“Honey, I want you to go downstairs into the basement. Go down the hall and it’s the first door on your left. And when you get in there, lock the door. And if he breaks in, there’s a door leading outside. Okay?”

“Yes, ma’am”

So I ran down the hall and into the basement. I heard my father break in.

“Where’s the brat?”

“Who?”

“KATRINA!”

“Who’s Katrina?”

“THE LITTLE BRAT THAT I SAW IN YOUR WINDOW!”

“I honestly have no idea who you’re talking about”

I heard him choking her.

“DON’T LIE TO ME! I’LL SHOOT YOU!”

I was surprised that she was still defending a little girl who she just met.

“Okay! I’ll tell you where she is”

He let go. I was scared that she was going to tell him and I was going to get hurt.

“She’s in the bathroom”

I was relieved she told him another lie.

“WHERE’S THE BATHROOM!?”

“Upstairs, last door on your left”

I heard him run upstairs.

“I’M COMING FOR YOU! AND WHEN I GET MY HANDS ON YOU, I’M GOING TO KILL YOU!”

I went up the stairs, unlocked the door, and grabbed Kathy and ran with her back down the stairs and locked the door.

“Oh honey, I had no idea what you were going through. He is a very bad man”

I started crying and nodded my head.

“He killed my Mommy”

She seemed scared. Even more than before.

“What?”, She said in disbelief.

“Mommy told me to run far away, and run fast too. And she told me he was going to hurt her very bad. And before I left, she gave me this”, I held out my hand and showed her the necklace.

“Katrina, That is a very pretty necklace”, she said with a smile.

“Thank you, Kathy”

I heard gunshots coming from upstairs.

“KATRINA! GET OVER HERE YOU LITTLE BRAT! ONCE I FIND YA, I’M GONNA KILL YA!”

Kathy looked at me.

“Run, Katrina”

I started running towards the door leading outside. Then I turned back to Kathy.

“Are you going to be okay?”

“I’m gonna be just fine, hun. Now go!”, she yelled.

I didn’t ignore those words. The second she got done with her sentence, I ran. I ran out the door and down the street. Running for my life. About two minutes after I ran out the door, I heard the gunshot. And my dad started yelling my name.

“KATRINA!”

I looked behind me. He was running after me.