Rory's Journal [Do Not Open]

In the cellar that morning, all things that occurred had almost NO explanation.
First the crack in the floor.
Second, the way Bradley talked. And third...
"'Ello, Rory!" Torad said, stomping down the cellar stairs. With each step, my anger built higher. I glared at him, snarling and thinking of ways to kill him.
"Who are you?" I shouted out, accidentally a little too loudly. Torad chuckled and shook his head at me as if I was a naive infant.
"None of your concern, child!" He stomped down a few more steps and reached the last with an angry huff. I watched his eyes this time to see who he'd take away. As I followed his stare, I noticed something horrific...He was about to take away Bradley.

I know you may think I hate him as much as Erik, but really, I'm just jealous. He can be stupid...or he IS stupid, but at least he's not mean...a liar...and other things I feel I can't change about myself.
"Bradley.." Torad finally said and started to click his mouth as if Bradley had done something wrong. Slowly, he stomped his metal boots up to my little brother and stood face to face with him, staring him in the eye. Bradley's eyes darted back and forth at the evil man's grin and stare.
"Are you ready for your nap?" As he said this, he slowly lifted his AK-47 up to Bradley's head.
Now, I'll ask you, Journal, how you'd feel if you were standing in a dark cellar, no light but a small beam, with a psychopath man holding a gun to your little brother's head!
I can tell you what I thought!
My heart sunk and pounded slowly. It felt as if someone grabbed it and yanked it down and out of my stomach. My head started pounding as well as I thought, This is it...I'm going to lose him..
"WAIT!" I exclaimed shoving him aside. "I must know what you want from our family...please.." My body began shaking. This was the first time I had ever been in front of a loaded gun before with it pointed at me.
"None of this concerns you!" He repeated. Turning to Bradley, he began again, as if I wasn't even there. "Where are the scrolls?" His gruff voice rumbled through the cellar, echoing off every wall.
"I don't know..." He said, shrugging. He shot me a look meaning, 'hide them!'. "I believe they were burnt!" Torad chuckled at him.
"Well, then! My men and I can just go right in the zipper and not have to worry abou' those silly li'l pieces of parchment!" Torad and his gang of men wearing black all stepped up to the zipper. He flicked his hand in the air and the rest of the men stopped in their track. Bradley, I saw as I bent down and stuffed the scrolls in the tool box, was secretly holding back a laugh as he watched them clueless and intrigued by the zipper. Torad finally reached his hand out and stuck it inside the zipper.
Now, thank goodness Bradley had told me to hide the scrolls because at this moment, I was behind a wall and safely secured. As soon as his finger touched the inside of the crack the whole room exploded with light that looked like liquid. Specs of dust flying everywhere. The walls were painted with light and the floor with dust. I saw, as I peeped over, Bradley making a run for it up the stairs and out the door. Torad was still recovering from the explosion along with the rest of his men. After contemplating whether or not to run after Bradley or to stay and watch Torad suffer, I finally bolted for the stairs.
"WAIT!" I called after my brother, who was running for his life breathlessly. "Why do they want you?" Bradley slammed his hands on my shoulder and looked me in the eyes.
"Rory, you are not safe!" I began to say over him that I already knew that, for there were just a gang of men with guns pointed at me. "No, no! Listen, Rory! Don't talk! You need to get as FAR from here as you can! Do something as unexpected as you can! Make sure there is no record of you. There is a reason for all this, look at the scroll! RORY! You are--" Bradley was interrupted by the cellar door being kicked down.
"Bradley!!" Torad pointed his gun at my brother again. "Ya can't run now!" Remember the moment where Torad was staring in the window and it felt like it lasted a century?
Well, this was the same. As I watched closely Torad's finger on the trigger my heart and mind raced. I felt something come over me that I didn't recognize. Some feeling I've never had before. It got stronger the further his finger pulled on the trigger. Finally, I found myself standing in front of Bradley yelling 'NO'. The silence created by my unknown feeling faded....The sound of the gun firing sounded louder than anything I've ever heard. My ears began to ring and my throat clogged up, making it impossible to breathe. I finally decided to look down at what was pushing on my chest. I heard the faint sound of Bradley crying behind me and screaming as loud as he could. Appalled, I stared at the sight on my chest. A trickle of blood dripped down to the floor coming out of the large hole directly on my heart. I coughed once..twice, laughing a little at the way I was about to die. As I lifted my eyes up to look at Torad's expression, I unwillingly began to fall backwards and hit the floor. On the floor, I watched as Torad dragged my now unconscious brother out the door behind me.
Wanting to get up...wanting to help...The feeling of dying is great in many ways...it feels like someone is lifting a two ton backpack off of you and letting you go.

I stared up at the ceiling, which was very foggy (even with my glasses on). It felt like I had ear muffs on when I finally heard a new voice screaming and calling my name. Unable to move, I waited for the person to come in front of me so I could see them. Eventually, she bent down and kissed my head. My mother...after all this time of despising me, the only time she cared was when I was to be dead. The world grew whiter and whiter as the sound in my ears faded to a stop. I felt a pushing on my chest when I breathed my last breath...
and everything was still...
everything...quiet....