When Alexandra 'Alex' Ryan was ten, both of her parents were murdered in front of her eyes and the killers were never brought to justice. She was haunted by the memory of that incident all her life, but that didn't stop her from joining the FBI, fol...
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A loud scream followed by a gunshot jolted me awake.
My heart was pounding rapidly inside my chest as I sat on my bed, terrified. All I wanted to do was curl up in a ball under my covers and hide from all the bad things that were taking place outside my room.
But my mom and dad were out there, and I knew they would allow nothing to hurt me. So, with shaky hands, I slowly pushed the covers away. Then I grabbed my teddy bear and held it tightly to my chest, hoping that it would bring a little comfort to my heart.
Mom and Dad must be watching something scary on TV... I thought as I turned the doorknob and walked out of my room. My whole body was trembling as I walked slowly on my tiptoe into the unknown.
When I reached the stairs' railings, my eyes widened in fear at what I saw. And suddenly, my chest tightened, making me feel as if I had completely forgotten a simple task as breathing.
Forcing my body to move, I hid quickly behind a nearby wall and peeked at the scene in front of me.
There were four masked and armed men surrounding something that I could barely identify as they were hiding it by their tall and muscular figures.
Where are Mommy and Daddy?
That was all I could think about as I tried to take slow and deep breaths to keep myself calm. I couldn't do anything that would make those men find out that I was here, watching them.
My dad once told me that if I ever found myself in a dangerous situation, I should never interfere and just call 911 and ask for help. I knew I should do that, but I couldn't bring my legs to move.
One intruder moved, and I gasped, dropping my teddy bear to the ground. I clasped my hand over my mouth once I saw what they were hiding with their large bodies. I moved my eyes away quickly, trying to grasp what I just witnessed.
I knew it couldn't be real. It was only a bad dream. It would be all over soon and then I would hide in my mom's arms, knowing that nothing could ever hurt me.
I took another glimpse at the scene, for my brain refused to believe what I saw the first time. There was a lifeless body on the floor; it belonged to a woman whose blood was scattered everywhere. That woman was no one but my mother...
My dad was kneeling on the floor, holding her body in his arms. His sobs echoed through the house. He shouted something that I couldn't identify at the masked men, but it earned him a punch in the stomach. He growled in pain and fell to the ground. They told him something, but he wasn't listening to them anymore, because he was looking straight at me with his hazel eyes that always made me feel safe.
Tears were falling like showers from my eyes, making it blurry to see and my whole body was trembling so hard that I couldn't move an inch. But despite all of that, I managed to stay silent, so they failed to notice that I was there. I locked my eyes with my dad for a couple of moments, then I watched as his lips parted, forming the word hide.
