Category : Books-Fiction

Sub Category : YoungAdult

The Hunt
Finally they were home, I could hear the knob rattle and the door squeak as it slowly opened, a familiar sound. 
They didn't know I was here, I liked to hide and scare them whenever I had a chance. It was something I started doing when I was about four or so. 
Tonight I felt like I waited forever for their return, I already had to pee so bad, but I didn't want to risk missing this opportunity. After all of this time I'm surprised they never opened the closet to scare me before I could scare them. I'd like to think that I was sly enough to frighten them each time but as I got a little older, I think they just played along to appease me.
I peeked out so I can pounce at just the right time, however, something was off. The smell was different, unfamiliar. It smelled like pennies, like copper. "Who would want to smell like copper?" I innocently thought as a watched this shadowy figure emerge. The moonlight coming in from the window gave just enough light to get a better look at the situation. My tummy begin to turn inside, that wasn't my dad carrying my mother into the room. My heart began to pound so hard, it's all I could hear as I sat frozen in fear.
 I just knew he could hear me too, at the bottom of the dark closet. I tried to slow my breathing to keep from being noticed. I peered out of the little opening, my curiosity was greater than my fear at that moment. The moon highlighted her face as this man, or monster, violently tossed my mother on to the bed. Her head hung backwards over the side of the bed, she lifted her hand, that was dripping with blood, up to her mouth as she looked my direction. She motioned for me to be quiet. In her last moments she wanted to protect me. She knew I was there, she had to have known, it was our thing.
 I was surprised how quiet it was, I assumed that death would be louder. Maybe I just couldn't hear over the loud beating in my ears caused by the beating of my heart. I covered my eyes as I sat in my own urine for what seemed to be days. I couldn't move, the smell was unbearable. I waited patiently for my dad, or someone to come get me. I didn't know where the monster went, was he still here? I wasn't brave enough to check, I was small and fragile, who could blame me? 
Twelve years have passed, and I still blame myself. Why didn't I do more to save her? The guilt I carry keeps me motivated. They never found that monster in my parents room that night, or my father. It became a cold case with no leads. And at eleven years old, I couldn't offer anything that would help.
 I'm older now, after that night my life changed. No more happy hide and seek, no more tickles and cuddles on my parents bed. I grew up in five different foster homes until I aged out. I was angry, and I vowed revenge. I would do whatever it took to find this monster, and hopefully my father.