***

I woke up at around 1 am, startled by a noise I heard coming from outside my room. The TV was no longer on. I figured that my parents had turned it off after I'd fallen asleep. I started to get up, but my attention fell onto the lights outside. Flashing blue and red strobes engulfed every object in its wake. I got up to look out the window and saw two police cars pulling up in front of my house.

"COME OUT OF THE HOUSE!" Yelled a man from outside. "We have the place surrounded!"

My eyes widened, and my heart raced. I was so unsure of what was going on and considered the possibility that I could have been dreaming. I continued looking out of the window, seeing more, police cars surround the house.

I stepped away from the window when I heard unfamiliar voices coming from outside of my door. The voices sounded muffled, but I could tell they were male. Footsteps were getting louder and closer towards my door. I worried about Caleb, fearing they would get him because his room was before mine. Scared, I did what I do best: I hid.

It seemed unfair to save myself, but if you had ever been in a situation like me, you'd have hidden too. I wasn't ready to die. I wanted every chance to save my brother and get back to my mother and father. I flinched at the loud crackling sound of gunshots being fired from just outside of my door.

Two more powerful shots made my ear ring for a few seconds. Not wanting to hear any more shots, I rolled underneath my bed and pressed my hands against my ear, crying wishing I could be curled up in my parent's arms.

***

Caleb and I climbed into the back of a police car. The sun hadn't risen yet. Nurses and cops walked beside two bodies that were separately strapped onto rolling carts and encased inside a dark body bags. More policemen walked out of our house, followed by two strange men that were handcuffed. I got a good look at them: both were covered in blood. I was hoping to see my parents walk out. Instead, I saw two strangers. At that moment, my world fell apart.

My parents never walked out of the house. I didn't realize it right away, but I was crying. It hit me all at once. I furiously began beating on the window, which caused Caleb to wake up with fright. Helpless screams for my parents flew from my mouth, I knew that they were dead now. Caleb was confused and worried. He kept squeezing my arm, calling my name, begging me to stop screaming.

I didn't.

One of the cops stepped inside of the car. In a stern, emotionless tone he told me to stop yelling and that everything would be 'okay.' I calmed down for his sake as he started up the car and drove away from our home. Caleb grew impatient and pushed me for answers as to what was going on. I didn't answer him, though. I didn't have one that was good enough for him. The only thing that I could do was to wipe my tear-stained face and wait until we had arrived at our unknown destination.

***

I was tired. I was cold. I was scared. I sat in a room with a woman and a cop who asked me millions of questions. First, they addressed me about the people who broke in last night. The police told me that I had slept through the whole thing. That two men broke in, my dad woke up thinking it was probably Caleb or me but was shot by the intruders. My mom called 911 but shot during the call.

"It was one of the most...strangest calls we'd have ever gotten," a cop had told me. "She said that her kids were in danger and someone was after them. 'Protect them' was the last thing she said." I didn't find anything strange about until the cop added on. "She could have just told us someone was in the house, but now we have to investigate more. She could have known them."

The cops didn't know the men's motives for entering the house, and that was something that angered me. The only thing they said was that they didn't know why or how they got there. "We were just there...with guns. Then all of this happened." That's what the monster's said.

After informing me of all of that and me crying for another twenty minutes, we talked about my other relatives, the ones that were still alive. The cops had to make a bunch of phone calls because guess what? We had no relatives to live with. My grandma and mother hated each other, so we had no contact with her, ever. She also lived in Alaska, so she wasn't really an option at the time. My uncles and aunts weren't stable enough for us to stay with them.

I had fallen asleep at the desk. I was awakened by two police officers who I was told would be taking me to my new home. My new home, with new foster parents. Apparently, during the hours I was asleep, the cops were able to find someone for us to stay with. The people were on my parent's will. Well, their first will. The police said they had found it in an old suitcase. The new will was never finished, so the cops just went with the old will. Caleb and I would be staying with The Harmon's: my mom and dad's old friends.

They had gone to school with my parents, and we had visited them a few times. I knew their daughter, too. I forgot her name, but I remember that we were the same age. They used to come over to our house when I was young. Before Caleb was even born. After that, they never came over again. I didn't know why but I remember the day my mom snatched me out of The Harmon's house, and we never went back there after.

Now we were about to live with them. The Harmon's. Our new family.