It was late at night. Outside the small two bedroom house the half crest moon lit up the pitch black sky.

Inside the house a girl no older than 9 lay in her bed. Unable to fall asleep she clutched her small stuffed tiger that was white as snow. The black striped blended almost perfectly with the girl's long dark hair. Her brown eyes scanned the shadows as she tried to focus her thoughts.

Without her mom in the house she had trouble sleeping. Most times her mom would come in and sing her to sleep. But at the moment her mom was in the hospital…in a coma.

9 year old Terra Heart rolled over. The other bed was empty. Her brother was still not in bed…

Where is he?

Just then she heard a loud thump. Terra sat up.

That came from downstairs! She realized.

In the dark, she got up and put on her slippers and robe and walked to the door. Just as her hand was about to touch the door knob, the door burst open and her brother ran in.

He didn't give her a chance to ask questions but unceremoniously grabbed her hand and dragged her to the window.

"T.J what's going on?"

"Shhh!" he answered and opened the window. "The tree…go! I'm right behind you!"

She gave him a questioning look but at his glare she obeyed and jumped grabbing the branch. Then, with the grace of a gymnast she used it to swing herself up landing closer to the trunk.

Then she turned to see her brother do the same thing. When he landed next to her she opened her mouth again and he put his hand over her mouth…climb up to the roof!"

She looked at him closely but the fear in his eyes kept her from asking anymore questions. So she did as he said and soon the both of them were on the roof and hiding in the shadow of the chimney.

Then she heard it. Glass shattering. Doors being broken down. She glanced fearfully at him. "What's going on!" this time she whispered. "Where's uncle Mike?"

TJ found he couldn't meet his twin sister's gaze. "Those men that attacked mom are back Uncle Mike told me to run. The men came back in full ninja garb. They double-teamed him…"

"He's…?"

Her brother nodded solemnly and he held his sister as she quietly sobbed. TJ refused to cry though and he kept all emotions in check. He still had the job to keep his sister safe. He knew now that with Uncle Mike dead, it was up to him to keep the both of them safe.

Soon the house got real quiet and TJ crept to the edge of the roof and saw many dark shadows running away. When they had all gone, he went back to where is sister waited.

"Okay, I think they're all gone now. Uncle Mike told me that mom was planning to take us to some place called Angel Grove this week. I think that the best we can do is go back inside and find the map mom had and grab whatever money we can find. "I'll do that. I don't want you to see…" he trailed off. "I need you to pack for us. I'll be as quick as I can. We have to hurry, I don't want those men to find us. We can go to angel grove. I bet mom had friends there…maybe we can even find our dad."

"But what about Mom?"

"I think that she would want us to be safe. It's too risky to go to the hospital." He stopped when he saw his sister giving him a strange look. "What?"

Terra shook her head. "You have got to lay off those movies of yours."

"Whatever. Look. The most important thing right now is to leave before those men come back. Now come on."

Together, they climbed back down the tree. And into the house. Neither of them were surprised to see their room torn apart. Terra was angered to see that most of her clothes were slashed. But she knew that now wasn't the best time for her to start complaining. So she began the task of packing what clothes were left.

Then with the bags packed she decided to go into her mom's room. She didn't realy know what she was looking for. She knew that her mom kept money there to pay the paperboy. Inside the drawer she found a few 5 dollar bills and something she didn't expect. She picked it up.

It looked like a watch at first. But it had a small speaker on it where the clock should have been. And the speaker was surrounded by four small buttons. She looked at it closer. And pressed one of the buttons…nothing happened.

Probably broken…still it looks pretty. and without another thought she slipped it on. Then she walked over to her mom's wardrobe.

Inside were her mom's clothes…and something else…a box that was one of those fire boxes that had to be opened with a key…There was a key like that in mom's bedside table…

-Meanwhile-

T.J. looked sadly at his sensei's body. Uncle Mike wasn't even their real uncle. But he was still his mom's best friend. Though secretly he knew that Uncle Mike loved their mom. Though she never let him get that close. Uncle Mike had been teaching them karate since they could walk. And he had to admit that both he and his sister had learned well. And their mom had taught them gymnastics when they had begun to show skill in the karate lessons. With both those skills he had to admit that no bullies on the playground dared bother them especially after his sister had kicked that loser Greg Smith's ass. He had never seen his sister act that way before…but the idiot had it coming to him.

T.J. shook himself. Back to business, he told himself sternly. He bowed to his teacher and then turned his back and began searching the desk for the map.

Just then, he heard movement behind him.

Crap. He spun around to see someone dressed in a blue ninja outfit climbing through the busted up window.

Then the ninja saw him.

"Hey!"

The boy dropped the map he had been holding and ran for the stairs.

"Wait!"

T.J. ignored him and ran. He paused as he saw the door to his mom's room open. He ran into the room and stopped short when he saw his sister sitting on the floor.

"Terra! What are you doing? We have to get out of here…the ninja's back!"

Terra turned her head and then jumped up and stuffed something into her pink duffle bag. Then the two of them ran back to the room they shared and climbed back through the window like before, climbed down the tree and ran into the night.

Back down in the living room. Billy pulled down his hood and looked sadly at the dead man in front of him. He then took the throw from the couch and covered the body.

"Don't worry Mike. I'll take care of the kids." then he ran up the stairs.

He paused when he saw the two rooms with the lights on and knew at once the kids were gone.

Damn it!