his large hand and held her tight, rubbing soothing circles onto her arm, trying to get her to calm down. To his surprise, she passed out.

Just when James thought the man was done, and that he would leave, he decided to look to his side, straight into the room he and Sherin were in. James didn't know what to do, his brain ceased to do anything but panic. As if God decided to help them, the delivery boy came in with their pizza just as the man began climbing the stairs.

"Hello, police? There's been a murder at xxxx! Yeah, hurry up!"

By the sounds of it, the delivery guy had called the cops. And by the looks of it, the man with scars had heard it too.

Almost everything after that was a haze. The murderer had apparently gotten away. The delivery boy had also fled, probably when he noticed that the killer was still here. But James registered nothing but the fact that it was now safe to go see his parents.

He tumbled down the stairs, leaving Sherin on the bed. He knelt down next to his mom, holding her blood soaked hand close to his heart tightly, somehow believing that she would probably wake up. He wanted nothing more than to suddenly be woken up by his alarm, and for all of this to be a dream. He still couldn't process the fact that his parents were . . . gone.

Suddenly, he heard his father's laboured breathing. He ran to his side, pulling his head onto his lap, drenching him with his tears. He looked into his father's half closed eyes, unable to look at the deep, bleeding wound on his stomach.

"James . . . . don't cry . . . . . I love you . . . . . . b - both of you . . . . We loved both of you . . . . . no matter -" Mr. Matthews cut himself off with a harsh cough, spitting out blood. " - no matter what . . . . . never give up on Sherin . . . . protect her . . . t-t-take care . . . . ." he whispered faintly before going limp in James' arms, gently closing his eyes and, despite everything, somehow looking at peace.

James finally broke. He just screamed and screamed, hugging what used to be his parents, getting their blood all over himself. At this point he found it hard to breath, his voice sore because of all the crying and screaming he had done. His tears never seemed to cease.

He blamed himself. Maybe if he had stayed stronger and helped his parents, he could have saved both Sherin and his parents. Maybe if he wasn't such a coward, his parents would still have been there with him. If only he had done something to help, he thought.

If only . . . . .

Unedited

Thanks for reading!

Also, Happy Birthday, @lizzy_kim10 !!!