Silence enveloped them.


    "Did you know that when you disappeared, I thought I already lost half of myself?" Xavier asked out of the blue, which had Selene look up at him, confusedly. "You were just two back then, cute and the most innocent person I’ve ever seen," he added.


    **


    <i>Twenty-three years ago,</i>


    <i>The sound of children ying around could be heard in the vast space of the living room in the Wace mansion. </i>


    <i>A girl with brown hair and brown eyes, ying with her younger sister, who had dark wavy hair withrge blue doe eyes, eyes that made heads turn if she went out in public. </i>


    "You are so cute, I want to eat your cheeks," Traciemented as she stared at her little sister.


    <i>"Are you trying to scare her? I should have known you were a cannibal," young Xavier teased Tracie, giving her a side eye for what she just said. </i>


    <i>"Scared? Just look at her, does she look scared to you?" Tracie questioned back, her gaze on Ava who was giggling about. </i>


    <i>"I will let big sis eat my cheeks if she wants to," Ava said, and instantly, Tracie joined her hands together and pped. </i>


    <i>"You are so cute..."</i>


    <i>Xavier could only roll his eyes. Although he just turned 11, he didn’t hang out with kids at his school. He would just y with his little brothers, Richard and Kace. If they gave him a headache, he would head to the rk mansion to y with Ezekiel, Tracie, and little Ava. </i>


    <i>When he was about to head out to visit them, they were already at his doorstep. </i>


    <i>"Alright, kids, it’ste now and we need to drop Tracie and her sister back at their house. You have all yed enough," Thomas Wace announced, picking up Ava while his wife picked up Tracie. </i>


    <i>On their way to the rk mansion, they suddenly felt their car jolt forward, as gunshots echoed everywhere. </i>


    <i>Immediately, Thomas Wace called for backup since the assassins that had ambushed them were much,pared to his bodyguards. </i>


    <i>"Xavier, you have to take Tracie and Ava with you to go hide in the bush," Thomas Wace instructed Xavier who was trying not to shake in fear. </i>


    <i>It wasn’t his fight time to hear the sound of a gunshot, but it was his first time getting attacked, an attack that could make him lose his life. </i>


    <i>Xavier didn’t question his father about how he was going to handle the situation; he just did as he was told to do. </i>


    <i>Sneaking out of the car before the assassins could reach them, Xavier carried Ava, who was already starting to tear up, her cries so loud he feared they would be caught soon. </i>


    <i>Meanwhile, Tracie was running as fast as she could, as she tried to not cry out like her sister was doing. </i>


    <i>The situation was very dire, and thest thing they needed was to slow down. </i>


    <i>All of a sudden, Xavier tripped and Ava fell from his arms. Her cries only got louder. </i>


    <i>The leaves made sounds, as the distant voice of an assassin could be heard from behind them. </i>


    <i>"Take Ava and hide quickly," Xavier instructed Tracie. </i>


    <i>Immediately, Tracie grabbed Ava and hid behind a bush that was opposite where Xavier was hurt. He couldn’t stand up properly due to the cut he got from the branch that tripped. </i>


    <i>"Found you."</i>


    <i>Tracie closed Ava’s mouth so that her cries wouldn’t be heard by the assassins, as her heart hammered in her chest, threatening to escape. </i>


    <i>Xavier gritted his teeth, as his eyesnded on the figure of the assassin, whose face was covered with a mask to keep his identity hidden, with a huge gun in his hands. </i>


    <i>"Don’t take this to heart, kid. The instruction was to eliminate the entire Wace family," the assassin said. He turned to face Xavier. "I’m only doing my job. Goodbye, kid."</i>


    <i>Just as the assassin was about to fire the bullet, he suddenly felt an excruciating pain in his leg. </i>


    <i>He red down at the brown hair girl and cursed. </i>


    <i>"Who tf are you?!!" </i>


    <i>Xavier, taking the opportunity, took the branch that had tripped him earlier and used it against the head of the assassin. </i>


    <i>Due to the strengthparison, the impact didn’t injure the assassin much. </i>


    <i>Gritting his teeth in anger, Xavier hit the head of the assassin several times until he copsed on the ground. </i>


    <i>But Xavier didn’t stop there.</i>


    <i>Although from the blood that stained the branch, one could already guess that the assassin was dead, Xavier continued to hit him, squashing his skull, together with his brain until there was not an ounce of chance for the assassin to move. </i>


    <i>Unbeknownst to Xavier, Ava, whom Tracie had instructed to keep quiet while she went to help Xavier, was watching him as he continued to pound the already dead man with the branch. </i>


    <i>At just two, Ava was extremely terrified, which instinctively led her to take a step back, and several more as tears fell from her eyes. </i>


    <i>By the time Tracie and Xavier went to get Ava, she’d already disappeared. </i>