Prologue

The pained screams of my parents were heard, echoing throughout the hallway. The scraping of my parents trying to keep the armed men who were trying to force their way through the door could be heard from the kitchen where I had snuck down in the middle of the night to grab something to eat. 

I froze, straining my ears to try and understand what they were saying. By the sharpness in their voices, I knew it couldn’t be good. Then the shouting started. I jumped to hide behind the kitchen island, covering my ears to try and block out the sound of the men in the room next to mine.

It all became too loud, too much. I felt my body moving, running towards the stairs that were just in the hallway behind the wall the farthest away from those people. I reached for the railing, grabbing onto it, pulling my body up the stairs as fast as my legs could carry me. 

On the third step from the top, my foot just nicked it, causing me to trip forward. I pushed my hands out, muffling the sound as I collapsed onto the stairs. 

I held in a yelp of pain, pushing my body up and continuing to climb the stairs. Once I made it to the top, my brisk walk turned into a jog, and I bolted to the hallway where my room was done. 

At the end of the hall, I reached my hand towards the white doorknob. That's when the tears started to fall. They blurred my vision so I had to reach my arms in front of me so I didn't run into the furniture that filled my room. The blue walls of my room and the paintings on the wall seemed to blur in a mess of colors as I took a few stumbling steps forward. My eyes immediately were drawn to my sister, who was cowering in the corner of my room. Her face looked so innocent. So..afraid. Even with myself being only two years older, I wasn't afraid. I knew that even though I hadn’t hit my tenth birthday yet, I would need to act like an adult here. 

Comfort her. Protect her from the strange men outside. My mind seemed to chant, and by what seemed to be pure instinct, I walked over to her. I had no control over the movements my body made, as if I was watching everything unfold from another's eyes. 

"Get in the closet. I'll hide you. Whatever happens, don't move, don't scream, and don't come out." I wispered in her ear, trying ot make my voice sound comforting and warm, but I couldn't quite shake the panic from it.

Story by- That unknown writer

Published by- Powerful like a girl