But at the thought of his parents Kevin realized something. He didn’t know where his stepdad was, but that didn’t necessarily mean he was dead. Maybe he had seen the attackers and was hiding somewhere. Maybe he was looking for Kevin at this moment. And maybe his mother wasn’t dead, but alive and hurt! She needed his help!

No matter how unlikely that seemed, Kevin clung to those thoughts. The idea of his parents being alive gave him strength and at that moment he slowly started to lift himself out of the trash. He decided that he was going to look for his parents, and that he wouldn’t give up until he found them no matter what.

It took some effort, but after a few tries Kevin was finally on his feet again. His head still spinning and throbbing uncontrollably, Kevin shakily stepped out of the trash and back onto solid ground. Looking around at his surroundings he was taken aback, as it was only then that he realized he wasn’t in the lot at the gas station anymore; he was in a narrow alley.

His thoughts started racing. How did he get here? He didn’t remember walking here. Did his attacker drag him here? Why?

He shook his head, stopping the downward spiral of thoughts in his head from going on any further. He told himself that he needed to focus on finding his parents instead of questioning things he couldn’t possibly find the answer to. With that, he began walking down the alley, trailing his hand along the brick wall of the building.

He didn’t make it far however before he thought he heard something shuffle in the darkness.

Paranoid and helpless, he called out to his parents in the darkness. “Mom? Robert?”

No answer.

He feebly called out again, his voice shaking. Still no answer.

Wary now, he kept walking, and suddenly his foot hit something on the ground, nearly making him trip. When he looked down to see what had almost made him fall he immediately wished he hadn’t.

Staring back up at him was the lifeless face of a man, his blue eyes wide open in horror. There was a bullet hole in his forehead.

Kevin cried out and jumped back from the corpse in fear. The body’s limbs were contorted oddly, a pool of blood making a halo around the head. He turned away from the remains and leaned against the wall, his panicked breaths coming fast. A bout of intense nausea rose up from within him and he doubled over, vomiting.

When he was done he struggled to catch his breath, tears streaming down his face. His heart nearly stopped when he heard a click behind his head and felt something cold press into the back of his neck.

“Don’t move,” an icy voice from behind him said.

Kevin froze. He could feel all the blood in his body go cold. This is it, he thought. I’m going to be killed right here.

“Put your hands up and slowly turn around,” the low voice commanded. Kevin, trembling with fear, obeyed. He put his hands up and very carefully, and very slowly, turned around.