1 Prologue

"My past is an armor I can't take off no matter how many times you tell me the war is over."

-Jessica Katoff-

...

Summer of 2015: four years ago

The hairs on my neck stood at alert hearing constant banging of the front door. It seemed like someone was trying to pry the door open by tearing the latch apart.

I shot out of the bed quickly and tiptoed into the hallway where I also found mother standing. She put a finger to her lips and waved me over to follow her. We went into her room where she had one of her drawers open and pulled out a gun.

"Wh.... why do y..." my eyes were wide and I was a stuttering mess. She however ignored my attempt at questioning her and held my hands in her warm ones.

"I will explain everything however I want you to be silent and follow me" she then released one of my hands and started pulling me towards the stairs.

The banging of the door was now louder since we had descended the stairs and rushed into the library where we had a small hideout. My heart was beating frantically because I could not understand what was going on. I had never seen mother hold a gun and casually at that.

I was brought out of my reverie by three different voices. They had broken down the door. A gruffy voice barked orders and only the sound of heavy combat boots on the floors could be heard.

"Ice if anything happens, I want you to know that I've always loved you so much and I want you to take care of yourself use this if you must" she said placing the gun in my clothing and secured it so that it would not be found easily.

She wiped away the fat tears that cascaded my face and hugged me tightly to her frame. I brought my arms around her as well. Her actions made my heart flutter in anxiety since it seemed like it would be the last time.

Our little moment was cut short when we heard boots thudding across the threshold and the same gruffy voice rudely asking the others to find us

"Cook she is not upstairs we need to check downstairs and whether there's a back entrance." The guy who I assumed was the leader,only answered with a grunt.

"They are going to find us soon I want you to try and fit yourself through that tiny door so that they will not see you. You can come out after they have left the library." I began shuffling and managed to squeeze myself through the small door. It was made in a way that I could see the outside but someone outside the library could not see me.

I put my hand on my mouth to muffle my cries. I was terribly horrified and being claustrophobic did not help my case. I opened my mouth so that I could breathe in more air but in vain. They were so close I could hear them clearly now. I saw mother silently prayed and took deep breaths before throwing down a book that landed with a thud, catching the attention of the burglars.

"Did you hear that, check where that book fell from." Cook bellowed out and began to laugh hysterically. I shifted my stance so that I could see him clearly. He had dirty blonde hair that was greatly disheveled. He really did seem like a thug with crooked features and a gruesome scar that ran along his nose to his left eye. I shuddered in fear of this man.

"Tie her up" he said while picking out a cigarette from his front pocket and put it to his lips which showed a glimpse of stained teeth.

One of the men hauled her from the hideout and tied her to a chair. Cool then grabbed a chair and placed it in front of her and inhaled deeply from his cigarette before taking it out.

"Listen here, tell me what I need to know and there won't be a lot of damage." Was this how burglars were these days?

"I have no idea what you're talking about. You must be mistaken" this angered him deeply because he stood up in a rage and grabbed mother's hair yanking it backward so that her face was tilted up to him.

"Am I Anyes, am I really mistaken?" I gasped at the realization that he knew mother's name. It was clearly not a burglary but more like a personal vendetta.

"One last time. And you know what I'm talking about so you better not act stupid. He released her hair and began circling her like a predator would a prey.

She only lowered her head down saying she did not know anything. Cook immediately struck her across her face making her whimper. What was wrong with these people. I wanted to go out there and help her but I knew to obey mother.

"You two start setting the house on fire." He growled at his two accomplices. He then moved closer to mother and ripped off her clothing before violating her. Tears no longer flowed out of my eyes as my body entered a state of shock.

I pulled out the gun from its hiding place and got out of the small door carefully not to attract attention to myself and hid under a table not to be seen by cook while he put his clothes back on. I could see that the two men had now gone out of the house and were waiting outside for cook.

"Hey you " I shouted to the scum bags' retreating figure. He turned to me and before he had the chance to advance towards me, I pulled the trigger without hesitation landing right between his eyes. Hearing the gunshot, the other two men wanted to rush back in but were blocked by a fiery beam that fell through.

I rushed over to mother and shook her in attempts to wake her up but she wasn't budging. The house was now beyond saving Grace as everything was licked by the reddish flames. I could now faintly see the orange hues as the grotesque red had been tainted by thick black clouds of smoke before my vision went black.