[UNEDITED]

"Girl?"

This was the only word being whispered throughout the crowd.

I looked at dad. He looked just about as confused as I was at the moment.

"I'll try my best," he finally said to her, "But please do not kill those people!"

Dad handed the mike to the peacekeeper standing close to him, and then rubbed his eyes.

"What was that woman talking about?" I asked him, "What girl was she talking about? And what relationship did she have with Uncle Benjamin?"

Dad squinted his eyes, "I have no idea dear," he said in a tired voice, "I wish I knew. It seems like Benjamin has to come here no matter what."

I thought it served him right. If he created this mess, then he should be the one to clear it up.

The peacekeeper was speaking into the walkie-talkie once again, and I saw dad meet up with him and argue over the line. Then he was at my side once again.

"Honey," he told me, "We have to leave."

"I can't," I said, "Amaya is in there."

Nicole was in there, too. And Dylan would be here as well.

"Please try to understand," dad grabbed my hand, "If anything, Benjamin wanted you and Amaya to be safe in the first place. We have you, now you should leave before things get even more messed up."

"Dad please!" I pleaded. I looked around, but Dylan--or Daniel--was nowhere to be found.

"We don't have much time," dad sounded impatient, "Just go!"

Suddenly all lights went out. The house was swimming into darkness, and the fire seemed ten times brighter. The streetlights started going out one by one.

Then it began.

Peacekeepers and soldiers, hundreds and hundreds of them, marched into the scenario. People were being pushed back into the woods for safety, and the soldiers took their aim.

"Shoot them all," I heard one of them order.

I saw their silhouette as they slowly crept up to the house. One of them placed an explosive on a window, and seemed to be waiting for an indefinite time. Then there was a loud bang, and smoke filled the air.

Suddenly there were gunshots and screams in the air. We were further pushed back into the woods, encircled by armed guards.

I don't know how long it took for the gunshots to subside, but eventually it did. We were instructed to leave the place in ones and twos, and we were provided special security.

Amaya survived, and so did Nicole. When she ran and hugged Daniel and Dylan, I felt a part of me fill up once again. True, I hated Nicole to some extent, but she was like a family to Dylan. If she had died, I knew that he would consider himself responsible for it, and would never be able to forgive himself. I would never have been able to see him suffer.

Amaya and I sat in our car as Dad slowly drove us away. There was an armed guard sitting in the front seat, and another four of them followed us in a car behind ours.

Amaya sat in her seat looking mortified. There was blood on her pretty mauve dress, and she was pale as a ghost. She was shaking a little, and sobbed a few times.

"Are you okay?" I asked her, and then instantly felt stupid. She probably saw a massacre happen in front of her, and I was asking her if she was okay!

Amaya slowly looked at me. Her eyes looked demented, and they scared me.

"There was blood everywhere!" she said in a whisper, "After the soldiers attacked, they started shooting everywhere...bodies were falling here and there...and..."

"That's alright, dear," dad said from the front, "You don't have to talk about it."

"She escaped," Amaya said in a firm voice, "The woman, their leader, she escaped."

I frowned, "How?"

"She knew," two drops of tears leaked from her eyes, and she finally broke down, "She knew that Benjamin would not budge from his decision. I heard her instructing her disciples to be ready for any attack, and to be ready to kill if they have to!"

Amaya's sobs filled the car, and after about a thousand minutes, they finally withered away.

"I lost Betty. I can't believe I will never see my best friend again," she said.

I reached out and put my hand on hers. She hid her face in her other palm.

"Why did they do this?" she rose from her mourning and asked, "They sure don't want what we have been thinking for all this time! They want something else."

"We heard her talk, yes, we now know that she wants something else entirely," dad said grimly.

"She was talking about some girl," I whispered.

"And she also said about some relationship with Benjamin!" Amaya said loudly, "Was that me she was referring to? Did she want me?"

"Why would she want you?" I said, "I mean, you were already there, right?"

"Yeah. Yeah, I know," Amaya sat straighter, "It's just, Benjamin is about to marry my mother, and this woman shows up and demands a girl, and claims to have a relationship with him 'for a long time', this feels weird. Feels like she has sworn to not let us be happy in any way."

We were already home. The guards let us go inside the house.

"That's okay Amaya," dad stopped her, "You don't have to worry about it anymore. We will take care of whatever happened out there."

"Thank you, Mr. Wilkins," Amaya offered a fake smile, and then hopped out of the car with me.

As we walked toward the house, Amaya slowly came up and grabbed my hand.

"You know what she said to one of her followers when they were rounding us up?" she asked me. I looked at her, and waited.

"She said that if Benjamin did not give in to her demands, she would prepare for a war if she has to."

I looked at her, incredulous.

"Does that mean anything to you?" she asked me in that same grim voice.

I shook my head.

Amaya nodded, and then she started to walk toward the house.

Idid not know what tonight actually meant or was leading toward, but I was sure of one thing: it was not simply a matter of a broken heart or a betrayal in a relationship. No one would rally thousands of people and wage war on a happy country just because she had a broken heart. The matter was much griever than it appeared, and I would soon have to get ahold of it before it would become the end for all of us.

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