1 A Princess

It has been five years, three months, two weeks, and four days since the tragedy that claimed her family happened. Yes, she was counting because she would return the exact pain she had carried in her heart for that long to him in one day.

Emily remembered that event like a scene in the movie. Five years ago, she was a princess pampered by her entire family as the only daughter out of three children. She was her parent's princess and her brother's beloved. They had her back all the time. She was beautiful and intelligent, it was like the whole world would be brought down to her feet if she asked for it, but one incident changed her life forever.

Five years ago.

Her family was gathered around the dining table, Eating and drinking as they laughed at her younger brother's jokes. Every evening, this scene was typical when the family was seated at the table.

She excused herself from the table to use the restroom when she suddenly heard a gunshot. She froze on the spot listening to the exchange of bullets. If Emily was not sure she was in the bathroom at that moment, she would have thought that she had heard the sound from an action movie.

Her heartbeat quickened like she was running a marathon. She placed both hands on her chest to control her heartbeats that beating like it was ready to limp out of her chest. Fear embraced her because she knew her house was being invaded, but who would dare invade the Williams residence. They had good security with skilled bodyguards.

Emily quietly pulled open the toilet door and peeped into the dining hall since she used the guest restroom.

She could see her parents on their knees with her two brothers. While some men were pointing their guns at them. She could not see the faces of the men since they had their faces masked, and a few had their backs on her.

Her heart missed a beat seeing this scene; it was a surprise that the men easily defeated their guards. She knew her father was not a saint who had never held a weapon before, so how did things get to this stage so quickly. Everything had happened too fast. It seems the men had already entered the house before the first gunshot was fired. The question was, how is that possible? There were security cameras all around the house, and one could even joke that not even a fly could get into the Williams mansion without permission.

"Was this the end of my family?" She could not help but ask herself as tears dripped down her eyes. She was so scared as she could feel the killing insist from the men, they did not look like they were there to steal. She used both hands to cover her mouth, afraid of making a sound. In the past, her father always told her that it was best to remain quiet in the face of danger. "Do not draw attention to yourself," he will say.

"Where is your daughter?" One of the men asked.

"She is not HOME," her father answered. Even if he was kneeling with a gun pointed at his head, Mr William looked calm and composed, as though what was pointed at him was a toy.

"You are trying to play smart," the man said and immediately SHOT at her elder brother.

Emily bites her tongue to stop herself from crying out. Who was this man, and why were they looking for her? she wondered. Of course, she did not offend anyone that should look for her in such a manner.

"I will ask again, where is your daughter" the man roared.

"We have no reason to lie to you, Emily is not home, she went for a sleepover." her mother answered, this time hugging the lifeless body of her son that fell on her. Mrs Willams wanted to comfort her son and tell him to hang on to life, but the bullet was on his chest. There was no way he could survive, but she hugged him and tried to transfer her warmth to him.

"You can search around the house if you don't believe us," her father said. That man was the strongest person Emily knew. Even with the current situation, he was still very composed, he did not seem shocked when his son got shot.

"I thought you verified that they were all at home," the man asked one of his people.

"Yes, I did, I am certain they are lying", the man being questioned answered. Emily could not see their face, but she was sure that it was nothing friendly.

The first man turned to her younger brother, who had his head bowed. "Where is your sister?" he asked. But her brother did not look up or attempt to answer. Her brother was entertaining to be with, but those close to him knew that he had a strong heart just like their father.

The man turned his head and shot at her father before pointing the gun at their mother.

"Your father is dead, tell me where your sister is, or your mother will join him. The man believes that it will be easy to frighten the teenage boy into speaking.

"My parents already told you, but you don't believe it. What will you have me say" her brother replied? His voice sounded calm, but Emily knew he was scared and anxious; she wanted to surrender herself, but her feet were stuck to the ground, she was scared out of her wit that her head seemed to be unable to command her legs. She could not move even a step, and tears just kept flowing down her eyes while her entire body shook with fear.

When the man noticed that the little guy was too stubborn to cooperate, he threatened their mother instead. After all, no mother could watch their child get killed when they could do something to stop it.

When he turned back to the woman, he noticed that she was falling off her knees. "Hold her up" he ordered.

His subordinate did as they were told, but the woman had already collapsed. "Wake her up" he shouted. The men tried everything they could to wake her up. They poured her cold water and slapped her a few times, but Mrs. Williams had a weak heart, so she could no longer take it seeing the lifeless bodies of her husband and son. All she wanted was to join them.

While they were a little distracted. Emily's younger brother got the gun under the table. He was just fifteen, but due to the peculiarity of his family, he already knew how to use a gun and basic self-defense, Unlike his sister who was treated like a princess right from birth. He quickly shot at the man that seemed to be their leader since he had been giving all the orders. Then he shot at three other men as quick as he could. He knew he could not defeat ten men alone, but he wanted to at least kill as many as he could before his death. He shot at the leader first since he was the one that shot at his family.

He only hoped they don't search the house for his sister or she was smart enough to hide.

When the gang saw that their leader, alongside three of their members were lying dead on the floor, they realized that they had underestimated the young boy and were careless with him. The boy pointed a guy at the next person, but another man immediately shot at him as he also released the bullet that hit one of their men in the hand.

"Shit", the men cursed. "The mission has been compromised; let's get out of here," he said.

"No, we need to find the girl", another replied.

"We are out of time to let go. Mr. Brown will be disappointed if things get worse." The first man who spoke countered. He was confident to call the name of the person who sent them because he believed they were alone.