It was quarter past seven in the morning when Antonia's SUV pulled up her parent's driveway. She could hear the snow crunching under the tires as she pulled up to the garage door, looking around in surprise that her brother's car wasn't in the driveway. She groaned as she pulled herself from the car, and muttered to herself as she covered her mouth with her gloved hand, stifling the yawn that escaped her lungs. She tugged at her gloves and shoved them in her pocket. "Dad?" She called, hoping that someone from inside the house would hear her calling and help her with the box of gifts she had to haul into the house. "Dad? Parker?" She called, grumbling as she rolled her eyes and pulled at the back door of the car. She looked around again, wondering where everyone was. "Come on guys, I could really use some help!" She huffed a little, her brown eyes scanning the driveway. "Where the hell is everyone?"
She lifted the cardboard box from the backseat, noting that the gifts brimming over the top were teetering precariously. She grunted as she hauled the box toward the front steps, and looked up at the doorbell, she placed the box down on the ground and sighed. "Mom?" She called, hoping that someone would open the door. She rang the doorbell and sighed, waiting patiently for one of her nephews to come barreling toward the door, and swing it open with wide eyed excitement.
Nothing.
She rolled her eyes and tugged her keys from her pocket, cursing to herself as she shoved the key in the lock. She turned the key and pushed the door open, bending down to lift the box up, she didn't look inside until she stepped into the house, the box blocking her view. "You guys are all a bunch of lazy…" She stopped as soon as she stepped into the house, her eyes scanning her parents house. The box fell from her arms, landing on the floor with a resounding boom, as she felt a chill running up her neck.
"Mom?" She called, feeling suddenly vulnerable, her voice shaking as she waited for a response. The house was absolutely still. Gifts were piled beneath the tree, and she could hear the very faint sound of Christmas carols through the speakers in the room, giving the room an eerie abandoned feeling. "Mom?" She called again, forcing her feet to push forward, she hurried quickly through the house. "Mom, Dad?" She called, her voice showing her anxiety as she ran from room to room. "Mom? Parker?" She called, stepping into the kitchen. Breakfast was half made, pulled from the stove, plates were placed in a pile, ready for serving, but left unceremoniously beside the stove. There were two half eaten bowls of cereal on the table, milk droplets drying against the wooden table top, abandoned. "Dad!" Antonia shouted, running from the kitchen, she ran toward the stairs, panting from exertion and raw fear. "Daddy! Are you here? Dad!" She shouted, pounding up the stairs, she ran from room to room, waiting for someone to answer, anything, but heard nothing. Beds were unmade and empty.
She pulled her phone from her pocket, dialing her mother's number, she heard the distinct sound of a phone buzzing from downstairs. She ran down the steps, back into the kitchen, and found her mother's phone on the counter, abandoned alongside her father and Parker's phone. She called Grace's number, and swore as it went to voicemail.
A massive wave of panic washed over her, and she could feel her breath start to quicken. Her stomach twisted painfully. "Dad!" She shouted one more time, though it came out as a strangled screech, and she could feel the hot tears in her eyes. "Daddy! Stop messing around!" She shouted, hoping beyond hope that this was some kind of sick joke. Her heart was beating so loudly in her ears, and her fists were balled tightly, stabbing herself in her hand with her keys.
She didn't hear the approach of the person behind her, and she most certainly wasn't expecting a hand on her shoulder. So, when the weight of his hand pressed against her coat and a voice that she didn't recognize came from behind her, she reacted as only Antonia Booth would react.
She grabbed the hand from her shoulder quickly, and wrenched it, and when she heard the grunting yelp of the person behind her, she lifted her elbow quickly, listening to the satisfying crunch of his nose, and a loud yowl from the man behind her.
Antonia turned quickly to move away, immediately regretting her reaction as she watched none other than her father's protégé, Special Agent Aiden Fitzgerald drop to the floor in a bloody, crumpled pile.