Infinity Academy

“No Callum, you just had a turn, it’s my turn to kick your ass at Mario Kart,” I said angrily to my little brother; he could be such a pain at times. “Emerald Claire Rose, you watch your mouth!” my mother yelled from the kitchen. “Yes, mum!” I called back while Callum stuck his tongue out at me. I loved my brother dearly but sometimes I had the urge to slap the smug smile off of his face, even if he was only eight. I handed the controller to him as my mother walked into the room, carrying my baby sister Sarah on her hip. “Your father will be home soon and then it’s time for bed,” she announced, adjusting her grip on Sarah’s bottom. “Why do I have to go to bed at the same time as him?” I asked, pointing at my brother, “I’m sixteen, mum, and all of my friends say that their parents let them stay up until ten o’clock,” I whined. “I don’t care what your friend’s parents do or don’t let their children do Emmie, I’m your mother and I say when you go to bed.”   I huffed out a breath and crossed my arms, “That’s so unfair.” “Life isn’t fair,” she replied, rolling her eyes at me. I hated that I always got treated like a child when I was only a couple years from officially being an adult. The sound of the front door opening and closing loudly made us all turn our heads towards it. My father came rushing into the room, practically throwing his suitcase across the room before searching through the draws in the cabinet by the television. “What’s wrong Honey?” my mother asked, her voice laced with worry. “I need you to go to the bedroom and pack as many things as you can, Anna.”   “What’s going on, Edward, you’re scaring me,” she replied. My father didn’t even act like he’d heard her question, then turned to me. “Emerald I need you to take your brother and pack your things, we need to leave right now!” he damn near yelled. I didn’t even dare to question him when he was like this, I knew something serious was going on. I grabbed Callum’s wrist and towed him to our room, closing the door behind us. “Get your backpack and pack as many of your clothes as you can,” I ordered, meanwhile grabbing my school bag and tipping its contents on my bed. I began grabbing whatever clothes I laid my hands on and then threw my phone, laptop and chargers in on top. Once I zipped my bag shut, I turned to check on Callum. He was sitting on the edge of his bed, tears streaming down his face, his empty backpack still sitting beside him. “Come on Callum, you heard what Dad said, we need to hurry,” I said with urgency. “I don’t want to leave, Emmie, I finally have friends here and I’m happy. Why do we need to go?” he asked, sniffling and wiping his nose with his jumper sleeve. I grabbed a hair tie from my side table and pulled my strawberry blonde hair into a bun on top of my head, then knelt down so that our faces were level. I grasped his hands in mine and waited for him to look at me. “Cal, I know this is scary and I know that we have a nice life here, but if Dad says we need to go then we need to do as he says. You don’t want anything bad to happen to him, do you?” I asked, gently squeezing his hands. He lowered his eyes and then slowly shook his head. “Okay, then we need to go,” I said pulling him to his feet. “Alright, why don’t you grab whatever you think you can’t live without and I’ll get your clothes,” I said, releasing his hands and moving over to his dresser to collect his clothes. He slowly made his way around the room, gathering his favourite toys. Just as I was pulling the zip closed on his bag there was a vociferous crash that made us both jump. Callum covered his ears and started crying again, while I was frozen, my eyes locked on the bedroom door. Seconds later I heard my father yelling and then my mother’s ear-splitting scream echoed down the hall. I didn’t even think, I immediately grabbed Callum and pushed him down to the floor, motioning for him to keep quiet and get under the bed. I slid in after him and held him to my body, cradling him like a baby. I kept my hand lightly over his mouth so that he wouldn’t make a noise. I could still hear my father yelling at whoever had come into our house, and Sarah was crying like I’d never heard before. Her wails made my heart clench and I wished that my father had sent her with me while him and Mum packed. A short time later Sarah’s cries stopped and my father’s heart-wrenching sobs now flooded down to our room. I closed my eyes and tried not to think about what had happened to my mother and sister that made them go silent, but as much as I hoped they were safe, deep down I knew that they were gone forever.    “Where is she!?” a bellowing voice demanded, making me flinch. Callum had calmed in my arms and I wondered if he had somehow managed to fall asleep, but knew he was awake when I felt his warm tears rolling over my hand. “She’s not here, she went out with her friends a few hours ago,” my father yelled back. I heard a sharp slapping sound and then a deep growl. “Do you think I’m a fool, Ed. I know she’s here; I can smell her scent. Or did you think you had succeeded in masking it from me?” My mind was whirling, what the hell did this man mean by my scent? I showered every day, sometimes twice a day and I always made sure to wear the perfume my father had given me on my eighth birthday. “I’ve already taken your wife and child from you, so you can either tell us where you’ve hidden her, or I’ll be forced to end your son’s life too,” the man said, it almost sounded like he was smiling through the words. Callum tensed in my arms and a scream escaped his lips. I clamped my hand down on his mouth, praying that the man hadn’t heard him, but my heart rate sky rocketed when I heard a chuckle and then heavy footsteps heading in our direction. I re-adjusted Callum, maneuvering him so that he was now behind me. At least if the man happened to look under here, he would only see me.    The footsteps grew louder and then stopped right outside the door; I could see the bottom of his boots under the door. I took a deep breath and held it, thinking that he might hear me breathing otherwise, but I was too panicked to keep it in and it left my mouth with a loud huff. Not two seconds later, the door flew off its hinges and the bed shook violently as the door landed on top of it. Callum jumped and I was scared that he was going to scream again. I watched as the boots walked around our room. He pulled the closet open and looked inside, before going through our dressers and side tables. I could have sworn I heard him sniff the clothes I hadn’t been able to pack. Just as he was leaving the room, I tensed as Callum sniffled loudly behind me. I knew it then, that there was no way we weren’t going to be found now. The man turned around and came back into the room, his boots stopping not an inch from my face. I couldn’t bring myself to close my eyes, I didn’t want to show the fear that was chewing at my insides; I had to be strong for my brother. I let the love for my family flow through me as the man bent down, placing his hands under the edge of the bed, right in my face. An unfamiliar feeling flooded me then, something I very rarely felt, but this was different, the edges of my vision turned red and I knew what I had to do. I moved my head forward and bit down as hard as I could on the stranger’s fingers. He pulled his hand back and roared out in pain.   The bed above us was suddenly lifted and thrown across the room, crashing into the far wall, leaving a gaping hole in its path. My eyes moved to the stranger, he was enormous and looked like he could demolish a tank in less than a minute. His eyes were glowing gold and his body radiated his anger at what I had done. I set my jaw and furrowed my eyebrows. It took all the courage I had to talk, “Leave my family alone.” Instead of sounding like my normal voice, the words came out in an animalistic growl. The man smiled and then chuckled, “Oh my dear Emerald, do you really think that I’m scared of your effigy powers? Who do you think you got them from?” he asked, reaching down and grabbing my arm. As he pulled me to my feet he leant down, taking hold of Callum’s leg. “Let go of him, he’s innocent!” I screamed, fighting against his hold. We were dragged out to the living room where my father was on his knees, holding a lifeless Sarah in his arms. He looked to me with guilt shining in his eyes as we came into the room. “Finish them,” the man orders the three other men standing around the room. “No!” I wailed, thrashing around, trying to stop the men who were now closing in on my father. One of the men, with fiery red hair and a slender physique, looked into my eyes with sympathy before pulling a small knife from the pocket in his black leather jacket. He swiftly slid the blade into my father’s back and a loud sob escaped me as his lifeless body slumped to the ground. A single tear dribbled from his eye and dripped to the floor. “Let me go,” I cried, sagging forward in the bulking man’s arms.    As I mourned the loss of both my parents and baby sister, a sickening c***k sounded out behind me and I turned my head in time to see my little brother’s body fall to the ground, his neck twisted at a strange angle. “It’s time to go, he’ll be expecting us,” the man growled before throwing me over his shoulder and walking towards the front door. I had no more fight left in me, my body was wracked with sadness and guilt. I should’ve been able to protect my brother, if I had done more, he would still be alive. My baby sister was only six months old, she deserved better; to have a long and happy life with my parents by her side. My mother, who although treated me differently than my other siblings, was still an amazing mother. And my father, who worked his hardest to protect us from those who would wish us harm, was now gone; they were all gone. For some reason, these people had murdered them all shamelessly just to get to me. Exhausted from the endless crying and grief, I felt my eyes slip closed as I drifted off to sleep, still slung over the shoulder of the heartless brute.