The Lurking

When I was a little girl, my friends and I would play in the woods behind my house. One day around six-thirty, we were playing hide and seek. I hid in the bush, which wasn’t my usual hiding spot. I waited there crouched down, but no one found me, and I never found them. I was alone in the dark, and it was so quiet that all I heard was the soft rustling of the wind in the trees. “Sarah Tyler, Brad, Katie?!” I looked around. “Where are you guys?”The bush in front of me started to shake. I was scared. Then a hand touched my shoulder. I screamed. “It’s okay Mandy,” My Dad picked me up. I was eight years old then. “Daddy, I can’t find Sarah, Tyler, Brad, or Katie.” I wrapped my chubby arms around his neck. “It’s alright. I’m sure their parents have found them already.” He turned and started to walk away. I saw a man come out of the bushes. I open my mouth to scream, but he put his finger to his lips, and I stayed silent. Daddy took me inside; we sat down at the table for dinner

The next few days were hard, Grandma stayed at our house. Grandpa wanted nothing to do with me. The doctor whose name was Oliver came around to help around the house. He brought me flowers and occasionally made dinner when Mom and I didn't want to cook. He hired someone to clean the blood out of my carpet in my room and the blood in the back of the car. The FBI is now involved and has been watching over our house 24/7 I haven't seen the man in a while. I hope he's gone forever. I went back to school even before the funeral I needed to distract myself with something it didn't help much. The entire school was glum, teachers and students apologized for my loss. My English teacher told me that she hopes they catch that son of a bitch. I said me too and kept my head down. The assistant principal gave me the key to my Dad's office “I’m so sorry Amanda.” Mr. Watson said. “Thank you,” I said. Most days I found myself in my Dad's office I was sitting at his desk and cry. The lights stayed

He set the house on fire and it’s moving toward the back where my room is. I dialed 911. “911 what’s your emergency.” “My name is Amanda Amara Thompson. I am 18 years old and my parents were killed by the man who kidnapped those four children ten years ago, and now he has set my house on fire to draw me out. By the time dispatch will get to my house the man will have me and my house will be nothing but rubble. Please find me. I’ll try to leave a trail to follow. Find Dr. Oliver Valero and tell him what happened. Send him and the rest of the family I have left away from this place.” “Ma’am we can help you. Dispatch will be there in five minutes.” “It’s too late.” I hung up. I haven’t thrown any of my knives and I’m pretty sure he doesn’t know that I’m proficient in knife throwing and fighting with knives. I put on my boots and a sweatshirt to cover the daggers on my arms and the throwing knives at my ankles. I take a breath. I can’t kill him, yet I must save the others if

It’s been months since I have seen Amanda. I know I should have stayed with her in that house. I was so stupid. Who knows what the man has been doing to her. Why was I so dumb? She left a trail, but it ended in an open meadow and then it stopped.“Do you have any leads at all?” I asked Josh. “All we know is that his name is Jonathan Pantelli.” Josh responded, “Have you gotten a hold of his wife?” “No, we have been focusing on finding Amanda.” “Don’t you think talking to his wife would get you closer to finding Amanda?” “It doesn’t’ seem as though she would be helpful, so we didn’t talk to her.” “Amanda was right you guys are idiots.” I walked away from them.” I found Pantelli’s wife online. I asked her to meet with me at noon at the café on seventh. She responded with sure. I guess if you want something done you must do it yourself. I left Mrs. Thompson’s house and walked to the café. It was a twenty minute walk. Mrs. Pantelli was sitting outside in the sitting ar

Tyler punched the wall. After doing that, he shook his fist in pain. We’re back in the lab.“We just got out here. I can’t believe we are back in here.” Tyler snarled. “He’s gonna kill your parents,” I said. “My parents might kill him,” Tyler said. I looked at Oliver. He looked at me. “He's going to kill all of us.” Oliver looked at us. I put my head down. He was right none of us were getting out of here alive. I sat my back against the glass. I thought about my parents. They died last year; and grandma, well, she gave me her heart. I can't die here; I won't die here. I was given this heart to live not to die in a box. I stood up and looked at both of them. “We are not dying here. Not today, not tomorrow, not ever. I just got a new heart, and I would like to push it to its full capacity. We will get out of this alive, all of us.” “There won’t be anybody waiting for us or looking for us this time.”“Your parents will be looking for you. But even if no one looked for u