Toxic

Chapter 1 : Rude Awakening

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24th October, Tuesday

'BANG!' Heidi Granger was still in bed. "What's that noise?" Heidi whispered to herself. 

Out of curiosity, she tip toed to her bedroom door. 'BANG! BANG! DOOSH DOOSH! BANG BANG!' Her heart was beating faster and faster. She peeped into the little hole of her bedroom door & saw her parents lay in a pool of blood. She closed her eyes and backed away from her door, her right hand cupping her mouth, afraid of being heard. She heard footsteps. She quickly took her wallet and cellphone and hid inside the secret place inside her closet. She has a small secret room inside the closet itself! The only other person who knows of her secret place is her sister.

"BAM!" Someone slammed her door and she saw the 2 men coming through. They ransacked her room. "Find her!" said the bigger one. "There's no one else here! We have searched-" 'PISH!' The other man slapped him. "We need to find that girl! If we don't get her by the end of tomorrow, then this will be the end of us!" he said pointing towards her dead parents. Heidi took a closer look when one of them went into her closet. The other one had a star looking tattoo on the right side of his neck. Both men wore black jeans and wore the same white shirt with the word 'P2NTH3R' written in maroon on it.

They went into her closet but they didn't see the hidden door. The secret door was not easy to spot. Heidi felt slightly relieved even though still shaking in fear. She moved deeper inside her secret room and quickly go through her phone. She has 4 messages and 10 missed calls from her sister. 

"Heidi, do not leave your room. Hide inside your closet and take your valuables along with you". She frowned. "What is going on? What is happening to our family?" So many questions going through her head. She quickly dialed '999'. 

She waited inside the secret room for almost half an hour. The cops have yet to reach. She mustered up all courage that's left inside her and slowly tiptoed out of the secret room. shouting. Both men were no longer in her room. Slowly she crept out of her closet. She peeped through her window. They were leaving. A Black SUV parked near her front porch. But sadly she could only see half of the plate number. 

"P2NT? The plate number's customized. P? Isn't Chicago cars suppose to start with a C?" she whispered to herself. 

Minutes later they were gone. Slowly, she crept out of her room and went into the living room, where her parents lay dead. They were lying next to each other. There were gunshots all over their bodies. 

"Why would anyone do such a thing? Why would any kill my parents?!"

Her parents were the nicest people. They didn't have enemies. She can't believe that her parents are gone and there were no sign of her sister. 

"What is it that you are hiding from me, Mum? Dad?" she wish they could answer this big question.

She looked into their eyes. The fear was still visible in them. Her mind went totally blank and her heart ripped to pieces.

"Come on Heidi, be strong" she remind herself.

She closed their eyes and started going around the house. But when she walked down the hallway, she saw patches of blood leading towards Haley's room. She followed the blood trail and saw their dog, Tyson, lying down, growling softly.

"They shot him?!" she shrieked. 

Those maniacs didn't even spare her dog. They might have attacked him when he tried to protect her parents earlier. She went up to him and saw that one of his upper arms was bleeding profusely. She quickly ran to her parents room to get the first aid box.

'BAMM!' an unexpected sound thrilled through her. It was a banging sound coming from inside the storeroom.

"What now?!" she whispered. 

Afraid of getting hurt, she quickly went into the kitchen and took a big knife. She tip toed slowly towards the storeroom. As she got closer, she noticed that the door was not locked. This was unusual as her father never left the storeroom door unlocked and even though her house had been ransacked, there was no way any outsider can enter it as the storeroom door can only be opened by thumb scan. Only her Dad and her sister had the access.

She pushed the door. It was really dark inside. Her storeroom was twice the size of her bedroom. She reached for the switch to on the lights. She saw that a few things were not in the right place. She went in further. 

'ZOOT!' the sound of someone zipping a bag made her heart skipped a beat.

Suddenly, she saw a pair of piercing blue eyes staring back at her. Her heart was beating faster and faster. 

"I had enough of surprises today. So whoever you are, come out now!" she shouted. 

Still the person did not move. Mastering all her courage, Heidi walked towards where those eyes were. She realized that the person got further and further as she got closer and closer. She finally understood that the person was afraid of her and was trying to get away from her. 

"I got no time for this!" Heidi shouted again, her patience running out.

She ran towards the person and started beating and pulling that person out of the storeroom. She felt braids on her hands. It was a girl.

"Ahh! Ouch! Stop it! Haley Granger hid me in here!" the stranger shouted.