"So that's it, then?" her father shouted. "After all these years and everything I've done for you? You're just going to throw me out for this piece of random shit?"
Abigail covered her ears as the shouts grew louder and louder.
Her mother's scream rang out. "Stan! Put down the gun!" The next thing she heard was breaking furniture. Terrified, she dug deeper into her safety blanket and held her breath. She didn't know why she wasn't crying. But something told her not to even breathe audibly.
Four loud, deafening gunshots rang out.
Wide eyed, she'd been frozen in terror. Mama ... That single word hovered in her mind as tears welled in her eyes. Go check on her....
She couldn't. It felt as if someone or something held her down and kept her quiet.
Then there was the sound of lone boot heels clicking eerily down the hallway toward her room. Chills raised on her arms.
Don't move, Abby. It sounded like her mother talking to her. Whatever you do, stay silent and still. Pretend you're invisible.
Her door opened with a slow arc.
Holding her breath, she peeped from beneath her bed to watch the boots move across her floor.
"Where are you, you little brat?" Jess snarled. He searched the room for her.
He's going to find me.... Every part of her seized with that fear. I don't want to die.
"Abigail!" he shouted as he searched through her closet. "Where are you?"
The sound of sirens filled the air, which made him tear through her room as he did his best to find her. She covered her head, terrified he'd overturn her bed.
"We need to go. Now!"
Abigail frowned at a voice that sounded familiar to her. Not as a little girl, but as an adult.
Whose was it?
"I can't find the brat."
The sirens were getting louder and louder.
"I'll take care of it," the voice whispered again. "But you need to go."
"Why? It might be better if they find me here."
"I have a better idea."
He let out a sound of extreme frustration as pulsating lights flashed through the windows. "Fine," he snarled. "I'll trust you, but if you're wrong, you'll be joining the other two in the living room."
"Don't worry, I have your back."
She watched as Sundown stormed out of the room, leaving nothing but bloody footprints in his wake....
Abigail jerked awake to find herself in Sundown's house.
The memory of the night her parents had died lingered heavy in her heart as the sequence of events was clarified.
Sundown had killed her parents. He'd been lying to her when he denied it.
How do you know that?
Hello? I was there.