Prologue

‎"Search the place, find them! They couldn't have gotten far."

‎ The sound of running feet on the plank overhead bellowed in our hearts like a drunkard violently ramming unto the door of a house that wasn't his.

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‎ We tried as much as possible to silence our heavy breathing so the burglars won't notice us but it was a tight space and my sister was asthmatic. I knew she was this close to flaring up. In spite of that, she held me close to her and glanced at me constantly to make sure I was okay.

‎ I wasn't.

‎ Our parents had just been blown to smithereens in the head by a shotgun, few minutes after they had opened the door to a group of people who needed their attention. They had called it business but I saw nothing that told of it in the glistening etches of the bloodied mushy organ which belonged in their skulls but was now painting the floors like an incomplete art drenched in wine.

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‎ I can still remember the deafening sound I heard before turning around, only to become bathed in the blood and innards of my parents. It splattered over the walls, the dinner we were about to have, and us.

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‎ My mind went blank as I stared at the eyeball that had landed on my lap. It had blue irises, just like my mother's.

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‎ Then, as my sister grabbed my hand and pulled me along with her, I watched the organ fall and roll over to the battered, headless body of...

‎ "Don't look." Chry's voice cracked as she covered my eyes with her hands.

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‎ I couldn't recognize my own voice when I spoke but I could tell that it was seeping through from a shattered heart. "... but mom and dad.."

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‎ "Don't. Look, Alyssa."

‎ I gazed at her back as we ran across the halls. Seeing the blood decorating her clothes, I wondered if she felt the same way I did but in her case, she could explain it.

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‎ We hid under a trapdoor that was situated beneath the floors of the house. They wouldn't be able to find us here. I looked up at Chry. She had her eyes glued to the plank but something about them was strange. They looked bigger and redder than ever, it wasn't until she started wheezing that my heart caved in.

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‎ "Chry," My brows creased as I whispered, "let's get out, you're not supposed to be in here for long."

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‎ "Wait for few seconds, we need to make sure they're gone." Her face contorted and her voice sounded rough as she spoke.‎

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‎ Her chest started to vibrate uncontrollably and that only deepened my frown. "But...."

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‎ "Lisa!" She suddenly grabbed my shoulders with shaky hands and stared deep into my eyes with frightened sky-blue ones. "This isn't some video game, it's real, real life.

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‎ I nodded slowly. I knew that, what more could convince me otherwise?

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‎ "If we want to survive, we have to do everything we can, otherwise we're better off dead.

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‎ "But if you don't get out of here, you will truly be dead, can't you see that? Chry, let's find another hiding spot." I stretched my hands a little and slowly pulled away the plank, then I poked my head out and scoured the environment.

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‎ I couldn't hear voices nor could I hear movements. The coast was clear.

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‎ I looked down at Chry. The whites of her eyes were beginning to show and her skin reddened as veins popped out extravagantly on her neck and face. The space around us felt incredibly small right now.

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‎ "Come on."

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‎ She shook her head slowly, all the while clawing at her neck with tears streaming down red, bulging eyes to her cheeks.

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‎ I felt fear for the first time that night. What if my sister… what if she actually dies and I couldn't do a single thing to help when I was right here!

My throat clogged up painfully as my tear ducts stung. Ah, I hated this. Without saying a word, I reached down and wrapped my hand around her torso to help her up, ignoring the words she kept trying to utter amidst dense coughs.

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‎ "No.. Alyssa. They'll... they'll find u.. us."

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‎ "Just shut up and let's move it."

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‎ You're the only one I have left, I can NOT afford to lose you too…. please..

‎ If only mom and dad were here... I bit back my lips to trap the tears that were threatening to fall out and pulled Chry over the floor. She had more weight than I did, mustering all my strength wouldn't do much but I was determined to save with her. Her inhaler was just few steps away. After that, we could go to the neighbors, they would've heard the gunshot. Or call the police, probably they're even on their way here. Or... or...

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‎ "Li... isa..."

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‎ In my arms, Chry went limp and began to convulse. I could feel my heart threatening to explode from underneath shaky ribs. The corners of my eyes heated as I bit harder on my lower lips till it tasted metallic. "Don't speak, Chry," please, "we're almost there."

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‎ "I FOUND THEM!"

‎ For a second, I stopped. My blood went cold as my heart bled. My cheeks dampened with sweat and either I was going insane or I could hear someone crying. But I kept moving. Chry needed her inhalers. We were going to survive. We both made...

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‎ "LISA!"

‎ That shrill voice was the only thing I heard, after that, I couldn't hear anything. I was frozen to my feet. Horrendous siren noises whined in my head, having no mercy on the painful, confusing ache it brought. Movements flashed in my vision like blurred images, but despite that, I could still make out my sister's figure.

‎ She was being dragged away by our parent's murderers. Red in the face and neck with veins seeming like corns about to pop in the oven, and eyes bulging threateningly out of their sockets, her chestnut hair flew in all directions, but her captors weren't about to bother themselves into noticing.

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‎ She had her eyes trained on me as they took her away. And I watched. I didn't move an inch.

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‎ Not even to save her.

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‎ Perhaps, it was from shock, or the fact that I couldn't dissociate myself from that which I told myself repeatedly that it wasn't real, but my will to face reality was nowhere to be found.

‎ A corpse could do better than me.