I woke up around 3 a.m., startled by a noise coming from outside my room. The TV was no longer on. I figured my parents had turned it off after I'd fallen asleep.

I started to get up, but my attention fell on the lights outside. Flashing blue and red strobes engulfed everything in their wake. I got up and looked out the window, where I saw two police cars pulling up in front of my house.

"COME OUT OF THE HOUSE!" a man yelled from outside. "We have the place surrounded!"

My eyes widened, and my heart raced. I had no idea what was going on and even considered the possibility that I was dreaming. I continued looking out the window, watching more police cars surround the house.

I stepped away from the window when I heard unfamiliar voices outside my door. The voices sounded muffled, but I could tell they were male. Footsteps grew louder as they approached my room.

I worried about Caleb, fearing they would get him first since his room was closer to the hallway than mine. Scared, I did what I do best: I hid.

It seemed unfair to save myself, but if you had ever been in a situation like mine, you would have hidden too. I wasn't ready to die. I wanted every chance to save my brother and get back to my mother and father.

I flinched at the loud crack of gunshots fired just outside my door.

Two more powerful shots made my ears ring for several seconds. Not wanting to hear any more, I rolled underneath my bed and pressed my hands against my ears, crying and wishing I could curl up in my parents' arms.

I heard loud huffing and puffing heading towards my room. The door slammed open and hit the wall. I heard a man's voice who sounded like he was crying. A deep breath built up before he spoke.

"He made me do it..."

BAM! Followed by a thump.

My ears rang from the gunshot.

***

Caleb and I climbed into the back of a police car. The sun hadn't risen yet.

Paramedics and officers walked beside two bodies that were strapped separately onto rolling gurneys and enclosed inside dark body bags. More police officers walked out of our house, followed by two strange men in handcuffs.

I got a good look at them.

Both were covered in blood. Their faces were black from the amount of blood. Weird. No head damage it seemed but were covered in dark red blood.

I kept hoping to see my parents walk out.

Instead, I saw two strange men in suits covered in blood.

At that moment, my world fell apart.

My parents never walked out of that house.

I didn't realize it right away, but I was crying. It hit me all at once. I began furiously pounding on the window, which caused Caleb to wake up in fright. Helpless screams for my parents escaped my mouth. I knew they were dead.

Caleb was confused and terrified. He kept squeezing my arm, calling my name, and begging me to stop screaming.

I didn't.

One of the officers climbed into the car. In a stern, emotionless tone, he told me to stop yelling and assured me that everything would be "okay."

I calmed down for his sake as he started the car and drove away from our home. Maybe there was hope. There had to be. He was going to tell me my parents are still inside.

Right?

Wrong. That's not what happened at all.

Caleb grew impatient and kept pushing me for answers about what was happening. I didn't answer him, though. I didn't have one that was good enough.

The only thing I could do was wipe my tear-stained face and wait until we arrived at our unknown destination.

***

I was tired.

I was cold.

I was scared.

I sat in a room with a woman and a police officer who asked me what felt like millions of questions.

First, they questioned me about the people who had broken into our house the night before. The police told me that I had slept through most of it. Two men had broken in and some people who had been walking their dog noticed two strange men in suits breaking in. He said that my dad woke up, thinking it was probably Caleb or me, but he was shot by the intruders. My mom managed to call 911 but was shot during the call.

"It was one of the strangest calls we've ever received," one officer told me. "She said that her kids were in danger and that they were here. 'hide them' were the last words she said."

I didn't find anything strange about that until the officer continued.

"She could have simply told us someone was in the house, but now we have to investigate further. It's possible she knew them. Sounds like she did."

The police didn't know the men's motives for entering the house, and that angered me. The only thing they could tell me was that they didn't know why or how it had happened.

The officer continued. "We questioned the officers. They said, 'we were just there... with guns. Like something made us do it. I don't even know the other man or why we're dressed alike."

That's what the monsters had said.

After informing me of everything and allowing me to cry for another twenty minutes, we started talking about my relatives—the ones who were still alive.

The officers had to make several phone calls because, as it turned out, we had no relatives who could take us in.

My grandmother and mother hated each other, so we had no contact with her. Besides, she lived in Alaska, which wasn't a realistic option at the time. My aunts and uncles weren't stable enough for Caleb and me to stay with them either.

At some point, I fell asleep at the desk.

I was awakened by two officers who informed me that they would be taking me to my new home.

My new home.

With new foster parents.

Apparently, while I had been asleep, the officers had found someone willing to take us in.

The people were listed in my parents' will—or at least their first will. The police had found it in an old suitcase. The newer will had never been completed, so they went with the older one.

Caleb and I would be staying with the Harmons, my mom and dad's old friends.

They had gone to school with my parents, and we had visited them a few times. I knew their daughter, too. I had forgotten her name, but I remembered that we were the same age when we were kids.

They used to come over to our house when I was little, before Caleb was even born.

Then, one day, they stopped coming around.

I never knew why, but I remembered the day my mom snatched me out of the Harmons' house and we never went back.

Now we were about to live with them.

The Harmons.

Our new family.