Our story begins with a young woman named Sparrow who is about twenty years old. She has red hair with blonde highlights that falls to her waist, sparkling sky blue eyes, tanned skin, an hourglass figure, and stands at five foot four. Normally one can find her wearing blue jean shorts, some colored tank top with a saying on it, and flip-flops. She lives by herself in a small house that she bought with some money her parents left her after being killed by an unknown murderer.
Sparrow currently was walking past the shops and stores that made up the downtown of her city. Her pace was slow and relaxed, as she peered into the stores trying to find her friends who had ditched her when she was talking to a guy from one of her college classes. She grumbled under her breath as she glanced across the street, stopping suddenly as she caught sight of a black cat watching her with the most intelligent eyes she had ever seen on a cat.
"Here, kitty-kitty." She called to it as she squatted down a bit. The cat's ears twitched towards her, but didn't move otherwise. She scoffed, and straightened before walking again, this time in the direction of her house. She hadn't taken but five steps when she was overcome with the feeling that someone was watching her, but when she glanced back, no one was there and the cat was gone as if it had never existed in the first place. The hair on the back of her neck stood up, and goose bumps ran down her arms.
Not long after, Sparrow turned onto her street, having gotten over her earlier feeling of being watched. She glanced up at the sky, which had been steadily been getting darker and darker, thanks to the storm clouds brewing near the horizon. She started walking a little faster as lightning lit up the black clouds, giving her a feeling that this was just a normal Texas thunder storm, but something worse. She began to run as the clouds now started to appear overhead, getting hit by a few small rain drops as she leapt onto her porch seconds before the sky let loose and the rain started to pour down. She rose to her tippy toes, running her fingers along the edge of her doorframe, feeling for her house key.
"Gotcha!" She exclaimed as she felt her fingers brush against the cool metal of the key. She grabbed it and unlocked the door, but before she could open it, she heard a faint "Mrrow." Pausing, she turned around to see the black cat she had seen earlier downtown.
"Well, hello there, kitty. What're you doing here? Did you follow me home, hmm?" Sparrow knelt down and was slightly surprised as the cat came right up and rubbed against her legs. "Well, aren't you just a little sweetheart?" she muttered, picking the feline up. "Let's get inside before the wind blows us away." She opened the door, sighing happily as the heat from inside the house escaped to caress her skin, making her goose bumps from earlier reappear. She walked in and placed the cat on her couch.
"Make yourself at home, kitty-cat." She spoke to her newest animal guest. "I should probably give you a name, since I can't keep calling you kitty-cat, now can I?" she muttered the second part to herself as she began to pet the now purring cat. "How about Itzal?"
"Mrrow." Was the only response she got.
"Ok, Itzal it is!" she walked into her kitchen grabbing a bowl and pouring some milk into it. "Here, Itzal, some nice, cold milk." Suddenly, a strong gust of wind blew, rattling her windows and shaking her house, causing Sparrow to jump, startled. "Ha-ha, it was just the wind. Nothing to be afraid of." She told herself, starting a bit as this time, thunder sounded. She sighed. "I really need to calm down. It's just a thunder storm. Nothing more, nothing less." She spoke out loud, hoping that the sound of her voice would not only calm her nerves, but also help with the silence she felt pressing against her. She scooped Itzal up after he finished the bowl of milk and walked to her bedroom. Just then her cell phone rang.
"Say your prayers little one/Don't forget my son/To include everyone/I tuck you in/Warm within/Keep you free from sin/'Til the sandman he comes
Sleep with one eye open/Gripping your pillow tight
Exit light/Enter night/Take my hand/We're off to never never-land" (Enter Sandman, Metallica)
She quickly opened her phone to answer. "Hello?"
"Sparrow? Hey, did you go home?" Sparrow recognized her friend's voice as she spoke.
"Yeah, Kaiya, I'm at home safe and sound." She reassured her friend, but received no answer. "Huh? Hmm, no service. Storm musta knocked the signals out." She muttered to herself. She jumped once again as she heard a weird noise from inside her house, but quickly dismissed it from mind as the lights went out. "Oh no! Drat, the flashlight's in the kitchen." She slowly made her way to her bedroom door. She softly padded down the hall and into the kitchen, feeling slightly scared as she kept hearing more weird noises in her house."It's probably just Itzal. Nothing to be scared of." She told herself as she felt in a drawer for the flashlight. She felt the cold plastic, grabbed it, switched it on and turned around. A loud scream erupted from her throat.
The next day, two of her friends, Kaiya and Sana, came over to her house, knocking before entering the now cold house.
"Sparrow? You here?" Sana called.
"She's probably still sleeping." Kaiya said. Sana nodded; shivering as she got the feeling the house was empty except for the two of them. Kaiya was silent as she made her way to the kitchen, saying, "I'm gonna go grab something to eat." Sana nodded and heading to the bedroom to wake Sparrow up. Kaiya walked into the kitchen and screamed; Sparrow was lying on the floor in a pool of blood, eyes open and vacant, terror still written on her face. Her throat was slit and a flashlight was cracked on the ground next to her, the batteries now completely drained or life.
