All I saw was a blur of colors before something shook me from my sleep. I jolted awake as a falling sensation grasped my stomach and I slammed against the floor.
"Get up!" I heard a voice call out through the haze.
"W-What's going on?" I groaned as I began to see the outlines of the objects around me.
A figure walked into my field of view as a bright light glared against my eyes, "Listen to me, Thomas." My mother's voice called in her thick European accent.
"Why are you waking me up now?" I moaned, flailing my hand blindly until brushed against a pillow. I smashed it over my face and got myself into a comfortable position on the floor.
"Because we are leaving." My mom replied, digging through my dresser while tossing fresh clothes onto my tired body.
"What do you mean 'leaving'?" I asked from underneath the pillow. My mom sighed annoyed and proceeded to throw one of my black shorts onto my unmoving frame as I risk a peek from the darkness.
"You haven't noticed us packing, have you?" she responded, stopping to face me and put her hands on her hips.
"I was wondering what that was about." I answered, finally sitting up and fixing her with a tired look.
"You're father and I are leaving for a month. Since you are almost seventeen, we're going to trust you with the house." My mom explained, switching to rapid-fire Slovak.
I considered this before asking, "What about Daniel and Linda?"
"Daniel is staying at Eddy's for two weeks and Linda will stay at Olivia's for the entire month." She explained irritated. Daniel and Linda are my two younger siblings. Daniel is thirteen and Linda just turned eight. Overall, they're both okay relatives but meaning that I'll be alone for a long time is great.
Turning on her heel, my mom turns and leaves my room. I grudgingly get up and follow, walking through the narrow hallway and into my brother's neighboring room. I lean in the doorway as I watch my mom go through my brother's closet.
"So-" I begin before trailing off.
"No friends, no parties, and no letting people in the house unless we give you permission." My mom immediately responds.
"Mmm, okay." I say quietly, contemplating the potential ways I could secretly invite my friends over.
My mom brings a pile of clothes over to the foot of my brother's bed before neatly placing them into a suitcase.
She looks at me with a suspicious glare before saying, "I have ways to know you if you are having friends over."
I smile cockily, "Security cameras?"
"Daniel will stop by occasionally to pick up more clothes." My mom replies.
"I see." I answer.
As my mom finishes packing Daniel's clothes, she wags her finger at me, "I swear if you bring some idiots into this house, I'll kill you myself."
I chuckle before striding back into my room to change. A few minutes later, I am jogging downstairs to eat breakfast.
Absentmindedly, I check my phone and nearly spit my cereal in the table as I call out the time, "Six-thirty!"
My dad marches down from his room, pulling on a gray windbreaker, "What's your problem?" He asks tired.
"Nothing." I mutter as I continue to eat my Frosted Toast Crunch.
Soon, I finish my cereal and dump the bowl and spoon into the sink as my dad sips his coffee nearby.
"Tommy, promise me that you're not going to screw this up. We're leaving you with a big responsibility here. You need to feed the pets, water the plants, mow the lawn, and clean the gutters, among the other stuff you're going to have to do." My dad explicates.
I sigh and pat my dad on the shoulder, "I promise."
My dad hugs me and says, "You have two-hundred dollars to start with. I'll send the rest each week through your credit card. Remember, don't overuse it on junk." He finishes as he lets go.
"Trust me; I've got this under control." I reply.
The rest of the morning is spent with me following both of my parents around as they instruct me on how to care for the house. Around noon, they finish packing their suitcases into the car and pull away after a long, awkward good-bye. I wave one last time before shutting the door and watching them pull out of the drive-way. Making a hasty meat loaf sandwich, I sit down on the couch in the living room before turning the TV to my favorite show.
My name is Tom James; I am sixteen-years-old and live in Willowbrook, a suburb of Chicago. I have an average haircut of brown hair mixed with black and blond. I typically wear black wire-frame glasses that always seem to be crooked. The year is 2015 and I have just finished my junior year in high school. Finally on summer break, I'm ready to relax for a month while my parents are gone.
I scroll through my recordings before I find the show I'm looking for: My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic. I'll admit that I'm a hardcore brony. I've had the passion for almost four years now and continue to enjoy the show. I turn on one of the Season 5 episodes and begin to watch it with excitement.
This episode has no special importance until a cliff-hanger is revealed at the end where Queen Chrysalis is revealed to be using her changeling powers to shape-shift to disguise herself as Princess Cadence just like in the Season 2 finale.
"What an interesting way to end an episode." I mutter to myself as I walk my empty plate to the sink.
Upon reaching the kitchen I feel my phone buzz in my pocket as I place the plate in the sink, "Hello?" I ask as I push the answer button.
"Hey, what're you doing?" My friend Marvelle asks over the phone.
"Dude, my parents are gone for an entire month!" I exclaim, leaning against the counter.
Marvelle Rivers and I have been good friends for over six years now. He's rather eccentric, and tends to be a rather loud fellow, so it's kinda annoying having him around sometimes. Although, I love the guy as a brother, so all-in-all, it's good to have him with me.
"Wow, that's awesome! What're you gonna do? Throw a party?" He asks.
I laugh, "Nah, I can't go that extreme." I say.
"Mind if I come over then? Wanna talk about some movie ideas." He replies, his voice crackling from static.
"Sure. Wouldn't hurt." I respond, leaning back while enjoying the satisfying cracks coming from my back.
"Cool, I'll be there soon." Marvelle finishes before hanging up.
I glance at the oven clock: 1:30 PM. I yawn because I'm unusually tired lately. So, I jog up the stairs to the part of the house where my parents' bedroom is. I poke my head at their king-sized bed and ease myself in. Making the lazy decision, I choose to take a nap before Marvelle gets here.
As I pull the covers over my head, I hear something. It sounds like a consistent banging noise that echoes all the way up here. I groan, thinking it's the furnace acting up again. Ignoring it, I bury my head deeper into the various blankets of the bed.
Finally, the banging noise stops and I sigh. Then, I hear a high-pitched scream. At first, I believe it's Marvelle pulling another prank on me. After all, he knows how to get into my house. I groan in response and ignore it.
Another period of silence before multiple screams resonance from below. Now angry and scared, I roll off the left side of the bed and lift the covers to reveal my dad's metal baseball bat tucked into the crook of the mattress. As I stand, whirling the bat menacingly as I do, I hear more screams and various noises. My fear peaking, I drop to the ground and slip my hand under the bed, locking my fingers around the item I need, hidden under the bedframe.
I pull my dad's silver-chrome Desert Eagle, nicknamed "Maximus" by me, from under the bed and check the magazine. Fully loaded. I grin and click the gun to "Safety" to make sure I don't accidently shoot Marvelle. I tuck the bat in the crook of my arm before making my way downstairs.
I get to the bottom of the stairs to find the noise coming from the basement door right next to the stairs. Slowly, I open the door and begin trekking in darkness towards the source of the noise.
When I reach the bottom of the basement stairs, I immediately spin in the darkness with the Desert Eagle pointing forward. I pull the hammer down, causing it to make a loud click.
Suddenly, there is another scream right next to me, this one sounding of anger more than fear. I'm find a long object striking me below the ribs at high-speed, causing me to smash against the wall. I sense the attacker above me as I attempt to reach up for the light-switch. Just as I begin to feel it, another figure kicks me in the arm, causing me to drop the baseball bat. I groan as I hear it clatter to the floor. Even worse, I hear one of the attackers pick up the bat. Deciding to trick whoever it is, I quickly make myself go limp. Success, I sense the attackers backing away, muttering softly.
Deciding to take action, I spring up suddenly and punch the light-switch, bathing the room with bright light. Without any judgment, I get to my feet, switch off the safety, and press the loaded gun against the soft eye-socket of my attacker.
The last thing I see before I am overwhelmed by darkness it a startled girl with fluffy pink hair and bright blue eyes looking at me astonishingly before everything disappears into gloom.