"The police were just here asking if those boys were here. Their sons are missing."

"Wait, I mean what happened?"

"They didn't give me too many details. They got what they refer to as a mysterious call early this morning, and went to their house. Britney and Earl were both dead, but their boys are nowhere to be found."

I didn't know how to properly process the information, but I knew I had to get home quickly.

I jumped out of bed and gathered all of my stuff back into my bag. I pulled the covers back up over the spot I'd left and rearranged the pillows until it looked like I'd never been there at all.

With keys in hand I go and knock on my mom's door. Opening it a crack and peeking in, I see her sitting up.

"What is it Bowen?" She asked sleepily.

"There's an emergency at the house, I have to go right now, sorry."

"Okay dear, drive safe." And with that she collapsed back in bed with her still sleeping husband.

I was out the door almost insanity, locking it behind me. Luckily it was early enough that my car wasn't boiling hot as soon as I got in it.

The drive felt a lot slower this time, even though my foot rarely left the gas pedal. I just needed to be home.

I needed to make sure my dad was okay. He got along with the Lottes.

But it was Peter who has me particularly worried. Not just for his safety, but because even though I didn't want to, I worried that it has been him.

I knew what he became as soon as he fell asleep, I wouldn't put it past that strange creature.

When I got home I found my dad watching the news. I could hear the reporter talking about the mysterious rural murder.

"How are you doing dad?" I asked.

"It's scary, they can't figure out why someone would do it, but it had to be purposeful. It's not like you can just happen upon their house, and they're obviously not rich."

I sat down on the couch next to him. I realized they were reporting live from the house. An amber alert had been issued for the boys.

"Did anything weird happen last night?" I asked.

"Nope, it was all normal." He sighed, I could see the stress lining his face, "I'm thinking of staying with a friend in town for a while just to be safe, this just doesn't sit right."

I felt relieved that he wasn't going to be in the middle of it. I didn't want to have to worry about him getting killed too.

"That's a good idea."

"You should probably stay with your mom or Callie." I nodded, not really thinking that far ahead.

Now that I knew my dad was going to be safe I had to worry about Peter. Even if it wasn't him, and God I hoped I wasn't, he didn't need all those people prowling around his house.

"I'm going to go pack up some stuff."

"Yeah I should probably do that too." He said, standing up and leaving the TV running.

I went to my room and began pacing anxiously. There wasn't actually a lot for me to pack, since most of my necessities were already in my car.

I sat in my room, searching for updates on the story, but not getting too much. They were keeping the details under wraps for now at least, which drove me insane.

Eventually my dad came in and told me he was heading out with Harley. I gave him a hug goodbye and listened as his truck rumbled away.

I went back into the living room and combed through the news channels to see if there was any more coverage on the case. Most had moved on to different subjects, and the remaining tidbits I could find were old news, so I decided it would be safe to go up there.

I grabbed a few more things from my room and locked the house up before leaving. Dad fed all the animals before he left so they were alright.

I drove past the house. It was vacant but still lined with tape warning people not to trespass. Not even the Doberman Pinschers were there anymore.

I went straight to the spot where I usually parked and got out, practically jogging through the trees towards the house.

I got halfway to it before freezing. The wood around the reinforced locked was splintered open, like someone had really wanted to get in, or out.