Chapter 2 To Dust They Returned

• I couldn't shake off the feeling that Raffiel was acting a bit weird but I decided not to think about it so much.
• He was like that on some days.
• My parents and Andrei were already in the living room and talking about whatever exaggerated story Daddy had this time.
• My mom looked up at me the moment I walked in.
• “Has Raffiel left yet?”
• “Yes, mom. I had to go see him off.”
• “You spent quite a lot of time outside,” Andrei teased as he smiled mischievously.
• “Don't be a brute…”
• “Don't tease your sister that way,” my father and I said at the same time.
• I looked at him and smiled. He always had my back.
• “Why don't you join us?” My dad asked and scooted a bit on the chair he was sitting on but I lightly shook my head.
• As much as I would have loved to join them, I still had a book I was going through and trying to review before I heard Daddy and Raffiel pull in.
• “I would love to join, but there's something I need to finish that is seriously calling out to me,” I said, pouting a bit.
• “Well, I'll let you be. Do join us whenever you're done,” he said and I nodded, before turning on my heels and going back up the stairs.
• Before I reached the top of the stairs, I could hear them continue from where they left off.
• Their laughters and voices sounded so pleasing to my ears.
• If not because I have to submit a review tonight, I'd have been there with them.
• When I got into the room, I made sure that I shut the door tightly to prevent any interruption, Andrei. As much as I loved that boy, he is a little rascal who loved to torment me.
• I immediately picked up the book from my nightstand and then laid on my bed to get comfortable.
• I continued from where I left off and that was when I heard it.
• The sharp, unmistakable sound of gunshots, so loud they seemed to echo through the walls.
• The sounds were so recognizable.
• My heart froze and a sick twisting fear took a hold of me.
• Those sounds didn't come from outside the house, but from inside.
• I quickly stood from my bed and stumbled back while trying to steady myself.
• Then instinct took over, and I scrambled under my bed and laid on my belly, flat.
• And then there was silence. No struggles, no gunshots, nothing.
• But it only lasted for a few seconds or a heartbeat rather, maybe two.
• Then, I heard them. Footsteps. Heavy and pounding up the stairs as if several men were heading my way.
• I had my hands over my mouth, struggling to stay quiet and keep my fears on the low too.
• My mind was racing too fast to make sense of anything that was going on. It was filled with fear.
• When my bedroom door slightly opened, I felt like I might pass out from the fear.
• From under my bed, I could hear and see boots moving around slowly.
• I pressed myself tighter against the floor, holding my breath as the boots paused.
• “They’ll find me. They’ll kill me. I’m so dead,” I thought as I tried to keep my thoughts steady.
• I wondered about my family downstairs. I was too scared to even have the slightest inclination of what might have happened.
• Those thoughts kept looping in my head as I pressed my lips together, terrified even to breathe.
• My hands shook and my heart pounded so hard I could feel it in my throat, the fear was squeezing me tighter with every beat.
• "Hey!" I heard a rough voice call from the hallway. "We gotta go. Another car's coming."
• "But… we haven't found the girl yet. Our job isn't complete," the person in my bedroom called out in an equally rough voice.
• "Just leave it!”
• “But… you know how frustrated the boss can be with unfinished jobs,” the person said again as they moved around the room, obviously looking for me.
• “Fuck that! We are moving... Now!"
• I heard the person let out a string of curses before the boots ran out of my room and I heard their retreating steps. I didn't dare move. I couldn't. Not yet.
• Even after the footsteps faded, even after the house fell silent. I stayed glued to my spot under my bed.
• I don't know how long it was until I decided to crawl back out while silently praying that my thoughts wouldn't be a reality.
• That the gunshots, they were some kind of sound effects and the men in my room? Some kind of a figment of my imagination.
• I have been reading too many horror books, so surely that has to be the reason.
• As I left my room, I held my breath and tried to keep my footsteps light.
• The moment I reached the first stair, the smell hit me. Metallic, burnt bodies.
• I almost lost my footing.
• My body was trembling, I felt like I couldn't go further. My instincts on the other hand had different opinions. A gut feeling told me to jump out through the window and run.
• Still, I didn't want to lose hope. Someone, someone might still be alive.
• And if someone was still alive and I abandoned them, I'd never be able to forgive myself.
• I swallowed and braced myself before making my way down the stairs. I gripped the railing tightly to steady myself.
• My heart hammered as I stepped into the living room.
• And I immediately froze.
• My family was sprawled out on the floor, in the pool of their own blood.
• And there, standing over my family, was a man I'd never seen before.
• I thought the men had left…
• This man right here was tall, his shoulders were broad and he was holding a gun loosely in one hand, like it was an extension of his arm.
• His piercing eyes were dark, cold and fixed on my father's lifeless body with a very deep scowl.
• I looked away from him to fully grasp the horror surrounding me. Images to last me for a lifetime.
• My father was sprawled on the floor with a crimson stain spreading across his light blue.
• My mom laid beside him, her face turned away. It was motionless.
• And Andrei, my Andrei. He was slumped against the wall with his hand outstretched in front of him as if he tried reaching out to someone.
• Me?
• I wanted to scream, I wanted to shout, to crash out and let out the pain I was feeling but I stood, frozen in place.
• The man, who stood over the bodies, turned to me, his eyes meeting mine.
• I was paralyzed, pinned by that stare, by the sheer emptiness in his gaze.
• There was no remorse, no hesitation... just a cold indifference. He didn't care that he had just murdered three people
• He took a step forward, and the spell broke.
• It was obvious that I was next.
• I turned around, running back up the stairs, desperate to get away.
• But he was quicker. He caught me at the top of the stairs and pinned me down, glaring at me. There was nothing in his eyes, nothing but hatred. Pure unadulterated hatred.
• It was something that I'd never seen before.
• Who even was this man?
• I trembled under his gaze.
• “Looks like one of you was spared." He said with a sinister smirk. "Good. Now, you'll pay for the sins of your family.”