Shattered Screams

Chapter one

January 2024

The sound of glass shattering could be heard all throughout the quiet , peaceful neighborhood. The spoiled house pets with their bedazzled collars and custom-made doggy outfits barked and growled behind chain-linked & wooden fenced-in yards. Makenna smiled , watching as everything unfolded right before her own eyes. Shards of glass flew out upon the freshly mowed front lawn outside the home , deep , crimson blood splattered the remaining intact stainless window within the three-story brick house. She sat Indian style at the edge of own grassy-weed covered yard across the road with a large family sized bag of lightly salted rippled chips placed neatly in the center of her faded , ripped blue jean cladded lap. Almost every week there was someone breaking in the two-story & three-story brick residences within her small , quaint neighborhood. Mostly young teens high on some new experimental drug wanting to earn some quick cash by stealing valuables then selling them on the black market . Someone always ended up leaving in the back of an outdated police car that needed its sirens replaced , screaming all sorts of profanities that popped in their head at the time. Others that were severely wounded after having a violent encounter with the burglar would be hauled from their home on a faded , ripped cushioned gurney and lifted into the back of an ambulance driven by an oversized man wearing a uniform that barely fit , shoving junk food in his mouth and counting the hours that passed by till his shift was over and could go home. Very rarely , she would see a lifeless corpse neatly tucked away within a zipped-up midnight black body bag on it's merry one-way trip to the nearby morgue.

Makenna tilted her head , the sounds of high-pitched police sirens screeched through the darkness of the sleepless night as they sped down Marylee Street , red and blue flashing lights illuminated the once shadowy area. She didn't have to turn her head and count the cars one by one. She could tell how many police cars had arrived at the scene just by the sound of their blaring sirens that resounded within her ears. Four. Four cars had arrived , each one parked behind one another along the side of the road. Uniformed men and women climbed out of their vehicles , stalking through the decorative lot filled with variety of garden gnomes and well-trimmed bushes with their weapons raised and aiming directly towards  the home where the living room window had been busted. One of the officers , a heavy-set man with an balding head and well-kept beard aimed his gun at the shadow-filled room. He squinted his moss-colored eyes and tried to scan the inside of the dimly-lit space. "Come out with your hands up!" He shouted. He flinched and almost took a step back as a large , muscular man with bulging biceps and well-defined chest stepped outside. He was dressed head to toe in skin tight , dark leather clothing that showed off his well-sculpted figure. The mysterious man stood a couples of inches taller than six feet ; he craned his neck so his head wouldn't touch the ceiling while maneuvering himself through the window and avoiding the sharp edges of the jagged shards protruding out from the steel frame. The steel toed combat boots he wore had seen better days , chemical stains had altered the leather in certain areas and small rips could be seen near the heels. He stomped through the lawn enveloped with shards of glass which crunched beneath the soles of his boots with each heavy step he took.

A sharpened steel-edged blade stained with fresh blood was securely held within his large , leathered gloved hand in a tight grip . Crimson droplets slid down the side of the flesh cutting edge and dripped upon the emerald colored grass. He tucked the custom-made hunting knife by his side , the handle had been made from an Elk's antler, the sharp pointed ends pressed lightly into the leather of his jacket. The blade shimmered under the moon's silver light. The police stepped further onto the property. Their eyes glued and never wavering from the man before them. He didn't attempt to run and flee the scene like most would. Instead , he tightened his grip on the knife and lifted his free hand to motion them to come closer. Makenna watched as the officer forced his legs to move and approach the knife wielding man. He pressed the end of the barrel of his pistol into the man's chest , his chubby index finger itching to pull the trigger. She watched the man's muscles ripple beneath the stretching fabric of the black tee he wore as he flexed those massive arms and stared down at the uniformed officer with wickedness swirling in those hazel eyes of his. The officer's bushy brows furrowed , sweat trickled down the side of his face as he slowly outstretched his open hand and reached for the blade. The other officers ambled near ; their pistols still aimed steadily on their target . She shoved another handful of salty , crispy goodness into her mouth. Makenna straightened her back and sat upright , her recently waxed eyebrows lifted to her hairline. She sat there with her mouth agape as chips slipped through the gaps between her slender fingers. It happened so quickly , if she would have blinked she would have missed it. The knife swung forward and sliced the officer's jugular with effortless precision.