Josiah was standing outside his pre-school. Class had just finished, and now he had to wait.

'Joey.'

Josiah turned to see that Carrie was standing a few feet away.

'Hi, Carrie,' he began to approach, but paused when he saw that his big sister's face was red-probably with tears.

Carrie reached forward and grabbed his hand. Not in the mood for conversation, she wasted no time leading him along the sidewalk in the direction of their home.

The two were nearing their house when Tommy Erbter, a boy only one year older than Josiah, came up from behind them, riding his bicycle, yelling, 'Creepy Carrie! Creepy Carrie!'

Erbter let out a chuckle as he sped away from the startled siblings. But in just a second, 'Aaaah!', the boy was screaming as he suddenly flew off the bicycle seat, landing on the ground in a crumpled position.

Josiah stared at the spooked boy in surprise until Carrie tugged at his hand, 'C'mon, Joey,' so they continued on their way.

The two entered the house, where Margaret, carrying her favorite Bible, was waiting. Carrie paled as she saw her mother's glare.

She began to speak, 'Momma…', only to be cut off by her mother's curt, 'Upstairs, Josiah.'

When Josiah hesitated, Margaret bellowed, 'Now!'

The boy ran up the stairs, 'Yes, Momma…'

However, from his room, Josiah could still hear what his mother and sister were talking about-whether he liked it or not.

'So…you're a woman now,' he heard Margaret spat out.

'Why didn't you tell me?,' Carrie cried, 'Oh, Momma, I was so scared, I thought I was dying!'

Josiah was shocked. Carrie thought she was dying? Why?

'And the girls all made fun and threw things and…'

'Come to your closet, woman!'

Josiah cringed and prayed to the Lord for whatever this was to end soon as he heard Carrie's panicked cries, 'Momma, let me out! Please!'

…

A few hours later, Carrie had been let out and allowed to go to her room. With things quieting down, Josiah was about to take a nap when he heard his mother's voice, 'Josiah? Open this door.'

At the command, Josiah sprung out of bed and rushed to the door, then turned the door knob, revealing Margaret-now with a more relaxed facial expression-standing in the hall.

'C'mere,' Margaret knelt down and scooped Josiah into her arms. She lifted him up, then gently brought him to his bed.

'About what happened…your sister is a woman now,' Margaret spoke, 'And you know that women are at the most risk of falling to temptation and sin, right?'

Josiah answered, 'Yes, Momma.'

Margaret smiled, 'Good, now, I have to do what I can to save Carrietta.'

'You know my practice: love the sinner, hate the sin,' Margaret laid a hand on her son's shoulder, 'Well, I love you two more than any else in the world, but that also means I must hate your sins more than any other.'

Margaret paused, 'Understand?', to which Josiah spoke, 'Yes, Momma.'

'I love you, Josiah,' Margaret kissed him on the forehead, then stood up to leave the room.

'I love you too, Momma.'

…

John Hargensen was at the bedside of his daughter, still unconscious.

What a nightmare, he shuddered. All those people dead, at the hands of that monster… And his little girl…

'Mr. Hargensen?'

John turned to see that Sheriff Doyle had entered the room.

'What do you want, Otis?'

'Sorry to interrupt, but I need to talk to you about your daughter…'

'What do you mean?'

'Sir, information has been surfacing about your daughter's … involvement in the incident.'

'The hell are you talking about?!'