Caroline

Footsteps (prologue)

I run towards the door. I can hear the footsteps from downstairs creeping around in the kitchen. I grab my phone off my bedroom vanity and get under my bed. My dad taught me to rip a whole underneath my mattress and climb inside if I ever felt unsafe when I was home alone. As I'm dialing 911, I hear the footsteps from downstairs getting louder. It opens my door. Then I hear it. The lullaby that I heard right before my brother was murdered in his sleep. "I left my baby lying there, lying there, lying there

I left my baby lying there
To go and gather blaeberries.

Ho-van, ho-van gorry o go,
Gorry o go, gorry o go;
Ho-van, ho-van gorry o go,
I've lost my dearest baby-o

I saw the little yellow fawn
But never saw my baby.

I traced the otter on the lake
But could not trace my baby.

Ho-van, , ho-van gorry o go,
Gorry o go, gorry o go;
Ho-van, ho-van gorry o go,
I never found my baby-o"

My heart was pounding with terror. Adrenaline flooded through my veins and coursed through my blood, and I was holding my breath. I see a young girl, around the age of 7, and she looks normal. Except for one thing. She has black eyes. I drop the phone. The last thing I see is her empty eyes staring straight into my soul