"They are coming!"

Anna heard her older brother Lucas yell as he rushed into the room. It took less than a minute for her perfect family dinner to turn into a mad house. Everyone was up on their feet and running around, trying to fix everything like they usually did anytime there was an inspection.

"Hurry! Hide Anna!"

"Oh my God, John-" Her mother's voice broke as she called out to her father who she watched pick up her plate still half filled with Omelets in a hurry. She watched him hurriedly empty the food into the dustbin while Lucas kept watch from the from the window. It was how it always was every time they came. She always had to hide. They always tried to make sure there were no traces of her in the house. Ever since Anna was born, she wasn't allowed to do so many things because she knew her entire family could get into trouble if anyone found out she existed. If anyone found out that her parents broke the law.

He gasped.

The soldiers... He could see them coming.

"They're close!" He shut the door quickly and then stood in front of it, urging them to hurry. Caesar, the first son rushed towards the centre of the room. He pushed the rug aside.

"Anna." Rita grabbed her hands. She could feel her mother's hands shake even as she was smiling like there was nothing wrong.

"Baby, you have to go down into to the basement like you always do okay? Just like I showed you." Rita asked, running her hands through her hair as though to soothe her. "It's only going to be a second. You don't have to be scared, I'd be right here okay?"

Anna nodded.
She wasn't scared. She had done this over and over again for the past eight years. Plus, her father always promised that she wouldn't have to hide anymore. They were going to find a way soon, a way to escape. She wouldn't have to hide anymore. All she had to do was wait it out till then.

"Good." Rita nodded slowly

"Don't be scared Anna." She muttered under her breath. "You're going to be fine."

"Come on baby." John grabbed her hand.

"Dad, hurry!" She heard Lucas yell as Caesar took off the lid of the trap door which led to the tiny basement.

As an Atian, Anna knew the law permitted only two children per Atian family. The humans were trying so hard to control their population and if they ever found out that her parents were hiding a third child for eight years, it was game over for all of them.
They were going to kill her and her father.

"Be careful."
She heard John say as Ceasar helped her get into the pod.

"Just like every other day." Her brother whispered.

She nodded.

She felt darkness envelope her as soon as he closed the lid. He placed the rug back, got up quickly and then stood on the spot.

Knock! Knock!

"NSS!" They heard someone yell from outside the door.

"Lucas!" Rita drew in a deep breath and then nodded, signaling him to open the door.

He drew in a deep breath, turning the door knob slowly.

In the blink of an eye, he was pushed away from the entryway as four men rushed in, guns in their hands.

"Stand away from the table with your hands on your head!" One of them yelled.

John took the lead. He stepped away from the table and the rest of his family followed suit with their hands above their heads, trying to act like everything was normal.

"We were checked last week." He said. "You won't find anything."

"That's for us to decide." One of the men stepped forward, his eyes scanning through the room. His eyes stopped at the table.

"We received word that you and your family could have broken the law." He finally looked away from the table, allowing his eyes roam the room once more.

"Broken the law?" Rita asked. "How can we break the law? We've never been outside the Arc. We've stayed in just like you asked us to, we stay out of trouble and always do what is asked of us."

How did they know? Who had outed them to the NSS?

"We have orders to conduct another search tonight."

"Yeah, knock yourselves out. You're not going to find anything anyway." Caesar said, trying to be as tough as he could. "We haven't broken the law." He smirked. "Yet."

"Is that a threat?" The man approached him as the other soldiers cocked their guns.

No human took an Atian threat likely.

"No, no, no. I'm sure my son didn't mean that." John said trying to calm the situation. "He's just a kid, don't listen to him." He knew how persistently stubborn his son was.

The soldier looked away.

"I'd like to advice you all to stay put and avoid suspicious movements. My men won't hesitate to take you down." He turned to his men. "Search the place." He ordered.

In an instant, they were wrecking the place, knocking things down.

Rita could feel something was wrong. Something was different about today's search. Something about it made her scared. She held her breath, hoping for it to be to be over already.

"Clear sir."

She exhaled in relief as one of the men rushed out of the kitchen. The rest rushed out of the rooms. They nodded.

The man let out a disappointed sigh. He was almost certain that something was off. He took out his transceiver.

"Sector two-eight-one-six is clear." He said.

"So much for human instincts am I right?"
Caesar scoffed.

"Let's go." The man said to the rest of the soldiers, ignoring Caesar completely. "We are done here."

They all dropped their hands as Lucas opened the door.

The soldiers walked out one after the other. He made sure they were long gone before he closed the door.

Ten seconds.

They all made a mental count of ten to make sure the soldiers were gone.

Caesar walked to the trap door. He hurriedly moved the rug aside as Rita rushed towards him. This was the longest Anna had to stay in the basement. She was going to run out of oxygen at that point.

"Come on." Anna heard her brother say as he helped her out while she visibly struggled for air.

They all exhaled in relief.

"You're fine now ." Joan hugged her tight.
"You're okay."

Lucas walked back to the door. He peeped through the hole. Something was wrong.
Why were the soldiers running back?

Oh no!!

It was a trap.

He turned back to the rest.

"Dad it's a trap!" He yelled as the soldiers kicked the door open before anyone had the time to process it.

"Freeze! "

They announced as they rushed in.

"Oh my God."

Anna was so scared. She clinged on to her mother while her John and Caesar stood in front them. To protect them and hide them.

"Lay on the ground and put your hands up!" One of them ordered.

No one made a move.
"Now!"

"Please put the guns down" John pleaded. "No one needs to get hurt, we could figure this out." He told the man in the suit who had walked in after the soldiers.

"You know the rules." The man said with a smile on his face. "You break 'em, you fix 'em."

"We won't let you take her!" Caesar told them making sure he was clear.

"Give us the girl and no one else needs to get hurt. We are just following standard protocols. We are protecting the country." One of the soldiers walked forward.

"Don't do this please." John breathed.

"You broke the law. Give us the girl."
He said carefully. He was clearly not interested in listening to what any of them had to say.

Anna was so scared.

"Mum." She turned to Rita with tears in her eyes.
"Don't let them take me." She was crying already. Rita was crying too, unable to contain her tears at this point.

"Give us the girl, don't make me say it a third time."

Anna shut her eyes. She was finding it so hard to breathe. It was like all her lungs were about to shrink.

"Anna?"

She was having a panic attack. She was breathing so fast and her hands were shaking. They all turned.

Caesar rushed to her.

"Don't move!"

"Please let us help her." John begged.

"Don't move!"

"Anna." Rita sobbed, trying to get her to look at her. Anna could not speak. She tried to but her mouth just...shook.

"Please let me help her"
John begged, his voice breaking as one of the soldiers pinned him to the ground.
"We are the only ones that can help her or she'd die."

Lucas was so scared. He didn't know what to do. He turned to the soldier who had his gun aimed at his father. He drew in a deep breath and exhaled, knowing exactly what he had to do and then without thinking, he grabbed the table knife from the table and rushed to the man in the suit.

"Lucas, don't!"

"Drop your guns or I'd kill him!"
Lucas pulled the man closer with the knife close to his neck. He looked at all the soldiers.

"Lucas." His father whispered.

"Not a smart move boy." The man at knifepoint told him. "You won't be forgiven after this. You should know that it's an offense to attack an officer of the law-"

"Ask your men to drop their guns! "

"You're obstructing justice son."

"I am not your son!"

"Drop the damn knife Lucas!"
Lucas turned to his older brother, Caesar. "Are you out of your mind?"

The man jabbed Lucas with his elbow on his side just in time for him to set himself free. He got out his gun and shot Lucas.

"No!" Rita screamed.
"Lucas!"

Lucas fell to the ground on his knees slowly, with his eyes on his family. He could watch them all yell and cry. They all watched him struggle to breathe, and to say something, before he fell completely and his eyes slowly shut.

"No, No,"
His father got up quickly to rush to his son.

"Dad, no!"
He heard his other son say.

More gun shots.
They were all shooting at him.

Anna sat still.
She watched her father fall to the ground slowly. She didn't move. She was in so much shock to. She didn't even notice her mother grab on tight to her and hug her so she wouldn't see anything.

She could hear her mother's heart beat so slow but all she could see was the lifeless bodies of her father and brother on the ground.

"Code red, Code red."
She heard the man say over his transceiver
"We have two Atians down. I repeat code red."

"What are we going to do about the girl sir?"
One of the soldiers asked him.

He turned to Anna and her mother.

"Leave them. They've lost alot today."

Anna swallowed hard and then shut her eyes. She fainted.