"Count to ten"

The girl was counting in a low voice, almost a whisper, while she covered her ears tightly, as if she wanted to drown out the outside world. "One, two, three..." Tears ran down her cheeks, hot and salty, as her small body trembled. The sound of glass breaking, furniture being dragged, and the screams of men in masks filled the house. "Four, five, six..." Each number was a desperate attempt to stay sane, to not lose sanity in the midst of chaos. "Seven, eight, nine..." But he couldn't escape. I couldn't stop listening. "Ten."

A piercing scream interrupted his counting. It was his mother's voice, weak but full of anguish. "Please don't do it!" The girl squeezed her eyes tighter, as if that would make her disappear. But I couldn't. She was trapped in that hiding place, between the walls, watching through a broken crack as the armed men destroyed everything in their path. One of them, with a black mask and a cold voice, ordered: "Find the girl. She can't escape."

The scene was surreal. His mother, a woman with long black hair and pale skin, lay on the ground, bruised and bleeding. His cries of pain were mixed with desperate pleas. "Don't hurt my daughter... please..." But the men didn't listen. They were like machines, without mercy, without humanity.

*Hours before* Everything had been different. The girl, Yara, with hair and eyes black as night, laughed and jumped in the supermarket parking lot, hugging her rag doll. Her mother, a beautiful woman but with an always alert look, called her with a smile. "Yara, come to mom!" The girl responded enthusiastically: "Happily, I'm coming, mom!"

They got into the car, shopping bags in the back seat. The mother drove calmly at first, but something was bothering her. She had noticed a black car that had been following them for a while. It wasn't the first time I had seen him. He had crossed it three times on the road. It wasn't a coincidence. With a bold turn, he turned into an intersection and accelerated, dodging other cars on the road. Yara, confused, asked, "Why are we going so fast, Mom?" The woman only responded, "Hold on tight, honey. Make sure the belt is on properly."

After several minutes, they managed to lose the car. The mother sighed, but did not let her guard down. He drove to his house, a modest home on the outskirts of the city. He quickly got out of the car, took Yara by the hand and went inside. "Yara, take your backpack and fill it with clothes. Quickly, honey," he told her urgently. While the girl obeyed, the mother opened a drawer and took out several passports. She chose one and put it in her bag. Then, he went to the living room closet, removed a fake board, and revealed a secret hiding place. "Come in here, Yara. Don't come out until I tell you. Promise me." The girl nodded, scared but trusting her mother.

*Currently*

The sound of a sharp knock brought Yara out of her thoughts. One of the men had lifted his mother off the ground, grabbing her by the hair. With a gun in his hand, he shouted, "Come out, girl! We know you're here!" Yara, hidden in the gap between the walls, trembled. Through the crack, she saw her mother raise her face, bruised and bleeding, and scream desperately: "Don't come out, Yara! Stay there!"

A brutal blow with the butt of the gun caused the woman to fall to the ground, bleeding profusely. Yara held back a scream, but couldn't help but back away, tripping over some objects that made noise. The man turned towards him and pointed to one of his accomplices. "There. Find her."

The woman, despite her condition, struggled to free herself. "No! Leave her alone!" But the men did not pay attention to him. Yara tried to escape, running towards the back door, but one of the men caught her. "Let go of me!" the girl screamed, kicking with all her might, but her small body was no match for the man. They took her back to the living room, where the others were waiting.

The leader, a tall, cold-voiced man, looked at Yara and then at her mother. "Number 566," he said contemptuously. "I expected better from you." Then, he turned his attention to the girl. "I see you had a daughter." Without further ado, he slapped Yara, making her fall to the ground. "Shut up, you little brat!"

The woman, with superhuman strength, freed herself from her bonds and took the weapon from one of the men. With hands that recognized their past, trembling but determined, he began to shoot. Each shot was precise, lethal. The men fell one after another, but she showed no remorse. She was an expert, a warrior. "Yara, go!" he shouted, as he continued shooting.

Yara, paralyzed by fear, ran towards the forest. He heard a deafening gunshot and stopped. Turning, he saw the image he should never have seen: his mother, bloodstained, with a gunshot wound to the stomach, falling to the ground. "Mother!" the girl screamed, but a soldier caught her and hit her on the head. Everything turned black.  

Yara: The last sound I heard before losing consciousness was that of a gunshot. A shot that silenced everything. A shot that marked the end of my childhood. "I just had to count to ten"

***Download NovelToon to enjoy a better reading experience!***