"Dad?" The girl peered out of her bedroom, looking down the hallway toward the staircase. Her eyes were wide as she stepped carefully out onto the dark landing, making sure her feet did not make the floorboards creak. She bit her lip, concern and fear playing across her face as she leaned over the railing. "Daddy? Are you okay?" The young girl tip toed down the stairs, gripping the railing tighter and tighter as she neared the floor. She stepped off the last stair and heard a coughing gasp; the girl's head snapped up. She walked slowly towards the living room, keeping to the shadows. As the girl entered the living room, she saw her father, lying on the ground in a pool of blood. "Daddy!" She gasped, collapsing on the floor next to him. So focused on him, she did not notice the glass shards cutting her legs and feet, nor the gun laying out with it's clip empty. And as she placed her hands on her father's chest and began to sob, she did not notice the men surrounding her from behind, aiming guns at her back.
One of the men grabbed her shirt collar and yanked her back, while another pulled her father to his knees. "Don't… hurt... her…" He breathed out, exhaustion on his face but anger in his eyes. The men laughed. "We don't listen to you anymore, Mark. You burned that trust bridge when you stole it from the lab." One of the men said. The girl's father looked up at him. "She has a name, Kellen!" Kellen smirked. "Oh? And what could that be?" Mark looked at the girl; his adopted daughter, that he took and hid from his old lab. "Her name is Laylia." Kellen laughed and began loading his gun, as Mark tried pulling away from his restrainer. "Well, Laylia is a problem. And they want me to fix it." Kellen snapped his chamber shut and cocked his gun, walking towards Mark. "It's a big problem, too."
"Don't hurt my daddy!" Laylia yelled. Kellen turned and looked at her, maniac joy on his face. "And the abomination speaks! I didn't know you taught it to speak!" Kellen slowly moved his gun over to Mark. "Did you teach it to control it's power too?" Mark locked eyes with Laylia, who looked terrified. "Just stay calm, sweetheart, it'll be alright." Mark tried to assure her; a crack in his voice told Laylia that her father was as scared as she was. She did not know he was scared for a different reason. "Daddy, I'm scared." Laylia whimpered, watching the gun get closer to her father's head. "Don't worry, Laylia. Can you make a pinkie promise?" Laylia nodded, tears streaming down her face. "Promise you won't get angry, okay? Don't get angry, Laylia." Mark desperately pled, as Kellen brought the gun to rest on his temple. "Laylia, promise!" His eyes locked with hers. "I promise." Laylia whispered. Mark smiled sadly, and Kellen pulled the trigger.
Laylia fell forward, screaming. Kellen turned the gun to her. The young girl sobbed, tears streaming down her face. Kellen laughed, kneeling in front of her again. "Come on, kid, he wasn't even your dad! He didn't care about you-" Laylia grabbed his throat. Kellen dropped the gun and reached up, trying to dislodge her hand. His angry gaze turned to fear as Laylia looked up. Her eyes alight with blue lightning, an angry look on her face, she snarled at Kellen. "You hurt him. You hurt daddy." In a flash of light, the five year old's living room was destroyed. The men were blasted off their feet. And in the middle of rings of fire and destruction, Laylia stood, her body lit with blue flames and lightning.