~*~*~ 11:30 p.m.- Columbus, OH ~*~*~
Bella pulled into the driveway around 11:30 p.m. Averman's car wasn't in the driveway so she figured he was performing at a comedy club downtown.

'Thank goodness,' she thought. 'We could really use the money.' She yanked her keys out of her pocket and shoved them into the door. She threw her shoes by the door and picked the mail up off the floor and sat it on the counter. She walked into the living room to find the baby-sitter asleep on the couch.
"Amy?" Bella shook her shoulder. Amy sat up. "How were the kids?"
"Angels. David went to sleep right on time and Les I had to wrestle with for a while, but ya know." Bella got $20 out of her wallet in her purse and handed it to Amy. Amy nodded taking the money and pulled on her jacket and walked out the door. "Bye," she yelped, as the screen door slammed shut.
"Yea."
She walked back into the kitchen to sort through the mail. Most of it was bills, but she stopped at a letter addressed to Les. There was nothing on it, but his name and it was written in large, dark-red lettering. At first she was tempted to open it but figured she'd wait until Lester was home. Just as she thought that, his car pulled up in front of the house. She watched him get out and walk in the front door. He strolled into the kitchen.
"Hey Bella," he said giving her a kiss.
"Yeah, hey," she replied.
"For me?" he asked gesturing towards the envelope in her hand. She smiled.
"Oh. yeah." She handed him the envelope. He tore it open and pulled out a single piece of paper that was fringed on the top and bottom that simply said

Quack, quack, quack
Unbearable Pain

~*~*~ 1:30 a.m.- Las Vegas, NV ~*~*~
Luis walked into the house and found Ashley sitting over a thick book. He put his keys in his pocket and sat down at the table with her. "You're home early," she said looking at the clock that was hanging over the doorway to the kitchen.
"Yeah. Jenny fell off a table and broke her ankle. I took her to the hospital while John closed up," Luis explained. Ashley nodded. "Whatchya reading?" he asked blocking her light just to be annoying. She swatted at him.
"New script. movie about twins who play basketball."
"Mmm, the Olsen twins," Luis said rubbing his hands together. Ashley hit his leg and Luis laughed as he moved forward to kiss her. A cracking sound came from the front door, and Luis turned sharply and slowly walked toward the door. He opened the door and found a bloody knife sticking in it. He looked at the floor of the porch and saw bloody duck footprints all over the place. 'QUACK' was printed in huge letters with the feet. There was a pair of feet hanging from the ceiling of the porch. Ashley came to the door and began to scream. Then she stopped and passed out. Their oldest daughter, Katalina, who was 8 years old, ran to her mom's side. She looked at Luis who sat down beside Ashley and kicked the door shut before Katalina could see it. Luis grabbed a wash rag, picked Ashley up, and laid her on the couch. 7 year old Benjamin and 4 year old Michael came down the stairs and sat down next to their sister as the three of them worriedly watched their parents. Luis sighed as he put the wash rag on her Ashley's head and sat down beside her.

~*~*~ 7:45 a.m.- Minneapolis, MN ~*~*~
*Beep, beep, beep* Tammy turned off the alarm clock and slowly shuffled out to the kitchen to get a cup of coffee. She looked out into the living room where Jesse and their 5-year-old son, Kevin, were watching cartoons. "Hey Jess?"
"Yeah babe?"
"Did you get the mail yet?"
"Nope. want me to?"
"Nah, I got it," she said as she trudged out to get the mail. When she came back, Kevin was playing in his bedroom, and Jesse was sitting at the kitchen table eating a bowl of cereal. "Junk, junk, bill, junk," she muttered to herself looking through all the mail. She sat it down for a moment and looked at the envelope on top. There was an envelope addressed to the two of them in dark-red lettering. She opened the cabinet and grabbed a pack of blueberry pop-tarts and popped them into the toaster.
"What's this?" She asked pushing down the toaster lever thing and sat beside Jesse. They looked at it for a moment, when the toaster popped up. "Kevin pop-tarts are ready," Tammy yelled. The little boy wandered into the kitchen and grabbed a chair and put it up to the counter to grab the pop- tarts.
"How the hell do you expect me to know? Just open it." Tammy tore open the letter and gasped when she read the words scrawled in the same dark-red lettering.
Quack, quack, quack
No Mercy
Tammy's jaw dropped as the paper slipped out of her fingers and onto the small kitchen table. Both the top and the bottom of the paper looked like someone had tore the top and bottom off.