Three Days, Two Dead, One Missing

Prologue

The child's screams pierced the still night air. Both parents awoke almost instantaneously. Loud footsteps were heard, followed by a distant door slamming. Richard grabbed his intelligently situated baseball bat from the side of the bed. And Lynn took off, towards her daughter's room.

"Mommy! Mommy! A monster came through my window!"
The young girl, no older than 6, pointed to the open window, from her hiding place behind her mother's leg.

"It's okay sweetie, the monster won't get you."
She caressed the back of her daughter's head in an attempt to calm her down.

She then looked at her husband with scared eyes, and gestured at the door to tell him to go find the intruder.

"Richard, go look downstairs."

He was out of the room and down the corridor, baseball bat above his shoulder, ready to swing at the first glimpse he saw of the intruder. The floor underneath the carpet creaked softly as he gently neared the staircase to the lower floor. He heard the distinct opening of the basement door. The low creaking that ended in a snap when the door hit the splinter in the door frame.

Richard adjusted his grip on the bat and inhaled deeply as he walked down the stairs.

He made it to the bottom, still shaking with anxiety. Richard rounded the banister and tripped on his daughter's backpack. His head hit the floor and the baseball bat clanked against the ground. The door to the basement creaked open once again and light footsteps neared the father's nearly unconscious body. The intruder snickered and walked past the basement and into the kitchen.

The unsheathing of a metal object was so distinct, it was painful.

The girl sat trembling in her mother lap. She had reverted to her old habit of sucking her thumb. Her mother who usually scolded her for the habit, was thinking whilst gnawing on her fingernails. Lynn, heard a loud thud, and then wood rattling on the ground. She bit down hard on her nail not noticing that she had bit too far and her finger was now bleeding. The daughter tightened her grip on her mother's other hand. She whimpered and squeezed her eyes shut.

She was afraid of the monster she thought was in the house.

Lynn was afraid for her husband's life.

The man crouched over richard, looking long and hard into his eyes. He spun the knife on the floor as he thought. Richard just closed his eyes and accepted his inevitable fate. An excruciating sharp pain sent shocks through his torso, but soon the pain and feeling was gone from his legs. The knife had gone through with such precision it cut the spinal cord, paralyzing richard from the mid back, down. The man quietly stood up and removed the knife from Richard's back.
Lynn was too afraid now, she eased her daughter off her lap, and under the bed.

"Stay under here sweetie, the monster won't get you if you're hiding."
Lynn stroked her daughter's cheek, stood up, and tip toed out of the room to investigate where her husband was. She went down the hall faster than richard had, but still slowly. She was halfway down the stairs when she saw Richard. A man standing over him and removing the knife with a sickening noise.

She shrieked and the killer turned. Blood dripping off the tip of the knife and onto Richards face.

Lynn backed up on the stairs, trembling with fear, and clenching her wrist so tightly that it bled.

The man turned and looked at her with a deadpan expression. Lynn shrieked again, and tried to go backwards up the stairs, but tripped. She scrambled to get her footing as the killer walked towards her slowly, but surely, to claim her life. As soon as Lynn regained her balance she ran up the stairs and into her daughters room,slamming the door, engaging the lock.

She leaned against the door to add more space between the man and her daughter.

"Mommy what's wrong? Is the monster gonna get us?"
She scooted further under the bed and clenched her numerous stuffed animals. Loud footsteps approached, the door knob jiggled. Lynn scrunched her eyes shut and pushed herself against the door harder.

Richard was still conscious, barely, but still conscious. He heard Lynn shriek and the killer walk up the stairs soon after. He wanted to save her, he needed to save her. He feebly tried to use his legs, nothing. They were useless.

He began to pull himself along the floor by using his arms, the pool of blood making his trek significantly easier, and slippery. His outstretched arm grabbed the banister. He pulled as hard as he could with his left arm, while his right held his wound. His hips rotated as he squirmed up the stairs. He could hear a door being slammed against. His eyes teared up, knowing he was unable to help his family.

As he reached the top of the stairs, he witnessed the moment the door gave in. Lynn's screams and Kylie's sobs rang out. The man grabbed Lynn and threw her against the wall across from the door, the wind was knocked out of her and she fell to the ground.

Lynn was unresponsive now, lying against the wall head ringing with pain. The man grabbed her and propped her up against the hallway wall. She scratched tiredly at his wrists. Barely conscious now, all she could hear was her daughter crying.

Her head flopped to the side and she saw Richard's bloody hand extended in her direction. Her shirt collar was pulled with enough force to keep her standing somewhat upright against the wall. She saw Richard yell something but she heard nothing.

And yet again the knife was so quick she didn't even notice she had been stabbed until she was dropped on the ground.

Richard yelled out to Lynn as she was stabbed in the stomach. His vision ebbed with his heartbeat and everything was turning black. The man stepped into the room and grabbed the now silent child, gagged her with a tattered piece of cloth and slung her over his shoulder.

Richard tried to yell out but his brain was no longer in control of his body. The man walked past Richard and down the stairs, closing the door gently behind him.

Richard's body went limp and he ceased to exist. Not a soul would remember this night for quite some time, except Kylie and her kidnapper.