Hope for Us (NEWT) [COMPLETED]

Ch 1 - Trust Me

Chaos.

It was the first thing the girl noticed around her. People rushing, running aimlessly from one place to another.

Sara had lost the people who had meant everything to her, all in one day.

Just the thought of it, the vivid memory constantly shoving its way into her mind was unbearably painful. As a thirteen-year-old girl, it was beyond confusing, and nothing could have ever prepared her for the abrupt realization of her need to survive.

~A few hours earlier~

"Dad, what's going on?" the girl asked in oblivion, "why are people screaming?"

The man briefly tore his eyes from the window to look at his daughter. He drew her close to his chest and stroked her soft brown hair, gently kissing the top of her head. Outside of their home, the desperate screams of people echoed incessantly in the air as ear splitting sounds of gunfire followed suit.

"I don't know, mia cara." Her father had an apprehensive tone of voice. He felt how his daughter flinched at every booming sound from people breaking into homes and the release of gunfire upon the neighborhood.

Matteo could only imagine the hundreds of families just like his, huddled together in agonizing terror, screaming for their lives.

"When's mom gonna be back?" Sara's voice quivered as she tightly grasped her father's shirt.

Amira had left the house earlier in the morning. She had reassured her husband and her daughter that she was only going to be gone for about an hour to make sure her sister and niece were alright. Sara's father had begged her to remain in the house, in the safety of their home, but the woman insisted.

Matteo wasn't willing to give up either. He tried and tried to reason with her but to no avail. She kissed her daughter on the cheek and her husband gave her a pleading look as she leaned in to kiss him too.

"Take care of our daughter for me... just in case, you know..." was the last thing she said before she rushed out the door.

That one hour in which she said she'd be out had long gone by, and her husband feared for the worst. He would never have the courage to tell Sara that her mother was quite possibly dead by then, brutally shot by armed guards perhaps. He had considered going out to search for his wife, but that possibility was long forgotten as he recalled her final request regarding Sara. It would be very irresponsible of him to put his daughter's life at risk like that.

"She'll be back soon, don't worry," he reassured his daughter. He wanted to believe his own words, but he couldn't shake off the apprehension.

He pulled away to stare directly at her terrified features. "I need you to promise me something, Sara."

He grabbed her shoulders with both hands as she nodded quickly.

"Promise me that no matter what happens to me, you're going to fight. Fight for your life, your survival," he said, his voice quivering. "I want you to rush out of the house, through the emergency exit we talked about—you know where it is. Run as fast as you can, and don't stop to look back. Don't let the guards take you with them no matter what."

"And you?" Sara asked, afraid her father would leave her on her own.

"Look for your uncle Janson and his wife. Mom went to look for her and your cousin Margaret so you might run into them. They'll protect you," he finished, a tight knot forming in the back of his throat. The thought of his daughter roaming the streets by herself was hanging above his head in a cloud of dread. It was only a matter of trusting that she'd make it to their house just a few blocks away before the guards spotted her, but even that was difficult enough.