The Break In

I sat down in a chair that was placed across Aaron's desk. He sat down on the enormous chair across from me. He pulled out some pictures and placed them in front of me.

"See anyone familiar?" He asked.

I nodded as I saw the pictures of the guys that brought me there "Yes, they were the ones who took me from the house and brought me to that place"

"I see.." He placed two more pictures "What about them?"

"I don't know that guy," I pointed to the one with purple-striped hair "But, The other guy was the one who made sure they branded us"

"Wait, what? Where did they brand you?!" Aaron asked, seeming a bit panicked.

"On my arm.. why? What's wrong?" Seeing his worry made me worry.

Aaron stood up and grabbed my wrist. He pulled me down to the kitchen "Show me" he demanded.

"Why? What's going on? You're scaring me Aaron" I placed my hand on my sleeve wanting an answer before doing his request. Aaron pulled out a small knife from the drawer and turned to me, "Please do as I say"

I quickly pulled away from him after seeing the knife, "No! Don't touch me! I'm done getting hurt!"

Aaron slowly put the knife on the table and looked me in the eyes, "Sky, trust me, okay? I just need to check something. Please, do it for your boyfriend. It's not gonna kill you."

I grip my arm and furrowed my brows. I've already been through so much, this is nothing. I gave a small sigh before raising my sleeves and putting my arm on the table. Aaron gave me a small rag, "Bite down on this".

I take the rag and put it in my mouth as I watched him place the sharp end of the knife on the branded spot. I closed my eyes as I felt the knife cut into me. I held in all the pain I could. I could feel Aaron's finger digging into my open cut. Not being able to take it I pulled out the rag and yelled "Stop it! It hurts!"

Aaron pulled his hand away, "I got it," he said as he showed me, "It's a tracker. I knew they could have done something like that"

I slowly slide down onto the floor breathing heavily, "That... was too painful..." I muttered out.

Aaron bent down and rubbed my head, "It will be okay. Thank you, Sky. This helps us a lot, " He grabbed some bandages from the first-aid and started wrapping my arm up.

"Get ready, Sky. Tonight we will get the little girl back," Aaron smiled.

That night I gave Aaron more info, rested in my room, and waited for Aaron to come to get me. Aaron knocked before coming in, "Let's go, Sky. I'm gonna need your help. Although it will be very dangerous"

I got out of bed, "It's fine. You need my help and I need yours"

Aaron smiled and guided me down to the car. We hopped in and buckled up. Aaron turned to me, "Tonight we will save 2 people. Where she is, there is another person"

I nodded, "I understand but I don't get why they would put trackers inside us," I said.

Aaron started the car, and we headed to our mission, "They do that in case you run away. If your owner reports you missing, they can pay extra to find you or if you run away from them."

I frowned, "That's crazy..."

"That's business to them," Aaron replied.

We pulled up to an enormous house. Before Aaron got out, I grabbed his arm "Don't you have your badge? Don't you need something before going into someone's home?"

Aaron gave a nervous chuckle, "I-I don't need that stuff today. This is a dangerous place. If I show them who I am, we could get killed in a second. Now let's go," he got out quickly, and I followed behind him.

"I will check the windows, stay close," Aaron said as he got down on his knees and crawled around the building until he found the small window. I watched him as he looked inside, "Do you see anyone?" I asked. He nodded, "Yeah, a woman and the child are sleeping in the same bed. That's her" Aaron whispered. He turned to look at me, "I can't fit through this window. Can you? I'll get in another way" Aaron explained.

"Wait, wait, wait! What do I do if they catch me?" I've never broken into someone's house before. If they find me, they might kill me! I thought to myself.

Aaron placed his hand on my shoulder, "They won't find you. Trust me. Please go get her" he said as he pulled a small tool out of his pocket and used it to open the small window. I took in a deep breath before releasing and slid my feet in first. Once I was fully in, I landed on some old boxes. Luckily, they were full of something so I didn't fall through. I turned around and my eyes light up. Staring back at me was Layla and my mother... There was no mistake. The beautiful sea-blue eyes I am blessed with... the long, soft, chocolate hair that I longed to have...

My mother stared at me for a few minutes like she was staring at a ghost. I couldn't blame her. I did the same thing. My mom... my only parent who loved me. I felt like a little child again as I ran into her arms, "Mommy..." I mumbled quietly and hugged her tightly.

"My baby..." she whispered as she hugged me tightly. She pulled me away and cupped my cheeks gently, "My baby... you're all grown up now... How much I've missed you and wanted to watch you grow..." She placed her forehead against mine.

"I missed you too mother.. I've missed you so much!" I placed my hands against her cheeks.

She pulled away and frowned, "Why is your nose bleeding?"

Confused I whipped my nose and saw blood on my hand "I don't know.. It's nothing. It happened twice this week"

She looked around, "we need to get out of here. Let's go through the window you came from" She suggested and picked Layla up. Once we got to the window, the basement door slammed open, and a man walked in, "Well, well, well. What do you have here? A robber?" he chuckled as he got closer to us. I stood in front of my mother and Layla, "I'm taking them and leaving" I demanded. The guy grabbed my shirt but before he could do anything his head was cut clean off. Blood went everywhere and covered my face and clothes.

I stood there in shock and covered my mouth quickly. I stumbled back, trembling as I looked at the man was behind the headless body. Aaron with blood on him and his sword. I didn't think Aaron could do such things... yet he did... My mother had Layla's eyes covered the whole time.

Aaron grabbed a blanket from the bed and whipped his face and hands as he walked over to Layla. He glanced at my mom and she moved her hands away from Layla's eyes. The girl's eyes widen as she stared at Aaron. They welled up with tears as she hugs Aaron tightly. For the first time, I saw Aaron crying with her. His hands were shaky as they held Layla tightly. Who was Layla to him?