Noel was just eight years old when her family was taken from her.

"No!" Noel shouted at the bad man. He was hurting her family. He was punching, and kicking, and stabbing her family. There was some blood. Some of it was her father's... some her mother's... but none of the bad man's. She couldn't move. Noel was in a corner, huddled into a ball. She couldn't move. That bad man was hurting her family.

He was kicking her mommy. "Shut!" Kick. "Up!" Kick. "You!" Kick. "Little!" Kick. "Brat!" Stomp. With ever kick, Noel flinched. Why couldn't that bad man just leave them alone? If his family was hurt, he would scream, too.

Noel's mother screamed as he crushed her hand with his foot. "Aww. Looks like someone going to have to see a doctor!" he taunted her, "I guess she got the screaming from you. How!? You aren't even her biological mother!" Her hand was broken for sure; the fingers were pointing in odd angles. Noel could feel the pain her mother was suffering. She didn't pay attention to what the bad man was saying. She was staring at her pinky. How could it bend that way?

He stepped off of her hand, and quickly grabbed her neck. Noel's mother gasped as he pulled her to her knees... her feet... and finally lifted her into the air. The bad man was choking her. Why was the bad man choking her? And Noel couldn't do anything about it.

"Mommy!" Noel shouted. She was paralyzed. She couldn't move. Everything has been well. She was dressed up in a plaid skirt with a pink polo shirt, ready to go to her grandmother's house. There was a knock at the door, and her father answered it. Everyone thought it was the mailman... but it was this bad man. He stabbed her father, allowing him to have no last words.

Her mother saw it, the murder. She rushed her little Noel into the living room with her, but the man was quick. He punched her mother, beat her until she bled. Noel couldn't move. The bad man was hurting her family. She just couldn't move...

Her mother knew was nearly the end for her. "Noel..." she choked out before his other hand grabbed the top of her head, "run." Just as she mutter those words, the bad man twisted her neck with a disturbing crunch. Her body fell, the carpet absorbing the blood.

Noel, without turning back, ran down the hallway. Door after door lead to bedrooms, bathrooms, storage rooms, the laundry room... but the door all the way at the end of the long, long hallway lead to the backyard. To freedom.

"Not so fast, you little brat." The voice sent chills up her spine as the bad man appeared in front of her. How could he do that?

She yelped. The bad man startled her, and she felt scared and confused. "Don't worry. I won't hurt you." Noel stepped back. She could hear the sarcasm in his voice, and a wicked grin slowly spread across his face.

"Leave... leave me alone!" She was trembling. She didn't do anything - couldn't do anything - as the bad man reached out and gently played with her hair. Her hair was as beautiful as gold. It was the same color, and just as shiny, if not more.

"Such pretty hair... It'd be a shame if you'd die." She flinched as he said, 'die'. Tears danced across her cheeks. She didn't want to die. She didn't want her parents to die, but she just watched them get murdered by this horrible man.

Oh, God. A terrible truth just crashed down on her. Her parents-

"Yes, they're dead."

"Ahh!" she screamed, gripping her head, which in turn grabbed his hand. "How can you-"

"Sweetheart, I work for an intelligence agency," the bad man told her, "I know almost everything." She was shaking, from fear, from grief, from self pity...

She sobbed. Noel couldn't lower her arms. She had a solid grip on her hair, and the bad man's hand. She stared at her feet, tears falling to her shoes. She just couldn't look up at him, the bad man that hurt her family. And she couldn't move.

He played with her hair a little longer, sometimes brushing her fingers. It felt weird. Her father never played with her hair before. "Well... I have to go. Have a nice rest... Noel." He freed his hand from her grip, and grabbed her shoulder. The bad man shoved her into the wall, so hard she had a concussion.

And the bad man walked away.