Short Stories

The Finder

It was a normal Tuesday night. Mom and dad are sitting on the couch, watching TV. They always loved Criminal Minds.
I was sitting at the kitchen table, drawing something. God, I don't remember what, but it had blue in it. For some reason that blue always stuck out to me, it was the one clear memory I have if that night. Me, coloring in something in that vibrant blue. Jim Thornton asks if there are any L's. There are two. As the familiar chime of the letters rings out, the living room window shatters. The lights go out. I remember freezing in my seat, nervously calling out "Mom? Dad?"
The only thing I could hear my mom say was "he found us". And then?

Nothing. Not a single word, the silence pounding in my ears. Every hair stood on end as prickly dread filled my body.
Then came the hissing, like nothing I had ever heard before. I could only describe it as a snakelike hiss mixed with a growl.

I felt pure fear at that moment.
I never saw it
But I knew then what it had done.

The lights turn back on. My parents, gone.
Like they were simply plucked from existence. Not a word, not a scream, nothing.

I thought it would leave more behind. Something? A clue? Anything?

There was one clue. I don't know how I missed it at first, but it was behind the TV.

I WILL FIND YOU, carved into the wall.

I got no answers, and no explanation.
That night, all I got was the broken window glass, and the cool breeze drifting in.