Someone flicked the switches on, letting the man actually come to light. My hands lowered on their own as I stared at the man standing before me in shock.

"What are you doing here?" He asked, lowering his hands too, lowering his gun that is. I gulped. My hands clutched onto the chair tightly due to the anxiety I had started feeling again.

Silence was what followed his question. His silver-gray eyes searched around the room for something. I don't know what, but there was a desperation in his eyes that couldn't be mistaken.

"Hm?" He asked. He stood straighter and returned his confused stare back to me.

I took a deep breath in and slowly released my hold from the chair. My hands came to hang limp by my sides as my mind raced to find an escape out of this.

This is so not fair. I don't know what the universe is asking from me, but another twisted game I was made to stand in was something I couldn't find a reason for.

Bracing myself for what I was going to do next, I nodded to myself internally. I'll make it out of this. There was no way I would let this coincidence affect me and my twin.

'Come on, Amira. I'm your brother.'

'Okay. Just because you're my brother.'

Mistake one from my side. Victory one from Lucas' side.

I bolted for the bathroom door. Before he or any of the men with him had the time to register it, I had closed the door and locked it. Rose was pacing and she turned around abruptly when I barged in.

A loud knock made Rose jump, while I tried to regain control over my panicked breathing. I turned back to face the door and took a step back towards my twin.

"Open this door or we're gonna break it." He yelled from outside

"Just get out." I said, in a monotone voice. I knew it was futile. He wasn't gonna leave just like that.

Silence followed, which made me fidgety and more anxious.

"You live here," he mumbled, like he was trying to piece it all together.

Please leave.

The footsteps retreated. Rose didn't speak for the entirety of the interaction. She kept waiting for me to explain.

I waited, listening for anything. There was complete silence outside, which already looked like a bad sign.

That is until I heard his voice again, breaking the tense silence.

"Give the phone to Lucian," he said. I tensed up and felt the blood drain from my face.

Rose gasped quietly and almost spoke something. She stopped though, seeing how focussed I was.

"I was at his house-" He was cut off.

"What do you mean I shouldn't be taking revenge? He nearly shot me today. I don't care if he was drunk. I would've died if I didn't snatch that gun from him," he said, his voice raising in volume.

My breathing became heavy and panicked, despite my will to keep it calm and quiet so I could hear better.

I flinched when Rose put her hand on my shoulder. She immediately removed it, realising her mistake. I kept staring at the door, waiting for him to say something again.

"God! Will you just listen to me, Lucian?" He raised his voice. The anger he was showing in his voice wouldn't bode well for him. I gulped and clutched the hem of my shirt in both hands tightly.

There was silence for two seconds before he muttered a quiet 'sorry'.

"I found Amira here," he said. That was all I need to listen before my instinct screamed at me to run. I knew how this would end if he caught us.

This is not good at all. I'm so powerless in this case.

I stumbled back and rushed to the far end of the bathroom. I opened the bathroom window, as quietly as I could.

Rose watched silently. The look on her face telling me that she wants to protest at this point. Yet she trusted me with what I was doing.

I can't fail her.

I faced the window again and popped my head out, only to be hit by cold ruthless wind.

On my right side, was a balcony and just under the window was a pipe that led to it. A pretty familiar sight.

I turned around to face Rose again.

"I will climb out and call for you. Just do this for me, okay? I'll be there to hold you," I said, to which she nodded hesitantly. She moved closer to the window as I climbed out, setting my feet on the pipe, carefully.

"Come on, Rose," I said, quietly, almost cooing to make her a little less hesitant and anxious. She thought for a second before putting her foot out and resting it on the pipe carefully. I heard a loud bang, just as she put her second foot out.

Holding the vertical pipe, beside me for support, I put my other hand out for her to hold.

She held the windowsill with one and my hand with her other hand. Her eyes clenched shut in fear when she glanced down.

The balcony was close. I just had to creep towards it a little.

Another loud bang, just when I shifted towards the balcony more. I got my hand out of her grasp and put her hand on the vertical pipe instead.

"L-Levi," Rose stuttered, fearfully.

"Calm down." I said, soothingly. I put my hand out again, encouraging her to creep towards me a little to hold my hand. "I won't let anything happen to you."

"And to yourself," she replied.

Of course. I won't let anything happen to myself. If something bad was to happen to me, there'd be no one there for Rose.

I nodded and smiled in encouragement when she started creeping towards me, alternating hands to hold the vertical pipe and my hand instead.

"Hold the pipe tightly now," I said, quietly.

Just as I took hold of the railing and set my foot on the surface. I heard a door slam open. I rushed to pull Rose closer and onto the balcony and looked at the bathroom window closely.

Just as Rose safely got onto the balcony, his head popped out of the bathroom window and turned towards us.

"The next room!" He yelled to the men who had accompanied him.

"Change of plan," I said, jumping on the other side of the railing. Rose panicked and rushed to the railing to be close to me when I was being so reckless.

"What are you doing?" She asked. I just held my hand out and helped her towards my side, once she got the hint.

I've done this way too many times for it to fail.

Rose gripped the iron railing tightly while shaking a little. She looked at me, silently asking what I intended to do next.

I jump from here, mostly. But Rose can't do that. I won't let her.

The ground is soft under this balcony, because of the water leaking from the broken tap near it. The water gathers here and softens the mud, making it stay soft all the time.

"Jump." I said, watching her eyes go wide. I took a breath in and smiled. "I'll hold your hand and lower myself, so you can jump from a much lesser height."

She hesitated before lowering herself into a crouching position, holding the railing with one and my hand with her other hand. I clenched my jaw while holding her hand tight as she slowly lowered herself more to hold the surface I was standing on with one hand and my hand with other. She was now hanging with just the surface and my hand as support.

With my hand on the railing, I slowly started to lower myself, lowering Rose further as she hung down the balcony with just my hand as support now.

"Okay, now let go of my hand," I said, when she was just a little distance away from the ground.

She clenched her eyes shut and was about to do exactly that but a loud bang distracted us both.

This room was our parents'. It has been locked for a long time now. It'll take forever for them to open that door.

Rose released her death grip on my hand and jumped, falling on the soft ground.

I'll check for injuries later. Although there shouldn't be any.

She scrambled away and I jumped, after releasing my hold on the railing.

"You've done this before," she said, looking in awe yet a little horrified. I nodded and grabbed her hand.

"We need to run before he knows we're down here." I said, helping her up. We made it to the street, breaking into a run as soon as our feet found a stable ground.

We managed to get away from the house, turning the corner just when they ran outside, through the front door.

"It's going to be okay," I muttered, to which Rose nodded. I wanted to assure her as well as myself.

"I trust you," she said, more to herself than to me.

That made me tear up. It shouldn't have been like this in the first place.

I lead her into an alley. There was complete silence around. Thankfully, no one was present nearby.

My heart skipped a beat when I heard a police siren somewhere near. I rushed towards where I was going, eager to get out of this alley. But we were stopped when a police car pulled up, blocking the way out.

The lights from that car replaced the darkness of the alley.

I scrambled back, holding onto Rose tighter and turned around, pulling her with me back to where we came from.

We broke into a run again when another car pulled up and blocked that way too. I swallowed the lump in my throat and took a breath in to calm myself down and think straight.

"Why is the police here?" Rose asked. I preferred not to answer or assure her, because I was busy looking around for something. Some escape.

They started closing in on us and there was no way out, except the two openings of the alley.

I backed away towards the nearest wall, pushing Rose behind me. Once I was sure she was hidden, I waited for anyone to approach. My breaths came out as pants and huffs, due to all the running and panic.

The car doors opened and shut. The sounds of heavy boots, invaded my ears as some of them approached.

"You are advised to come with us without any fights or we'll have to be coercive." One of the men said. That made me flinch.

"What for?" I asked, holding Rose's hand tight in mine, behind my back. I felt her nose pressed into my back as she clutched the sides of my shirt tightly in her fists and buried her face into my back.

There was complete silence, except for our heavy breathing and the occasional whimpers Rose let out.

The police officer simply turned his phone towards me, showing me he was on a call with someone.

"Because I told them to." A heavy voice said through the phone.

I furrowed my eyebrows. Anger bubbled inside me when Rose flinched.

"And who the fuck do you think you are?" I snapped, again looking around for an escape but we were completely surrounded.

"I'll meet you at the station," he said to the officer, before hanging up.

The same officer lifted his gaze and met my glare.

"Please co-operate and go sit in that car." He pointed to our left. "Otherwise we'll have to force you in."

I stayed where I was, glaring at him with all my might.

"Get them." The officer ordered someone. Said someone moved towards us, taking heavy calculated steps towards us.

My eyes went wide when I saw hands reach for me and another pair of hands moving towards Rose.

I looked back at my twin in panic, when she let out an audible squeak and shrunk back in fear.

"No! Wait!" I said, stopping the hand from reaching her. "We'll cooperate."

The two officers stepped back. I reached back and wrapped my arm around Rose's shoulder. When she was safely tucked into my side, I moved forward. As we were walking, I kept a close eye on everyone, making sure they were a safe distance away from us.

Someone opened the car door for us. I looked around again, but there was no escape this time too. They kept us surrounded. I put a little pressure on Rose's back, silently telling her to get in before I followed her.

"Are you okay?" I asked. Rose had cuddled up to herself in a corner of the car seat. She glanced at me and nodded shakily.

"It'll be okay. I'm here with you and we will get out of this mess." I said, reaching out to put my hand on her hand, that was clutching her arm too tight for my liking.

"That was Lucian, wasn't it?" She asked, quietly. Her grip on her arm loosened when I patted her hand.

I tensed up and looked away at the mention of him.

"Maybe," I said. I pulled my hand away and wrapped my arms around myself.

"What does he want now?" She muttered to herself, wondering why he might suddenly show interest in his sisters.

They've never bothered to contact us in eleven years. It didn't make sense why they wanted to contact us now.

"I don't know, Rose," I answered. My tone made it clear that I wanted her to drop the topic. She got the hint and went silent after that.

Soon after, we were pulling up before the station. I got out first, waiting for Rose to climb out before taking her hand in mine again.

They made us sit in an interrogation room with two officers on guard. It honestly feels like we've committed a serious crime. Surely sneaking out of your house isn't against the law?

But maybe running away from Lucian is.

"I don't want to live with them." Rose said, starting the topic again. I frowned at my hand that rested on the table.

I didn't want to either. Those people weren't trustworthy. They were bound to betray us, hurt us and make fun of our misery afterwards. They're brothers, after all.

"I don't want to either," I said, rubbing circles on her hand. "But we'll fight against everything."

"But how will we fight against them?" She mumbled, making me stop my movements.

They have power, money, status, strength. What do we have against them? Nothing.

I turned to look at Rose again. My eyes softened at the sight of her face and those silver-gray eyes that looked back at me

"Aurora Rose Verlice, I promise I will protect you till my last breath," I repeated the promise I've made to her and never broken for years.

She smiled and moved closer to me.

"I know, Levi. Thank you."

Something about her tone made me stare into her eyes. Guilt was what I spotted.

She settled with putting her hand on top of mine. A bright smile appeared on her pretty features and that was all the encouragement I needed. She patted my hand twice then pulled away.

That's all the physical touch I can bear, except if it gets too bad for her. I can put my dislike aside, in that case.

Our heads snapped up when the door opened. I looked at the door carefully as it opened wider to allow whoever was entering in.

The same man from before entered the room, striding in with confidence and an infuriating smirk on his face.

This is Jayden Cole Mazzanti, our fourth eldest biological brother. We've seen him after eleven years but I could recognise that annoying face and his annoying antics anywhere.

"That was a smart escape," he said.

"That was a normal kid sneaking out." I snapped. I rolled my eyes and looked towards the wall to our side. A scoff escaped my mouth.

"Keep that attitude in check, Bunny." He gave me a pointed look when I spared him a glance. That made me scowl.

"Amira," I corrected. "Amira Levi Verlice. I go by my middle name. So I don't know what rabbit you're talking to."

"Well, Amira." He emphasized my name. "Keep that attitude in check."

My eyes rolled again but my mouth decided to keep shut. He dropped the pointed look after a while and looked at Rose with a much softer expression.

"Nice to meet you, Rose," he said, smiling slightly.

Rose just stared at him for two seconds before looking at me. We looked at each other then turned to stare at the wall.

Jayden sighed and took a seat on the opposite side of the table.

This really was unfair.