Crooked Man

T W O

I run and lock the front door in the dark. Then I get in the kitchen to find a flashlight. It's dark. Very dark. As I try and find the drawer, I hear footsteps. I assume it must be mom, coming for help. But as they get closer, I realize that these footsteps cannot be my mom's. These footsteps sound like the person has shoes on. Mom never wears shoes in the house. Monica doesn't either.

I turn around to see who it is. But all I see is darkness. I get the flashlight from the drawer and turn it on. No one is there. I slowly make my way out of the small, moldy kitchen. I sometimes wonder how I'm able to live there.

I start walking to the living room, where mom and Monica are. I point the flashlight to the walls as I slowly walk the hallway. I see some cracks and then I see the drawings me and dad made with finger paint. 6 years ago. I must've been six or seven. Monica was a baby at the time. And dad was here...

A noise takes me away from my thoughts. A creak. And another one. Like someone is tiptoeing. Slowly.
"BOOM!!!" Monica shouts from behind me. "I got ya'!" I jump. My heart is pounding so fast.
"MONICA! What the hell!?! Don't do that!"
"Sorry"she says still smiling. Satisfied. "Where's mom?"she asks, after a minute.
"Mom? I thought she was with you."
"Umm...no. She went to check on you." her smile fades. "She said you would need help in the dark."
"But she isn't with me." I feel goosebumps all over me. "But I think I heard her while I was in the kitchen looking for a flashlight." I say pointing the light to her. She closes her eyes. "Stop pointing it at me Anna!" I giggle.
"Come on Mon, we must find mommy."
We go to the kitchen shouting "Mom" and calling her name. "Ugh, maybe she went the other way Anna."
"No she didn't Mon. I heard her in the kitchen. If she did go the other way, we would've seen her."