Where do I begin? So much has happened in the past few days. That's why I got this notebook. I guess maybe someday I'll want to remember what's happened.
Anyway… the beginning is always a good place. I'll start there.
It started two weeks ago, when Mom disappeared. That alone was enough to turn my whole world upside down. But the worst part was, my family didn't even care.
Dad and Ella didn't seem to notice Mom's absence. They just went on with their lives, entirely ignoring my worry. Before long, I was fearing something terrible.
And then Ella stopped going to school. For some people, that wouldn't seem so weird, but that's not the case with Ella. She loves school, loves to learn, loves her friends and her teachers. Or at least… she did.
I didn't know what was going on. I got a call from Dad's boss that he wasn't going to work. I didn't know where he and Ella went every day. They never spoke to me; late at night when they returned home, they just went into their rooms.
I didn't tell anyone at school what was going on. I was afraid people would get involved, and beyond that, I was afraid to find out what was going on. I was scared about what happened to Mom.
And, I learned later, my fears weren't unfounded.
I was doing my homework when someone knocked on the door. Desperately hoping it was Mom, I ran down the stairs.
But two unfamiliar men stood there, and my heart sank. On second glance, noting their suits, I began to feel uneasy. What if they had come about Mom's disappearance, or Ella skipping school? I started to close the door.
"Hey," the taller one said gently, putting a hand up before the other guy could say something angry. "It's okay, we're not gonna hurt you, we just want to talk."
Wondering whether this was the right decision, I slowly opened the door a little further. "Yeah?"
"Are your parents home?" he asked, to which I shook my head.
They ended up in the living room, and I hurriedly cleared my homework to make room for them on the couch. I sat in the chair across from them, and before I could help myself, I blurted, "Do you know where my mom is?" I sounded like a scared five-year-old, but at this point, I didn't even care.
The shorter of the two, who had been looking around uneasily, immediately whipped his head to face me. "You don't know where your mom is?"
"No!" I exclaimed, and then the words poured out. I told him about Dad and Ella acting weird, and caring about Mom, not going to work or school, and not talking to me.
"Think we found them," the taller man muttered to the shorter man, before turning to me. "Uh… wait, are you Ella or Clare?"
"Clare," I answered, barely wondering how he knew my name.
"Well, Clare," he said, that gentle tone still in his voice, "I've got some bad news for you."
"Mom's dead, isn't she?" I asked, my voice barely more than a squeak.
"We don't know where your mom is," the second man told me. "But your father and sister, they're demons."
I just stared at him. "What?"
The shorter man splashed some water at me then. I flinched, flicking it out of my eyes. "What was that for?"
"She's clean, Sammy," he said. "I guess the demons left her alone."
"What are you talking about?" I demanded, starting to get scared. Maybe I should kick them out, I thought, but they were both huge. I couldn't imagine overpowering them.
"Clare," the man called Sammy told me in a low voice, "your dad and Ella aren't themselves. I know this sounds crazy, but they're possessed by demons."
"What, no," I said, starting to laugh. "No, that's nuts, they're not possessed. They're just upset."
"They've been acting different lately, right?" he asked then, his tone getting more intense. "Not like themselves? Doing weird things, right?"
"Yeah," I answered slowly. "But that doesn't mean-"
Then the door burst open. Dad and Ella came in. They moved closer, and I saw, to my horror, that their eyes… they were black.
Before I knew what was happening, Ella lunged at the shorter man. "Dean, no," Sammy yelled, but as I watched, Dean pulled out a knife and stabbed Ella. I screamed as her body flickered with orange, and then she crumpled.
But no one was paying attention to me, as Dad stepped closer to Sam and Dean. "You fools-" he began, in a voice that was most definitely not his.
Sam began muttering something, and Dad began to make strangled sounds. Then black smoke poured from his mouth and he, too, collapsed on the floor.
The two men ran to Ella, checking her breathing and pulse. Then, slowly, they lowered her back to the floor, looking up at me. "I'm sorry-" Sam began.
"You killed her," I cried, unable to believe what I was seeing. No. Ella couldn't be dead.
"I'm sorry," Sammy repeated, his voice sad. "She was a demon, we didn't have a choice. Your father will recover, he'll be okay."
"But Ella…" I sobbed, falling to my knees beside her. Once I had recovered somewhat, I finally looked up at them. "She was a demon?"
"Yes," Sammy answered. And then he and Dean explained all the kinds of monsters that live in the shadows - demons, vampires, werewolves… the whole deal. I learned that Sammy's name was actually Sam, and that the two were brothers, raised as hunters of the demons.
When Dad awoke, they explained it all again. To my surprise, my quiet, hardworking dad was actually very interested in the idea of hunting. Maybe it was because he'd had a demon inside him.
But Dean stopped him. "You don't want that," he said firmly, a dark undertone in his voice. "I'll be in the car, Sam."
"Just give me a second, Dean," Sam answered. Once Dean had left, he turned to us. "Life as a hunter isn't as great as it may sound," he said in a low voice. "Dean and me, we never got a choice. We never had a childhood."
"But Clare and I will choose this," Dad told Sam. "We want to avenge what the demons did to Ella."
"You sound like my dad," Sam informed Dad. "I can't make that decision for you, though. Do what you want." He stood up, towering over the two of us. "But if things go wrong… Dean and I warned you."
"Warning heard," Dad told Sam. Sam then left, and Dad turned to me. "We're getting started on this hunting thing."
After taking care of Ella's body, Dad and I got to work. We combed the local library for everything we could find about monsters. That's what we've doing for days now, researching. Dad wanted to make sure we were ready before we did anything.
Now, though, Dad wants to get started. He found a case, and we're heading out tonight. I decided now would be a good time to start writing, for obvious reasons.
He's calling me to leave, and I haven't gotten my bags into the car yet. I don't want him to see me writing, he's seemed a little…crazy. All that stuff about avenging Ella is starting to get a little worrying.
Dad's getting impatient. Back soon,
Clare