ESCAPE: The Journey

| •Prologue• |

ESCAPE: The Journey

I'm being shoved hard. Real hard. I don't want to wake up. Well, not yet. I groan and turn around, changing my position on my bed. This action doesn't stop the shoving, so I give up.

I open my eyes to see my mum. Oh! She's been the one disturbing my beauty sleep. She has a disheveled look on her face. I already know whatever she's waking me up for isn't good, at all.

When she sees my eyes are open, she speaks, "Kayla, wake up. You need to get off your bed right now," I groan then sit up, with my back against the headboard. She continues, "There are some people in the house. They came in, knocking on our gate very early this morning," she pauses and is about to continue when I chip in.

"Why? what happened? Did anything bad happen?" I ask, the thought of sleep immediately clearing from my head.

"I don't have anything to explain now. There isn't much time. They said we have only 3 hours to pack everything we have. I've already woken your siblings up and they have already started packing. I don't know why this is happening, but we are leaving."

Her last words leave me in a confused state and utter shock. I still have some more questions I want to ask and they need to be answered. But she has already said she can't answer any questions now, so I'll just do whatever my siblings and I are instructed to do.

She leaves the room, without saying any other thing. I think I can proudly say my mum is beautiful. She's in her late thirties, light skinned and tall. She isn't slim and neither is she fat too. She's really funny, but can be too 'shouty' at times.

The first thing I do immediately after I jump off my bed is run down the stairs. I stop at the large yellow metallic door which acts as a boundary between the staircase and the living room downstairs. I Press my right ear to the door and I hear voices. I don't think it'll be a good idea if I just barge in. I have no idea who my dad is speaking to and I don't want to get in trouble with him. Instead, I wait. I wait till I don't hear voices anymore. When it seems like my dad and whoever he is speaking to have left the room, I take a deep breath, quietly and slowly opening the door. Thank goodness there's no one in here, but I'm still hearing muffled voices. They must have gone outside to continue with whatever conversation they were having.

I wonder who they are and what they want.

The door creaks open and I get down completely, slowly and carefully closing the door behind me as I tiptoe through the living room and get to the window. I really want to see who these people are. Crimson colored curtains cover the window, preventing anyone outside from seeing through it. I could see from inside though, but the view isn't satisfactory. I say a silent prayer and pull the curtains slightly to have a peek. What I see disheartens me. Much to my dismay, my dad is standing outside talking with some angry looking and frustrated men. From here, their conversation looks heated.

What is going on?

The one to his left looks like he just got shot in the leg with a gun. He's a soldier by his looks and dressing, stone faced with a very visible scar running from underneath his left eye to his jaw. He is well built and very tall, maybe six foot or so and has some tribal marks on both his cheeks. He is dressed in the camouflage outfit for the military and is wearing black tinted shades with an AK-47 slung over his shoulder like it's a bag of chips. Altogether, his dressing and facial expressions make him look very scary.

The other man to his right looks more reserved, even though he has an evil face. He is short and not as built as the other man, dressed formally in a black suit and black long tie, with a pair of black loafers. What's with this man and black? He's holding a brown folder, which is tucked under his left arm as he talks to my father who now has an emotionless look on his face.