Go Away (#TheWattys2015)

Chapter 16: Threat

When I got home the front door was slightly ajar and the wind was blowing leaves inside. I reached for the doorknob and paused as I felt a familiar paralyzing cold creep up my fingers. I took a few steps back, took a deep breath, and rammed into the door. The door collided with something hard and pain shot up my shoulder. I tried again and again until the door opened wide enough for me to step through. Tendrils of horror enveloped my body in a tight cocoon of fear as I took in the sight from inside. A streak of dried blood trailed upstairs to the bathroom with claw marks along the walls. A broom laid across the floor with the handle splintered and wooden shavings sprinkled around the ground near it. There was a dent in the wall near the stairs and blocking the door was the kitchen table flipped upside down. Not too far from the stairs was another small dent in the wall. The monster was in my house. That I knew for sure. I picked up the splintered broom handle and slowly made my way upstairs, curious to find out were the blood came from. I had the urge to just leave. Run out the door and never come back, get away from all the fear and suspense, but curiosity got the better of me.The blood snaked up the stairs, to the right, and into the bathroom. The stairs creaked loudly with each step making almost too much noise in the still quiet. I turned right and made it to the bathroom. My heart pounded against my chest as I reached for the doorknob slowly, afraid of what was on the other side. I twisted the doorknob. It was locked. I knocked on the door. "Hello?" I whispered. A low moan came from inside. The sound grew louder and higher, like a muffled scream. Kicking the door with all my might, I gasped as it flew open revealing my mom on the floor, eyes wide with fear, tied up to a chair, and gagged with blood gushing out of her nose and spilling onto her shirt. Scribbled on the side of the tub in her blood was a message that made my blood boil, my fists clench, and my thoughts cloud over with rage. "See how easy it is for me to get to you? Do as I ask and I'll leave your family alone. Disobey me, and I'll take the life of someone else you care about."

-yours truly, Mike.

I raised an eyebrow. Who the heck is Mike? I looked down at my mom, terrified and hurt. I noticed a small purple bruise on her cheek and it took every ounce of my willpower not to punch a hole through a nearby wall. I kneeled down to her level and undid her bindings, then I gently took the gag out of her mouth. She didn't say anything and she didn't need to. She just stared at me and I stared at her. I wiped the tears from her cheeks and embraced her, the two of us bursting into sobs while leaning heavily on each other. What now?