Chapter 1: Chapter One; The Beginning
Mia peered through the tiny cracks left by the wooden slats in the hallway closet door. Her little hands covering up her mouth to silence the sound of her breathing.
She was unable to mask the sound of her heartbeat though. Which was currently racing too fast, and she felt it might pop out of her small chest.
At the young age of 3 years old, Mia sat in almost perfect silence. Well as perfect as she could manage, her eyes wide in shock while she watched her two loving parents be murdered.
She could not begin to tell you why this was happening. Her parents were kind natured with a soft demeanor. They cared for and adored their beautiful little girl.
While they weren't well off by any means, Mia had never wanted for anything in life. For example, she never went to bed hungry. Her belly was always full of the vegetables, fruit, and meat that her family raised on their farm. Mia's father would do the dishes after her mother cooked dinner, that was their custom. After the dishes were done her mother would make her brush her teeth, read her a bedtime story, and tuck her in for the night.
Although her parents were usually busy tending to the farm, they tried to make time for Mia as well. They would occasionally have family nights where they would play games and spend time together. Mia loved her parents unconditionally.
So she could not imagine anyone ever wanting to harm them, much less murder them.
Mia kept her hand over her mouth to silence her breathing while she continued watching what was happening to her parents.
While she wanted to look away, she couldn't. It was like her eyes were glued to the scene unfolding before her. She was frozen in fear, hoping the men wouldn't discover where she was hiding and kill her too.
Before the men who had made their way into Mia's home and who were currently in the process of murdering them came - Her father had heard noises outside of the home. Her mother wanted to scream but her father made a shushing motion by placing one finger over his mouth, indicating for her to keep quiet.
"Are you sure this is the place Boss?" Her father heard one of them say to the other.
"Are you questioning my intelligence?" The one presumed to be 'Boss' replied.
"N-n-never sir." Came the nervous and awkward reply.
"That's what I thought. Another remark like that, and I won't hesitate to kill you next peasant." he deadpanned back to his subordinate.
Upon hearing their conversation Mia's father looked at her mother and gave her a knowing look and a small nod. Mia was blatantly confused. She had no idea what was going on, or why there were people outside of their home.
They owned a decent size farm and the nearest town was nearly 45 minutes away by horse and buggy. Before Mia could even speak up, her mother picked her up into her arms.
She whispered into Mia's ear. "We're going to play hide-and-seek now Mia." As her mother opened the small closet door and placed Mia gently inside.
She gave her a tight hug and a kiss on her head. Which lasted longer than the countless other times her mother had kissed her.
"Do not come out of here until Mommy says so. I need you to be a brave girl for me now Mia, and whatever you do, do not make a sound okay?"
Mia peered up at her mother, her blue doe eyes wide and nodded in return.
" Mama and papa are going away for a little while, but don't worry we will always be with you no matter what, okay baby?" Her mother continued. Mia could hear the break in her mother's voice that threatened to crack but didn't question her further.
As far as she knew, her parents had never lied to her before so why would they start now? Besides, Mia was in fact a brave girl and always listened to her parents so she promised herself and her mother that she would be quiet and not come out til she was told to do so.
So like the good girl she was, she stayed put in the closet thinking that this was an ordinary game of hide-and-seek that they had played many times before now. What she didn't know was that this was definitely not a game. If indeed it was, it was a very, very disturbing one that Mia did not wish to continue playing.
As difficult as it was to endure, Mia kept her promise to her mother and kept as quiet as she could. A few minutes later, she heard banging on the front entrance followed by some men she didn't know yelling.
"Open the door right now Mr and Mrs. Winters." One of the men called out while simultaneously knocking on the door.
"You know who we are and what we came here for. We would appreciate your full cooperation." The one presumed to be the 'Boss' added.
The Boss looked down to the small child at his side.
"Keep your eyes open Sebastian. Watch and learn how your father conducts business."
Sebastian, who was fidgeting with his hands a moment ago, looked up to him and gave a solemn reply "yes, father."
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
Allison_Tenile
Allison_Tenile Hello everyone! This is my first novel I am working on and decided to try publishing. I'm not sure how updates will go, or how fast I will update so please be patient with me. Any constructive feedback is welcome. Thank you for reading this far uwu
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