voice boomed through the room

  “who are you, and why did you detain her” I looked up to see Shay a boy about in his older teens with eyes that looks fierce but kind he wearing the a black sweatsuit walking in with the twins right behind him

  “Excuse me, who are you!” detective Vance exclaimed

  “Your worst nightmare” Kayla said. Walking in with Sarah after her“and you just walked into it by taking our sister ” Kayla continued

  “yea!” Sarah said “you have no clue, have you stopped to wonder how the guards didn’t stop us because we hacked your computer and camera system. Your guards are busy trying to figure out what's going on with their computers.” She added on

  “There is no way. Two kids hack the system” Detective Vance said standing up and knocking over her chair revising to believe two ten year olds just hacked about twenty police compters

  “Yes! We did the years of training that finally paid off.” Kayla exclaimed

  "Let me out before I let myself out," I declared, my voice dropping an octave. "And trust me, that won't end well for you."

  "What? No way," Vance countered. She paused, leaning in to look deep into my eyes, searching for a crack in the armor—a single weakness. "Do you even know what happened to your parents, Mia? Do you know what they actually did for a living?"

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  The room went silent, but in my head, the noise was deafening. The sterile smell of the police station faded, replaced by the scent of old paper and metallic gunpowder. The memory began to play like a corrupted file.

  Suddenly, I was seven years old again, standing in my mother’s office. I was looking down at her body, her clothes splattered with a terrifying, brilliant crimson. Then, I heard it: the heavy click-click from the shadows behind me.

  I spun around. My father was standing there, gripping the old service pistol he usually kept locked in the heavy floor safe. His hands were shaking.

  "I’m sorry," he whispered, his eyes glassing over. "I know you’re so young... you're only seven... and it's not fair that you're losing us so early. But we have to leave, Mia. It's for your safety. I love you."

  He turned the barrel, pointing it directly at his own heart.

  "NO!" I screamed. The sound tore from my throat as tears blurred my vision. I lunged toward him, my small hands reaching out to stop the inevitable, but I was too slow.

  The BANG was the loudest thing I had ever heard. It didn't just fill the room; it shattered my world.

  "NO! NO! NO!" I shrieked into the empty office.

  The sound of pounding footsteps hit the stairs. Shay came skidding into the room, his face pale. "What’s happening?!" he shouted, rushing to my side. He stopped dead when he saw the floor. "What happened to them?"

  "Father k-k-killed Mother... and then himself," I sobbed, my voice breaking into jagged pieces.

  "What? Why?" Shay’s voice rose to a panicked yell.

  "He said... he said it was to protect us," I choked out through the salt and the grief.

  "Call 911!" Shay yelled, grabbing my shoulders. "Mia, call 911 now!"