Marshall had been working for the same law firm for almost a decade. And because of his undeniable dedication and passion to his job, he gained respect and high regard from his colleagues and bosses.
It wasn't long until the company he was working for took notice of his efforts and capabilities so they entrusted him to take charge of an important and huge business deal.
Marshall gladly and determinedly accepted the offer. For him, this business deal was the "deal of his career". And he would do everything to make it successful and to not let his bosses down.
In order to prepare the documents and other credentials to close the deal for the said business transaction entrusted to him, he needed extra time. So, Marshall worked the whole day and late at night, leaving her 5-year old daughter Samantha alone with her baby-sitter.
Marshall went home one late Tuesday night. He had been very busy with his work and that night was no exception.
"Daddy, there's a clown under my bed." Samantha cried to her father who was sitting on the living room with a beer can on his hand.
"What?" Marshall sounded incredulous. "Honey, there's no clown. You were just dreaming. Go back to bed."
"But I'm scared, daddy. I'm afraid he would hurt me. Would you go with me in my room? Please, daddy?" Samantha tried to beg, tears starting to form on the side of her eyes.
Tired and stressed from work, Marshall took a deep sigh of exasperation. He had a long day. He just wanted to have his beer and rest for the night but his daughter's persistent pestering wasn't helping him to relax.
"Honey, daddy's tired. He'd worked 18 hours straight and he doesn't think he has any energy left to play with you tonight. It's late. Just go to bed. Don't worry about the clown. There's no clown."
Though obviously scared with the prospect of going back to her room alone and saddened by her father's rejection, Samantha just nodded and started walking back to her room hugging her teddy bear tight to her chest.
When he saw the hurt expression on his daughter's face, Marshall felt guilty. But he was tired and he just wasn't in the mood to entertain or even pay attention to what he thought was Samantha's "dream". So, he just shook the feeling off thinking he would just make it up with his daughter in the morning.
An hour and a couple of beer cans after, Marshall started to feel sleepy. He rested his head, pushed his legs up to the coffee table, closed his eyes and let sleep take him to rest.
As he was about to zone out, he heard his daughter's door slowly creaked open followed by soft footsteps.
With a sigh, Marshall opened his eyes and craned his neck towards Samantha's room, noticing the door was slightly ajar.
"Honey, it's late. Go to sleep." He said over the living room, massaging his eyes with his fingers. "You still have to go to school tomorrow, remember?"
Samantha didn't answer.
Marshall was about to stand up to go to his daughter's room when the door suddenly closed. He heard a soft click which meant Samantha had just locked her room.
Feeling more tired and sleepy by the second, Marshall let her daughter be and went back to the sofa and laid comfortably.
A moment later, he heard his daughter's door opened again. But this time he was too tired to stand up. So he just raised his hand so Samantha would see him and hollered, "Honey, it's late. Go to bed. You're gonna be late for school tomorrow if you're gonna keep yourself up."
Again, Samantha didn't answer.
Marshall took another defeated sigh. With a grunt, he pushed himself so he would be sitting up. He looked over his daughter's room and saw the door was slightly ajar once again.
"Samantha? Honey?" he called.
There was no answer.
Marshall kicked his feet off the sofa to go to his daughter's but stopped when he heard the refrigerator door creaked opened. From the sound of it, it was like someone was trying to pour water on a glass.
Maybe Samantha got thirsty, he thought.
The refrigerator door closed and he went back to lying down on the sofa, ready to sleep and rest.
Hearing soft footsteps walking back to his daughter's room, Marshall closed his tired eyes, thinking Samantha was ready to sleep too.
"Good night, honey. Sweet dreams." he said sweetly as sleep slowly drifts him away from consciousness.
"Night, daddy..." he heard her daughter say and it was followed by the closing of the door and a soft click of the lock.
Marshall immediately cracked his eyes open. He felt something weird in the pit of his stomach, like something was not right. Was it just his sleepiness and exhaustion or was there something different with his daughter's voice?
Too tired to think things over, he decided to sleep it off and deal with everything in the morning.
The whole night, Marshall slept like a rock. It must be the exhaustion from his work or the booze but he didn't hear any sound; the banging, the cries, the howling of his neighbor's dogs. He was sleeping peacefully.
The morning broke and he was awakened by the sunlight directly streaming down from his window.
He lethargically pushed himself up, stretched his arms over his head and yawned. He then dragged his feet towards the kitchen to prepare breakfast for him and for Samantha.
As he trudged to the kitchen, he noticed his daughter's door was slightly ajar. He halted on his tracks and narrowed his eyes to Samantha's room. He got curious.
Did Samantha wake up early this morning?
Marshall was doubtful. Though he often sleeps late, his daughter never wakes up before him. Besides, it was still too early. He craned his neck to the front door and was surprised to see it was unlocked.
How the hell did that happened?
Fear was slowly building up in his chest as he remembered the weird feeling he had last night.
Did someone break into the house?
Marshall took a deep breath in and shook off the thought.
"Sammy? Honey? Are you awake?" he asked outside of Samantha's room.
However, there was no answer.
Feeling his heart beating faster, Marshall tightly held the doorknob of his daughter's room, slowly pushed it open and hesitantly peered his head inside.
The gruesome scene that met his eyes made his knees buckle he almost fell on the floor hadn't he was leaning on the doorframe.
Samantha's room looked like it was turned upside down. The chair and table were toppled over, the curtains were ripped, her drawer was thrown across the other side, and his daughter's precious stuffed toys and dolls were beheaded and scattered all over the place.
The scene that made Marshall more scared was the dried blood smeared on the walls. The floor, the carpet and the bed sheet was soaked with red. A pool of blood formed under his daughter's bed. A metallic scent wafted through the room that assaulted his nose and made him gagged.
Marshall slapped both his hands on his mouth as tears continued to run down his cheeks.
Lying on the bed with her arms spread to her side was her 5-year old daughter Samantha bloody, lifeless and grotesquely murdered with a huge gaping wound from her chest to her stomach.
Crying his heart out, Marshall walked to where his daughter was. And wept even harder when he realized Samantha had multiple stab wounds all over her small body and that her heart was missing. Marshall screamed and cursed at the wind as he held his dead daughter in his arms.
Still weeping sorrowfully from losing his daughter and the fact that she was killed mercilessly, Marshall turned his head to the wall next to the door. And what he saw sent cold chills down his spine.
Written in bloody letters was the phrase;
I was here. You should've listened to your daughter.
-THE CLOWN
