Helena and the Rings

Chapter 5: Missing

"Missing? What do you mean missing? She was just here with the man who threatened us too!" I yelled at the female officer. A few more cops were searching around my house, taking pictures of the blood on the ground.

"Look, we checked this whole house. Seems by the amount of blood, we have a real crime scene, but, as far as your mother and the man you told us about, they're not here. We're going to have to take you in for questioning, ma'am." She responded, holding her belt tight to remind me who had more authority.

Ignoring her, I walked towards the front door while clenching my fist. I wanted to hit something. Where was my mother? Where was Joe? Most importantly, was she safe? A million questions ran through my head, starting an imminent panic attack. She knew him somehow.

An officer took me by the arm and walked me to his car. "Come on, little lady. Let's get everything sorted out." He said calmly while leading me to the police car. He sat me in the back, closed my door, then got in the front seat and started up the car."

I didn't question where he was taking me. In my mind, we were going to the police station for questioning. However, to my surprise, we ended up stopping by my Uncle Peter's house.

"This is the place, right?" He asked.

"Yes," I said. "This is where I saw the hooded man."

"I have to go inside and confirm that everything you said is true," he opened his door but looked at me before stepping out. He gave me a weak smile. "We're going to get this straightened out."

I feared his own life. He was confident, but I wasn't. "You're going in alone?" I asked.

He closed the door and nodded, leaving me in the car alone. This officer wasn't too bright. He went inside my uncle's house without backup and left me alone in the unlocked car with the car keys inside. Part of me hoped my aunt was alive, but I mentally prepared for the worse.

I watched him walk up to the front door then disappear inside. After two minutes had passed, I started feeling really unsafe. I tried opening up the back doors, but they wouldn't open. The front door was unlocked for sure, but I wasn't able to unlock it. I was blocked off by the small protection fence in front of me. Frustrated and mad, I kicked the door, grunting with each kick. More minutes passed, and the officer still hadn't come out.

I was about to sit back when, all of a sudden, I saw a man about 10 feet away from the car just standing in the street. When I noticed him, he slowly started walking in my direction. I ducked down, afraid the person might see me. My breathing grew faster and the fear I felt reached sky-high. I couldn't help think again how stupid the officer was for leaving me inside.

I had this strong urge to peek out of the window. I just wanted to see if the person was actually walking towards me or just somewhere else. Maybe it was a neighbor. There were other houses in the distance. Taking a deep breath, I slowly lifted my head towards the window just for a glance. I looked up and saw something that paralyzed my nerves immediately.

A face was pressed against the window looking directly at me. I choked on a scream. My heart throbbed in fear as the eyes behind their masked met mine. Pitch dark pupils that seem glued in place. I forced myself to look away, to crouch down, to hide or something but I just couldn't. After a minute of staring into their eyes, I finally ducked down and placed my back against the door so I wouldn't have to look at them. I'll never forget those marble-sized eyes.

I heard tapping on the window and faint moans coming from behind me. I couldn't understand the words and I didn't want to. I pushed myself to the other side while facing my back against whoever was behind me. Every unfamiliar word it moaned sent shivers down my spine. I jumped when I heard something being skidded across the window. It sounded like a marker. I wish my brain would have ignored it, but as a human, curiosity gets the best of us. I turned around and saw the person drawing against the window with a black marker.

The words read: Hello Helena.

My name with that same smiley face that was on my bike. Who were these people and what did they want with me?

Adding to my fear, something slammed against the window beside me. My head shot around, and I saw the police's face pressed against the window. His eyes stared at me and I could almost read his mind that was pleading for help. No one was behind him, but somehow his body pushed up against the window unwillingly. I wanted to talk, but I was too afraid.

Suddenly, the officer started groaning and breathing really hard. His eyes rolled back into his skull while blood poured out of them like faucet water. Blue and purple veins began to appear all around his face until his whole face looked blue. I could only watch in horror as the officer pulled out his gun and placed it to the side of his head. I heard him repeating the same words over and over as his finger slowly leaned back against the trigger.

"No, no, no, no!" He yelled in a strained voice.

I couldn't take my eyes away from him. Somehow I managed to put my hands to my ears.

*BANG*

I heard the gun go off but no longer saw the officer. Blood was splattered against the window, sliding down it like paint. A ring in my ear made think I would go deaf any minute, but it was fading. I looked out the other window and no longer saw the masked person. Everything was quiet. Hearing nothing made me expect the worst. The agony was killing me inside.

I laid on the seat and began to kick the bloody window but nothing was happening. When I sat up, something caught my eye. I saw two figures walking out of the house. All four doors of the police car fell off without warning, leaving me an open target for anything. I was too afraid to move.

"Helena!" I heard a familiar voice call out. My mother ran in front of the car and helped me out.

I grabbed her hand and got out as fast as I could. "Mom! Mom, what is going on!" I asked, wanting a real answer. I wanted to know what was happening, why was everyone around me dying, and why was I the primary target.

"We have to go," my mother said. We were about to run when she saw the two figures walking towards us. Aunt Cindy and the headless body of my Uncle Peter were walking toward us. From where I was standing, my Aunt Cindy looked normal. That's why I ran towards her, wanting to save her from my headless uncle.

"Helena, no! Stop!" My mother yelled.

I tripped over one of my Uncle's tools in the yard. When I looked up, my Aunt Cindy's eyes fell out in front of me and rolled next to my hand. She now had two dark holes as eyes and an empty mouth that somehow grew in size. It looked as if she would suck me up inside of her mouth. The more I stared, the wider it got. I screamed and scrambled to my feet.

"Helena, come on! Get your bike!" my mom yelled, running towards my Uncle's garage. Next to it was Peter's bike. While she got on that one, I ran over to mine. Cindy watched us without moving.

I peddled over to my mother.

My mother reached into her pocket and opened a can of beer.

"Really!" I yelled out. "Now?"

Riding up to me, she frowned then splashed beer into my face. "Keep up! We need to get home and pack our bags because we're leaving," my mom yelled the started pedaling away...