BANG! My attention was captured away from my cousin, by a faraway sound that made the whole house erupt into screams. As the whole house burst into madness, my head whipped from side to side, trying to identify the source of the loud bang. However, my search was futile, as I soon realised that this was a trap.

Two unknown men barged their way through the crowd and made their way towards me. I slowly began inching backwards towards the emergency exit, keeping my eyes trained on them, telling myself to mask my face and not give away my triumphant escape plan, however, my hopeful thoughts were cut short when I was harshly grabbed and dragged by two other men and thrown into the main ballroom.

After the unknown men finished tying me to a chair with rope - which hurt like a little bitch-, they abruptly left.

Whilst they were gone and I was alone, I reached for my handy bracelet that my mother gifted me this morning, and unlocked the latch of the pendant attached to it, revealing a miniature knife.

I then began cutting the rope whilst listening to the rapid gunshots just behind the door.

Soon, the rope began loosening around my bound wrists. Still painful, but a little more tolerable.

Just as I was about to finish cutting the ropes, the grand door to the ballroom was thrown open, revealing my maman and père being dragged inside by the same men.

Behind them, I could see the remnants of the brutal killing spree that these unknown men had gone on.

This stupid ball was meant to celebrate my 16th birthday. I wish I could take this whole evening back. If I knew the night would end like this, I would have never begged my maman and père for a birthday ball.

All of a sudden, I was snapped out of my dwelling by a rough punch to the cheek.

"Pay attention when the capo is talking, puttana [whore]!" One of the men said. The faint smell of alcohol lingering on his breath was potent and gave me an instant headache.

"No! Don't hurt her! Please don't hurt her!" My maman begged.

"As I was saying- before I was rudely interrupted," the 'capo', I'm assuming, sneered at me "it's either your daughter or your wife. Your choice amico mio [my friend]."

A minute passed and my père stayed frozen. The once beautiful ballroom - which now had blood seeping through its carpet - was dead silent. You could hear a pin drop.

Until my worst. Nightmare. Happened.

My maman was lying on the floor, a gaping gunshot wound right in the centre of her forehead.

For a moment it was extremely silent, allowing the horrifying sound of the gun shot to echo throughout the room.

"NOOOO! Maman, s'il te plaît, ne me quitte pas, s'il te plaît! Je ne peux pas le faire sans toi! [Mum please don't leave me, please! I can't do this without you!]"

"S'IL TE PLAÎ-"

My body shot up from the bed, as I repeated the phrase "s'il te plaît, s'il te plaît, s'il te plaît".

Upon instinct, my hand reached for my eyes and wiped the stray tears.

"Pour l'amour de Dieu [for God's sake], it's always the same nightmare." I muttered to myself.

I looked to my left and saw my clock illuminating the time through my room.

I decided to just have an early start to my day as it was 4:44am and I knew I wouldn't be able to fall back asleep after that nightmare.

I made my way to my en-suite and took a shower as well as doing my skincare routine.

By the time I finished, it was already 6:15am, so I made my way into my walk-in closet to chose an outfit.

After 20 minutes of debating, I decided to wear a matching pink gym set. The cropped top had long sleeves which matched the leggings in hopes of hiding the faint bruises on my legs and arms which were beginning to fade - such a great 20th birthday gift from my beloved father - yay!

When I finished getting ready, I headed downstairs into the training room.