Day 31: Leo

Shots coming from home. There’s no point in being sad right now. We have to go now.

We quickly got into the car and started heading home. I noticed that there were two rifles in the back seat. We must have forgotten to put them back in the basement, but I guess it had worked out for us. When I arrived I noticed that there were two cars there.

There’s more than one person here.

I looked over to Ava to see if she was scared but there was a different expression on her face. She was furious. Ava suggested that we shouldn't park close to the house or the barn since the criminals would easily find us or even try to attack us. I agreed with her so I parked in the corn field.

“Hey, I’m going to look around to see if anyone’s heading to the basement with all the guns, okay?”

“But that's all the way in the barn. You could get hurt—or even worse…”

“Don’t worry about me.” Ava gave me a reassuring grin. “You just try to help your parents. If they get to the guns, we’re dead.”

“That’s suicide, Ava. It’s too far.” There was no sign of fear in her face. No, why would she be scared. She was determined. But I couldn’t just let her go out. “No way—”

“Too bad,” she said in a hurry. Ava immediately reaches to the back to grab the rifle and some bullets. Then she bolted out of the car. “Good luck with your parents. And remember—don’t hesitate.”

What could she be talking about? But I’ll take all the luck I can get.

I got out of the car and grabbed the other rifle from the back seat. I gripped the rifle and forced myself forward.

I have to get there fast.

I quietly made my way to the house without seeing anyone. So far so good. Hopefully no one’s home… But all of those gunshots. Were they from my parents or the criminals?  I continued to make my way to the house until I finally got there without trouble. I looked at the house and the glass on the windows shattered. Through the spot where the window had been were bullet holes. They were shooting into the house. Had they killed my parents? Is that why it was quiet now? I have to know. I crept my way into the house and heard some noise coming from the kitchen. Someone’s here. I took a quick peek into the kitchen and noticed a man rummaging around. “Damn, where could they be hiding their guns.” he said to himself. It was a known fact in the town that our family owned a lot of guns. So I guess word got around. Looks like Ava was right to worry about the guns. But if they’re looking for it now then she could be hurt. While I was worrying about Ava I bumped into a table. “Who’s there?!” the man shouted. Shit—I made noise.

The man walked over and looked around, “I was probably just hearing stuff?” he said to himself.

“Is there a problem down there?” Another man asked from upstairs.

“No! Just thought I heard something.”

Crap, if there’s someone up there then I’ll have to deal with this one. I pointed my gun at him. I couldn’t pull the trigger. I can’t just kill him. I look around, trying to find an alternative to killing the man. I noticed a vase. I can try to knock him out with that then. I grabbed the vase and made some noise in my area. The plan was to get him to check this area out so I could then smash the vase on top of his head. The noise would make the guy upstairs worry about his partner so the guy would come down. There I will shoot him in the leg and make my way upstairs. I’ll tend to his leg after saving my parents, that way he doesn’t die because of blood loss. So I slammed on the ground and I heard footsteps approaching. I quickly hid myself around the corner and waited till he got there.

“I must be going crazy—”

I smashed the vase on his head. The man collapsed and started bleeding slightly. Did I just kill him?! But as I leaned in, I heard mumbling… Thank goodness—he’s alive.

“Is everything going okay down there?!” The man upstairs asked.

There was no response.

I quickly took my position and aimed my rifle at the stairs, waiting for him to come down.

“Yo! Are you there?!” No answer. “I’m coming down!”

As he made his way down I saw his legs. I couldn’t shoot immediately. Something in me made me hesitate. But as soon as we locked eyes he tried to pull out his gun. I pulled the trigger and shot him on the leg. He dropped his gun and fell down the stairs. This is great. The plan went perfectly. I quickly rushed up the stairs to see my parents. Both of them were sitting on the ground and tied up. I immediately ran to them.

“Mom! Dad! Are you okay?”

“We’re fine,” my dad answered. “Thanks to you!” My mom added.

The words escaped me in a rush of relief, “Thank goodness you guys weren’t hurt.”

I pulled out my pocket knife so I could cut the rope. I looked at the bloodstained knife. Did the guy I stab end up living?

“Honey, are you okay?” my mom asked.

“Yeah just spaced out a little…sorry.”

I cut the rope and helped both my parents stand up.

“Are you sure you guys aren’t hurt?”

“Yeah, don’t worry about us. They were armed so we didn’t try to fight back as much. They were looking for our guns but…”

“But what?” I asked, a little confused.

“Son, did you see anyone else here?”

“Uh no, just those 2 guys. Why?”

“There were three of them here.”

A wave of concern washed over me. “That mean’s Ava could be in danger!”

“What why?” my father asked.

“She said she would try to get to the shed.”

“Then we have to leave now.” My mom said.

“Alright let’s go!”

We started to head towards the stairs until I saw someone there. Is that Ava? It wasn’t. There was a man, blood gushing from his head. He held a gun pointed at me. That man—he should've been unconscious. But then I remembered… the mumbling. He had never fully gone under.

BANG

My mother pushed me aside and took the bullet from me. Her body went limp and she collapsed. Her eyes, wide open, stared into nothing—just like John’s. My father screamed out in anger and bolted at the man. The recoil of the shot seemed to have an effect on the man so my father was able to get to him. My father grabbed the gun and they started fighting over it.

“GET YOUR RIFLE!” my father shouted.

I noticed the rifle on the ground and grabbed it. I raised the rifle, heart pounding in my ears. My father was wrestling with the man, blocking any clear shot. The barrel shook in my hands. I tried to steady it—deep breath, focus. The only thing I could shoot was the man’s head. That meant I’d have to kill him. I took aim at the head and hover my finger on the trigger. My finger trembled above the trigger. Time slowed. Each second stretched thin, like a wire about to snap.

“Come on…” I whispered to myself. “Just take the shot.” I have to kill this man. He killed mom. He could kill dad.

Even with all those thoughts rushing through my head. I couldn’t pull the trigger.

Then my father turned toward me—just for a second. “THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?! TAKE THE DAMN SHOT!”

That second was all the man needed.

BANG

The sound split the air like a crack of thunder. As the bullet went through my father’s head, I saw bits and pieces fly out with it. My father’s body jerked. His skull cracked open like glass. A burst of red mist hit the wall. He dropped like a stone, eyes wide and lifeless. I screamed. Everything inside me tore open. I hadn’t saved him. I hadn’t saved either of them. The man was still dazed and immediately noticed my rifle pointed at him. He quickly recovered from the recoil and pointed the gun at me. My hands began to shake. My finger felt heavy. I couldn’t pull the trigger. I couldn’t kill him. I hadn’t saved my father. I hadn’t saved my mother. I wouldn’t even save myself…

BANG

I flinched and closed my eyes at the noise. But I wasn’t dead… I opened my eyes. The man was down. A bullet wound in his chest. Not mine. What happened? I heard footsteps, someone was approaching. I aimed my rifle at the stairs, hands still shaking. It was Ava. I lowered my gun and looked around. I was surrounded by bodies, all of them like John. I fell on my knees and my vision got blurry. I started to cry. Ava dropped her rifle and quickly rushed over to me. I can feel her arms wrap around me. She had a tight grip, she felt warm.

“Are you okay?!”

I couldn’t answer her.

“Answer me, please! Are you hurt?!”

“I-I—” my voice trembling, “I caused all of this!” My chest started to hurt, each breath felt painful. Everything starts to go blurry again, but this time it turns to black. I had passed out.

I later woke up with Ava’s head hovering over me. I looked around and noticed that we were in the kitchen and I was lying on Ava’s lap. I quickly got up, trying to remember what had happened.

“My parents! Where are they?”

Ava looked over to the side and she took a deep breath. As if she was trying not to cry, “Your parents… they’re dead…”

It all came rushing back to me… I killed them. They’re dead because of me. I felt a twist in my stomach. I quickly stood up and stumbled over to the sink. I threw up. I coughed while trying to catch my breath.

“I killed them. They’re dead because of me!” Tears started flowing down my check. I collapsed on my knees. “I killed them. I killed them. I killed them.” I mumbled.

Ava made her way to me and wrapped her arms around my head. She pulled me into her body, it felt comforting. But it didn’t wash away the pain.

She then rested her head on top of mine, “You didn’t kill anyone. So please—stop blaming yourself.”

I couldn’t help but pull away from her. “If I was able to kill that man from the beginning… This—this wouldn’t be a problem,” I argued back.

Ava froze.

“I chose to knock him out instead of shooting him. I didn’t even bother to tie him up. My parents… I’m responsible for their deaths!”

SMACK

Ava smacked me across the face. “What the hell are you talking about? You didn’t pull the trigger. You didn’t decide to rob this place.” Her voice was angry, annoyed, and hurt. “So please, stop saying it’s you. Yes, I’m sad they’re gone. And yes, you didn’t kill him. But you didn’t cause this mess. Just like with John, you aren’t the criminal.” Her last sentence stuck with me. But I couldn’t just brush the deaths over my shoulder. At the same time, I couldn’t say anything back. I fell into her arms and cried all over again.

We stayed at the lake house that night—trying to escape the bodies, the blood, the blame. But I took it all with me.