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Questions kept pouring down on her, like never ending rain, that only threatened to make her wetter by the second. All of a sudden, she remembered how Hyde asked her those same questions when they were on that picnic. He asked about strange things happening, strange men. Was it a coincidence or was there more to Hyde’s implausible explanation?
“No, no,” she shook her head.
“Are you sure?”
“I am, yes,” she nodded.
Just like the previous time when she was explaining, she hadn’t noticed anything weird around them. It was just another ordinary day.
“Alright then,” Jesse seemed to calm down a little, but he was still breathing heavily, and she was painfully aware of it, in the silence that reigned inside the house. “I need you to stay in Parker’s room, while I go down and check the fuse, OK?”
“Why can’t I come with you?” she wondered at this peculiar request.
“I can’t explain right now,” he snapped at her, “you just have to trust me for the time being, OK?”
She hated when someone talked to her like that, it didn’t matter whether that someone was a man or a woman. But, right now, a gut feeling told her that he had a reason to act this way, she just didn’t know it yet.
“Alright,” she agreed, and walked into Parker’s room.
He shuffled a little in bed, then propped himself up to look at her.
“Go back to sleep, sweetie,” she whispered to him, sitting down on the bed next to him. “Everything is fine.”
That was enough for him to lower his head on the pillow again and go back to sleep. Rene petted his head gently, as she looked out the window. It was pitch dark outside. There was no Moon visible, and the night lights weren’t seen from Parker’s room. It looked like the outside was the depth of a fathomless, dark cave, and if one got lost in there, he would never see the light of day again.
She remembered Jesse’s questions again. Why would he ask her that again? Were they afraid of someone following them? Did something bad already happen to Parker or Hyde, and they were just being extra careful? She had no idea what was going on. All she knew was that it was bizarre to say the least.
A minute later, she heard footsteps outside the door to Parker’s room. Having made sure that Parker was sound asleep again, she tiptoed out of the room, and slowly closed the door behind her. There was no sound, so Rene thought that Jesse had probably gone to the kitchen or the living room. She turned around, and the moment she did so, her eyes met another set of eyes, which she had never seen before.
They belonged to a dark, hooded figure, who was a head taller than she was. She could see how muscular he was, even underneath the big, oversized hoodie he was wearing.
“The boy,” the figure clenched through closed teeth, and she could smell the stench of rotten flesh when he opened his mouth, which made her take a step backwards, hitting the wall with her back.
She shook her head, feeling as if her power of speech was temporarily disabled, and she could only watch as the man’s elongated arms extended towards her, aiming at her neck. She looked away, shutting her eyes tight, waiting for the tight grip to start squeezing the life out of her body, but even after a few seconds, when the pressure around her neck never appeared, she finally opened her eyes again.
The intruder was lying on the ground, with Jesse’s body rendering him immobile, as he kept showering the intruder’s head with punches left and right. Jesse’s sighs and heaves filled up the empty room, and Rene frantically looked in the direction of Parker’s room, afraid that he might wake up and come out to see what was going on. She shuddered to remember that the man asked about him, which meant that he was here for the boy.
A few more seconds passed in slow motion, and Rene could see that Jesse was growing tired. His punches started losing their power, and his body flayed left and right, as if he was finding it increasingly difficult to keep his balance. The man who was lying down, pinned to the ground, took advantage of this, and with one big thrust, pushed Jesse off of him. Rene shrieked, but that didn’t stop him. He kicked Jesse in the stomach so hard that Jesse started coughing up blood.
Then, his gaze met Rene’s again. This time, she could see it all. The hatred. The malice. She was sure that evil surged through his veins instead of blood, keeping him alive. The man growled at her, baring his canine teeth. Saliva dripped from the corners of his mouth, as he approached Rene slowly, like an animal on the hunt. She frantically glanced at Jesse, still lying on the ground in a fetal position. He would be of no help to her. She had to keep this man from Parker, on her own.
Bravely, she took a step towards him, wanting to give him at least one good punch before he knocked her out for good. The man’s teeth glist
ened. That same stench of rotting flesh now filled up the whole room. She was sure it oozed into every room of the house where the man stepped foot in.
“Come on, motherfucker!” she shouted at him, feeling a surge of adrenaline rush through her veins. “What are you waiting for!?”
She didn’t care that she might wake up Parker. She was his last line of defense, and she had to stay up at least one round. A second passed, then another one. The man moved slowly towards her, as if he wasn’t even in a rush. He was sure of his victory over her, and he figured, he could at least make it fun.
“Parker?”
A voice came from the front door, and Rene desperately shouted back.
“We’re in here!!!”
The man’s ears perked up upon hearing Hyde’s voice. He ran towards Rene, then pushed her aside, rushing straight into the window at the end of the hallway, and charging straight through it. It broke into a million little pieces, leaving no trace as to who the mysterious intruder was.
Hyde rushed inside, bending over Jesse on the ground.
