Samuel's POV:

I park in front of Tatum's house and see that her car is in the drive way, so she has to be here. I'm hoping that she is.

Not long after I stopped, Malcolm pulled up.

Malcolm and I got out of our cars simultaneously.

We both made our way towards the front door.

A thundering sound almost deafened me, I took a second to steady myself.

My heart sank when the realisation washed over me. It was the sound of a gunshot and it came from inside the house.

Malcolm looked at me wide eyed.

"Tatum." I scream from the top of my lungs, as we ran to the door.

It's lock and I'm trying everything I can to break it open.

"Dammit! Tatum are you okay?!" I shout as I wait for a response in agony.

Please be okay. Please be okay...

"Malcolm, let's try the windows." I say and we separate heading to the sides of the house.

I grab a stone on my way there and generate all my energy to throw the stone into the window.

The glass breaks into small shards lying all around. I hurriedly climb into the window and I hear another window break. Malcolm got in.

I run towards the entrance, but no one is there. I'm sure I heard the gunshot coming from here.

I look around and see Tatum's keys and handbag laying on the floor with all its belongings scattered.

I step closer to the door to see something that horrifies me.

Blood.

A small pool of blood, with dripping trails leading all the way up to the stairs.

Malcolm rushes in and appears next to me.

"Malcolm, someone else is in the house." I whisper and gesture to the blood on the floor.

"Where's my daughter." Malcolm utters. I grab ahold of his shoulders.

"Malcolm, stay with me. We cannot panic now. We have to get Tatum okay. She needs us." I speak to him in an attempt to keep him calm.

He nods and we both follow the blood trails left behind.

The atmosphere feels eerie as we head ascend up the stairs, the blood trails lessening.

"Please don't let it be Tatum." I quietly mutter,but a voice inside my head keeps on saying Something bad has happened to her, someone shot her.

I shake the thought from my head as we come to a stop in front of the door where the blood trail ends.

The fear of finding out what lies beyond this door makes my soul wither. The last time I opened a door, Tatum almost died. What if this time, I'll find her dead?

I heart beats faster as burst into the door, Malcolm following after.

What I see before my eyes is unbelievable.

"Step back!"

"What the hell Alina!" Malcolm screamed at the sight of wife holding their daughter at gun point.

"Alina, put the gun down." I say slowly as I step forward concurrently.

"Don't come any closer! I'll shoot her!"

"Okay okay I won't just please put down the gun." I say stopping in my tracks.

I take in the sight of Tatum. There's blood slowly dripping from the side of her head. She looks as if she can barely keep herself up straight. But what bothers me the most is her eyes. The light that once shined in them are now non-existent. I've seen a look similar to this before, it seems worse. She doesn't even seem to be aware of the current situation she's in. She looks lost, disorientated. Sad.

"Alina why are you hurting our daughter?" Malcolm asks hoping to distract her.

"Our daughter! Our daughter Malcolm? No! She's your damn bastard child!" Alina yells. I can hardly recognise her. The loving mother was gone, it's as if the devil possessed her body.

"Alina! Alina you need help. You're not okay, you're hurting our daughter. Put the gun down. Things aren't supposed to_"

"Shut up! Just shut up! I'm talking now!You know what was supposed to happen? YOU weren't supposed to cheat on me! That home wrecker wasn't supposed to fall pregnant! Tatum wasn't supposed to be born. That fucking idiot wasn't supposed to die alone, he was supposed to take her with him in that accident! That dumbass wasn't supposed to shoot Brandon! But I guess that's why I'm supposed to do what I should've done a very long time ago."

I process Alina's words and it hits me like a train. Tatum isn't Alina's biological daughter. The truck driver was sent to kill Tatum. That bastard was there to kill Tatum...and this was all set up by Alina. The only mother Tatum has ever known, wanted her dead.

So much information just came crashing down onto us. So much that needed to be processed, but that wasn't my priority. My priority was getting Tatum to safety.

"Alina, please listen. All of this is not Tatum's fault. Don't hurt our daughter, hurt me. I'm the one you should blame. I'm the one who messed up. It's not too late to stop this, we need to get Tatum to the hospital." Malcolm tries to reason with Alina.

An even more manic look appears on Alina's face.

"You're right you created this mess and as always I'm the one who has to clean it up!" Alina says, points the gun at Malcolm and at that moment I took advantage of her distraction.

I quickly tackled her onto the floor, a gunshot sounding as we hit the ground.

Tatum's POV:

The sound of a bullet pierced through the air and brought me back to my senses.

My head hurts. I touch my head lightly and see blood on my fingers. As soon as I looked up, I saw my father's body falling to the floor with a loud thump.

I try to make my way towards him, but I can barely walk straight.

"Dad!" I cry out.

I look to my right and Sam is pinning my mother down to the floor. Sam looks up at me, hurt in his eyes, but he doesn't see what I see. It all feels like it's happening in slow motion. No!

"Sam!" I scream. I catch a glimpse of something in my peripheral vision. I don't think twice before grabbing the gun and with my finger on the trigger I shot over and over and over again.

My vision blurry, my mind slipping, my heart broken as I fall deeper into the abyss.

Someone please wake me from this hell I'm in...