I ran as fast as I could to my house, it was already 2:30 in the morning and my curfew was at 1:00 am. But I knew what word to use to calm my mom down. I stopped running as I walked towards the porch. I quickly sprayed myself with perfume to hide the smell of weed, cigarettes, and alcohol and I threw a mint in my mouth just in case she wanted to talk.

See my mom thinks that she is sneaky and can detect if I've done anything. I laughed at the thought of my mother ever catching on to what I did at the concerts I went to with my friends. As I opened the door, any trace of a smile was wiped off my face. I stood at the door entrance as I saw my mom pointing a kitchen knife at a cloaked figure. There was blood streaming down her face. I looked at the scene around me and before my brain could register what was happening I had jumped on top of the cloaked figure and started thrashing my arms into the person's body.

I could hear my mom in the background, "Accio wand!"

Her voice was void of the soothing motherly tone I had always heard and was replaced with pure panic and alarm.

The person I was on top of was throwing themselves against the wall making my hold on them weaker, fortunately for me as my strength weakened my mother came back, with her wand at hand.

"Averte statura!"

I let go as soon as I saw her and the cloaked figure was sent backwards into our wall.

"Go get your wand." It was a command.

I ran into her bedroom and saw Chris' body lying on the floor. His eyes were wide open as though he had just seen a ghost. I couldn't move. This was the first time I had ever seen a dead body and it seemed so…so….unreal. I felt hot tears stream down my face as I fell to the floor. I made no noise, everything seemed to go slower until my mother ran into the room using a spell to seal the door shut but even then I could not tear my eyes away from his.

"Ainsley!....AINSLEY!" finally I looked into the watery eyes of my mother and my eyes were pleading for an answer to all this.

"Ainsley, sweetie…" she was crying, "I need you to calm down okay?!"

It wasn't really a question but a matter of having to do it. I whimpered and hugged her.

"Honey, everything's going to be…fine." She choked out the last word. I knew she was lying but I wanted so badly to believe her. "Here's your wand….I need you to get out of the house right now."

I ripped myself away from her and looked at her in disbelief. I nodded my head in disagreement.

"No! I can't…I won't! Mom please!" I started crying once again.

She put my wand in my hand and closed her hand on mine. Tears were flowing down her face, "Please Ainsley, you're my child and I would do anything in this world to protect you."

"No mom I c-"

"Ainsley PLEASE! You are the last thing I have of your father!" she cried out, "Please Ainsley…you have to." She said in a lower voice.

I finally nodded in agreement, "okay." I replied meekly looking into her sad eyes.

She smiled at my reply, "Thank you sweetie." She gave me one last hug, "Always remember your father and I loved and will always love you."

"I love you too, mom." Identical tears stained our faces.

BANG!

I jumped at the noise.

"Go on!" my mother yelled. "Everything's going to be fine okay."

I ran towards the window and kicked out the screen, I gave my mother one last pleading glance and ran.

I ran and ran and ran, my mind so desperately wanted to go back but my feet would not let me.

I could hear my mother's screams as I kept running and the only thing I could think of was myself. I kept running because the sounds of my feet hitting the ground diminished the screams of my dying mother.

When I reached the beach I knew I would be fine since the beach was about 4 miles away from my house and it was right in front of the city. I climbed up the lifeguard tower, I knew it would be open since my friends and I always used the same tower to smoke or drink, but this time the tower was not used for festivities it was my shelter and my asylum. I sat down on the floor and leaned myself against the wall. That night I cried myself to sleep hoping that in the morning I would wake up to my mom's unusually cheerful morning singing.

Again…Hopeful thinking.