PROLOGUE

Aria saw her parents tied on their bed, their mouths covered with duct tape, and both blindfolded. She removed their blindfolds as quickly as she can, then the duct tape as gently as she can, and signaled them to hush.

“Everything will be alright,” she whispered to her crying mother.

“Are you okay?” her father asked. She nodded.

Her father’s face is a mixed emotion of anger to their situation and relief to see her okay.

She looked for a scissor to cut the cable ties binding their hands to the post of their bed but was interrupted when she heard footsteps approaching the room.

“Hide. Hide,” her father frantically whispered.

“Gun in the dresser,” he said while pointing the dresser with his lips. She quickly hid as she was told and stayed silent.

They’re at the door. She can hear their laughs but it suddenly stopped when they saw their hostages free from blindfolds and duct tapes.

“Someone was here,” one of the men said.

They looked around the room. She held her breath and prayed that they wouldn’t find her before she could attack.

She moved as silent and as quick as a cat, took the gun inside the box hidden on the dresser, and waited for the right moment.

The man with an eagle tattoo in his hand punched her father.

“Who was here?” he asked him.

His father, with his nose bleeding, just stayed quiet. But if looks could kill, he would already have died of the way her father is looking at him.

“I said who was here?!” he asked again, angrier.

Then they looked around and found their family picture on her mother’s vanity table.

“Your daughter. She is still here,” he said as realization dawned over his face. 

“Hey!” she said and shot one of the men in the middle of his head as soon as she got out of the dresser, killing him instantly.

Then she shot another one but she docked from gunfire so she missed the head, but not the heart.

“Hands up!” she shouted. The other man seemed fazed and looked at their leader. 

He is a bald man, probably in his late forties or early fifties. She realized that his eagle tattoo is at the back of his left hand and the other men have eagle tattoos behind their left ear. She already killed two of them, now it’s just their boss and 1 other man.

She couldn’t believe she would have to kill someone after Frank, not until this moment. She could let herself be hurt but not her parents, not in her watch.

“You’re making it worst, missy,” the bald man said. She noticed his two silver front teeth.

“Silver front teeth? Seriously?” she asked in sarcasm and mockery.

“Put down your guns,” she said to the both of them. The other man did put down his gun, but not the bald man.

He just smirked at her. So, she shot the other man’s leg, quickly grabbed his hair, and pointed the gun at his temple. “Put your gun down, or I’ll kill him as well.”

But he just laughed. A devilish laugh.

“You think you can scare me by killing him? Go on, missy. Do as you please, I’ll also do mine,” he said.

Then he also grabbed her father’s head and pointed the gun at his temple.

Aria's mother cried for mercy.

But before she could say anything, she felt a searing pain in her chest.

She heard her parents scream in horror and disbelief. She looked down and all she saw is blood coming out of her chest.

Then, whoever did it, twisted the knife then pulled it back out of her flesh making her pain as twice as it was before.

She looked at her parents.

Her father is angry and horrified but because his hands and toes are tied, he can’t do anything but watch her fall and bleed to death.

Her mother is wailing and shouting.

The bald man also looked surprised. "We need her alive," he said.

Then he shot the person behind her.

Despite the noise and chaos in the room, she couldn’t hear anything because of the ringing in her ears. It’s like her senses have shut down, and it won’t take long before she, herself, shuts down.

She fell to the floor, helpless.

She wants to move her body.

She wants to protect her parents from these people.

But she can’t. She can’t breathe as well. She coughed blood.

It’s like every oxygen in her body is being pulled out. Her eyes are heavy; it seems like she wants to sleep. She tried her best not to close her eyes, but she can’t.

Is this her end? She’s just 18. She still wants to accomplish a lot of things, travel a lot of places, she still wants to let him know about what she truly feels, she still wants her pack to get back home.

She looked at her parents one last time then let her eyes close, but before that, she saw someone. Someone she never thought she would still be able to see again.

He looked at her worriedly. He was saying something but she can’t hear him anymore.

He came.

She’s now sure that her parents could be saved. He won’t let anything happen to her or to those she loves.

She just smiled and relief flowed in her body as the darkness engulfed her.