In A Flash
By Matt Smith
Jake opened his eyes at the sound. The sound of someone rushing through the house, letting out a shout. Who was it? He wasn't sure. He climbed out of his bed, the sound of a slight cry for help echoed through the house, coming from beyond his room. He rubbed his eyes, allowing them to adjust to the darkness of his bedroom. His clock read 2:30am. What was going on?
And so early no less. Something was happening. There was a crash and window shattering. He felt for his doorknob and everything was quiet. You could have heard a spider spin a web. He turned the knob and slowly opened the door, which opened into the kitchen. He stepped out and saw the small nightlight in the outlet on the wall. He looked around the corner and stepped out into the hall
He could hear someone sobbing now. Who was that? Questions flooded his mind. Questions he knew could only be answered by moving down the hall, toward the source of the sobbing. He stepped down the hall and reached two doors, one was closed, and the other, which led into the living room, was open. The living room was pitch black and right dark.
Stopping for a moment, he let his eyes adjust to the true darkness he saw his parent's bedroom light on, laminating the door's edges. He went over and took hold of the doorknob, and saw the crack in the door frame. He turned the knob and the door swung open, to revile a mess, as though a tornado had swept through. He glanced up and saw the window to his right, was completely gone, destroyed.
He looked over at his mother, on the bed, sobbing. "Mother?" he asked, confused, "What happened?" She looked up at him, tried to wipe away the tears, knowing he'd already seen her sobbing. "Honey, please go back to bed." She said. He looked at the window again, and saw the blood on the chips of broken glass. "Mother, where is Father?" Jake asked.
His mother stood and went over to him, grabbed his hand and leading him back to his room. "Mother, I am 16 years old. Tell me what happened." he asked again. He looked at him as they stopped in the hall. "Jakeā¦" Suddenly the window in the kitchen shattered. Jake's mother let out a cry as she turned and rushed, with Jake, back to the living room.
The back door in the kitchen slammed shut and foot stepped stomped down the hall. Jake looked at his mother. She looked at him. "Jake. Run. Go call the police." She cried. Suddenly a man turned the corner and rushed at his mother, shoving him to the side. He heard his mother cry out, he stood and rushed into the kitchen.
He went to a drawer and opened it, picking out a simple steak knife, and turned and walked quickly back to the corner. "Leave her alone!" Jake cried out. The man turned. It was far too dark to see who he was. Jake ducked back around the corner. Suddenly there was a pool of blood in a flash of lightning.. His father lay on the ground, on the pool of the blood.
