Chapter 2 – A Catastrophe

Three years ago.

 The grumbling of motors and the sounds of guns echoing in the air made me shiver more than ever in my life. The thought about all the inflicted pain, the ceaseless suffering and the fear engrained in people's heads. The flickering of flames that lit up the grey world burned wildly, having sparks fly all across. Bullets flew like rain in the yard and the flames tried to engulf all of the yellow mansion.

 Men in black suits fighting with all kinds of weapons. The bulky man in black to the right sliced a servant's arm. Two people with guns pointed and pressed the trigger. Like flies people seemed to drop to the ground. The from the rain formed puddles had turned red. The white stone was piece by piece covered with splattered blood, after being shot, cut or beaten. Amidst all that trouble a woman with sun-down coloured hair fought to protect a wounded servant and a lean man with hair the colour of ash used his pistol to hold them away from the mansion as best as they could.

 "Mother! Father!" I screamed my tears dying in the heat. 

 The woman and the man glanced towards the shattered window. Their faces widened and worry painted their expressions. The attackers used this one moment of distraction and like wind a knife flew through the mayhem.

 "Ugh!" The woman grabbed her arm, the shirt ripped and blood running down. She looked at her husband and gave him a quick nod. Before running head on towards the attackers.

 Meanwhile the man turned and followed her.

 "Get you two to safety!" The rest of her father's frantic voice was cut short by the sound of gunfire as he joined the battle in the shade of the trees.

 "NO! Father!" Never before in her life had she cried this much. In fact, her life had been so happy that all her tears had been those of joy, until now. Right now, there was nothing funny about the destruction and chaos being caused.

 "Now! Go, daughter!" The father screamed, not even looking at his daughter who was kneeling in the burning house. It made her even more anxious to miss her father's cold grey eyes and gentle head pats.

 "Daaaaad!" It was the first time she had called him that. As if she could guess how the cards would fall, the little girl mustered up all her courage and called out to her family affectionately. "Mooooom!"

She was pushing her body up and just as she managed to get up, she turned on her heel. Stopping in motion, she looked out of the window. Her parents were out of sight but still on her mind nonetheless.

"MOM, DAD! Don't worry! I will see to it that sister is safe! Be strong!" She exclaimed, gripping her dress and rushing into an ocean of flames.

Even if parents and daughter stood with their backs turned toward each other, the sound of their sweet daughter's voice echoed as clear as glass even while the shooting and grunting went on. Both of them found it in them to give it their all and their faces depicted an agonized smile.

All of them knew very well that those might really have been the last they had ever seen of each other, and that made their will to survive that much stronger.

 Currently, the girl was sprinting through the flames. Beads of sweat had formed on her forehead, and her dress was ripped. She had managed to tear up her dress and craft a makeshift face mask.

 Adrenaline was pumping through her veins; she was determined to prove that she could protect her sister. The corridor was, luckily, still without fire; it had just gotten a tad darker due to the swirling smoke.

She knew what lay behind every handle. The white door she just passed was the one to the study, the red one to her left led to their parents' fitness studio. She passed both.

 Now there was a shelf with pictures of their visits to the zoo hung up. First the lion, then the picture of the four of them feeding the seals, the family eating ice cream and lastly the one with the father running from a goat trying to eat his carrot ice cream. She averted her gaze and ran on. The door at the front, with the beautiful blue flowers on the green background, closed in.

 She was almost there.

 Relieved, she pressed down the door's handle and looked around the room. There her sister was. She sat on her bed covering her ears and having a blanket pulled over her.

 "Anna! I am here. Come fast." She slowed down and went to the bed. The worry swinging in her voice made her sister stick out barely her face.

 "Page!" She cried and suddenly swung her hands around the girl's neck. She sniffled and cried, while the girl facing the door petted her back.

 "Hey Anna." She stopped and pushed her slightly. They were facing each other. "Right now, you need to listen to-"

 Bang!

 An explosion resounded and suddenly the door burst open. The sister squeezed her, she felt as if she was suffocating.

 Page held her eyes closed. And when it all had settled down minutes later, a creaking sound could be heard. The red door opened slowly. In the door was a boot. One Page hadn't seen before.

Quickly she pulled Anna off the bed and pulled her under the table with the thin cloth.

 Thunk, thunk.

 The boots gave off sounds that were becoming louder and clearer each time. Vibration could be felt as the person walked.

 And meanwhile, Anna was about to cry. Page, who noticed this, covered her mouth with her hand signalling her to keep quiet. How her heart ached. Anna's nails were squeezing into her flesh, but the pain was much milder compared to all the agony.

 In this moment one wrong move from one of the little girls could mean death. Especially when the person with the boots stepped into the room. A silent click was heard. The man had loaded a gun. Clearly, he was here to kill and Page, who had seen the fighting, could guess who the targets were.

 It was clear, the two trembling bodies' hugging themselves tightly as they pressed themselves against the wall were the targets of this man. They were cornered like a mouse trapped by a big, scary cat, and like mice, they abhorred it. Shivering, silent tears fell, and the strong smell of smoke filled the air.

 "Please, if there is a god, make all this end."

 "If this is some kind of test, please let this be the end!"

 "Please, if this is some sick joke! End it!"

 "Please. Please. Please," Page prayed, hoping only for an end.

 "PLEASE!"

 Sadly, reality is not a game, test, or joke. It can be gruesome and demanding. The two girls had to experience this themselves as they were scared out of their souls.

 Page closed her eyes and clenched her teeth to stop them from making any sound. The man took step after step, remaining in the room as a threat to the two helpless girls.

 Page, as the older sister, had realized the gravity of the situation and was determined to get her sister out of here safely no matter the cost.

 Even if her own life had to be given, she wished only for her sister to survive and make it out as a survivor.