"Jake…" My teacher called, just another name from his list of students. "Here." I said, almost in a whisper because I really didn't care. That's my name…Jake…and this is my story.

After a long day of boring school I walked into the halls and put some books into my locker. Inside there was a couple of my knives and a picture of my family…which consisted of my brother, my sister, my dad, my mom, my step mom, and my moms boyfriend. I had another brother…but he was a different story. Oh and did I mention I'm 14, in middle school? Sorry I left that out. So I walked down the hall to my next class, and I spotted the girl I secretly liked down the hall. She saw me smile at her, and turned away and looked at her locker. I couldn't tell if she blushed or not. Then some jerk walked up to me and said "Hey, stop staring at that girl, she's going to be my girlfriend and if you get in the way of that…you'll probably end up like your brother." That really pissed me off. My brother was murdered by a serial killer…and I still hadn't gotten over it.

I remember that day like it was yesterday… I heard my golden retriever Dusty barking downstairs…it was late at night, and I didn't want to get up. She barks at night a lot because she needs to go to the bathroom or something. But then I heard a door open and she started barking louder. I was scared to death. I had always been afraid at night that a burglar would come in my house, and tonight my parents were gone. "Its just my paranoia because my parents are gone…this happens all the time…its probably just my dad who came home without telling us, and the lights are off so the dog can't see who it is." I thought in my head. "But it doesn't matter because I know karate." I thought, and I got scared and jumped over on the other side of my bed. Then I heard my dog bark at the top of her lungs, and the sound of a gun shooting a bullet ran through the air. My dog started yelping and must have run out of his doggy door. I totally freaked out. I heard him start walking up our stairs (We have a two story house) and then walked into my parents bedroom. I ran to my drawer to pull out my knife (I am a blackbelt in karate and eskrima, which is stick and knife fighting) and then the man walked out into the hallway again and must have been pretty glad my parents weren't there…so I thought. Then I heard a phone dialing. It was my little brother, he must have woken up. The man heard and ran in to his room, and I tried to run after him, but my feet wouldn't budge. I thought I heard him yell "You better not call the cops!" But I'm not sure. Then I heard a window shatter and a gun shot. I finally had the courage to run in the room, and I found my brother dead holding his favorite toy sword, and the window shattered with blood on the lawn. It took me a couple minutes to put the pieces together. My brother had hit him with his sword and he flew out the window (my brother had a pretty strong arm) and he had shot him before he fell. I looked for the body but it was gone. By then I realized my other toddler brother and my sister (who was only a year younger than me) were standing beside me. Only about a couple minutes later we had called my parents and they were home, and contacted the police. We all found the man had escaped, but I really didn't care, the only thing on my mind was my brother…dead. This really doesn't matter right now, but we had to take our faithful dog to the hospital to put a cast on his leg that the man shot before he lost blood and died. Ever since that day I've kept the knife I pulled out that day under my pillow in case he was to strike again.

Then I woke back up to reality. I must have spaced out a couple of seconds. The kid walked off even though I didn't answer him, I must have looked like the toughest kid on earth after he mentioned my brother. After that I walked home and got ready to go to my karate class. A couple minutes later I got on my bike and headed to the place. I practice harder and harder every day there. If anyone comes to attack again, I'll be more than ready. At least that's what I told myself. After school my dad and my mom were home for once, and we played Wii bowling as a family. Of course my little brother would always let go of the controller so my mom had to help him out. Then I went out on my bike down to the beach and through the woods into my secret spot.

I live in Seaside Oregon, very close to the beach. But I'm not really in the place where there are tons of people everywhere on the beach; I live in a more secluded area, which most people would call private property. On the beach, there's a forest on the right, and if you walk through it long enough and head west in it, you will reach a secret beach where you can see the sunset all year long and look at the clouds in the day and the stars at night. I had created my own little house with all the necessities of living, completely out of the supplies in the forest. There was a giant rock you could climb up and sit on, almost as if it was a chair, because one side of the rock was taller than the other. Luckily for me the shorter side was facing the ocean. Me and my brother had discovered it, but I was the only person who knew about it now. I must have stayed looking at the stars for hours, and I got home really late. I secretly took one of my parent's instant working sleeping pills and went to bed, which may have been the second biggest mistake of my life.