I roared to the door, turning back once.
“Stay behind me, get to Timberly and stay there.” I said before checking to make sure it was clear.
Nova ignored me as she scrambled to her dresser, pulling a smaller pistol from the drawer.
“Not fucking likely,” she muttered.
I shook my head and pulled her behind me into the dark hallway.
Timberly
My guard Barry thundered into my room just as the window shattered. Three men crashed in, with black masks, and big guns sending glass everywhere.
“Grab the kid!” The bigger one shouted, as Barry fired and shot him in the chest.
Boom. Boom the sound was like thunder inside the walls. I froze for a second. Just one, Crew-dad told me to always count to one when something scary happened and then moved. One, I counted then I blinked, and I crawled under my bed with my stuffed unicorn. Uncle Blue said I was only supposed to open it if really bad people came. The kind of people that didn’t knock and didn’t care, like these two. They were big and one had a long gun. The other man had a mean smile like the Joker without makeup.
But I ain’t scared, not really. Okay… maybe a little. But being scared don’t mean you freeze. That’s what Black said. “Fear is fine. Freezing will get you killed.” I turned it over and opened the lock on the back with the key hidden on my charm bracelet. Barry stood in front of my bed and shielded me from the bad men just as the second man landed in front of my dresser. He raised his weapon but didn’t even get to shout. The other one of them shot him twice.
He dropped hard to my floor, like a sack of laundry. And I wanted to cry, but I remembered what Uncle Blue said.“You cry later. You fight now.”So, I did, I crawled further under the bed as the men argued.
“Check the closet!”
“She’s gone! Lil’ bitch probably…”
Click.
They heard it, the sound of a safety being switched off. They turned just in time to see me standing in the corner behind my dresser, arms straight, knees locked like Uncle Black taught me. My hands didn’t even shake.
“I’m not gonna miss,” I said, voice steady. “So, you better leave me alone.”
They laughed at me and that made me mad. Wrong move I thought as the first one stepped forward. He was tall and stupid.
Pop.
I hit his leg, and he screamed and dropped like a girl, clutching his thigh. That wiped the smile off the second one’s face real quick.
“Y-you little monster!”
“Better than a dead one,” I said, taking aim again.
He lunged and I rolled left, hitting the panic button behind my dresser with my foot, and squeezed off another shot. I missed his shoulder, but it made him duck. He tried to grab me but that was a big mistake because I ain’t the regular kid they thought I was. My dad and uncle had trained me good. The hidden panel popped open next to my closet. That was my hiding place. Only Crew-dad, and my uncles knew about it. But I wasn’t gonna run, not yet. I had to make sure my mommy was safe.
And not till I knew I’d slowed them down enough for Crew-dad to find me. I grabbed the dollhouse lamp, smashed it into the last man's face when he tried to grab me, and he stumbled backward bleeding, cursing. I used that moment to slide throughthe door of my hideout and slammed it shut behind me. I curled into a ball, heart thumping like a drum solo as I waited for help. Outside I heard one of them roar, “Get her!”
And that’s when I smiled. Because I could hear footsteps now, running heavy and fast. Crew-dad’s footsteps. When I heard his voice, I peeked through the small opening just in time to see him tackle one of the men so hard the wall cracked. Mommy came in next, gun raised, hair wild, eyes blazing. They were here and I was safe, but I wasn’t done. I crawled back out once it was over, brushed dust off my pajama pants, and walked straight up to Crew-dad.
“You’re late.”
He stared at me, breathing hard, blood on his hands. Mommy lowered her weapon, eyes wide.
“Baby…”
“I handled it,” I said. “You, Uncle Blue and Uncle Black said never freeze.”
Crew-dad crouched down and grabbed me, lifting me into his arms so tight, I could barely breathe.
“You okay?” he whispered.
