I couldn't let them take me. I couldn't. Dylan's wailing died down when he heard the angry shouts from the men below. I clutched Dylan's tiny body closer to mine, concealed behind fur coats that tickled my nose.

I strained my ears so I could hear the angry shouts below and decipher them. There was a softer but equally agitated voice arguing with the angry male shouts, my mother.

"I told you! It's not here! She's not here!" I heard her scream. I heard something hard hit something soft, human flesh. My mother let out a yelp of pain.

"Don't lie to me, woman! I know it's here! Tell me where and you won't get hurt," screamed an angry rough voice. I wanted my mother just tell him, whatever it is, so he won't hurt her.

The voices were getting angrier and angrier the more my mother argued. "Tell us and we will spare you," they growled. My mother's strong angry voice turned into a whimper. They must have been torturing her.

"I told you....She's not here," she whimpered, her voice barely audible and full of pain. I wanted her just to tell them. I couldn't stand it.

Dylan was whimpering beside me, sensing the pain our mother was in. I held him tighter to my body, not wanting them to take him away.

The angry voices were being to get impatient. "She's not going to tell us! We're done with her," snapped a higher commanding voice. I heard the sound of a gun being loaded, the trigger being pulled, the sharp intake of breath and the unmistakable sound of a gunshot ringing through the house.

She's gone.

I felt one single tear drip from my eye and fall onto Dylan's cheek. He looked up and whipped the second tear from my cheek, smiling bravely. He didn't know. It was best he didn't.

"It's going to be fine, Dylan. Everything is going to be fine," I whispered, my voice strained. Dylan nodded sadly.

"Search the god damn house, you idiots!" shouted the voice that condemned my mother to her death. Boots ran upstairs. I knew they would find us. They would kill us like they killed mother.

And there was nothing I could do about it.

My heart hammered against my chest so loud, they might be able to hear it. The smell of blood, alcohol and pure evil filled my nostrils. They were here.

Dylan pressed his head into my shoulders, burying his head in my hair. All I could hear was the men's cold heartless voice calling whatever they were looking for to come out and my own breath against the fur coats.

Then it hit me. The "her", it could be me! Was it possible? And why would they want me? It made no sense. My mother must have been telling the truth by saying "she" was not here. Which begs the question, who are they looking for?

There's nothing valuable in our home, nothing they would want. Our most valuable possession is an old picture frame of Daddy in a solid gold frame. That picture was taking on my mum's and dad's wedding day, my dad all smart in a black suit. That was before he was killed in a car crash.

A hairy strong hand pushed aside the fur coats and I nearly screamed. An ugly face covered with prickly black hair peered at me from behind the coats.

"Found 'em!" He shouted triumphantly. I squeezed Dylan harder, so hard he nearly cried. I wouldn't let them take him. Over my dead body. And in a matter of minutes, my body will be dead.

The man's hand grabbed me and jerked my away from my hiding spot, me still clutching Dylan.

An younger man stepped forward, smiling unpleasantly. "Well well well. What do we have here?" he asked. His voice was the same one I heard before my mother was killed. He killed her.

A wave of fury swept over me like waves on a beach. I struggled hard from the other man's grip. I can't just die. I can't leave Dylan.

The man in charge, I guess, snatched Dylan from my arms. I screamed and shouted, hot tears of anger pouring down my face. Dylan was crying too.

"Let him go!" I snarled at them. The man just sighed and raised his gun, pointing it directly at Dylan's head. I screamed harder now, the tears making it hard to see.

"If you don't shut up, the boy gets it!" The man growled viciously. He reminded me of an angry dog.

I stopped screamed, but the tears refused to stop. "Smart girl, aren't ya?" he asked. In answer, I snarled at him.

The men around the room all laughed and mocked me. I knew it was hopeless. That I would die. And without me, Dylan would surely die too.

The man in charge handed my brother over to a smaller boy, who held him at arm's length as if Dylan was the most dangerous thing on Earth.

The man in charge, Toby I heard someone call him, snatched my necklace that dangled from my delicate neck. A simple woven string with a single charm on it. not much.

The charm was a single tongue of fire, representing my fierce nature to keep my family alive. He twirled in his chubby fingers, examining it with his tow cruel black eyes.

"We have it gentlemen!" He announced triumphantly. The men jeered and shouted with victory. Toby stared at me for a while, his eyes dancing with pure evil. What little hope that preserved in my body drained away. Those eyes showed no mercy, He wasn't going to let us live. He never planned to.

I let out a small whimper. He pulled out his pistol and aimed it at Dylan. Tears spilled over my eyes. Dylan stared into the barrel of the pistol and then at me. "Love you," he managed to whisper out in his small toddler voice. I forced myself not to look at the gun, but at Dylan. I smiled at his bravely, my legs buckling underneath me. Dylan smiled back at me, his bright eyes never leaving mine.

The gunshot rang through the house and Dylan's eyes slid shut.

I howled with anguish and rushed over to him, prying myself free from the man's loose grip. I bent low over my brother but I knew it was futile. He was gone. Just like mother.

I cried over his lifeless small body. A strong hand jerked me back. "Your turn sweetheart. Any last words?" growled Toby. I nodded, my eyes refusing to look at him or the gun in his hand.

"I'm coming, Dylan. Wait for me. I'm coming," I whispered. My eyes never left Dylan's tiny body, curled into a ball on the floor.

I watched him as the gunshot rang through my ears for the last time. A dazzling bright light the same brightness of Dylan's eyes appeared in front of me. There, silhouetted against the blinding light, where my mother and brother, already waiting for me.