Lilianna's Light

What just happened?

Something's wrong.

My eyes sprang open. I scanned the room silently, taking in every last detail of my bedroom. Everything seems to be in place. The window is still locked and there is no movement behind the glass, the desk beneath undisturbed. Textbooks still lie open and scattered in what I like to think of as an organized chaos, just as I'd left them. My bedroom door is still closed, and there's no noise behind it or shadows beneath the door. The clock on my dresser says that it is 1:57 in the morning. Happy birthday, Lily I thought to myself.

Something's wrong.

A shiver went down my spine as fear gripped me and made my heart stutter before it picked up again at three times the normal pace. I don't know why or how I'm so sure but I have to get out of here. I slide my feet to the floor and rise from the bed, which showed no signs of where I'd fallen into it about an hour earlier, and silently run to my closet. I grab the first pair of shoes I see and thankfully they're my newest pair of black vans and can slip right on. If I hadn't been so laser focused on getting out the door I would have thought this was funny. My parents have always made fun of me for being able to fall asleep in my normal clothes and for whatever reason, I knew it was going to be to my benefit in the near future.

I creep back over to the desk and grab my backpack off the floor and quickly stuff my purse inside, silently thanking whoever made me the queen of procrastination because the bag was empty. I run over to the dresser and open the top drawer as quietly as I can. There, underneath layers and layers of socks and underwear, is a brown paper bag with every dollar I've earned from chores, babysitting, odd jobs around the neighborhood and my actual job in the past 4 years. I carefully place the bag inside my purse and close the sipper. Then I begin quickly opening the rest of the drawers in my dresser one by one and I throw in some clothes to cover my purse and zip up the backpack when it's full.

I turn towards the door and hesitantly reach out for the handle. Bracing myself for disaster, I ease the door open. The hallway is dim, lit only by the moonlight filtering in through the open window at the end of the hall. Another shiver ran through me. That window definitely wasn't open when I went to bed. I know that for sure because I'd went to the bathroom right before bed and just as I was going back to my room a car had turned onto our street and, being the last house at the end of a cul de sac, the lights from the car shone through the window and lit up the hallway so brightly I could've sworn I'd woken up my mom and she was coming to see why I was still awake.

Swiftly and silently, I run to my parents door. The door is slightly ajar and the sight makes my heart skip a beat. They always sleep with the door closed. Grandpa Mike was a fireman and made sure to drill fire safety into not just his own daughters head, but her daughters head as well. Placing my hand in the center of the door, I begin to push it open when a barely audible whisper stops me in my tracks.

"You should have given yourself to me willingly, Calliope." a man's harsh words came through the door.

"Did you really think that you could hide from me forever? That I would just stop looking for you, knowing what I know?" the stranger chuckled.

"Please, Malcom... just take me now. I won't fight you, and Jason..." moms words caught on a sob and she took a deep, shaky breath. "Jason can't fight anyone anymore. So just take me, please. Please, Malcom, you don't need her."

What does she mean dad can't help anyone anymore? A wave of nausea rocked through me. That can't be what she means, can it? And who is Malcom? What is going on?

"Oh it's too late for that, and you know it. Come now, it's time for you to join your husband and me to claim my prize." Malcom said, victory clear in his voice.

"No ple-" moms words were cut short and there was a wet, gurgling sound.

I fling the door open and the scene before me made my heart break. In the middle of the room, on the bed, is my father lying in a pool of his own blood. It looks as if he didn't even have time to wake up before his throat was slashed. Tears filled my eyes as I searched the room for my mother, finally comprehending atleast a little bit of what I'd heard through the door. There, on the floor right in front of dads gun safe, was my mothers body and the man she called Malcom. He was wielding a butcher knife and had a crazed look in his eyes as he hovered over moms body.

A broken sob escaped my lips and his head whipped to the side, eyes locking with mine.

"There she is! How unfortunate you had to find us under these circumstances, my dear Lilianna. I was coming to you shortly." His smile was broad, toothy and more terrifying than anything I'd ever seen.

Fear locked my legs into place as he clambered to his feet and made his way over to me. He reached out his hand and placed it on my cheek, almost roughly.

"You're even more beautiful than I imagined you would be. More beautiful even than your mother was at your age. Ah, yes, maybe it was always meant to be you." He flexed his fingers back into my hair and grabbed a handful, painfully pulling my head back so he could look into my eyes.

"You have no idea how long I've waited for this day." He said before crushing his mouth to mine and forcing his tongue into my mouth. His groan of pleasure awakened something inside of me and instinctively I placed my hands flat on his chest. I could feel something almost like fire burning through my body, rushing towards my palms where the skin connected with Malcom's body. Suddenly there was a blinding flash of light and he gasped in shock as his body flew backwards into the wall, taking the burning feeling with him. Shocked, I looked down at my hands. What the hell was that?

The force of hitting the wall seems to have stunned Malcom as much as it did me but no matter how it happened, it's exactly what I needed. I turn on my heel and break into a run, heading down the hall and into the living room. By the front door there is a hook with everyones keys on it and feeling my heart break into thousands of pieces, I grab the keys to my dad's car. Dad never let me or mom park in the driveway, we had to park in the garage because he believed if anyone had to be exposed to the elements, it would be him and not us. I yank the front door open and run as fast as my legs will carry me to the shiny black SUV parked out front. I hit the button to unlock the car and throw myself into the drivers seat, slamming and locking the door behind me. As I struggled to get the key into the ignition and start the car, Malcolm limped through the front door and towards me.

"No no no, c'mon please just start!!!" I screamed as I tried again to turn the key. The ignition roared to life and without a second thought I threw the car into reverse and backed out of the driveway. Once on the street I put the car in drive and slammed my foot on the peddle. Tears streamed down my face as my home and everything I'd ever known disappeared behind me.

"What..... just..... happened?" I sobbed.