Prologue
A woman shatters the silence in the night with a bloodcurdling scream that awakens the boy. At first, he shutters and pulls the covers over his head, praying that whatever he heard was a figment of his imagination. After a few moments of heavy breathing, he hears the sound of the woman again, shrieking as if she's been torn apart piece by piece. The boy begins to breathe faster and harder as each second passes. Underneath his legs, he feels the wet sheets soak in urine; the putrid smell enters his nostrils. He waits, terrified, whimpering like a prey cornered by its predator. The woman lets out one more screech, but this time cut off, followed by a thud and an eerie silence.
The boy stayed hidden for a time, listening and hearing nothing. He doesn't hear any movement, no creaks from the weight of an intruder on the floorboards, no more screaming or even the slightest hint of life on the other side of the door, absolutely nothing. He waits a little longer and then begins to lower the covers from over his head. All of a sudden, blue and red lights start flashing, getting brighter and brighter as each second passes. He takes the covers off and swings his legs over the side of the bed, trying to quietly place his right foot and then his left on the wooden floor. Tre begins to put all his weight on the wooden floor, and it starts to creak as he takes each step toward his bedroom door.
Once he reaches the door, he leans in; his ear rests on the wooden surface and listens for anything, indicating life on the other side. The boy hears nothing, so he opens the door and pokes his head out before entering the hallway. He finds a bloody handprint to the right of his door that is smeared and leads around the corner to his parent's bedroom. Before going around the corner, he waits a few moments before passing the hallway to the kitchen. He looks on both sides of the wall and sees a trail of blood leading into their bedroom.
As the boy passes the kitchen, he can see
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