Him

She Must Die

The girl dashes up the stairs and I follow. She can't get away. Her hair streams out behind her. The distance between us is closing. She looks back at me. Stupid mistake, girl. I give her an evil grin. She pales, but she's at the top of the stairs now.

She dashes into a room, probably hers. She shuts the door and I hear something propping it closed. Another mistake. I can force it open, no problem. I shatter the door. She's at the window, and its open. Her leg is up on the sill. She glances at me. She won't do it, she's too scared. But I must have given her the strength. She jumps. I rush over. She's in the snow, sinking in the large drift, not moving. I can catch her. I rush down the stairs again. Stupid girl.

But the woman is coming in the front door. I won't be able to get to the front yard, where the girl is lying. Damn! I turn quickly and run out the back door and into the night. The girl has to die tonight, or I end up caught. I'll come back at sunset.

****

Its almost dusk. But the family is not having dinner, as they should be. The lights in the girl's bedroom are on. But where are the parents? I climb an old pine tree hugging the girl's room. I can see them, but they can't see me.

The girl is not in her room. Her parents are. They are looking at her things, and... Crying? Their backs face the door, but they must have seen it in splinters. Why are they crying? The girl can't be in the hospital, her parents would be with her. I can't see her in the room, so she can't be hurt or sick or something. That leaves one conclusion. She's dead.