"I walk through the valley of the shadow of death....I will fear no evil-for you are with me."
-Psalm 23:4

I run my finger along the text in my bible, sitting in my comfortable couch where my old man used to sit, after hearing about the fever and the theory that the dead will come back to life but not exactly alive, just hungry to eat anything with warm blood and a beating heart....I decided to read the bible.

My thirteen year-sister Aurei stood beside the window, her eyes fixated  outside.

Aurei's no ordinary kid, she's usually a relaxed and mature young girl with the ability to hunt.

But along with her perks, she has her flaws. Aurei had been known for fights at her school

It's been a week since the outbreak, worst than the black plague, most people in our street evacuated, but me and Aurei chose to stay here for our mother's safety.

Our mother has been sick for five days straight.

She got bit in the leg by some teenager the officer put down at the hospital, Mom told us that it was chaotic in the cities right now.

But the ones who are bit, scratched whatever the hell an "infected" person did to you, you couldn't evacuate. You couldn't escape. I've been in the city so I know this...

Something in my gut told me not to let them take my mother. She couldn't have gone there, she would never come back.

It sounds like a dumbass choice to make...but we don't want to lose her, she's our only family we have left, Aurei may be mature and able to hold her own just fine but she just can't lose mom. She just can't.

Our mother used to be a strong, Mexican woman who taught us the dark reality of life and the secrets behind it, our Dad used to be a convincing black man who would risk his own life just to save another. Mom and dad loved each other unconditionally which made the society look down on them for being an interracial couple. But they never cared about that, they were happy.

My wavy hair was the color of coal and it fell down to my shoulders, my eyes were like a dark coffee brown so I looked more of my mother. I'm pretty tall too, not to brag or anything. I had a killer stare, the whole neighborhood knew not to fuck with me or my sister...with that said, things have been pretty crazy this week.

This week I've seen a girl getting dragged out of her house by our fellow neighbors two days ago, her name was Sara Marsh, she went to high school with me and she had got bitten in the side by her boyfriend. It was horrible, she was screaming in utter terror as they dragged her out by her arms and legs, Sara was fighting hard against them but she was pretty much outnumbered.

The neighbors had been paranoid and they took matters into their own hands, when they found out about Sara's bite, they forced her into quarantine. Never heard from her since.

After that day her mother's screams and cries kept us up all night long. Not that I could really blame her though. Like c'mon, the woman just lost her daughter to some nosy ass neighbors.

Aurei slightly glances over her shoulder, she had always been grumpy and anti-social, she wanted no part of society, in fact, I'm the only person she hangs out with ever since her only friend moved away. She wouldn't tell me the real reason why her guard is always up, it was like Aurei is made of multiple layers, there were things she was open with and there were days where she is completely closed off.

Since we're in the light-skin category of the black spectrum chart, we're closer to the lighter side. We were born with less melanin in our skin so people find it hard that we're mixed.

Aurei had light brown skin that looked yellow, her dark hair always kept in a low, frizzy ponytail. Her obvious African American features showing despite how light her skin is.

Anyway, enough about us. It's been a day since the power line went out, it didn't just affect us, it pretty much affected the neighborhood.

To add more to the shit show, people are stealing food from houses, robbed stores, you name it. It got so bad that I keep my old baseball bat with me just in case someone wanted to mess with us.

Fortunately, before Dad passed, he taught me how to boil water without the stove, and how to make a mean ass can of beans to survive the blackout.

My thoughts get interrupted as I heard loud coughing coming from the mom's bedroom, our house is usually cluttered with old charms and Mexican decorations so it seems crowded, and Aurei and I usually spend our days in the living room, figuring out a plan to support mom, usually we would carry her out by her arms and legs and prop her in the recliner so that way she could still watch TV and still feel normal although she's bedridden this week.

Our house is rather small, but it was the biggest one in the neighborhood, the living room had burgundy couch that was layered with books and newspapers, the coffee table had an ashtray with several bottles of soda that Aurei snagged for us. The dark orange painted walls gave a warm summer-like feeling. Mom always collected decorations and hang them everywhere, so our whole entire house is cluttered.

"Avery, I think Mom threw up again." Aurei informs me, turning away from the window. Aurei had a slightly tall frame, she wore a long sleeved blue shirt with some regular jeans. I close my book then started stretching

"I'll check on her, don't let anyone in." I reassure Aurei as I hastily get up from the couch and traveling to mom's bedroom that was literally across from the kitchen.

Aurei rolls her eyes, then kept staring out the window. She gets annoyed that I treat her like a kid, but I can't help it, I missed a lot of her growing up and I keep forgetting that she's mature.

My heart beats rapidly against my ribcage as I stepped inside mom's bedroom. Her bedroom was clean ever since she came back from work, I have OCD so I made sure to clean the room twice a day at least.

I wince as I look at her, she laid in her new vomit stained sheets, her body was rigid and engulfed in nothing but sweat, frail and tiny. Her face was in nothing but pain. It was so tough for her to even move her head.

For days Aurei and I had to carry mom around. Yesterday when the power went out we both had to carry mom to the couch, Aurei had to grab mom's legs, I had to grab her arms and that's how mom got around, by us carrying her like she was a cripple.

"Av...ery...." Mom croaks slowly, her voice rigid, she lets out a weakened cough, she struggles to raise her right hand to cover her mouth but her arm just flops against her side. Her eyes water as she looks at her pale right arm, Mom always hated being sick. It made her feel so powerless.

I saunter towards her bed with the biggest, widest, fakest smile I could ever fake in my life, leaning down and touching her sweaty forehead.

She's burning up. Worse than before.

"How are you feeling?" I ask softly, but my eyes widen as a glimpse at her dark hair, she had a bald spot and under her head laid clumps of her dark hair. I avert my eyes from her head and looked into mom's eyes. Deep breaths Avery, deep breaths.

Her eyes had looked sunken, there were dark bags circling them. Her dark brown eyes bloodshot red.

"Like shit." Mom responds, I grin slightly by the skin of teeth, Mom is still mom. I sit on the edge of the bed.

I grab her left hand, it was frail and bony, I could clench my fist around it and it could cover her entire wrist completely.

"Mom...." I whisper softly, trying not to alarm her, gently setting her arm down to her side.

"How's Aurei?" Mom asks, cutting me off. I shake my head to regain my focus on what's important: mom's bite.

"She's worried about you." I answer back softly, using my index finger to tuck a strand of mom's hair behind her ear, the same simple gesture that mom had done with me when I was a child.

"We both are." I add, trying to stay calm, if you could hear my voice, you could hear it shake and weaken. Seeing her like this is killing me.

All of a sudden Mom goes into a coughing fit, crimson started to trickle down her lips like soggy egg yolk. I help mom sit up to prevent her from choking on her own blood. She was so weak that I had to sit her up myself. Her whole entire body convulsing with each heavy cough and hack.

"I'm fine." Mom lied, her head tilting to the side as if it was one of those bobble heads at the toy store.

My OCD begun to kick in as the sight of the vomit stained sheets start to irk me. I stand up, almost startling mom.

I start pulling the covers off the bed, usually Aurei would help me move mom in order to change the sheets but I don't want Aurei to know that mom's losing hair.

My eyes shot down to mom's ankle, the bite marks were so deep, her skin was darkened around that area only, it was no longer bright red. The dark teeth marks were in a dark shade of purple as dried puss oozed out, the flesh around the bite itself looked like it was about to peel off.

"So this proves that you're fine?!" I ask sarcastically, but keeping my voice to a minimum, I hated how mom tried to hide the obvious, it gives us false hope. With situations like these, false hope never works.

Mom stays silent, she knew that the wound had gotten worse, mom just closes her eyes and she lets her head rest against her pillow. I rush to the bathroom to wet a clean washcloth of wipe the new blood off her face and to take care of the wound.

When I finished cleaning the blood and the wound I walk over to the small closet across the room, dragging out another fresh white comforter out with new pillows.

Once I finished fixing mom's bed and disposed the dirty sheets, I throw the comforter over her body and the pillow under her head.

"I love you." I said as I plant a quick kiss on her forehead, then quickly power walked my way out of her bedroom.

Aurei turns away from the window as I close the door to the bedroom, I press the back of my head against the door, drawing in a deep breath.

"How is she?" She asks, walking to me, she had to be my support, Aurei had always been the first to support someone in the household. She studies me slightly with a unreadable look on her face.

I cringe, it's pretty damn hard to break bad news to Aurei, just seeing her upset breaks my heart.

"Maybe we should've took her to quarantine-" I start but Aurei already knew what I was implying and she immediately cut me off.

Even now, I knew what the quarantine would do to mom.

According to my close friend, Nina, she witnessed the military lining up people outside and shooting them in the head. The bitten ones....or the ones with the fever five weeks ago, it was an entire bloodshed. Even the people who were associated to the ones with the fever were shot as well.

No burial.

I've traveled to the city on my own, it wasn't pretty. Military became violent, they'll shoot you if they find you coughing, no matter how you caught it. I've seen the helicopters, the SWAT teams putting napalm in the streets.

"Are you crazy? We'll never see her again!" Aurei practically yells, she was scared, and I was too. Aurei must've overheard the incident with the sick people getting shot.

"It's too late now" I said grimly, cutting her off, my voice low and firm. Aurei narrows her eyes at me, but realizes it's just a waste of time to fight.

Aurei glances at the window, her eyes fixed on something. Her body shifts to the window. I walk into our small kitchen to begin lunch.

"Avery?" Aurei asks softly, and I could sense the fear in her voice.

"What?" I ask, glancing over my shoulder at her, pulling out a can of beans from the bottom cabinet.

"There's a man outside." Aurei responds bluntly, her eyes widening, her hands were sprawled all over the window, as if she was trying to make sense of what she was seeing.

As those words left her lips. I felt that weird feeling again.

"And?" I ask, power walking over to Aurei.

Her eyes bulged as her hand found it's way to her mouth, I could hear her deliberately mumble, "He's covered in blood....and he's walking towards our house...."

As those words left her mouth I stiffen, Aurei would never lie about something this serious. I saunter towards her silently. As I peered out the window with her, she was right.

"Get the bat." I demand. No questions asked Aurei does as she's told.

I gaze out the window to see the man, his skin was covered in blood, his ankle was bent backwards but the man kept shambling over to our house, his jaw hanging loosely as if it's broken. What is wrong with this dude?

His eyes were dull, and he had on a tattered plaid shirt that hung loosely away from his body. His entire body was....his entire body is actually rotting.

Aurei runs back towards me, my baseball bat in her hands.

I position myself to the right side of the door, holding the bat up with a firm grip.

"Open on three." I said.

Aurei had her hand clasped on the doornob. Her eyes focused on mine.

"One..." I begun.

"Two...." Aurei counts with me.

"Three..." We both said calmly.

She whirls the door open, no questions asked and I swing the bat with all the strength I had, feeling the impact of the bat hitting the man's skull. A loud crack immediately tells me that my strike was successful.

The man falls back, his skull hitting against the steps, making another loud, subtle crack.

Blood oozed through his head, but he still snapped his teeth at us, as if he was trying to bite us like some sort of animal. There were weird sounds escaping his mouth.

I swing the bat again towards his ribs, but he didn't seem to be affecting by the bat. He still snaps his teeth at us as if he's trying to bite.

"Help! Somebody help!" A voice shrieked, followed with blood curlding screams, Aurei gasps as I wince at the sudden disturbance.

I look up to see more people limp after a middle-aged man, who had a pistol in his hand, his glasses were broken.

Suddenly, I close the door so the man won't notice us, I lock the door and Aurei rushes back to the window, I jog after her. Completely ignoring the fact that the man was still outside on our property.

We watch as the man desperately looked around. Several people limp, shamble and stagger towards him, their mouths gaping hungry, they keep making that weird sound.

"Please! I have four kids! I won't hurt you!" The man pleaded, I glance at Aurei only to see a saddened look on her face, she obviously wanted to help the man.

The man looks behind him frantically as people begun to stagger from almost every corner, their walk was different, it was like a drunk man's walk, their arms swung effortlessly as the made their way to the man.

The man got on his knees and begun to crawl under our neighbor's rustic truck, the lower half of his body still out as he tried to get under the truck.

The people begun to circle him like vultures, their hands begun to dig into his lower back, my eyes widen as they pull apart his skin like some wild predators, the blood oozing  everywhere on the man's body, their hands rummaged into his body like hands in tomato soup.

The man let out agonizing screams as they start to shovel handfuls of flesh and blood-soaked organs into their mouths.

"No! No! Please-agh!" The man screamed out.

Aurei covers her mouth as she watched them rip out his lower intestines like rope, and bite into it. The man stopped screaming as they continued to rip his body apart and devour it, they just buried their faces into the fresh, blood soaked organs of the man.

I could feel the bile rising in my throat, but I keep watching, my eyes widened in pure terror as my fingers found their way into my hair.

This can't be real...

It can't be...

Those people are eating him!

Fuck!

We watch in horror while the people stuff the man's intenstines in their mouths.

It was pure cannibalism.

Aurei bends over quickly, puking on the floor. Her gags were nothing compared to the agonizing screams the man let out....

Five minutes ago....

"Fuck..." Aurei swears before barfing again.

We need to get the hell out of here and fast.

I remember where Dad used to put his gun, and he always unloads it to avoid having one of us accidentally killing ourselves or actually try to kill someone. I'll most likely need it for protection.

Aurei wipes her mouth, the putrid smell of cereal and the rest of Aurei's lunch filling my nose.

Her eyes were intensely wide, which proves that she is scarred for life.

Those people ate that man alive, peice by peice. No sympathy. No emotion. It was like they were dead already....they barbarically dug their fingers into his chest and opened him like some sort of meal that they hadn't had in years. I have no time to be trying to figure this out.

It's time to get the fuck out of here.

Grab mom, grab food, grab water, get the photo albums, we have to leave!

This is crazy!

"Aurei grab your things, but pack lightly and don't forget your inhaler." I direct, Aurei silently nods and does as she's told.

Quickly, I run up the stairs, almost stumbling on my up. I regain my balance before barging into our small room on the left down the hallway. My heart was pounding against my chest as my eyes dart around our room.

Our room was painted a light shade of orange, Aurei and I share bunk beds since our money has been tight, next to our bunk bed laid a cyan blue dresser that had paint peeling off, the lamp on top of it was crooked.

Our room looked like a gypsy's bedroom, the walls were covered in my drawings and several pictures of us, we could barely see the actual wall itself.

Stumbling again, I stop my knees from buckling as I run towards the bed, I reach underneath and pull out a camping bag, then I begun stuffing our photo albums inside the bag.

I quickly pack my photo of Dad and Mom on their wedding day, then stuffed it inside my bag, next my new box of cigarettes, then some extra pairs of clothes along with some more pictures.

Aurei jogs into the bedroom with her light blue backpack, she wore a dark hoodie over faded striped shirt. Her tight jeans that had torn holes in them. Her whole body frame is so tiny despite her being a bit tall.

"What about mom?" Aurei asks, stopping me from my closet rais. Her eyebrow slightly raises as she adjusts her backpack that hung loosely on one of her shoulders.

My heart skips a beat. My whole body paused. Mom. Here I am, worried about leaving the house and running off with Aurei without Mom crossing my mind once.

It's going to be incredibly hard carrying mom around everywhere, and Aurei isn't as strong as I am, let alone having to make several stops because of her vomiting.

We have to work something out...we have to. We will. We can.

I hurry back down the stairs, sprinting through the living room before stepping into mom's bedroom to see mom laid back in the bed, her lips slowly moving...as if she was talking to air. She was talking to herself.

"Mom?" I softly call out, trying not to startle her. The last thing I need is for mom to panic while she's already feeling her worst.

"Marcus..." Mom whispers.....her hand in the air, it begun to tremble before it went limp and fell against her side. Mom's eyes water heavily, as if she's about to cry. My heart slammed against my chest faster. She was talking to Dad.

Taking deep breaths, I saunter towards the bed, sitting down on the edge of the newly covered sheets. Mom stares at me pitifully, her face stained with tears.

She hated being defenseless, weak, pitied. Mom would always get upset whenever she's sick, because she hated feeling powerless.

Suddenly, mom moves her chapped lips, in a weak manner.

"D-do.....you....r-re...remember?" Mom slurred out, her voice faint but hollow, suddenly she starts to vomit, the putrid yellowish-brown liquid running down her face and neck messily, staining the sheets almost instantly.

I lunge for the bucket on the bed table then helped her sit up so that she wouldn't choke on her vomit, she immediately throws up inside, lines of crimson trickling down her lips.

"Remember what?" I ask softly, rubbing mom's back.

"When....I got...bit..." Mom responds ever so softly, her voice hoarse, she slumps into the bed, it kills me to see her like this.

"Why?" I ask, biting my lip to stop myself from crying.

"I'm starting to see him." Mom said, coughing lightly, her voice was getting fainter.

"Who?" I ask softly.

Mom struggles to point at the corner of the room, she was too weak to her head.

"Your father." Mom choked out.

My eyes widen. My mother's been hallucinating again....this is too much. Dad died several years ago.

He got shot by some serial killer on the run, the man was on a ton of drugs and Aurei was a complete witness to seeing dad get shot. Something tells me that Aurei remembers every single detail of that night.

"Mom, the fever is getting to you." I said as I placed my hand on my mother's sweaty forehead, which is already burning up. I couldn't focus on that right now, we have to get out of here.

"We have to go-" I said, trying to pick Mom up but she cries out in agony and slumps back into the bed.

"I'll slow you down." Mom said, wheezing. I ignore her and snaked my arms under her knees and behind her back, trying to pick her up at the second try, her body convulses as she tumbles back into the bed, crying softly due to the pain.

"Mom-" I try to say. She struggles to sit up, she grew pale, her mouth was open, her chest slowly rose in a rhythmic pattern.

"Listen to me...Get Aurei to safety.... protect her with your life, Jesus promised us the resurrection...this is probably it." Mom explains, mom had seen what had happened at the hospital, but she never believed in the supernatural.

"It's real...in the hospital, a girl who was stabbed to death...the policemen had to shoot her." Mom adds, her head begun to sink on the pillow.

"She could've been on some drugs ma-" I try to explain other options but mama wasn't having it, she glares at me.

Moments pass by as I try to talk mom out of whatever craziness she was believing. Then it hits me....I never wanted to ever think like this but the evidence is clear right in my face.

Mom is dying.

We'll have to leave her behind.

"It will be hard, but you gotta keep running baby, if not for yourself...then do it for Aurei..." Mom begs, her chest rising slower and slower. Her voice grows fainter and fainter by the second.

"Stay together...Aurei may be able to take care of herself better than both of us combined but she's still a child." Mom went on, trying not to stutter with her last words.

"We're getting ready to leave." I reassure her softly, grabbing her arm gently.

"Without a plan? Think again Avery." Mom snaps. I do a mental face palm.

Damn, I haven't even thought the whole thing through....

"We can go find the evacuation routes, or leave and wait out in the fields, but we can't stay here." I said, trying to convince her.

"Go...find a...evacuation  route...wait...wait for help okay? Got that?" Mom asks, slightly panicking at the fact that I'm not moving a muscle.

"I'll only drag you two down, just remember...I love you both, more than life itself...." Mom says, her eyes watering again.

"I love you." I said, hugging her then back away. "But I'm not leaving you." I promised.

"Love you more than life itself, tell Aurei I love her the same way I love you." Mom whispers, closing her eyes softly. Her breaths becoming short. Mom had fallen asleep.

I walk to the window to look outside. We could make a run for it through the back but with mom coming along, that seems almost impossible. We'll have to use dad's old truck.

Eight minutes after I figured out an escape plan, I check her pulse, tears streamed down my face.

"Mom?" I ask softly, my voice growing fainter, I held in the sob that wanted to choke out, my voice wavered and cracked.

The woman who tucked me in for bed, threw her sandal at me whenever I did something stupid, swore in Spanish and gave me and Aurei hugs for no apparent reason. That woman is gone now. The woman who built Aurei and I into the strongest people was gone. I won't get those moments now, if I can rewind time, I would cherish every moment of Mom just being around.

Using my nimble fingers, I tuck her hair behind her ear and kissed her forehead, clutching her close to me, silently rocking her and crying.

The tears never seemed to stop, they kept running down my face which had caused my hair to stick to my cheeks. I rarely cry, rarely...and when I do, it will take forever for me to pull myself together.

No.

This can't be real...this has to be some sort of fucked up dream...it has to be.

I stand up, my fingers lacing inside my silky hair, I start banging my head against the wall, my head stinging as tears went down my cheeks. I always inflict pain on myself whenever I'm fucking up.

"Wake up."

"Wake the hell up Avery...this shit show isn't real....come on...wake up...mom isn't-"

But then it hits me. Her touch was as real as it could get, her words were as powerful as they would always be. The man being torn apart and eaten alive slowly outside. The bite on mom's leg. This is all real. This world that is about to be shit. This is all real.

Moments later I wipe away my tears, sauntering out of her bedroom. It's time to put on my big girl panties and be Aurei's protector. I need to grow a sack of balls and be there for my little sister.

I promise to protect my little sister with every fibre in my body, even if it kills me.

Even though I need time to grieve...I couldn't do it now. Aurei needs me. And I have to carry on for mom's sake. I need to be strong.

Don't worry mama, I'll protect Aurei, I give you my word.

The problem was, how am I gonna get Aurei to come with me when she finds out we're leaving without Mom? She deserves to know the truth. And mom will need to be buried before we leave.

Aurei needed time to grieve, but her safety has to come first, I'll tell her once she finishes packing.

Calm down girl, you know what happens when you freak out....

I softly close the door, grabbing my bag as I ran into the kitchen. If we are going to be on the run, we needed preserved food. The tears threatened to erupt again but I blink them away.

Since I couldn't go grocery shopping during the disaster, the only thing we really had were beef jerky, cans of beans, and water.

I rummage through the cabinets, quickly opening my bag and stuffing six cans of beans, my heart beating like a hammer as I desperately searched for food, before I even grabbed the water I packed seven packages of beef jerky into my small portable bag.

The cannibals groan loudly outside, and if I keep hearing them, I'll lose my mind. It was like they could barely even process their voice.

Those people showed not even an ounce of remorse when they ripped the man's flesh apart with their teeth. They all huddled around him like vultures. Those can't be people can they?

And I know that we're not special...

Just for protection, I need something to protect me and Aurei from those things....

The gun. Dad's old gun that he always kept in the basement before he died. He was a cop, it only made sense if I brought it with me, I can reason with the authorities later....but it's better to be armed and able to defend yourself than to be a dumbass and roam through the streets defenseless.

I saunter down the hallway, running through my fingers in my hair. Dashing downstairs into our small basement to see his rustic red truck that I would fill gas in. Luckily, I poured enough for a couple of hours depending on how long we'll be on the road.

Mom's corpse kept haunting me...

The basement had Dad's old work bench, a old radio that never works at all...and his corkboard of old newspapers, in the corner laid an old wooden birdhouse that Dad had built for mom.

I took the key that hung from the corkboard to my left, unlocking the bottom drawer to see a silver revolver with a empty cylinder.

"Avery?" The bored voice belonged to Aurei, she had her bag slung over her shoulder with the newspaper hanging out in her right hand, she narrows her eyes at me as I ignored her, quietly adding bullets into the chambers.

"Why do you have Dad's gun?" She asks, walking up to me slowly, unaware of what I might do, she was studying every movement I made, Aurei is very mature for her age, and if she puts her mind to it, she can outsmart a grown man. My mind goes back to mom, torturing my mind. Aurei shifts her weight, raising an eyebrow.

Shit.

She has to know....she really does. My heart begun to hammer once more

"Aurei, we have to protect ourselves from these cannibals." I explain as I move a strand of black hair away from my face and slide the chamber back into place, making a soft noise.

"They're people too! We don't have to kill them!" Aurei hisses, she had always been more open minded to others besides herself, it annoys me sometimes.

I take a deep breath, clenching my hand over my chest. She needs to know about mom. My heart starts to beat rapidly.

"They're not people." I argue.

"What?" Aurei tilts her head to the side a little, her eyes full of doubt.

"A girl was murdered, she came back and bit the kid that bit Mom." I explain.

"Think Aurei, Mom was a good woman, she enjoyed helping people, almost all the patients enjoyed her company, what kind of person would savagely bite a nurse?" I question, Aurei thinks about it.

"She could've been-" Aurei protests.

I cut her off by squeezing her shoulder gently.

"Mom would always-"

"Avery." Aurei says, staring right through me with her dark brown eyes, her glare burning into mine.

"Why are you talking about mom in past tense?" Aurei asks. She's too smart for her own good. She gets closer to me.

Aurei furrows one of her eyebrows, her light brown skin twinkling in the light, as sweat emerged from her forehead.

It's hard to digest this. The truth about mom is like a large pill that is hard to swallow.

"Aurei...I don't know how to tell you this..." Sorrow filled my voice as my eyes began to water again. Aurei shook her head, her eyes wide.

"No." She says, her brown pupils shaking as she slowly stepped away from me.

"I think it's pretty clear now." Aurei says. Aurei's eyes water, she shook her head, my heart fell as tears emerge from her eyes as she trembled violently.

"Her heart stopped beating, she didn't want me to save her..." I try to speak but Aurei shakes her hand at me, telling me to stop with the lies.

"We have to leave her-" Aurei steps away as I reach for her, as if I was some sort of a monster.

She runs upstairs in silence.

"Aurei!" I yell, running upstairs after her, my knees almost buckling beneath me. My leg goes through one of the stairs as I pushed my weight on top of it, I yelp.

"Fuck!" I yell, my body jerking forward, the stairs couldn't handle my weight. I try to pull my ankle free but the wood only scraped against my skin, making the pain worse.

Suddenly, a blood curlding scream comes from mom's room.