1 Prologue (1/3)

The fresh oiled door opened without a sound as a slightly intoxicated young boy waddled in. His pitch-black hair slightly camouflaged in the darkness of the penthouse loft as the soft glow of the full moon shone through the giant panes of windows, accenting his hazel-colored pupils.

Making his way past the giant pillar located near the entrance, he found the open planned living area and plopped himself down onto the couch, tossing the rolled-up sheet of A4 paper he had in his hands onto the coffee table beside him.

"Brother?" A small tired voice echoed out in the silent building as he looked up, catching the glimpse of a small 11-year-old girl, carefully walking herself down the white stain-glass stairs in a pastel pink dinosaur onesie.

"Delilah." The boy let out a smile as he stood up and picked her up, cradling her in his arms.

"Welcome back," Delilah smiled back, rubbing her eyes.

"You can go back to sleep." He comforted her, pinching her nose which caused her to pout in annoyance.

"I wanted to congratulate you for graduating high school." She muttered, burying her head in his chest.

"Thank you." A smile formed on the boy's face as he hugged his sister close in his arms, her eyes slowly closing and dozed off once again.

A quick glance at the digital clock displayed on the wall showed a clear '1:04 am', way past any 11-year old's bedtime.

The boy quietly made his way upstairs and into the second room from the balcony.

"Good night, Delilah." He tucked her in bed and gave her a small kiss on the forehead.

Shutting the door behind him as he left the room, he walked back downstairs and headed straight towards the kitchen.

Because the penthouse loft they lived in was an open planned house, meaning little to no walls obstructed them from any areas of the house - excluding the bedrooms and bathroom, going from one area to the other was rather simple.

Grabbing himself a glass of water to sober himself up, he crashed back onto the couch and rolled open the A4 piece of paper.

Typo-graphed on the top of the paper were the three words, 'High School Diploma', and below that in fine writing, 'This certifies that Darwin Moss has satisfactorily completed the required course of study at Winterville High School and is hereby awarded this Diploma.'

"Finally," Darwin muttered, carefully rolling it back up and placing it back on the table. "It's just the beginning."

Suddenly, an ear-deafening crash exploded out from his left side as shards of glass shattered all over, revealing the silhouettes of five strong-looking men, all donning skin-tight black uniforms equipped with military-graded equipment.

"Who?" Darwin exclaimed in shock as he bounced off the couch in a hurry, his left hand scouring the side of the couch, finally reaching the small red emergency button placed there specifically for times like this.

"Target spotted," he heard one of the men say into a communicator.

"Who are you?" Darwin questioned, frowning as he spammed the button hurriedly, only to find nothing happening.

However, instead of answering his questions, the men rushed over at him without hesitation, wielding a combat knife in one hand.

With what seemed like the force of a car, the one who seemed to be the leader of the ground tackled Darwin to the ground, wedging the blade into his left shoulder.

"GAHHHH!" Darwin let out a gut-wrenching cry as the pain erupted all over his body, his arm screaming in agony.

"G-Get away from my brother!" A sudden nervous voice interrupted the ordeal as Delilah appeared at the bottom of the stairs; in her handheld a hefty-looking taser gun. "I-I'll shoot!" She warned, her eyes filled with tears, but her hands still held the gun steadily aiming at the intruders.

The 5 men glanced at each other before giving each other a small nod.

The leader reached into a small pocket in his vest, pulling out a long syringe filled with a clear liquid inside.

With a clean swoop, he plunged it right into Darwin's neck, squeezing it down and emptying the content to the last drop.

"W-What did you do? Get away from him!" Delilah screamed, pulling on the trigger, instantly releasing the electrified prongs into the bulletproof vest of the man, which he simply swiped off to her despair.

'Let's go.' He gestured, running back out of the penthouse and leading to them all to jump out the 45th-floor window.

"B-Brother!" Delilah dropped the taser, running to Darwin's side her face wet with tears and snot.

Beside her on the blood-soaked rug, Darwin began repulsing repeatedly on the ground, the knife which was embedded shook loose, dropping down beside him as Delilah tried to calm him down.

"B-Brother!" She frantically cried, not know how to help, "I-I don't want to lose you too!" She wept, hugging him down as hard as she could.

"C-Call- GAHH" Darwin managed to croak out between his seizes before another bout of pain erupted within him.

Understanding the message, Delilah put on a brave face and stood up, wiping the tears from her eyes. She rushed over to the kitchen counter, grabbing Darwin's phone which she had seen him leave there previously.

Switching it on, she hurriedly dialed the three emergency digits.

"Winterville Police Department, what is your emergency?" A calm voice rang out from the other end.

"M-My brother needs help!" Delilah exclaimed, trying to keep in the tears.

"What happened to your brother?" The dispatcher's voice softened as she heard the voice of a little girl on the other end.

"H-He was stabbed!" Delilah replied, "Five people broke into the house and stabbed him. Now he's shaking on the ground."

"Where is your address?" The dispatcher's voice becoming worried, "Are the five people still inside the house?"

"Uh. My house is the big penthouse on 23 Leston Avenue." Delilah recounted her brother's words when he had once ordered a package online. "The people ran away after they stabbed him."

"Alright. Help will be there within 5 minutes." The dispatcher assured her, "Make sure to keep your brother awake. Keep talking to him. Don't make him fall asleep. " She advised.

"Ok. Please hurry up." Delilah responded with a sniffle as she went back to her brother's side, holding his hands as she felt his pulse beating through the veins in his palm.

"Don't die on me," She wiped a tear, as she watched Darwin's convulsions slowly calm back down.

"Please stay on the phone with me while you wait for the ambulance to arrive." The dispatcher said calmly on the other side.

As seconds began feeling like hours, and the patience in Delilah began to dawdle, the loud knock on the door was like the rekindling of hope.

"Winterville Ambulance!" A loud authoritative voice called out from behind the door.

"C-Coming!" Delilah let go of her brother's hand and ran over to the front door, unlocking it and peeking her head out.

In front of her stood a tall bulky man and a few others behind him. The clear police uniform and badge out on display to authenticate their identity.

"Over here," She nodded, leading them to the living room where Darwin laid.

"We need a stretcher and bandages," The doctors began getting to work as soon as they saw the crime scene.

"What's your name?" One of the doctors knelt down to face Delilah who seemed as if she was about to cry.

"Delilah." She replied hesitantly. "Delilah Moss."

An eyebrow perked up as the officers heard her introduce herself, a sense of pity overwhelming them.

"Delilah. Your brother will just fine." He comforted her, patting her head. "We'll make sure of it, ok?"

"Mm." She nodded, forcing out a smile.

"C'mon, let's drive you and your brother to the hospital." The officer held out a hand as soon as he saw the others carrying Darwin out the door with a stretcher.