I was back home by two. The laundry was an headache for tomorrow. I was too exhausted to change into one of my own clothes. Ethan's smells much better anyways.

I plop down on the sofa and stretch my legs. This is gonna be a very cozy night.
I thought to myself.

I yawn and get comfortable on the sofa. Before I got too comfy, it strikes on me that if I didn't set my alarm for tomorrow, I may not be to get up on time.

Taking my phone I set the alarm. Sliding down the navigation bar I find messages from Engine popping up.

I frowned and tapped on the pop ups.

There were no messages, but only notifications of missed calls.

My frown deepened as the door bell rang.

On the hopes of finding Engine on the other side of the door, I walk up to the door. The floor board creeks a bit, shaking the shit out of me.

Was this just a bad dream? Probably.

Wake up Ida... wake up.

Being more careful than usual, I look through the key hole. Seeing the person on the other side I felt a throb in my heart.

The person was about to ring the bell again, bit I didn't give him a chance. I swung the door wide open.

"How dare you show your face here!" I grabbed my Dad by the collar. "Where the fuck is Mom?"

At first I thought he was smirking, but a bump near his eye made me think differently. He wasn't smirking, instead wincing in pain.

Good, I thought. I wanted him to feel it.
"Ida..." he coughed before trying to speak again. "Sharon is..." he coughed again, this time a spat of blood with it. "Fine."

Something wet made contact on my arm. I looked down and frowned. Was that blood...

I switched on the light near the porch. Unknowingly, I took a step back. My palm over my mouth.

The clothes he was wearing was covered in patches of blood.

"You-" A lump formed in my throat, the words stuck in. Unable to be formed.

"Shit, shit, shit!" He pushed me aside and crossed the living room in a few strides, still wincing and walking unevenly.

I heard things falling apart in the room. Recovering myself I run to him, "Are you here to destroy things again?!" A broken vase and a few books lie scattered on the ground.

He didn't answer and continued his search.

"Fuck!" He cursed and threw another book on the window, causing it to crack. "Where is the damn gun." He pulled out the drawer completely, searching under layers of clothes in fright.

"The gun? It's with the police."

He stood up and walked pass me. I turned around to find him looking wide eyed at a shadow in the dark.

The light from the porch blinded me. I couldn't see who it was.

I blinked my eyes. Confused if this was one of my attacks, but nothing happened. There was a still and cold silence before the dark man raised his hands, something in his grasp.

I don't know, when and how all of it happened. It was too quick. Someone grasped me from behind. And pulled me up the stairs, while I was dumbfounded by the noise of a bullet been shot.

"Ida!" I heard my father as he snapped me out of my daze. "Hide!" He said opening my room and pushing me inside, "I'll deal with this."

I stood up.

I didn't want anyone to die. No matter who it was, enough of bloodshed.

I opened the door to my room, and I sprung outside. My head flipped over to the man who had made it upstairs.

The masked man. Still hiding under his mask.

"Ida go back inside!" My Father shouted, but I paid no attention to him, I was too engrossed as I watched the masked man removing his mask as if it were his first time.

But, I didn't know what or who was waiting behind that.

The world stood still. My world stood still.

I was paralysed by what I saw, or who I saw. At first I thought my eyes were playing tricks on me, for the man I saw was non other than...

"You may know me through Angelin, my daughter." He raised his brows.

The person I was talking to was not the same man I had talked to all my life. He wasn't, and at no point will I accept that!

"Jack..." The words left my mouth.

He disregarded my presence as I stood rooted on my spot.

Dad shouted again, but my body couldn't understand anything he said.

"I'll ask one more time." Jack came closer to Dad, the gun pointed straight at his head.

"Ida... go back inside." Dad warned, not loosing eyecontact with Jack.

"Where is the money?" Jack knelt down as Dad lost his strength. His hand still over his sides, covering the wound.

"I told you, I don't have the money anymore."

"Then tell where the fucking man is!" Jack raised his voice, reducing the distance between the gun and the body it was pointed at.

"Nor the man." My Dad added hesitantly.

"Fine." Jake stood up, "Besides I've had enough of this," I thought with a glimmer of hope that he was leaving us now, but he added, "I'll just take it from your daughter." He gave me a sick grin.

"IDA PLEASE G-" I looked over at my dad who begged for me to just go.

But, he got cut off by the loud noise as the trigger got pressed. My eyes widen as a splash of blood spilled on me.

"DAD!" I screamed, as his body lied in front of me. His dead eyes still looking at me, still pleading and begging for me to go.

I stood there, paralysed.

Everything was too fast and too much to take in.

"So," I heard Jake say. I took a step back and locked my room door behind me. A stream of tears flowed down my cheeks. I couldn't make sense of what was happening.

Phone.

I ran across the room searching for my phone.

I need to call the police.

No the police won't help. I need to call Ethan.

"My phone, my phone." I muttered to myself as my door knocked. "Fuck." I pulled a table in front of the door, hoping it would buy me time.

Now what? I asked myself.

The window. Yes the WINDOW!

I pulled open the window and just as I did, I heard Jake's voice through the door, "Don't try to run away. I can send men behind you. Besides, I always know where to find you."

Regardless of his words, I looked outside. There were no men. Only Ethan, running towards the house.

"ETHAN!" I called out. He seemed to have noticed me as he came running towards the window.

"Fuck you motherfuckers." Jake's voice became aggressive and the door started being pushed open harder.

I knew that it would be too late if I hesitate to jump.

Without thinking I jump down. Ethan was too far away to have come and caught me. I fell on my feet, both hands supporting the ground felt deeply wounded.

Just as Ethan came, he grabbed my hand and pulled me up.

"Run!" He shouted. "They will catch up." I didn't bother to look behind, I knew what he meant.

As we kept running to the end of the road I caught a glimpse of a small boy who lived in the neighbourhood through the window. He looked frightened. And I knew that, he had heard it too.

"Fuck we can't go back to the car!" He cursed, both of us still running as the men didn't give up either.

"Ethan!" I pulled him into the wild. This was the only way I could think of to loose the men. "Ah Ethan." I screamed as a gun was fired at me.

Ethan stopped in his tracks and scooped me up. My right leg was wounded, although I think the bullet just went past. It hurt so much, I couldn't walk. Let alone run.

"Go after," Jake shouted.

"No, let them play hide and seek if they want to." One man said loud enough for us to hear as we kept running.

"The're killing themselves, what's it to us." Another said.

Although I had slowed Ethan down, we eventually lost the men.

The night was still cold. Colder than ever, and we were in the wild, behind a rock covered by a Bush.

He placed me down and immediatly looked over at my wound, "It didn't hit," he sighed in relief, "But we need to seal the wound." He tore his sleeve and wrapped it around my leg.

Pulling out his phone, an anger rose in him and he threw the phone on the ground. His head soon buried under his arms.

"Hey." I said, taking in a deep breath.

"Hey." Ethan said, taking in deep breaths too.

"I saw someone die today."

He looked up at me, wide eyed. Then sighed, pulling my head on his shoulder.

"We need to lay low for now. There is no signal here and I think we lost the way back."

Tonight seems to be all about bad news.

I nodded in agreement with him.