Arabella Rivera It's her lifeless eyes staring directly at me that I knew would haunt me for the rest of my life. I couldn't remove my eyes from her. The woman who was like a second mother to me, who basically raised me as her own. Was now dead. I looked at the man who had done the deed. I couldn't see him as anything other than a monster. And that he was. A cruel sinister monster. A fucking demon. Someone who doesn't have a heart. You'd have to be heartless to even hold a gun towards an innocent person. I choked on a sob, a cry, a silent scream. I didn't know what to do, or say. My heart thuds painfully and it feels like I'm having one of those panic attacks again. I shouldn't have provoked him. I was starting to believe that this was my fault. I should've just gone to the police silently and not confronted him. If I had just done that, then Gertrude would still have a life and her fiance would still have the love of his life. I sobbed. She was going to leave this crazy family, now it was too late. She should've left earlier. "Gertrude," I whispered in a broken tone as I waited to see if she'd shift. It was stupid to hope that she wasn't truly dead. She can't be. She just, can't. "You killed her," Those words were not mine, they came stumbling out of mother's mouth shakily. I looked at her and she has her frightened eyes on the murderer. He lifts the hand with the gun on his head and slams it on his head more than five times whilst hissing out. "This wasn't supposed to happen. If she had just fucking listened." It was like he was lost, or talking to himself. He was acting weird, like someone possessed. He truly was a demon. " She was going to ruin our perfect family by getting me locked up. She was going to ruin our family." I took a step back, looking at the kitchen then the stairs, weighing my options. I could use this chance to go to the kitchen, grab a knife but what would a knife do against a cold gun? My eyes snap upstairs. I could run and get the gun he had hidden under the wood in his study. But it was too far, he'd probably have time to shoot me. The thought of my very own father shooting me made me suddenly feel cold. "You killed her," Mother whisper seemed to bring him back to reality because he stops slamming the gun on his head and looks at her then me."It was all your fault." He shook his head. "Upstairs. I want you two upstairs now!" He roared when he saw that we didn't make any action to move. He pointed the gun at mother who trembled and run over to me. Her shaky hands grab my upper arm and tugged me along with her. Her mouth nears my ear and she whispers. "Do as he says. He has lost it and would shoot us without a second thought. We just need to obey him until we find a way to get away from him and call the cops." I nodded, gripping her tightly as he points the barrel of the gun our way. This doesn't feel real. It doesn't feel like my own father was now threatening my life with a gun. Both mother and I jolt in shock when we hear the click of the gun. "Don't let me repeat myself." He snarls, pointing the gun at us then nudging it upstairs. Mother and I listened, our grasp growing tighter on each other's arms as we walk up the staircase that now felt like it was too long. We could hear him behind us. Hear his breathing. "It's going to be okay Arabella. I'll not make him hurt you." Mother whispered, squeezing my arm in reassurance. But it would take more than that to reassure me. Father was a psycho who needed help. "Go to our room." He ordered. Mother gasped, her body hardening with fear. I took a peek behind us and saw the gun pressing into her back. My stomach drops and vomit slither up my throat. Mother pulls away from me and makes her way to their room but father stops her. "With her Margie. You both go to our room." Mother turns to him, her eyes pleading. "Please leave her out of this John. Let her go. She's our daughter, you can't hurt her. Please," Her voice broke as she sobbed. I trembled, feeling the anger emanating from father. "Get in the fucking room Margie!" He snarled making both of us jump in fear. I never got into a room so quickly. With my heart thudding like a drum in my ears, I looked at mother hopelessly. He had the gun, not us, so getting out of this unscathed or alive seemed unlikely. He nudged the gun towards the bed. "You both have a seat." He demanded. Both mother and I comply seeing as we had no choice. Feeling my bottom sinking into the mattress felt as though I was sinking into the soil I'd be buried in. This felt like my last moments alive. Suddenly father groans, and starts slamming the gun on his head again. "This could have been avoided. I didn't have to kill her. But she was going to call the cops. She was going to ruin our family, right baby?" He stops his actions and turns to mother. Mother sniffles, trying and failing to keep in the sobs as she looks at her unfaithful and crazed husband. She nods, her hands reaching out for mine and squeezing it. "See, so you understand that I had to do it. I had to kill her. I knew you'd understand Margie. I could always count on you," He smiles and I flinched from how unemotional and cold it looked. He suddenly starts pacing the room, hands on the gun like he was waiting for one of us to make the wrong move or say the wrong thing. I keep my mouth shut and stay frozen. Then suddenly, he stops. Turning to face us, his face beamed. "I can fix this. We can fix this." He nods. Both mother and I lean away in fear when he walks over to us. Stopping a few feet before us he looks between us. "All we have to do is move. We can start fresh. Pretend that nothing happened. No one will know. We can live new lives where no one knows us." The more he spoke the more his eyes lit up. "Yes, that's a perfect idea. We should start packing and leave by tonight. We'll renew our vows on the way Margie. Our perfect family will remain perfect-" Then his cold eyes fall on me. " But we need to get rid of a few things that might hold us back. We can't start a new life if we still have some baggage." He takes a step forward and I flinched away. My heart felt like it was about to jump out of my chest. The dread and fear weighed down on my body and twisted my insides until I felt the urge to hurl. "We need to get rid of Haiden."