THEN.

Christmas Eve.

It is a particular time for families to spend together - a time for giving and getting. Parents are placing the finishing touches on the present their kids will open on Christmas morning. Those who went to bed that night had smiles on their faces. They were going to wake up with happiness and joy on their faces. That didn't apply to two people in California. Apolline Ampara Alvardo and Izan Santiago Alvarado. The father and daughter weren't enjoying their Christmas Eve. Apooline wasn't enjoying her birthday. She was going to remember this one for a very long time.

The father and daughter duo were lying on the living room floor with blood all over their bodies. Izan certainly had much more coming out than his daughter. Apolline didn't think that her day would end up with her bleeding out in her house. She barely saw her father at all except the morning when he wished her happy birthday before he left for god knows where. He didn't show up to work and that alarmed Apolline and Matteo. Izan always went to work after he talked to his cousin about whatever blacklister he was giving to the task force.

Apolline had spent the day worrying about where her father was instead of enjoying her birthday. The second she opened the door after being out with her boyfriend, Robby Keene for a few hours, she was met with her father with multiple stab wounds on the floor with his hands tied. Crimson blood was all over his clothes. Izan warned her not to come any closer. His warning went in one ear and came out the other. Once she put her whole body inside the house, two random men in civilian clothing aimed their guns at her.

Minutes later, she was on the floor with a bullet in both of her legs thanks to one of the men. She missed the table in the corner by a few inches. Apolline took out her dragon-engraved switchblade from her pant pocket and stabbed the man in his leg. In return, another man (who looked like the leader) used his knife to stab her in the shoulder. She dropped her switchblade, letting the leader kick it out of her reach.

"You may be wondering who I am and what I am doing here. Who I am is not important. I simply want something that your father has." The brunette man turns his head in Izan's direction. He kicks him to keep his eyes open. "Now, tell me where it is and call Ximénez for me."

He doesn't utter a word for a few seconds. "Go to hell." Izan spat. The leader clicks his tongue. "That isn't what I wanted to hear." He took out a knife and stabbed Izan in the stomach, making Apolline yell at him to stop.

"Leave him alone!" The man turns his head to her. He grabs his gun from the back of his pants and shoots her in the abdomen. "I don't like being interrupted while I'm doing my thing." Another man with blond hair raised a shoebox full of whatever was inside. "Found it. Hidden in his bedroom. It's all in here"

The leader kneels to Izan. "Now, I don't like to repeat myself but it seems like I have to. Call Ximénez." He doesn't utter a word. He does not want to put her in danger. "I don't like to hear that so I have to do some convincing." The brunette turns around to where Apolline is and he plunges the knife between her chest before removing it.

"Leave her alone!" Izan yells. The leader says he will do that as long as he calls Ximénez. Apolline's eyesight begins to blur as she struggles to stay awake. Above her head is one of her daughter's toys. A small wooden box with three holes on the top. Just as she was about to grab it, someone kicked it far away from her reach. "You don't wanna do that, sweetheart."

The brunette stabs Apolline in her stomach. He takes out the knife and places it on the small table. "This is going nowhere." He stands up. "Finish them off. Clean up the bodies." The man with the shoebox leaves with the ladder, leaving Izan and Apolline alone with two psychotic strangers.

"Let's have some fun." Some random '70s music plays. Apolline moves her head up a bit to see one of the men in the kitchen. She hears a clicking sound. A gun was pointed directly above her head. One of the men moves the gun aside. Shooting the father and daughter was a mistake. He doesn't have a silencer gun like the boss had.

Izan managed to grab the knife that was on the table without any of the strange men knowing. He will not let his daughter die at all. He looks over to her. Plastic wrap was going on her face. Apolline struggles to breathe. Izan took that as a signal. He sliced one of the man's legs and threw it at the other's shoulder.

He got up from the floor and immediately started attacking. He grabbed a gun he had hidden somewhere in the kitchen and killed one of the men. Izan dropped the gun and began punching the other guy over and over again. He got kicked in the stomach, a weak point for him due to the many open wounds. Apolline was trying to keep an eye on what was going on. She ignored the blood that was soaking her sangria colored jumpsuit.

The door was kicked open, revealing Santi Ximénez. He kills the last man. Robby comes into the house and is greeted with a huge amount of blood on his girlfriend and her father. He carefully cradles her head with both of his hands. "She lost a lot of blood." He glanced at Izan. His white shirt is almost fully soaked. "Both of them."

"You carry her and I'll carry him. We have to get them to the hospital quickly." Santi carefully helps his cousin to his feet. "I-I'm sorry. I should have told you." Izan mumbles. Outside of the house, there were police sirens. Robby opens the back door of the car and places Apolline inside. Santi does the same.

She places her head on his shoulder. Both of them look nearly dead. "Kid, we have to go. Standing around isn't gonna make them any less dead." Santi says. He wants his cousin and his daughter a chance to live. Robby sits beside Apolline. He holds onto her hand. He didn't think that this was how his night would end up. His girlfriend is almost dead and her father too.

What is supposed to be a night of joyous celebration turned into a night of horror and pain.

Izan opens his eyes. He looks down at his only daughter. "You're gonna be fine. You are gonna be fine." A single lone tear falls down his face. He failed her. He failed to protect her. He should've just taken Apolline and Matteo and left the country the second Santi showed his face five years ago.

Speaking of Santi, he told Valencia about Izan and Apolline. There was an emergency escort made for them. It lasted to the hospital. Apolline squeezes Robby's hand. "You have to make it." He whispers. He couldn't live without Apolline. Marisol still needed her mother.

They finally made it to the hospital. Two nurses have two stretchers out for Izan and Apolline. Santi sat in his car watching as two important people in his life went inside. He had a feeling that his cousin wouldn't make it. He lost way more blood than Apolline.

Both of them were surrounded by nurses and doctors. Lorenna, Karan, and Robby waited outside of the rooms the two were wheeled in. Robby didn't care about his blood soaked clothes, all he cared about was Apolline. A doctor is telling the nurses what to give her.

In Izan's room, a doctor is asking if he can hear him. His shirt was cut open revealing the wounds he got. Izan's heart monitor goes flat. The doctor places the defibrillator on his chest after it charges. With each shock, his heart monitor stays flat.

From outside the hospital, Levi went inside. Valencia was right behind him. She makes eye contact with Santi before going inside. Matteo and Nerissa come inside as well. Marisol was clutching onto Matteo's shirt tightly. She was so confused.

They all watched what happened. After trying to start up Izan's heart, nothing happens. "Time of death, 10:23 pm."

Izan Santiago Alvarado was dead.

Apolline Ampara Alvardo lost her father. Matteo Navarro lost his uncle.

─── · 。ﾟ☆: *.☽ .*:☆ﾟ. ───

NOW.

It had been seven weeks. Apolline had fallen into a coma due to the amount of blood she lost. She was also moved to a facility that wasn't far from Encino Hills that was better equipped to help her. Apolline needed better care and the hospital wouldn't provide it for her.

It was now early February. February 10, 2019. Those who were close to her were waiting for her to wake up. The Alvarado house was just completely silent. The sounds of kitchen utensils, pots, and pans were gone. Matteo couldn't get the blood off the carpet so he got it replaced.

He temporarily moved back into the house. Apolline and Robby can't live alone in an empty house. He and Nerissa were thinking they should push back their wedding a couple of months back so they could be there for Apolline. She needed to be surrounded by people who loved and cared about her.

Matteo would stay with Apolline whenever he had time off from work. He would tell her about his day. Talking to her helped keep his hopes up. Nerissa would come to see her when she could. He hated seeing her like that. She didn't want to know the details about what happened that night but she knew whatever occurred was bad just by watching what she saw at the hospital four weeks ago.

Robby was taking it the hardest. His girlfriend and the mother of their child was in a coma. He would spend most of his time in the room where Apolline was. Whenever he would sleep he would recall the night. Blood was all over her body, her chest going up and down very slowly, and life was leaving her eyes. He would distract himself by doing whatever he could whether it was taking care of Marisol or doing karate at Cobra Kai. He needed something to drive away the nightmares.

Marisol didn't fully understand what happened but she knew that her mother wasn't fine. That is all her seven-month-old self understood. Apolline didn't know that she was pregnant until she was six months along. She found out when she got her blood test results. She didn't know what to do at all. Aborting the unborn child was out of the question. Apolline was too far along.

She told her father as she was crying. She was scared that he would yell at her or kick her out of the house. Izan didn't do either. He understood the situation and kept his cool. Apolline didn't know how to tell Robby at all. He already had issues and she didn't want to add more. Eventually, she told him. Robby did need to take some time for himself. Izan, Matteo, and Nerissa told him what he needed to hear.

When Marisol Esmeralda Alvarado-Keene was born, Apolline wanted to keep her out of the life she was dragged into. Marisol has heterochromia eyes. Her right eye is green like Robby's and her left eye is brown like Apolline's. She also inherited her father's brown hair. Marisol was a mix of her parents. She was a somewhat easy baby but had her moments when she was difficult.

While Robby was in juvie, Izan, and the others managed to convince the administrator for Apolline to meet her boyfriend alone without others watching. She would bring Marisol with her whenever she visited him. He deserved to see his daughter no matter what happened. She would also talk to him over the phone. Hearing Robby's voice made Apolline happy.

Robby was let go just three days before his and his girlfriend's second anniversary. He had something planned for that day. He took Apolline out for the whole day and gave her a necklace that she had always wanted. Izan and Matteo helped him pay for it.

He bought her a cheap daisy flower ring on their first anniversary since he didn't have much. Apolline loved it and has worn it ever since.

He was in the room, just looking at Apolline. Robby finished reading one of her favorite books, Life of Pi. She looked so peaceful. Robby looked at his phone to see how much time he had left. As he was doing that, Apolline opened her eyes. She blinked a few times, taking in her surroundings.

She lifted her hand to Robby's shoulder, spooking him. "Oh my god, Luna." Apolline removed her hand and made a writing motion with her hand. "Okay." Robby grabs a clipboard that has a piece of paper attached to it plus a pen. He turns it around and gives it to Apolline. She slowly writes one question and then shows it to him.

𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨?

"Seven weeks."

Apolline writes one more question.

𝘮𝘺 𝘥𝘢𝘥?

This was a question that Robby was not prepared to answer. "He's dead."

ᵀᵒʳⁱ'ˢ ᴺᵒᵗᵉˢ

had to start off by killing someone. gotta make my oc more traumatized than usual. this chapter sets the tone for the rest of the book. i will have some happy moments for apolline but mainly angst. don't forget to vote and comment. comments make me happy and make me want to write more