Intent

Chapter One : Night Owl

My name is Callie Ann Fay. I'm the eldest daughter of Jennifer Ann Fay and Brian Michael Fay, who just so happened to meet at a Southern BBQ restaurant in the middle of South Carolina. Lucky for them, I came along. Otherwise they'd be on their separate paths in life, my mother being a strong independent woman with a high income, give or take a few kids, and my father probably working on some big contracting job, like he always did. I was through thinking about family, it's time to get to me.

I glanced over at my digital clock sitting on my night stand. It was 12:36. I looked up from the book I've been reading and noticed my dog looking at me with urgency. I sighed, knowing exactly what she wanted, and quietly made my way to the front door. I slipped her leash on and quickly put on some discarded flip-flops before opening the door and stepping out onto the porch.

Shutting the door behind me I sealed a contract with the silence outside the house. I will not disturb your silent night for too long, just long enough for my dog to do her business. The air was frigid and nipped at my skin as I followed my dog around the front yard. To the left of me was the great outstretch of the woods that I have been warned about my whole life, and to the right, my parents cars parked neatly in the dirt and gravel driveway. I stared up into the purple black sky, picking out the twinkling constellations I've seen all of my life. My hot breath billowing out like smoke in the freezing air, I felt my exposed fingers numbing from their vulnerability to the winter's bite. My grip on the leash became loose, and my dog got tired of waiting for my night spell to be over. I heard her climb the stairs to the porch and go inside by herself through the doggy door I had installed. I got lost, just staring up at the sky and watching my breath escape my body. So lost, in fact, that I hadn't heard the crunching of leaves in the forest beside me, or the soft snarls and growls of animals hidden in the darkness. It was only when I was thrown down, the breath knocked out of me, that I knew.

I was in danger