1 CHAPTER 1

*loud music playing*

"Where's the banana milk that I had in the back of my dresser? Arghhh! I'm so sick of this! If you guys aren't gonna come clean then you leave me no choice but to cancel movie night!" Bree yelled while walking towards the living room.

As she was still looking for her missing banana milk, she noticed her brothers were fast asleep in the living room with the tv on. She admired the way they get along. They used to fight all day, every day when their parents were around. Bree was never really around to watch them grow up. She had always been busy with college and her part time job that she missed out on their childhood. Almost all of it. However, all of that changed one day. The day they lost their father.

*flashback*

"Alright kids, daddy will be home by next Tuesday. Take care of your brothers Bree. Boys, remember to be nice to your sister while I'm gone" Mr. Dallas bid to his kids before leaving to Spain. "Honey! Hurry up please or else we're going to miss our flight" he called out for his wife.

"I'm here! I'm here! Let's go. Bye kids. Mommy will be back in no time" Mrs. Dallas said while rushing out of the house. "Alright, let's go!"

Bree waited for them to be completely out of sight before bringing the kids inside. Bryce, the youngest, started to let out silent tears while walking very slowly towards the front door. Feisty little eight-year old has never been away from their parents.

"Don't worry, they'll be back before you know it" Bree reassured Bryce as she wiped his tears away. He simply smiled and went to the gaming room to ease his mind. Brad on the other hand was looking quite relieved that their parents are away.

"You seem quite pleased upon their absence. Should I be worried?" Bree questioned the 14-year old with a concerned look on her face.

"Of course! Finally, I get to stay up late without having to explain my so called bad behaviour" Brad smirked.

"We've talked about this Brad. Staying up late is not a bad behaviour. It's just bad for people your age. Daddy was just trying to prevent you from having sleep disorders. Now, it's almost dinner time so why don't you and Bryce wash up while I make us something to eat" said Bree before walking to the kitchen.

*time skip*

It was half past ten when the house phone rang. The kids were very excited as only their parents call them using the house phone. The three of them ran to the study room to answer the call. However, as soon as Bree answered the call, she couldn't help but to fall to the ground with a waterfall of tears running down her cheeks. The boys tried to shake her to reality to ask her what was the call about. She took about 20 minutes to return to reality. It was then she looked at them and said with a broken voice that their parents wouldn't return. Not then, not forever.

Ever since then, Bree has been taking care of her brothers. She was a sophomore in college as well as a part time dance instructor at her best friend's studio. She was living the life of a single mother indeed. The only plus point she has is that the apartment that they now live in is only a 10-minute walk from Bryce's school. Brad, on the other hand, was home schooled. They couldn't find a high school that is near to where they live. They had to make a lot of changes after the incident. Their parents' house was just too painful to live in. Bree bought the luxury house as far away as possible from home. She couldn't bare to see her brothers waking up and running to their parents' room to sit and stare at an empty wall. It hurt her too much to see them that way.

Every morning, Bree wakes up early to prepare breakfast for the boys and get them ready for school. She walks Bryce to school and heads to college. Brad is old enough to get himself ready to be home-schooled with teachers online. Bree has her classes until 3p.m. on weekdays. After her classes, she rushes to walk Bryce back home to have tea at 4 p.m. Lucky for Bree the school offers lunch. They often have take outs on weekdays as Bree needs to be at the studio by 6p.m. to help her best friend set up and she will return not before 11p.m.

The boys have been used to this schedule and don't really feel tired. At least not anymore. Everything was going smoothly until today. Bree was heading back from the studio as she got a call from an unknown number. She was planning on avoiding it but she remembered that she ordered pizza to be delivered to her place. She thought it could be the delivery man calling as no one answered the door.

"Hello?" said Bree looking around to check if she was being followed.

"Your time is almost up Bree. Good luck!" exhaled the person on the other end of the line before aggressively ending the call. It seemed to be a male in his late 20s at least.

Not wanting to worry much about it Bree kept walking home, past the dark alleys of her housing area. She noticed the lights were off. Unusual for the boys always keep the lights on, even when they go to sleep. They hated the darkness. Always had and always will. Still, she refused to panic and went in. She headed straight to the kitchen to have a bite after draining her energy with non-stop dancing. Surprisingly, the pizza box was empty. She thought the boys might have been craving a late-night snack and let it slide. She was walking towards the fridge to get something to ease her hunger when she had an instinct to finally turn on the lights. Only when she turned on the lights, she realised that the place was completely trashed.