Chapter 2;The Hunted

Dawn abruptly woke up at the midnight,she checked the digital clock on her drawer and it showed 4:37am.At first,Dawn wanted to go back to sleep,but she couldn't go back to sleep and so she went out to grab a glass of water, and maybe squeeze in between of her parents,like she normally did.

On getting outside,she found traces of blood and shattered glass indicating a fight.She made her way to the living room to find more blood,glass,and scattered fur.Dawn was terrified,but had to keep going when she saw a leg stretching behind the centre table....it hit her when she realised it was her father's pyjamas on the ground with the blue stripes already painted in stains of red.

She staggered to get behind the centre table, to find her father's battered face looking pale and cold.

"Dad..." She muttered under her breath... getting closer she knelt down to feel he's heartbeat,which was already non-existent.

"Dad!!!" She could feel fear and panic creep into her.Tears started to rain down her face...'he can't be dead'....'no!!!' She thought to herself.

"Mom...mom!!!" She ran to her parents bed room to see an empty space on the bed. She's not here...she checked the bathroom, every where.

Finding her way back to the living room, to find her dad's corpse laying in the same way she left him. She began to breakdown. She had to save her dad,and her mom was nowhere to be seen.

"No..." She muttered to herself.This was not the time to shed tears,she had to save her parent and then find out where her mom went to by this time of the night.

She went straight to the telephone and dialled the ambulance hotline,she had to tiptoe to dial the numbers.At the second dial,the call was picked.

In less than ten minutes,the ambulance arrived to the scene with the police.

Hearing the siren of the ambulance, the couple neighbours arrived at the house,to be greeted by the gruesome science and their neighbour's child in a crying mess.

Christabel,the wife of the man beside her,walked towards Dawn,and pulled her into a big hug to prevent her from seeing the gruesome scene,while her husband Henry called the police with a frown on his face

"Dad..." Muttered Dawn,after she was taken out of the house by Christabel.

"Don't worry...your dad is okay...he will be fine" She said to calm Dawn down,but she knew the man was cold dead and gone.

Dawn saw her father being carried in some sort of bed with wheels under,with his hand hanging in the air.

She wanted to follow her dad but was stopped by Christabel while her husband got in instead.She enveloped her in a big bear hug, while letting her face the opposite direction of where her father was.

"Dad..." Dawn muttered, choking on her own tears.

"Dad is fine, he's going to be fine" Christabel kept repeating those words like a charm while rubbing her back.

The cold air of the night blew against her hair and dried tears.Her black straight hair stuck messily against her face because of her tears,her usually black,bright, obsidian eyes looked battered and soulless,too tired to even shed more tears.

She felt Christabel pat her back gently,as if she would break down and shatter into a million pieces with a slight mistake.

She caught sight of a man in a normal attire but with an ID card on his neck,he seemed like an investigator.

"Ma'am" He called pulling Christabel's attention to behind her.She stood up and pulled Dawn to her side.

"Yes?" She asked,looking at the man with eyes of hope.

"Is she the daughter?" He asked looking at Dawn with eyes of pity.

"Yes she is. Any problem?" She asked looking at the man with questions in her eyes.

"I have a few questions to ask you dear" He said after squatting down to meet Dawn's eyes.And completely ignoring the look of hostility coming from Christabel.

"You can't just go ahead asking questions from a kid,who is obviously still tensed!!! Don't you have any work ethics?!?" Christabel was beyond furious,and pulled Dawn to her back in a defensive stance.

The detective rolled is eye in annoyance over this woman's behaviour.He stood up and faced the woman.

"Ma'am, I have to ask her questions tonight because by tomorrow she might not be able to answer clearly,she is a child...and the only witness to whatever happened in there,and we wouldn't want the only tangible evidence to get tempered with" He said,trying to sound as polite and respectful as possible cause this was he's work line and he couldn't let he's emotions cloud he's judgement.

Turning back to the girl,he asked as gently as ever "what's your name?"

"Dawn" She answered back in a shaky voice.

"Alright Dawn,my name is Detective Oliver" He declared placing his hand on he's chest.

"Why don't you come sit... you've been standing for too long" He carried her and placed her on his car trunk and then fished out he's pen and notebook in his jacket.

"Dawn...do you know where mom is??" He asked while trying to detect her emotions.

"Mom... she's not in her bedroom" She muttered under her breath while shaking her head.

"Yes... she's not here...did she tell you where she was going?"He asked with both he's eyebrows up.

"Mom... she's not here!!!"Her docile demeanor turned frantic,as she started to scramble down the car trunk...How could she have forgotten about her mom...She started running towards the door before she was held into a tight hug.It was Christabel.

"Mom!!!" Her mom was in there,and something kept telling her she was in danger.

"I told you!!! Look what you've caused" Christabel glared at the detective,before she started to walk away with Dawn in her arms.