Rachel

The individual screams in the distance had quickly turned into a dull roar of indistinguishable sounds peppered by the accent of gunshots. Mama grabbed up Rachel in her arms again, holding on to her in a painfully tight embrace.

"I can't loose another, Arthur," Mama said, her voice cracking in desperation. "I can't lose her!"

Papa wrapped his arms around both of them for a moment before stepping back and taking Mama's hand, his eyes fixating on hers.

"I won't let them take her, Martha," he promised. "We are going to be alright. You just need to trust me."

Mama nodded. Rachel looked up to see tears dripping down her cheeks as another particularly loud scream of anguish rang out through the air. The smell of burning soon followed, drifting through the cracks in the windows. It reminded Rachel of bonfires the village gathered around in the winter, but the smoke she smelled now was acrid.

"The smell Mama," Rachel said, trying to keep the tremble of fear from her voice. "Why does it smell like burning?"

"Hush, Rachel," Mama said, pulling her even closer, tears still streaming down her face. Rachel could feel them, cold and wet as the woman bent down to kiss her cheek. "Just be quiet and be a brave girl now. Can you do that for me?"

Rachel nodded silently and Papa placed a strong hand on her shoulder, giving her a small smile.

"I think you and Rachel should hide," he said, smile fading as he addressed Mama again. "They might not even make it outside of the main village but if they do..."

"Arthur no!" Mama protested. "We can hide together."

Papa shook his head. "If they do come here, they will never believe the house is abandoned and if they don't find any inhabitants they will look all the harder."

Rachel watched as Mama bit her lip, fighting back her protests as she nodded.

"But Papa, what about you?" Rachel protested as she broke free of her mother's grasp. Papa gripped her arms tightly.

"I'll be fine," he said. "But you and Mama have to hide now."

Hide? Rachel thought to herself. Where could they possibly hide? They had barricaded themselves inside their small home. There was nowhere to run now.

"Under the bed with you alright?" Papa said. "It's only a precaution, but you have to stay there and be as quiet as possible. No matter what happens." He gave her a quick hug before going for his rifle that hung by the door.

"Papa no," Rachel said. Why couldn't he just hide with them? How could he possibly stand up to the terror outside their door all alone? Her mother's hand clamped down on her arm dragging Rachel back towards the bed and pulling her to the ground before she had the chance to protest further.

"It's going to be alright just as Papa said," she whispered as they crawled into the darkness and lay on their bellies, pressing their bodies to the wood floor. "Everything alright." Mama's arm lay on top of Rachel's back.

Rachel watched as her father positioned himself by the door. In the flickering candlelight she could see little more than his legs, standing slightly apart, firmly grounded. Stretching the range of her vision she could just see the butt of the rifle he held in his hands.

 In the distance, the screams continued. Rachel tried not to imagine what terrible things might be eliciting such cries. The smell of smoke had only grown stronger, mixing with the scent of dirt and pine of the floor. Her heart beat unevenly in her chest. A raid. A sibla raid. She'd never really believed it was possible. How had they been found out? Would they really be safe as Papa said? The room grew subtly darker as the candles they'd lit burned down.

"How long will we have to hide?" Rachel whispered, unable to bear the uneasy silence that echoed now that the sounds of horror in the distance were growing more muted and intermittent.

"Not much longer, my darling," Mama breathed back, pulling Rachel in tight and stroking her hair. "Not much longer. They'll be gone soon. They'll be gone and we'll find a new home even better. But until morning, we must be patient. Can you do that?"

A loud explosion and scream rang out in the distance, punctuating Mama's question. Rachel whimpered in fear.

"Just close your eyes," Mama said, hand cradling Rachel's head gently as she held it to her warm chest. "Close your eyes and shut it out. Rachel did as she was told, firmly shutting out the world as best she could.

It felt as if they'd been laying in the dark forever when Rachel heard the distinct sound of movement outside, waking her from the twilight sleep she'd managed.

"Another house!" came the cry.

"Abandoned?"

There was no answer to the question, but the sound of more feet filled the silence, someone surrounding the house.

"Windows appear to be boarded up."

Knock. Knock.

Rachel's heart leaped at the two solid raps on the door. She saw her father's feet step back slightly, and felt her mother's body stiffen beside her.

Knock. Knock.

"Open up in there!"

Papa didn't move or say a word.

"Mama," Rachel choked out, almost inaudibly. "Mama, I'm scared."

Her mother smothered her tears as Rachel buried her body in close, clearly not daring to respond.

"We know you're in there humans," a deeper voice boomed. "Open the door or we'll burn the place to the ground."

Rachel peeked out from under the bed enough to see the flicker of light through the slats of the boarded up windows, casting ominous patterns along the floorboards. She hid her eyes again in her mother's dress, her body shaking. Would they really do it? Would they burn the house down with all of them inside? But apparently, the threat was an idol one. Not a moment later, some strong force pounded into the door. Rachel could hear the creak of the hinges and splintering of wood as a second something slammed against it. She could feel the reverberating shaking through the entire house.

"One more should do it!" came the cry from outside. "Give it all you got."

Rachel hugged her mother tightly, squeezing her eyes shut as the door of their home collapsed in, bringing with it a portion of the wall where the hinges had ripped from the wood. Dust filled her nose and she choked back a sneeze. As the debris cleared she realized she could see again, the darkness of their unlit home banished by the lanterns the intruders had brought. Rachel could see them dangling from large grey hands, and though she could not see their faces, she could tell from the assortment of long legs and worn boots in her line of vision that she and her family were outnumbered.

"How many are here human?" a terrifying, deep voice snarled. Rachel watched her father's legs stay firmly planted in place. He didn't answer. 

"How many!"

Rachel watched the shadow of her father's rifle move alon the ground as he raised the weapon, pointing it at the speaker.

"Get out of my house," he ordered.

Silence followed his brave demand. A heavy silence, hanging uncomfortably in the night air that whistled cold and black through the gaping hole their unwelcome guests had left in their home. It only lasted moment before it was replaced with cruel laughter, a sound that sent a shivering shudder through Rachel's body and made her heart pound painfully in her chest. It sounded like the crazed howls of a thousand evil spirits, like the ones in Mama's fairytales. How many were there? They were mocking Papa, seemingly entirely unconcerned by his threat.

Make them go away, Rachel begged in her mind. Make the monsters go away!

"Since I am feeling generous, I'll give you one more chance," the frightening voice answered as the laughter died down.

"Get out of my..."

Bang!

Rachel jumped at the sound of a rifle firing interrupted Papa's repeated demand and the smell of gunpowder filled the air. She choked back a scream as her father's gun clattered to the ground, skittering along the wooden floor just inches from her hiding place. His body followed a moment later, the light blue linen of his shirt filling her vision. He groaned and curled in on himself, writhing in agony. His face turned towards her and their eyes met, but Papa's gaze was vacant, glazed over with pain. She could see his hands clutching his stomach now. They were covered in red. Tears streamed down Rachel's cheeks, watching in silence as her father gasped for air, turning away from her again, his mouth emitting a horrible moan.

Bang

Another shot. Papa was still.

"Search the rest of the house," came the order. "He wasn't living here alone."

Mama's arms hugged Rachel so tightly she could barely breathe.

The sounds of splintering wood and shattering glass filled Rachel's ears as her house was destroyed. The intruders slammed cabinet doors, threw plates to the floor, sending shards of clay skating across the floor. Rachel's body remained seized in rigid tension as she stared straight ahead, eyes fixated on her father's unmoving figure. On the pool of sticky red surrounding him.

Not the bed. Please, not the bed. Make them leave. Make them leave...

Her silent plea was interrupted by the sound of heavy footsteps as they surrounded her hiding spot. Rachel's heart stopped in her chest as pair of ice blue eyes peered through the darkness under the bed, their frigid gaze locking with hers.

A/N Sorry for another cliff-hanger and a pretty short chapter. I'm still writing this story and I want to keep up with weekly updates. That means they might be brief sometimes ;-) Hope you are enjoying the story so far! What will happen to Rachel and Mama? You will find out soon enough...hehe. Thanks for reading!