{A/N all underlined speech is in English}
{also- slight trigger warning ⚠️}

Kara ran around the park, her blonde hair flailing around behind her as she chased her best friend.
They were 11 at the time.
Gabs tripped, her face reaching the grass with a thunk.
Laughs resonated between the two.

Everything was happy.
"Kara! Come on! It's time to head home!" Her mother called, yelling after the two girls.
"Aww.. I'll see you tomorrow Gabs." Kara whined, running off towards her mother.

Gabs waved and smiled,before beginning to walk the long path home again, the smile fading from her face as she reached her dads house.

How she hated this man.

"Gabs, put the dinner on!" Her father yelled, as he heard the door crack open.
Gabs sighed, and began cooking some spaghetti for her and her father.

The meat sizzled, the pasta boiled.
She served out the meal and gave a bowl to her dad.
He ate without thanking her.
"To your room." He growled.
"But I haven't finished eating-"

"Just go to your fucking room." He growled again, grabbing the belt on the coffee table.

Gabs widened her eyes in fear, before running her bowl to the sink and hibernating to her room.

1...
2...
3...

Scarlet blood dripped off her wrist as the cuts ran deep.
She winced.
The pain was nothing compared to what he did to her.
Gabs had to find a way to escape this man.
She would've ended it a long time ago.
Except, Kara would be alone.

And that wasn't fair.

Gabs wrapped her arms in bandages, and got dressed into a hoodie and night shorts, before going to bed in her old, broken mattress, the springs poking her from below.

At Kara's household, things were happy.
She ate happily with her family, smiling and joking around.
That was her last smile in a long while.

The next morning, Gabs woke up with a searing pain in her leg. A spring had broken through and punctured her ankle, leaving an oozing red cut.
She winced, and bandaged herself up.
She wore longer socks to hide the injury.

If her dad saw, she'd be whipped.

She headed downstairs, shuddering.
"Gabs, do the dishes then get out of my sight." Her dad spoke up from the lounge room, an old show blaring from the TV.
Gabs obliged, cleaning the dishes with a pout.

She finished and left, limping to the park where she would meet Kara.

Like she did every afternoon.

But Kara never came.

As the sun faded along the horizon, the sky fading to a pale orange to sea blue, there was still no sign of Gabs' friend.
This made her stressed.
She always came.

What had happened.

Kara POV
The shouts and screams didn't stop.

Men with guns barged into our house. My mum had hid me in the wardrobe in a rush. It was cramped, my body ached.
I needed to get out.

Carefully, I latched open the door.

Pools of crimson blood soaked into the ragged brown carpet that lay on the floor, the once white tiles soaked in dried cracking scarlet blood.
I felt salty tears begin to well up in my eyes.
Where was mum?

BANG.

My ears rung, my eyes wide.
The tears began to stream down my face.
I felt a tug on my hair, a tall man pulling me off the ground by my ragged, dirty ponytail.
"I found their girl." The man spoke loudly.
I heard my parents screaming.

I began screaming too, kicking the air to get the man to let go.

BANG.

A bullet shot through my leg.

The pain was unbearable.

I cried out, tears streaming down my face like waterfalls.
"Shut up or I'll put a bullet through your skull this time." The man growled, holding his pistol to my head.

I lay limp in his grip, my screams silencing to a whimper as he threw me to the floor in front of my battered parents.

They looked at me with sadness in their eyes, but still sat over a metre away.

Why weren't they helping me??

Another man came over, talking to my parents about things I couldn't understand.

The blood continued to weep from my leg like tears, making my vision blur, the world distorted.
I couldn't make out their voices properly anymore.

I closed my eyes and felt nothing.

When I woke up again, cold metal was tightened around my wrists.
I felt the bruises forming.

I couldn't see anything, a tight fabric was pulled right around my head.

The floor was hard and cold.

My whole body ached.

My leg that was shot stung, any sudden movement making me bite my tongue to stop the scream from escaping my lips.

Where was mum and dad?

It was what I believe hours before I heard anything again.

A door opened with a creak.

Someone began dragging me from my wrists.

I whimpered uncontrollably. It hurt so bad.
"Shut it." Another unknown person growled.

Why was this happening...
Why us...
He moved me to a new room, leaving me there, my hands untied.
The blindfold wouldn't come off.
So I sat in the darkness.

I began to feel my heart icing over in dread. We were doomed.

But still...

I held onto a thin beam of hope. My parents would come for me. The police would save us.

Everything would be okay....

Right??

It had been weeks.

I heard movement from around me.
In a sudden flash the blindfold was ripped from my head.
The light from the room flashed, making me blink uncontrollably at the sudden light. I pulled a hand in front of my eyes and looked around.
I was in what looked like an abandoned doctors office.
Syringes and scalpels lined the walls on shelves.

My parents sat in front of me, their hands behind their backs, their mouths gagged with fabric.

My eyes widened.
My last hope was held onto them.

A black pistol was held against my mother's head.
"This is why you don't fuck with the Mafia, kid."

BANG.

BANG.

BANG.

My mothers eyes became glassy and hard, the life fading at a terrifyingly fast rate.

I felt the tears slip down my cheeks as her body fell weak to the floor, the blood seeping from the wounds along her frail body.

It pooled on the white tiled floor, seeping into the cracks and crevices.

My dad stared terrified, tears brimming at his eyes.

He managed to spit the gag out of his mouth, his eyes showing how frantic he was.
"Kill my daughter! Spare me! Please! Just kill that little bitch! I'll be helpful! Kill her! Spare me!" He cried, all the while staring into my eyes.

The man scoffed.

And pointed his gun.

BANG.

Gabs POV
I hadn't seen Kara in weeks.
I was beginning to stress.
Her house was empty.
Her parents didn't answer calls.
She was missing.
My one reason for existence had disappeared.
I still had hope.

She'd be back.

Then we can escape together.

My dad only got worse, his drinking become heavier as the days went by.

It's my fault Mother's dead anyway.

"Mummy! Look!!" I called out, practicing my cartwheels near the road.
"Yes yes very good dear.. move away from the road though!" My mother cried, noticing how close I was to the main roads edge.
Ignoring her, I continued acting as though I was an acrobat near the road.

A black van began speeding down the road.

I was in the middle.

My mother cried out. I couldn't hear her.

I turned my head and saw the van coming nearer.

Closer and closer.

Then my mother was in front of me.

BAM.

CRACK.

Her body hit the front of the high-speed van, leaving a dent in the night-black vehicles surface.

The crack that sounded throughout the street when my mother's torso hit the van was deafening, every bone seemingly crushed in an instant.

My mother dropped like a bowling ball to the floor, blood rushing from a gash in her head.
The road was filled with pools of her crimson blood, the life fading from her eyes in an instant.

The driver got out of the car, the smell of booze and cigarettes heavy on his breath.

He began laughing, maniacally, insanely. "Damn, if only I hit the child too." He laughed to himself.

My neighbours came outside and saw the mess, and the police were called.

My dad heard of the incident.

And became icy cold.

The bruises along my back never faded after that day, the whips making my body ache and bleed day after day.

He wanted me to feel every bit of pain my mother felt as the life faded from her body.

Sometimes I wish I was hit by that car instead of her.

Everything would be so much easier then.

School had started back up again. I hoped Kara would show up here.
Maybe they just moved houses.

But no sign of her.

Nothing..

After school, I couldn't take it anymore.
The police weren't even searching for her, no one had made the call.

So I would.
"0-0-0..." I dialled, my phone ringing for what felt like an eternity before the emergency services picked up. "I'm reporting a-a missing person.. I haven't seen her in w-weeks... her name? Kara..  she was last seen wearing a p-pink sweatshirt, blue j-jeans.. she's 11..." I stammered, the tears finally spilling from my eyes at the realisation.

She could be dead.

I didn't want to go home.

Walking to the train station, I hid in a small alley next door, laying out my towel to stop the cold stone pavement from hitting my back.
I huddled into a ball and lay there, my stomach rumbling.
I didn't care.

Maybe someone would do the job for me here.

Maybe I would finally die.

Then I can meet Kara again.

Kara POV

The tears slipped down my face, never stopping.

My dads mouth lay agape, the blood pouring from a wound in the back of his head.

BAM.

His body fell to the floor.

Stiff.

Cold.

And lifeless.

All I could do was sit there and watch. My heart pounded excessively at the sight.

My stomach churned. I felt like I was going to be sick.

The sight of my parents dead in front of me made something click.

I was alone now.

Gabs has probably forgotten about me.

I felt my emotions numbing, my heart becoming cold.

I could feel the liveliness leaving my eyes.

"What do we do with her, boss."

"Throw her into the streets. At this point she's dead anyway."

I felt one of them grab my hair, pulling me somewhere.

I didn't care.

But.

He killed mum and dad.

What an arse.

I noticed he still had the gun at his side.

If I could grab it..

I reached.

What was the worst he could do.
Kill me?
Hurt me?

I was already broken anyway.

CLICK.

BANG.

His grip released on my hair, his eyes looking at me in hatred, glancing down to the gun in my hand.

Blood spewed from his mouth, bubbling out and drenching my hands.

I just stared coldly.

Revenge was sweet.

"Hope you burn in hell." I mumbled, standing up with a limp.

My leg had healed slightly.

It didn't hurt as much.

I traced my hands along the walls, finding an emergency exit.

I left, the sirens ringing behind me.

I walked along the downtown streets of Sydney, blood covering my arms, cracking and flaking off.

I felt my legs begin to go weak from exhaustion, the blood loss causing me to feel numb.
I needed to find a phone...

I stumbled into a dodgy tattoo parlour, the guy staring at me, his eyes filled with dozens of questions.
"Call.. an ambulance.." I huffed out, pointing at the phone on the back wall.

He made no movement.

I pointed the gun towards him, growling. "Now."

He held his hands up, and walked over to the phone, dialling 0-0-0.

I held my hand out. "Phone."

He placed it in my hands.

"Triple zero what's your emergency."

"Please.. send an ambulance.."

"Yes of course. Who are you darl?"

"I'm.. I'm Kara.."

The lady went silent for a second.

"Do you know where you are??"

"No.. I feel like I'm going to p-pass out.. please.. send someone..." I huffed out, my vision fading in front of me.

I stuffed the gun back in my jeans pocket, before the world turned black.