Break and Enter

What do I do? Do I get up and run? Should I just stay here and surrender? What if they kill me? What if they don’t? What if they do something much worse than that? If I run, what if I don’t make it upstairs?
What if I’m just completely screwed over?
That seems like the right question for this situation. I. Am. Screwed. So, since all of my choices could end badly, why not go with the one that sounds like it might have the possibility of helping my situation.
I peeked around the corner of the couch to see how close the strangers were. They were about halfway into the living room. If I run now, I might have a chance to get to the stairs. But all they have to do is turn that corner and they can easily shoot me dead on the stairs…. But the only other way to get upstairs is to go through the kitchen, and that is not an option.
Well, looks like it’s a chance I’m gonna have to take.
I looked around the couch one more time before scrambling to my feet and making a run for it.
“Hey!” I heard someone shout from behind me.
I screamed as I rounded the corner to the stairs and a shot from the gun was fired. I sprinted up the stairs as fast as my small pajama clad legs could let me. I had just gotten to the top of the stairs when the sound of thudding footsteps were behind me and another gunshot sounded. This one hit the wall. That’s gonna do permanent damage, I thought.
“BRYCE!!! DADDY!!! HELP!!!” I screamed as loud as I could. I pushed Bryce, my older brother’s, door open and screamed at him, “BRYCE!!!!! WAKE UP!!!! WAKE UP, PLEASE!!!!” I nearly cried in his doorway. He startled awake and jumped out of the bed.
“Rain! What the hell!?!” He yelled at me. I looked behind me to see the men at the top of the stairs. I squeeled and continued running down the hallway to my dad’s room.
“RUN, BRY! RUN!!!” I yelled back at him. I continued running until I was in my father’s room. I turned around and slammed the door. I heard a thud on the other side. Someone had run into the door, but I didn’t dare open it.
“RAIN! RAIN! OPEN THE FUCKING DOOR!!!” Bryce yelled at me from behind the door.
I quickly opened the door, pulled him in, and slammed it again, locking it. We had a brother/sister telepathy moment and we both went to the dresser and dragged it in front of the door. We backed away from the door slowly as one of the men on the other side jiggled the doorknob. Noticing the door wasn’t going to open any time soon, he got very frustrated and began kicking the door. “Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!” he screamed with each kick. I flinched each time and screamed as another shot was fired through the door.
I turned around, took one look at my dad who had a look of pure shock, fear, and confusion, and burst into tears and uncontrollable sobs. I ran over to him and buried my face in his chest. “What the hell is going on?” my dad asked Bryce.
“I dunno! Ask her!” Bryce was obviously frustrated as he was pacing back and forth, but obviously avoiding the door.
My dad looked at me and I could barely get the words out I was so scared. I explained everything to him from the crash, to the searching of the kitchen, to almost getting killed, to being here in his room. His eyes flickered recognition as I continued to tell the story. When I had finished, he gently placed me on the bed and walked to his closet. Bryce and I followed behind him standing in the doorway. Without a word, he pushed in the shelf for his shoes and slid it to the right. My jaw dropped to the ground. He walked away from the door and out of the closet. With my mouth still hanging wide, I went further into the closet to take a look at the secret compartment he just revealed. Turns out, it wasn’t a small compartment or safe as I had expected. It was a small room probably half the size of my room. If possible, my jaw dropped farther. I walked further into the small room and look around. There were four cases of water, some canned foods, cereal, a computer, a phone, and a small television that looked to be surveillance of cameras around the house. Straight ahead was a bed and right next to where the door opened was a toilet. The whole room was made of metal that looked like steal.
I have a panic room in my freaking house.
I heard Bryce come in behind me over the constant banging of the men outside the door still trying to get in. “Holy shit,” Bryce gasped as he looked around.
Seconds later, Dad walked back through the door. In his hand he held his phone and charger. He plugged it into the wall then turned back around to face us. The seriousness on his face frightened me to no extent. “Those men are not going to be kept out of the room for much longer,” he told us. “They want something that I have, and I’m not giving it to them. I’d give it about two more minutes before they’re in. Now, I want you two to pass out.”
My eyes widened. “What!? Why would we do that? What’s going on?” I exclaimed. We were rarely told to make ourselves faint. That was something we learned to do when we were young. Dads taught us, telling us that whenever we were in danger, or if something ever happens where we get kidnapped or something, knock ourselves out. “They would want you alive,” he’d told us. “And if not, just hope you’ll get the chance to wake up.” We’ve never really had to put it to use, but we’ve still practiced a couple of times so we wouldn’t forget.
“Just listen to me, Rain. Please,” he pleaded. His face was stern, but his eyes showed something else. Fear, worriment, knowing. I nodded in response. “When you wake up, I want you to call the police. And only when they get here do you open the door. Do you understand?” Bry and I looked at each other before nodding once again. Dad sighed in relief. “Okay,” he came to the both of us and gave us both tight hugs. “You should be safe in here. There’s no way in once the door’s closed. It can only be opened from the inside.” Again, he sighed; almost sad this time. “I love you two so much. Remember that.” We nodded again. “Go ahead and pass out.”
I watched as Bryce visibly relaxed and closed his eyes, his breathing changing. I looked at my dad and tried to do the same. I closed my eyes and tried to relax. I was failing though and it was obvious. I heard slight shuffling and opened my eyes to see that Bryce was out like a light and Dad was carrying him to the bed. I sighed at my inability to lose consciousness. I’ve never been good at this.
He came over to me and put his hand on my shoulders. “Relax, Rainee. Everything’s gonna be okay.” He hugged me to him and placed a kiss atop my head. I decided I might as well believe him and relaxed, closed my eyes, and changed the way I breathed. “I love you, Rainee.”
“I love you too, Daddy,” were my last words before I inhaled as hard as I could, then plugged my nose and blew as hard as I could.