The sharp sound of her father's voice downstairs woke up her up. It was not calm as usual but sounded rough and angry. Lily blinked awake in the darkness. The house was too quiet for that kind of tone.
"…this wasn't the deal, you bastard. We had a truce."
Then came another voice. Cold. Controlled.
"You should've stayed in your corner, Richard. Now we clean the mess."
Lily sat up. Her little chest rose and fell rapidly. Something about the voices felt… wrong. Very wrong.
She slipped out of bed in her nightgown and walked barefoot to her door. The hallway was dark except for the faint reflection of light coming from the sitting room.
She heard a sudden loud crash. It sounded like shattered glass and was quickly followed by her mother's scream.
Lily's eyes widened in fear. Jason's door opened across from hers, and her brother's silhouette appeared. He didn't say a word but just looked at her with wide eyes.
One of the intruders—yelled, "You brought this on yourself, Kent! The Bishops warned you!"
They heard more shouting, more breaking, then gunshots.
Lily clamped her hand over her mouth but that didn't stop her loud scream of fear which alerted her parents and the intruders.
Maggie bolted into the hallway from the nursery with Belle cradled in her arm. "We have to go now." There was blood seeping from a tear in her blouse. She shoved Lily and grabbed Jason with her free hand "Window—go!"
There were no time for questions. They heard gunshots again only this time closer. A shadow moved at the end of the hallway.
Then Lily saw him. A man in black, face visible just long enough for her to memorize him, cold cruel eyes, a long scar across his cheek, gun in hand.
He raised his gun.
Maggie shoved them through the nursery window onto the roof of the back patio. The air outside was ice-cold, the wind unforgiving. Lily's bare feet slapped against the shingles as she scrambled to balance herself.
Jason followed.
Another shot rang out. Then a scream—her mother's.
Lily turned.
She saw it through the hallway window—the flash of muzzle fire, the way her mother's body jerked backward, arms flailing as blood sprayed across the staircase wall.
"Mummy!" she screamed with tears running down her face.
"We have to move!" Maggie urged as Jason climbed out. She handed over Belle to Lily as she prepared to climb out. She half-fell through the window, her blood trailing behind her. "Go, go, go!"
They dropped from the roof into the bushes below. Jason went first, then Lily, who nearly lost her grip on Belle. Maggie came last, her fall clumsy.
Then they ran through the back gate into the woods behind the house.
The gunmen's voices faded behind them, but not completely. They weren't safe.
Belle was crying uncontrollably. Maggie gasped with every step, her injury worsened by the bad fall while they ran stumbling over tree roots and leaves.
Then the ground gave out beneath them. It happened too fast.
Lily slipped, her foot sliding on the mud. She tumbled down a hill, Belle still in her arms. They hit the rocks hard before splashing into the cold, rushing river below.
The current dragged them instantly.
Lily screamed, choking on water. She clung to Belle, her arms burning from the effort. She kept on struggling but the water kept pulling.
She heard Jason and Maggie shouting as the water kept dragging them under. Gradually she weakened and felt Belle slip from her grip as her head dipped under water and her chest burned.
The last thing she saw before slipping under was Maggie limping into the river after her.
She woke to firelight and pain.
Everything ached. Her skin was cut and bruised. Her mouth tasted like river and blood.
She was lying on a blanket inside a cabin. A woman hovered over her—dark-haired, armed, her expression both fierce and careful.
"She's awake," the woman said to someone behind her.
Lily tried to sit up. "Belle…"
The woman shook her head slowly.
"I'm sorry."
Lily broke.
The sob that escaped her throat didn't sound human. It tore through her lungs, hot and sharp. She curled up, clutching nothing.
Maggie was alive, barely, on the other side of the room. Her head was wrapped, her breathing labored. But she smiled weakly when Lily crawled over to her.
"You made it," she whispered.
"I lost Belle," Lily sobbed. "Where's Jason?"
"We didn't see anyone by the Riverside after pulling you both out. My husband is still searching though." The dark-haired woman replied. "I am Elena and you're safe here"
"Never forget their faces," Maggie suddenly rasped as she coughed out blood. "The ones who did this. Don't let them win."
And then, just like that… she was gone.
Lily shut her eyes, tired of crying but it didn't stop her mind from seeing the entire night in detail.
Her father's blood on the tiles.
Her mother's scream.
The name Bishop like poison in the air.
Belle slipping through her fingers.
And the scarred man's face.
She would never forget!