"Get in!" he whispered harshly as he pulled open the trapdoor. He was tense and could no longer act as coolly as before. To be honest, it was a wonder he held up this long under the pressure as a completely normal human who knew that certain death approached him and his family.

His daughter didn't ask any questions, nor did she seem even the slightest bit annoyed at his harsh tone and she quickly moved into the secret room without question, but internally she was in a turmoil of emotions.

Despite her young age, she was smart enough to know that something was happening, something serious enough to warrant her parents' troubled actions and she didn't want to add to their worries, which was why she stayed quiet in this situation.

"Good girl," he praised his daughter's prompt action, and he managed to get a hold of himself due to her actions, calming himself a little bit.

*BANG*

Unfortunately, the bandits at the door were extra determined to get into the house even though it gave off no impression of wealth or importance.

"Hurry up!" the noise of the door of his house almost crashing down motivated him into hurrying his family into hiding themselves, but his wife handed his baby over to his daughter and turned her face over to him.

One look at her face and he knew that she knew what he was planning to do.

He knew that they could not all hide inside the secret room, otherwise who would hide their tracks.. they'd be lucky if they didn't get found out in less than five seconds of the intruders entering, so he had made up his mind to wait outside and close the trapdoor, cover up the trapdoor and then find a way to hold out until the MPA officers arrived to take care of the bandits, but it didn't seem like his wife would agree to his idea.

He was thinking of what words to use to convince her when she told him firmly, "I'm staying with you," her tone gave made it clear that she wouldn't accept any objections from his side, but he still tried to reason with her.

"But the kids?" he asked with a troubled tone.

"We'll protect them together," she answered firmly.

Her words gave him an instant headache, but at the same time warmed his heart. The woman quickly turned back to their daughter who still stayed quiet even in this situation,

Tisha, promise me you'll take care of your brother," the woman said to her daughter with a serious tone, referring to the baby boy she had handed over to her daughter to hold on to for the time being.

For some reason, the woman's request caused her daughter's heart to shake strongly, and she suddenly had an ache in her heart that she didn't understand, so she asked her mother with worry beginning to seep into her voice,

"What about you, mother?"

"... Me?" the older woman was lost for words and didn't know what words to use so she could at least reduce her worry,

"I will protect and stand beside my knight in shining armor," she chose her words carefully and said with a deep smile as she turned over to look at her husband,

"You should do the same too.. one day," she continued as she turned back to face Tisha,

"... but for now, no matter what happens, stay here quietly, alright? She gave Tisha her final instructions as she took a hold of the door in a bid to shut it,

"We'll come to let you out when all this is over," she finished in a reassuring tone just before she shut the trapdoor.

"You promise?" Tisha asked with a hopeful tone just before her mother shut the door,

"We promise," the man and the woman said together and shut the trapdoor.

As the door to the secret room closed shut, Tisha hugged her baby brother tighter in an unconscious bid to ease the uncomfortable feeling in her heart, but in the end, she decided to just do as her parent said and wait quietly. Luckily her baby brother was asleep so there were no issues with

doing that.

*BANG* *CRASH*

The loud banging sound came again, but this time it was accompanied by the sound of something crashing. Tisha didn't know what that sound was or what it meant, but she did exactly as her parents asked of her, stayed quiet, and took care of her little brother while waiting patiently for her parents to open the door to this place and let them out,

"Mum and Dad will open the door soon, so I must wait," the little girl murmured to herself to stave off the fear of staying alone in a dark room..

well, not alone, but sleeping babies don't count.

***In the room above***

After shutting the door of the secret room, the man and the woman quickly set off, dragging the rug over the trapdoor to cover it once again andhistorical

removing any obvious traces that could lead to the kids being found out, while they did that, they heard their front door finally break down as it could no longer hold out the intruders and upon realizing this, their hearts sank as it meant that they would soon be found out.

'Arrrghh..!!! When are those MPA officers going to get here!" the man screamed internally, but outwardly he picked up one of the kitchen knives he had gotten from the kitchen and handed the other over to his wife for self-protection in case of any unforeseen circumstances.

His wife had a bitter smile on her face as she collected the knife from him, but she said no words and the silence comforted them especially since they knew that they were in a dire situation.

The banging sounds began to come more frequently, and with it came crashing sounds and with each bang, the noise got closer, until..

*BANG*

The door to their room flew away from its hinges with a loud bang.

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Sorry for not posting a chap yesterday... I had and still have a muscle cramp on my right bicep, so typing right now is kinda hard... I'll do my best to make up for missed chapter,

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