Keep On Walking

Just A Normal Day

Scarlet was walking the usual way home after school had finished. She walked the usual path, and saw the usual people who lived around the area.

She was texting her friend, as usual, and enjoying the cool summer air.

Everything so far that day had been completely normal. Nothing at all was out of the ordinary.

When Scarlet got to her street, she saw her neighbor, Mrs Greenberry. Mrs Greenberry was a lovely old lady who Scarlet would see every day when she walked home from school. At that time, Mrs Greenberry would be outside in her front garden watering her many flowers. Scarlet like to look at the flowers, it made her feel peaceful inside.

"Good afternoon, Mrs Greenberry" Scarlet waved her hand at the old lady happily.
"Oh, Good afternoon Scarlet," Replied Mrs Greenberry, as she watered her flowers, "How are you today, darling?"

"I'm great, how about you?" Scarlet walked up to the white fence around Mrs Greenberry's house and leaned her arms on it.

"Oh, I feel a little sick, but it's nothing to worry about. Have a great rest of the day, sweetie!" The old lady said, as she patted Scarlet on the back.

"I hope I will! And I hope you get better, too! Bye, Mrs Greenberry!" Scarlet said as she ran off towards her home.

Scarlet walked to her door and opened it, walking into the hallway. She took off her shoes and hat, putting them in the shelf next to the door. Scarlet walked into the living room, greeting both of her parents and her little brother, who was playing with his toy cars.

She walked up the stairs and into her room. The walls were a light blue, and her furniture was white and clean. Scarlet dropped her bag onto the floor and threw herself onto her bed, looking up to the ceiling. She took her phone out of her pocket, and checked around on social media about anything that was happening. After a while, she got off her bed and went on her computer.

Scarlet was an artist. She loved to draw, especially on her computer. She would put some music on high volume, and get swept away in her creations. Usually her parents would come check up on her every once in a while, and tell her when it's time to come down for dinner. Usually.

By the time Scarlet had finished drawing her latest masterpiece, she noticed the time was 19:56. Her parents should have checked up on her and told her it was dinner an hour or two ago. Though, Scarlet wasn't too worried about it, since maybe they just were busy and had to make it a bit later. Scarlet decided to play some video games until her parents came.

21:34. Still nothing. Now, Scarlet was getting slightly worried. She took off her dark blue headphones, and carefully put them on her computer desk. She slowly got up from her chair, and walked over to her door. Nothing. She couldn't hear a single sound. Scarlet grabbed hold of the door handle, and began to slowly turn it. Until she heard her brother screaming.

Now, it's normal for 4-year-old boys to cry, of course. But this wasn't just normal crying. It was full-on screaming, like if he just saw some terrifying monster chew off his hand. For some reason, Scarlet's parents weren't helping him to calm down. They couldn't even be heard. Did they leave? Did they go shopping? Scarlet didn't know, of course. But she had to get to her little brother and see what he was screaming about. She grabbed the door handle even harder and threw her door open. She ran across the hall, down the stairs, and into the living room, where her brother's screams were coming from. She didn't even pay attention to her surroundings until she got to her brother.

"It's alright, Jake, it's okay, you can stop screaming now.." Scarlet whispered, holding her brother in her hands.

However, he wouldn't stop screaming. That was when Scarlet looked around the room for the first time, and when she noticed the sliding door to the garden was open. Her parents would never leave that door open, and especially not at night. Never. But it was open. Wide open.

Scarlet's blood ran cold. She slowly stood up, taking her brother by the hand, and slowly started backing out of the room. "Hey, Jake, we're gonna go to my room, okay?" She whispered in a shaky voice. Just as she said that, she tripped over something, and fell backwards.

Her brother started screaming again. Her eyes went wide. She felt something grab her by the wrist.

"Run."

Scarlet screamed and sprinted out of the room, still holding her crying brother tightly by the hand. She ran up the stairs, almost tripping and falling down. She dashed into her room and threw her brother inside with her, slammed the door shut and locked it.

Panting heavily, she took out the phone from the back pocket in her shorts. When she looked at the screen, she noticed it was covered in a strange, red liquid. She dropped the phone and started crying.

She was covered in blood. Whatever she tripped over in the living room was the source of it. And she didn't want to know what it was.

"Hey Scarlet....."

She heard the voice faintly at first. She thought it must have been her mind playing tricks on her. Until she heard it again. Closer.

"Scarlet... Come out darling..."

Bang.

She grabbed the phone. She pulled her still crying brother into the closet, saying "Don't cry, stay silent, don't make a peep, do NOT come out, you hear me? Just remember that I love you Jakey alright, and mommy and daddy did too, alright?" And with tears in her eyes, she hid under the bed.

Scarlet didn't know what to do. Were her parents playing a sick joke on her? No, they couldn't be that cruel, could they?

Another bang. Louder this time, closer.

Scarlet squeezed her eyes shut, and clung onto the phone. If it came down to it, she would have to call someone.

Police. She had to call the police. She opened her eyes and clicked the power button on her phone.

Nothing. The phone was out of charge. She looked over the the phone charger which lay on the floor. It was unplugged.

A single tear fell from her eye. She never unplugged that charger.

Another bang. A deafening bang. And after that bang, her door slowly creaked open.

Someone walked into her room. Slowly, so slowly. Scarlet held her breath. She was terrified. The person was dragging something behind them, something that was silently wheezing, gasping for air.

The person walked in the middle of Scarlet's room. They dropped the thing they were dragging, and slowly backed out of the room. Walking backwards. And laughing hysterically. Scarlet looked at what they had dropped, and couldn't take it anymore. She screamed. She screamed the loudest she had ever screamed in her life.

The laughter intensified. Her brother started crying again. Scarlet's world was crumbling around her.

"Sca...r..let..." Her mother whimpered from the floor, "I'm... so....sor...ry..."

Tears were pouring from Scarlet's eyes and she couldn't stop screaming. The laughter wouldn't stop. The crying wouldn't stop. The pain wouldn't stop.

The front door burst open and Scarlet heard many people rush into her house. The people ran up the stairs, shouted something, and many bangs were heard. The person dropped onto the floor, a smile still plastered on his bloody face. He looked into Scarlet's eyes, and smiled even wider.

"Hey, there's someone still here!"

"Hey, you alright kid?"

"We need an ambulance!"

Distant shouts reached Scarlet's ears, but they were all blurs. Her vision went blurry, her body felt so far away from her reach. She blacked out.