Her parents where fighting again. Their angry shouts could be heard from the dining hall all the way to her room, two floors and one wing away. She lay on her bed, her eyes staring up at the ceiling as the voice drifted to her. Her Sunday dinner dress now had crinkles in it and tears streaked her face. The shouts heard from her father rocked her to the core. It was like every Sunday dinner night, he'd say something insulting, rude and out of line. Her mother would tell him he was wrong and that'd start a fight. He'd insult her, who at this point would be sitting perfectly still staring at the Martinelli's in her wine glass. Her mother would shout at him and he'd shout back. Eventually he'd leave but only briefly, for he'd come storming back in a rage and then settle down. She'd stand up say something profound and leave. Her brother had already left the table and she would climb the stairs and head to her room, just like she did now.
Tonight was no different. The yelling echoed the halls, climbing to her room and drifting throughout the house. Tonight's fight was about college. Her father called her worthless her mother knew she was not. Her brother had left the fight the moment her father went still. She climbed the stairs after declaring that her father had no influence on her decision at all. He grew angry and yelled at her, blamed her mother for her stupidity, her stubbornness, her fire. He was angry and she'd forgive him because that was what she did. Her mother would never understand why, and frankly she wouldn't either, but part of her nature was to forgive.
But as the yelling went on into the night, the air their manor changed. It grew cold and heavy and soon the rain began to pour down on the pavement, creating a beat for their shouts. She turned her face to her window, watching droplets streak the glass, her eyes blurry, her vision limited. She had shut down the instant the names came, she withdrew inside herself in a flash and she would not resurface for a while, just like the last times. She could hear her brother's music blaring, his drowning out of their arguments. He couldn't hold on much longer. He wasn't strong like her, he was weaker in a way, emotionally unsettled and unbalance. Her mind was overly rational and reasonable and she could make sense of everything. Well, almost everything. Her parent's fights were something she could find no reason in. Ever.
Things settle down in the morning normally. Her father would have left and he'd not be there to see her and her brother off to school and her mother would be awake, suffering on the couch, sniveling about a divorce and how it'll be hard on the family again. Her brother listens intently, he would think of material items and such. She wouldn't care she had already shut down. This morning was similar and she tuned it out. Their ride to school was silent, neither brother nor sister could think of something to say.
The school day was mundane for the most part. She acted abnormally quiet but no one questions it. She wanders around the halls in a quiet stupor, smiling only when smiled at, spoken only when spoken to. Her rational mind is trying to block out the events and as always she succeeds in doing so. Her mind would focus solely on school work, solely on things that needed to get done, to be finished. She focused on tests and quizzes and left family life out. She was able to disconnect from home life and separate. The day stayed normal for her. Until the classes after lunch.
She sat perfectly still in her morality class, staring at the wooden top of her desk. The teachers voice was heavy in her ears the whole while and she was able to absorb most of it. Morality soothed her emotional side and let the rational thinking of her mind take control, forgetting most everything that was said to her in the last few hours. It made her focus on the mistakes she made, her wrongs and rights, and most importantly the way she felt at home. Rationally it was unfair and that fueled her emotional state most times. But she refused to let it show. She was a one-way mirror, people saw what they wanted to see in her and nothing more. She built herself a safety shield, and for the most part it worked well.
It was the sound of the alarm that made her pull from herself. The flashing lights of the fire alarm buzzed through the room, the loud beeping ringing in her ears until suddenly becoming quiet. A loud automated voice came over the speakers. "Intruder alert" was what the automated voice said. The voice repeated itself over and over again, causing the students in her room to panic and become scared. She sat still, her nerves beginning to fray and her mind becoming unstable. The teacher instructed them to edge toward the corner of the room on the door side and huddle together, that way the intruders couldn't peer in and see them. Many scrambled toward the corner. She simply walked over and sat down, her mind racing.
The teacher drew the shades to the room and as he headed to the door he stopped. His eyes became wide and heavy and the students realized that the intruder was right there. The door turned, but remained locked. Her eyes grew wide and alert, her senses became on edge and the sound of her own heartbeat filled her ears completely. She took a deep breath as the glass shattered, gunshots resounding, the teacher falling, a pool of blood gathering.
She had no idea they were there for her. She didn't know what they wanted as they stood there. Two figures masked by ski masks and carrying guns stood in the doorway. Her eyes went wide at their sight. Guns pointed in her direction and she freaked, it was the end for her, she could feel it. The sound of gunfire and screams couldn't register in her ears as the blood in her heart pounded heavily inside her. She wanted to scream but couldn't-wanted to run- but her legs were paralyzed with fear. She was completely frozen, a sitting duck for the men to take out.
And then it stopped. The fire stopped. With closed eyes she peered one open, only to find a man without a ski mask staring at her, a wolfish grin on his face the whole while. He grabbed her wrist and she yanked away. He grabbed the other and squeezed, holding it tight as she brought her fist to hit him. He caught both hands easily and laughed at her. His eyes gleamed evilly as he spoke to her, a deep terrifying voice.
"We've been looking for you."