Pursuance

Chapter One

The blazing sun poured through the kitchen's window filling the air with an intense heat. The engines of the passing cars roared, disrupting the silence of our neighborhood.

My two story home was situated in a small town surrounded by nature. Tall oak trees, bushes and shrubs grew everywhere. I love the outdoors, inhaling the fresh air, hearing the birds sing and most of all scaling up trees and doozing away on a swaying branch. It's wonderful, till you hear a snap and you go tumbling down into a bush of thorns... it happens.

I, May Holland, just came from our little garden in the back yard. Though it took longer than I expected, because of a certain distraction, my pet puppy, Snickers. It was not my fault he looked at me with those adorable eyes, begging for my attention. Anyways, I had finished picked several seasonings for dinner, for my parents.

My mother, Rianna Holland, works as an English teacher for our town's school and my father, John Holland, works there as well as the principal. Soon the school will be hosting a fund raiser so my father decided that the staff could gather for lunch to discuss about that topic.

"We will be back before eight, sweetie", my mother had stated.

I passed the time by doing my house hold chores and exploring the greenery outside but soon the time came for me to prepare dinner. What a bummer.

Making dinner has always been an easy task for me since I practised from a very young age but I would rather be chatting with the creatures that inhabit our forest since they were my only friends. Don't judge me.

I waltzed inside and headed towards my family's kitchen. The layout was quite simple, wooden cupboards decorated the upper side of the right wall. Underneath was a long, tiled countertop connected to a metallic sink. On the other side of the large room was our refrigerator, stove and tucked in the left corner was our little dinning table for three.

Being an only child gets quite lonely with no one around but you get used to it after a while.

I emptied a hand full of seasonings into a little blue bowl and placed it on the counter top. I stretched up and opened a small sized cupboard door and took out a neatly folded apron. Carefully I tied the apron on before closing the door. Mother trained me to always keep yourself clean.

I glanced at my hand watch before exhaling, I have approximately one hour before they would arrive and when my mother said she'll reach for eight, she will return home at eight. Trust me.

You may think 'Oh well that's alot of time, May' but I am distracted very easily by everything. I quickly began dicing vegetables whilst I listened to several songs, swaying to the music when strangely I heard a knock on the front door.

Who would knock on the door at such an hour? It was already dark outside. Maybe it's an emergency!

With that thought I hurried and untied my apron from around my waist and scurried towards the front door. I snatched the door's knob and swung it open. To my amazement there was no one before me.

Was this some sort of trick?

I was furious and slammed the door shut. I stomped into the kitchen and continued my preparation. Hundreds of thoughts danced in my mind. I despised being fooled by some idiotic and irresponsible human.

An hour later, I completed making the meal and setting the table. It was now exactly eight. I finished on time! What a relief!

Though something seemed quite off. It was now ten minutes past eight and my parents were no where to be seen. Then I heard another knock on the front door. A feeling of relief swarmed me.

I made my way to the front door, smiling, as pulled the door open, to see my parents waiting. But that did not occur. Surprisingly, my parents was not there. I frowned, confused on who knocked and where my parents could be.

Maybe I should call the neighbours next door? Explain to them that I'm home alone. Yes! That seems like a perfect idea.

I skipped across to the telephone and punched in the numerals. I quietly awaited them to answer but they didn't. Their just busy, I suppose.

Then I heard another knock on the door. What is going on? Just in case this isn't some silly prank, I armed myself with a butter knife and slowly opened the door. But of course, there was no one in front of me, just the darkness of night.

Something peculiar is going on and I am beginning to get a little worried for myself and my parents safety. I decided to dial my parents and question them on their whereabouts. But they didn't answer either. Something was definitely wrong and just in time, there was another knock on our front door.

Hesitantly, I tip toed to the door and nudged it open and the obvious was there, no one. That was the last time I would open that front door. Maybe my parents were just chatting a little longer than they should have and are on their way home. Let's just stay positive, okay.

I messaged my mother, explaining the continuous knocking, hoping that she'd answer but we all know what happens... A knock.Of course, just as I suspected. But I am not some foolish, little girl. My front door will not open this time.

What should I do now?

Safety is my number one priority, so I barricaded the front door with our large sofa, praying that I am not in some sort of trouble. I then rechecked that all the windows were locked before pacing into the kitchen to eat my cold dinner. Just great!

Hurriedly, I ate my dinner, pondering on what my next action would be. Then there was another knock on the front door. This time though it was somewhat louder. Moving quite faster, I finished dinner and washed the dishes. I should inform the police about the situation, they will surely help me. I ran towards the phone and dialed the police and thankfully they answered my call.

The dispatcher was very kind and reported that she would have an officer sent to investigate the situation. I felt as though a weight had been removed from my chest, setting me free. There was not one thing for me to worry about.

Approximately, ten minutes passed before there was a knock on the front door. This though, would be a police officer. So I happily danced my way to the door and swung it open, until I realised there wasn't a police officer anyway insight. I stood in fright as I saw a strange man standing before my front door.