Before the crash, the man with the mask revisited me in my dreams.

His whispers were no longer completely indecipherable; I could make out a few words.

"Escape. It is not too late. Join us."

The commands sounded ominous, yet the enigma in the voice pervaded all sense of menace that the words carried. They were powerful, intriguing, and thought provoking. I saw the floating entity advance towards my face. It was hauntingly entrancing, and like before, I was rooted to the ground. Total blackness enveloped me.

But this time, I no longer had the urge to run away. The cacophonous screams no longer scared me, for I knew that when the mask finally approached me, they would cease. I waited patiently for the moment.

This time, though, something else happened. At first, the closer the mask was, the quieter the screams became. But then, when it was merely feet away from my face, and the screams were just about to die out, there was a huge, loud crash. I felt myself falling into the darkness below, and as I looked up, I saw something that made me want to cry out in agony.

The mask had cracked into pieces.

CRASH

I jolted upright. Screams surrounded me. Except this time, I knew I was awake; the wooden panels above my head stared back at me, reminding me of the fact that I lived in such an awful place.

"YOU THOUGHT YOU COULD LEAVE ME FOR THAT BASTARD? I'M GOING TO KILL HIM, AND YOU'RE GOING TO WATCH, BITCH! "

"NO, SEIJI, PLEASE, I'M SORRY! PLEASE, LEAVE HIM ALONE!"

My heart jumped into my throat; Seiji had found out. I didn't know how, but he did. I scanned the room for Akash, to find him sobbing in the corner.

"Poppa's gonna hurt Mr. Fa," he whimpered. I threw my arms around him, holding his head on my chest.

"Not in this lifetime," I whispered. I was out for blood this time. I would kill Seiji if I had to.

Overcome by a pure, blinding rage, I kicked the door down with my foot; it landed with a thud on the floor. I stomped into the living room, to find Seiji holding Momma against the wall with his filthy, grimy hands. Mr. Fa was lying on the floor, blood trickling from his nose.

Seiji and Momma both stopped screaming to turn around to me. Seiji looked like an animal, his eyes bloodshot, psychopathic, and murderous.

"Let her go right now," I warned. From the corner of my eye, I looked for anything lethal, anything that could wrestle the life away from this terrible man.

I couldn't go get a real weapon, like a knife, from the kitchen, otherwise he would sense it; I also couldn't bend, a disadvantage that prompted me to silently curse genetics.

I settled on a little jar; it was better than nothing. Then, I waited for the opportune moment.

"What are you going to do about it, you little scumbag?" he sneered. "You're just a little girl, no experience with martial arts, no bending, no nothing. I'll finish you off just like I finished that no-good, bastard, woman-stealer." He pointed his thumb to Mr. Fa. Then he began laughing, for the first time ever.

Seiji's laugh could be equated to the snorting of a pig-lamb.

"THINK AGAIN!" I shouted, grabbing the jar and hurling it as hard as I could at his face.

Time seemed to go in slow motion; all I needed was for the jar to hit him so that I could get a real weapon. I heard Momma gasp as the jar cut through the air towards Seiji. Satisfied, I turned around to run and get a proper weapon.

"AKIRA LOOK OUT!" Momma screamed.

Suddenly, I was on the floor, my head pounding like a drum, my vision blurry, and a strange moistness on the back of my head. I lifted my shaking hand to my hair, only to see a bright scarlet painting my fingers.

As I lay on the floor, footsteps crept towards me, and before I could blink, Seiji's gargantuan shadow shrouded me.

"You're dead," he growled.

"DON'T TOUCH HER!" Momma screamed, running in front of me. She shielded me with her body. "HURT HER, AND I WILL KILL YOU!"

That's when he did the despicable. Pulling his fists back, he hit her hard across the face. I shrieked with fury, but the severity of my head wound prevented me from getting up. I struggled to fight back, and managed to pull Seiji's hands back from continuing to hit Momma.

"GET OFF ME," he roared, turning towards me with his fist pulled back.

It was the last thing I heard before I felt a blunt pain in my face and I blacked out.