Homecoming

I awoke in a cold sweat. The squeak of the brakes and releasing pressure of the hydraulics. Late at night, I was the passenger. The bus rolled off as I stepped up to the porch of my parents home. I haven't been back here since my sister disappeared. With a wavering breath I knocked on the door. A seconds passed and no one responded. I looked at the windows. Through the bars on one I saw a faint gray glow. light overhead flickered and buzzed. With no other lights around I hurried for the spare key. door gave way a foul odor came over me. It smelled as though someone had left a cremated steak out for weeks. I walked through every room. No one was to be inside. The places left unchecked were out back by the pool, and my sister's old room. Passing through the open patio door I was greeted with a grizzly sight. Two corpses charred to a crisp, and cold to the touch.

"Miss me?" A voice came from behind me. I spun around, ready for nothing. A figure garbed in black and red-faced me. They held a torch in one hand and a hatchet in the other. I made a dash for the door attempting to get to the safety of the home. Sliding the door closed in my haste shattered the glass. I ran for the room in the house with locks, the master bedroom. I slammed the door, locking every lock on the door. slid the end table in front of the door. In a moment of calm I got a glimpse of the mess that was of my parents room. The egg shell white room had been covered in crimson. The untouched section was an open trap door that was once under the rug. I tentatively climbed into the hole, turning on my phone’s flashlight for light. I reached the ground and turned around to a perplexing room. The thing in the room was a bed. Chains held it to the wall, and handcuffs hung from the headboard. A loud bang came from above. Dust fell from the roof and covered me. I attempted to climb out of the underground room to be stopped by a heavy, hollow, wooden object.

With no way out I had but a single choice, something my parents had strongly advised me not to do. I turned the flashlight off on my phone, and hesitantly dialed the number for emergency services.

“911 what’s your emergency?” The voice sounded calm, reassuring and sure. Yet I couldn't bring myself to reply. Another bang from above scared me, and I dropped the phone. A red tinted light came from the opening overhead. I slid under the object in the room. The hooded figure dropped down into the cellar. They strolled to the side of the room holding the bed, and lied down. I waited until I could be sure that they were asleep. I crawled out from under the bed and made a dash for the exit. crawled out and felt a floorboard give way under me. With a large crack and a swift breath, the hooded figure sprung up from their sleep. With as much speed and dexterity as I possessed, I threw the side table onto the trap door. I looked to the door and saw an empty frame, the floor covered in wood splinters as if the door was ripped apart by a bear.

On the other side of the hall from my parents room stood my sister's room. The door had been chained for longer than I could remember. Placed there when she disappeared. It’s been a decade since she did. But tonight the chains lay in a pile on the floor. And the door stood open. Unchanged since the day. Looking back, the standard little girl’s bedroom. Not that I spent much time there. Before I could reminisce for too long I heard the sound of wood scraping wood. I need to get out of here as fast as possible. I ran for the garage. With the car still there was my best chance for escape. I dashed through the kitchen to get to my father’s body. With any luck the keys would still be on his hip. I slid open the broken kitchen door I heard a crash. Without warning the hooded figure stood in front of me. Appearing almost out of nowhere. Startled, I stumbled backwards and fell to my back. They stood over me, crimson dripping from the blade of their hatchet. They hoisted their weapon above their head a knock on the front door stopped them. raised their head, distracted. And I took my opportunity to sweep their legs and run. The door as my target, I ran faster than I ever have in my life, in reality a meters it felt like the longest run in the world. The door flung open, two officers greeted me as I reached the now broken entrance. One took me outside as her partner entered the house. I sat on the curb next to their patrol car. Two distinct, loud, bangs from inside the house.

Hours later I was invited to the coroner's office. To name the bodies found in the house. The charred corpses I could accurately say were my parents, and the body in the basement was our neighbor, Mrs. Jenkins. She was like a second mother to me. The police said that she had been down there for at least a year. The hooded figure, I had a much harder time identifying. It took a long time, but I did manage to ID them as, my younger sister.