Micaiah's POV
I sat on my bed, a book on my lap. It had been less than a week since the talent show, and we had just under four months until the Nutcracker. Both of my parents were downstairs, and my siblings were out, doing who-knows-what for Emerson's wedding in a month. Then, I heard a crash, and mom yelped, and I heard something else faintly.

"You okay, mom?" I hollered, and started to get a little worried when there was no response. I slipped downstairs, and froze, seeing the glass back doors shattered, and both of my parents lying on the ground, unconscious.

"Dad!! Mom!!" I screamed, dropping to my knees beside them, and gently shook dad. He groaned, stirring, and I saw the blood on the top of his head.

"Dad?" I whispered, and his eyes slowly opened, and I tried to help him up.
"What happened?" I asked, and he opened his mouth to speak, but instead, I heard a crack. His eyes widened, and then there was another crack. He stumbled back, a hand over his side, where I saw a patch of red getting larger. He'd been shot.

"No!!" I screamed, and he gasped for breath, pulling out his cell phone. I dialed 911, and just as they answered, a hand clamped over my mouth. I tried to scream, clawing at it, but it only tightened. I saw dad struggling to breathe, and silently begged him to be able to make the call.

"Don't make a sound, b****. Or the rest of your family's gonna get an even worse surprise." He said, and I felt something cold press against my neck. A knife. He pressed a long strip of duct tape over my mouth, and then he fastened my wrists together with a zip tie. Dad reached for the phone, managing to grab it, and I saw the tears in his eyes as mom started to stir, and I was pulled away. I was led out to a car and shoved in, a blindfold being tied around my head. I felt the car start, and the tears started coming again.

"Please. Please don't let this happen. Please don't let this be real." I thought. But it was. I was being kidnapped. I wasn't an idiot. I knew the statistics. If I wasn't found within about 72 hours, my chances of being killed went up to about 95%. I choked down a sob, and thought of my parents and siblings.

"Please let them find me. Please."

Devan's POV
The stabbing pain in my side where he shot me was getting worse, and I was now literally gasping for breath. I brought the phone to where I could talk, and heard the operator.

"Hello? Can you hear me?" I forced myself to speak, swallowing a cry of pain at the effort.
"I.....I need help.....Someone.....They broke in.....Took my daughter......" I tried to stand, and couldn't hold back the cry of pain that time.
"Sir, are you injured?" She asked, and I saw Leah finally stirring.
"He......shot me." I gasped, and quickly gave her our address. Leah sat up, seeing me, and she let out a cry as well.

"Sir, we have emergency vehicles on the way." I nodded slowly, and it almost seemed like the pain was lessening. But I knew it really wasn't. It was either me getting used to the pain, or I was.....I was dying. I forced my eyes to stay open, trying to focus on Leah, who was trying to talk to me, but everything started spinning. I heard sirens, and then heard Leah yelling to someone.....And then I saw Collins running in, dropping the camera on the sofa, and he nearly fell beside me.

"Devan.....Hey, Devan, look at me. Devan, look at me! Come on, bro. Don't leave us, okay? Don't leave us." I felt his hand in mine, and Leah's in my other hand, and the pain flared, feeling like someone was twisting the thousand-degree knife Collins had used that one time in my side. I cried out, feeling myself being lifted up onto something, and I started moving.

"Micaiah.....Have to.....Have to find her....." I gasped, unable to think straight. I'd seen that man's face. It looked familiar, but I couldn't place it. Then, I heard another voice. Emerson.

"Oh my gosh....Dad!" The kids were home. Bella tried to run over to me, but Spencer held her back, and she was screaming. Emerson dropped to the ground, and I couldn't see what she was doing now. I saw another paramedic with Leah, and an officer was talking to her. I saw the ambulance lights flashing, and I was lifted in, and groaned as the thing I was laying on dropped a little, and I heard several voices.

"Need to get oxygen going, now! He's fading!"
"Bp is 70 over 45! He's crashing, and fast!"
"We've got two entry wounds, no exit! Call ahead, let them know he's got to go in to surgery on arrival!" I felt something hard and plastic being placed on my face, and then I felt a needle stab into the back of my hand. For some reason, everything was starting to get blurry......And then it all went black.