The Man Behind The Mask

Chapter One

I woke up around 2 am to a loud crash, but it wasn't loud enough to have come from my house. It was obviously the neighbor though. I thought it would be their dog knocking something over, which happens a lot. It was different than that however. It almost sounded like a gun shot at a window. I sat up and looked out my window, noticing a huge collection of shattered glass near their large front window. Tommy came running into my room shortly after.
"Kelsey... What's happening?" he said with a panicked tone. I took him into my arms and sat on my bed with him, facing away from the window.
"I think the Smith's puppy broke their window," I laughed, trying to ease his nerves. He gave a small chuckle and I gave him a kiss. "Sleep with mommy tonight, ok?"
He nodded his head and I led him to my mom's room, downstairs. On the way, I noticed her and Mia closing all the windows and locking all the doors.
I sent Tommy into my mom's room and told him to crouch by the bed. I didn't know what to expect but I prepared for the worst.
After closing the door, I talked quietly to my mom.
"Mom...that wasn't their puppy was it?" I whispered.
"No sweetie... A puppy couldn't shoot a gun," she said. My stomach dropped to the floor. "Ok, everybody into my closet now, it has a lock on it and no windows. I'll lock all the doors and barricade them as well. Mia, you call 911. Go now!" She said, following behind us. I picked up Tommy and cradled him in my arms. I know he's 11, but he's still my baby brother.
"You're safe, ok?" I said quietly, covering his eyes so he couldn't see what my mom was doing. I rocked him quietly and put headphones with soft music in his ears and he began to calm down. Mia was on the phone with the small police station, just around the corner. She didn't need to be though because the cops were already on their way, it was basically walking distance.
Oh my gosh. I haven't even thought about the residents of that house. LEAH! I wanted to text her, but if she was hiding and her phone buzzed and gave her away, it would be my fault.
As we sat here in silence, seconds began to feel like minutes. Minutes began to feel like hours....
About 10 minutes of being in here, we all jumped at the sound of a harsh knock on the front door.
"Green Lake Police, open up," We heard a faint voice say. It was a woman's voice, and the new sherif was a woman, but none of us were going to risk anything.
"Cheryl, Are you safe in there?" The sherif said. She's good friends with my mom, Cheryl. My mom texted Ms. Whitney, the sherif, and asked if it was really her. She responded and said yes it's safe to come out. My mom stood up and unlocked the doors and took away everything blocking them. She had us follow a little far behind. "What happened?" Mom asked Ms. Whitney.
"Well there seemed to have been a break in. No one was killed, because the police came so fast. But if we didn't get there when we did I do believe peoples lives would've been very jeopardized. We found footprints in the mud leading out of the forest towards the house, then out of the house leading towards the forest. Detective Joseph Brown is working on figuring out who's footprints they belong to," Whitney explained.
Ok that means Leah is safe.
"We need to fence off that damned forest," my mom cursed.
"Green Lake doesn't have the money to do so, Cheryl," Ms. Whitney said.
Mia looked up from her phone.
"We shouldn't gate the forest, there's so much in there. There's so much mystery and...and Dad..." she said. My mom looked at her, a look I can't even describe. Tommy ran back into his room, and I stood and observed. Ms. Whitney said she'll do what she can and goodnight.
Door shuts. Rant begins.
"Mia. Why on God's green earth do you have to always bring up Daniel -"
"Why can't you call him our dad anymore?" Mia interrupted. I took a step back.
"Mia..." Mom began with a quivering voice. "You know I don't like to talk about Dan- you're dad... I miss him every day and it gets harder and harder each day." My mom cried into Mia's shoulder. I joined in the hug and cried with them. I'll never forgot the words my father last said to me:
"Ok Kels, take care of mommy while I'm gone, I love you sweetheart."
He didn't know he was gonna be gone for more than 2 hours. No one knew he was gonna be gone gone. Oh gosh here come the waterworks.
All three of us were just a big ball of tears.
***
By the time I went back upstairs, it was already 5 am. I decided that I wasn't getting any more sleep. I heard a quiet knock on my door.
"come in," I whispered. Mia walked in wearing boots, jeans, and a green sweatshirt with her long black hair pulled into a ponytail.
"What's up?" I asked.
"Get dressed," she said, throwing me the same outfit she was wearing.  "Meet me downstairs in ten minutes. We're gonna go investigate."