The next couple of days mom had finally picked up the courage to kick dad out of the family house, the breaking point was in the car park of the school when she was knocked down to the ground after another slap from him. For once dad grabbed his belongings when we returned and left the house immediately, he hasn't been back to the house since he moved into a motel nearby

Going into the back garden I found mom placing some of dad's clothes onto the firepit she created, dad had taken most of his prized possessions but was still in the moving stage of leaving the family house

'How much have you got left to burn mom?' I asked

'There's only a few more shirts left in his wardrobe but it's nearly all gone'

'Has he tried to get back into contact with you'

'Not since that day in the school car park' she informed me. 'If he ever tries to come back here then don't let him in'

'Why's that'

'Your dad has been harassing me for the last few days to forgive him and give him another chance'

'Have you contacted the police about him'

'I've put a restraining order against him and it's being finalised in a courtroom next week'

'So he's officially gone from our lives'

'Not until next week but he will be gone for good from my life' she smiled happily. 'But it's up to you and Teddy if you want to continue to have a relationship with him'

'I think that will be a no from the both of us'

'Babe I was thinking, maybe the three of us could go away in the summer to California to visit my sister'

'It's been so long since they moved away from here. I can't wait to see them all again especially Hannah'

'So would you be open to the idea of moving to Crestmont'

'When did you decided to up root us all to California'

'I was talking to my sister last night and she suggested the idea of starting again somewhere new just like they did' my mom explained. 'I wouldn't move our family up just right now but in the summer when it would be easier to put you both in a school'

'A change of scenery could be something that we all need but you have to talk to Teddy about it first before you move us away' I exclaimed. 'Hey mom, would you mind if I threw some stuff on the fire as well that dad bought me over the years'

'No go ahead'

My mom threw on the last remaining pieces of clothes that dad left behind onto the firepit, before I went inside of the house she told me to ask Teddy if had anything he wanted to burn from his dad. Coming down minutes later I had my arms full of clothes and pictures of my childhood with him that I wanted to get rid of for good

Teddy came out into the garden not long after I chucked my memories of dad on the burning fire, my little brother came out into the garden with sport jerseys and equipment that dad had tried to force him into sports over the years

'You sure you want to burn all that?' I questioned

'I'm not into my sports and you all know that but dad kept on insisting'

'Fair enough'

I knew in my dad's eyes I was more his golden child than Teddy because I was everything he wanted his son to be, I guess Teddy never really lived up to his expectations so he tried to force sports down his throat when he was never interested in the first place

Mom came back out of the kitchen with three bottles of beer in her hand, Teddy threw on the last pieces of sports gear onto the pit, the fire sizzled nicely as it had more fuel to keep it burning. Mom handed us a beer bottle each and I quickly screwed off the top of mine

'I think we should toast this occasion' she declared

'Ok but to what exactly' I sighed

'To a better life'

'I can drink to that' Teddy interjected quickly

The three of us clinked our bottles off one anothers and took a drink, everything about this moment was just perfect, a beer in one hand and surrounded by the people we loved most in our lives…..

The temperature was dipping outside and the night was drawing in as it got darker outside and the clouds rolled in. Once it was decided that we were having pizza for dinner we waited in the living room for the food to arrive, after the usual wait of half an hour for the food to arrive the three of us headed upstairs to mom's bedroom

'So what are we going to watch?' Teddy enquired, flipping open the pizza box

'It's been a shitty last couple of weeks and there's only one film that will cheer me up' mom exclaimed

'Oh not again mom' he groaned loudly

'Come on baby it's mine and your brother's favourite'

'Fine but you owe me one'

I hurried to the dvd shelf and picked out our favourite dvd before placing it into the disc player, turning around mom and Teddy got into the bed with the pizza boxes placed on their laps, curling up to my mother's side I got the movie set up for the evening and picked up a pizza slice….

After an hour and forty minutes had passed and we were rolling through the ending credits, my mom and I favourite scene was coming up at the end, turning to each other in anticipation of it, as Matthew Broderick come out of one of the rooms and onto the landing looking directly into the camera

'It's over, go home'

The smile on both of our faces was enormous when we mimicked the line to each other, to be honest it took a whole different meaning tonight when home was just the three of us from now on

'Tonight was just perfect' she declared

'I can't even remember the last time we spent an evening together as just a family'

'It's bringing back a lot of memories of when we would cuddled up in your bed and watch movies together' Teddy proclaimed

'Then we should pretend it's like old times tonight then' she smiled

'What sleep in here with you' I stated

'Why not? I miss cuddling you both when you were little babies'

'Ok'

Teddy and I rushed to our rooms to change into our nightwear and hurried back, I slid into one end of the bed as my brother did the other while mom was stuck in the middle of us, she cuddled with Teddy and strokes his hair away from his forehead

'Mom there's something I need to tell you' my little brother piped up, turning his face over to look at her

'What is it my little Teddy bear'

'It's something I've been wanting to tell you for a very long time'

'You sure now is the right time Teddy' I interjected

'Don't interrupt your brother, you can tell me now if you think it's the right time baby'

'Well there's never a right time but since dad is gone from our lives for good I thought why not tonight' he explained. 'I'm gay mom'

'I know' she nodded

'You know' Teddy and I replied in unison

'You told your brother first instead of telling me? How long have you known Mason'

'Teddy only told me because he wanted to get it off his shoulders and be honest with someone in the house. I advised him not to tell you just in case dad overheard by mistake' I explained

'You could have told me teddy bear when we were alone in the house or the amount of quality time we spent together'

'I didn't want to let you down mom'

'You could never let me down but I can't say the same about your father'

'But how did you know that I was gay? I never left you any signs'

'A mother always has a sixth sense when it's regarding their kids. You could have kept this hidden from me for years and I still would have known'

'So your not disappointed I'm not going to bring a girl home'

'All I want is both of you to be happy and that is something we can have when we move to Crestmont'

'We're moving?' he cried, startled by the revelation

'In the summer teddy bear and you can be open as much as you want about your sexuality without any fear'

'Dad is definitely not coming back into our lives'

'When the restraining order is finalised we can all move on with our lives' I added

'He will never hurt you again in any way babe, not even over my dead body' she exclaimed. 'Night babe'

Mom leaned over and kissed Teddy sweetly on his cheek a couple of times before turning over and grabbing my chin, pulling my head down towards her so it was easier to kiss goodnight on my cheek. The three of us cuddling together as we settled in the night in my mom's bed….

After freshening up for the day and coming down the staircase, I heard the radio turned up higher than usual with Wake Up from The Boo Radleys playing. Mom was in the kitchen making pancakes for breakfast with Teddy sat at the breakfast bar waiting for them

'Morning babe' she greeted

'Morning you seem in a cheerful mood'

'Last night was the first time in years that I slept stress free' she explained. 'Are you going somewhere?'

'I thought I might go for a run this morning'

'Don't you want your breakfast first it's nearly done'

'Save me some for after my run'

Walking into the kitchen I kissed my mum's cheek and grabbed a pancake out of the plate she put aside so she could stake them up. Before I could leave I was pulled back on the arm and turned around to face her

'Maybe we could have another movie night? If you don't fancy that then we could go out somewhere the three of us'

'Yeah just let me know what you two decide and I'll be there'

'Alright honey enjoy your run' she replied. 'Mason babe, I love you'

'I love you too mom'

Mom leaned forward on her tiptoes to reach my height and deeply kissed my cheek, waving me off as I left the kitchen to go on my run. Going past Teddy I swiped another pancake from his plate and shoved it into my mouth

'What the hell man' he groaned whilst tucking into his breakfast

'I need the energy and besides just take one of mine'

'Don't worry I will'

Grabbing my running watch from the sideboard I placed it onto my wrist, leaving the house in a rush I pulled the door behind me, unsure that it locked into place and properly shut closed behind me, it wasn't long before I could heard a muffled voice from behind the door

'It's ok I got the door babe' mom shouted

Nothing really happened in this neighbourhood and I trusted mom would close the door straight after she made the pancakes. Walking away from the doorway I made my way down to the sidewalk and stopping behind my mailbox, synchronizing my stopwatch to zero before pressing go and lightly jogging down the street

Turning my head behind me to the house nothing had changed and I thought about going back and closing it but mom said she would handle it, I hope nothing happens whilst I'm away…..

After running ten kilometres in under an hour I finally passed the mailbox outside of the house, going up the driveway to the front of the house the door was still ajar as I had left it before an hour ago. Mom was always security conscious and she wouldn't have forgotten to close the door after I had left earlier

Pushing the door open gently straight away the aurora of the house just seemed off to me, before it was warm and welcoming but now it was just cold and empty. No one was downstairs or in the kitchen for that matter from what I could see. Mom and Teddy had probably gone out together somewhere

I went up the staircase and Teddy's bedroom door half opened which I found odd, he never kept it like that when he was in or out of the house, deciding to inspect his bedroom to see if he was still here I pushed open the door, seeing him face down in the bed I thought he had his earphones and was listening to some music

'Teddy'

I had no response from him and stepped closer into the room, knowing he would sense my presence by now but still there was no movement.

'Come on now stop messing around Teddy'

Standing over him by the edge of the bed I had enough of his non answering and decided I would just turn him over in his bed. I grabbed his sides and flipped him over onto his back so he would face me now, what I saw next frightened the life out of me and couldn't believe it was real. Teddy was pale and cold to the touch with his eyes wide open motionless and hand marks wrapped around his neck

'No no no…' I cried hysterically

I pressed my index and middle finger together and checked Teddy's pulse on his neck, my heart breaking little by little when I couldn't find a pulse on my little brother, I don't know how this could have happened. My mind wasn't thinking straight and I didn't know where or what condition my mom could be in right now

Hearing a bang coming from downstairs I feared an intruder had come in after me in the house or worst still Teddy's killer could still be here hiding somewhere, I didn't want to call the cops just yet in case it was just my neighbours or my mom in the house.

'I'm so sorry Teddy' I cried quietly

Reaching over his pale face I closed his eyelids shut and leaned over my brother's forehead, softly kissing him goodbye as I held back the tears. I don't know what I'm gonna do without him by my side for the rest of my life, he shouldn't have been taken from this world so soon

Still intrigued by who the mysterious intruder who could be inside of my house I left Teddy's bedroom to find out, softly placing one foot in front of the other down the staircase to make less noise I could hear murmurs and shallow crying coming from the basement, going past the living room no one was here so I went to check in the kitchen next

Plates and kitchen utensils were scattered across the worktops as a struggled had taken place in here whilst I was out of the house, droplets of blood smeared the counter tops and dripped down the sides, deciding to investigate the trail around the corner I found my mother lying on the floor

Panic mood set into my body as I scrambled to my mother's side to check for a pulse and see that she was ok instead of having the same fate as my brother upstairs. Sitting on my legs I pressed two fingers against her pulse and felt nothing, I picked my lifeless mother up and held her close in my arms

'What is happening?' I cried quietly. 'What am I going to do without you now mom'

My mom was also cold to the touch and had her neck slit with loads of stab wounds to her chest, her life was more viciously taken than my little brother and now both of them were gone from my life, what should have been a new chapter in our lives ended before it even began

I didn't want to let my mother go and just hold onto her for hours before I called the authorities to deal with what happened. Just talking sweet nothings to her as I buried my face in the crook of her neck and just wept silently, with what was left of my broken heart it crushed into little pieces now ….

Hearing the same whelping noise again coming from the basement the intruder was still in the house, closing my mother's eyelids and gently placing her body down on the floor I got up to investigate the sound. The noise got louder and louder from the basement as it was climbing up the staircase

I grabbed a knife out of the holder for protection just in case the intruder had a weapon on them, instead of hiding from the noise in the basement I would wait for them to come out of hiding. The door to the basement slowly crept open and I clutched the knife tightly, a weeping man turned around after checking the surroundings and I was surprised who it was

'What are you doing here?'

He was just as startled by my voice as I was just seeing him here when he was the last person I expected it to be. Dad had some red marks on his shirt and on the sleeves of his jacket, he casually entered the living room like he had no clue what has happened in here

'Are you going to answer me or what?' I questioned, following right behind him into the living room

'Sorry Mason I was miles away'

'What are you even doing here?' puzzled by his appearance when he had kept his distance

'I have come around to make things right'

'Now isn't a really good time dad'

'But today is perfect for making this family right once and for all'

Totally confused by what he meant I caught out from the corner of my eye my dad drop a knife down from his sleeve, holding the tip of the blade in his fingers he raised his hand over me to cut me open

'What the hell'

'I know you found your mother and brother dead and now, you're going to share the same fate as them'

Dad let the knife drop more out of his sleeve and came rushing at me to attack, throwing furniture to block his path I rushed over quickly to the fireplace to pick up the poker to defend myself with. Just as I was about to try and swing at my dad I felt the knife sink into my shoulder, the pain intensifying when the sharp object was removed from my shoulder, I knew I had to move or I would keep on getting stabbed by my dad

Feeling the blood flowing freely down my back I tried to disarm my dad with the stick but it was no good, his will was stronger to finally end my life as he held me to the ground and tried to choke me out. Air was slowly passing through my throat as I was losing consciousness from the pressure, luckily enough I got a hold of the fire poker again and struck against his back, a few strikes on him I managed to wiggle enough room to escape his clutches and scramble to the other side of the room

Looking back up to my father there was just pure evil in his eyes and ending my life would make things right in his eyes as he cleaned up his mistakes over the years of having an unloving family. Having already taken my brother and mother from me I wouldn't let him take my life next

I charged at him forcefully across the room and managed to knock him unbalanced to the ground, gripping his wrist with the knife in his hand I kept on slamming it to the ground to knock it unlose and kicked it aside. Now fully unprotected I could get some sort of vengeance on him

Clenching my fist I punched my dad as hard as I could in the face, letting my rage take over me just the same when I went ballistic against Jacob in the school yard. I was in a daze and everything around me when mute after hit after hit I delivered to my dad, catching my breath I notice his was unconscious on the floor and motionless

'Oh shit'

I placed my index and middle finger together and checked for a pulse on his neck and found that he was still alive. There was no point sitting around the house waiting for him to come around for us only to clash again, it was time the authorities were involved and I let my aunt know the heartbreaking news of what has happened

After calling the police and telling them about what I had found in my house, they told me officers and paramedics were on their way as we spoke. Coming outside of the house I left ajar the front door and sat outside on the curb waiting for them

Going through my contacts on my phone I found my aunt's number and lingered my thumb over the call button. Hitting call I waited for the line to be connected before I heard her voice

'Hey babe' Feeling comfort again after hearing a familiar voice I picked up the courage to speak

'Um aunt Liv... something has happened up here'

'What's wrong Mason?' she enquired, the tone in her voice changing

'I need your help with a few things, it's mom and Teddy'

The next few minutes were sounds I would never forget after hearing my aunt sobbing at the news that her little sister and nephew were dead by my father's hands. I could hear the noise of sirens bellowing in the distance as they turned a corner quickly to come to the aid of my family but it was simply too late…...