After thirty minutes passed by, Jack’s mom had arrived to pick him up. All the buses were already gone and Anna had left a while ago too. She spilled the beans about her secret to Jack and he promised to keep her secret between them, but he was still confused by the meaning of it. Even being alone and basking in his shame about hurting his friends, that thought of Anna’s secret was the biggest burden to him somehow.

“Argh!! I’m so curious, what does she mean by like? Maybe I’ll ask Dad when he gives me the talk!”

Jack’s mom came up to him and hugged him with a disappointed look on her face. She pulled back and said, “Get in the car. We’ve got a bit to talk about.”

Jack listened and got in. He put his seatbelt on and didn’t say a word. After she got in, his mom didn’t say anything either. She just looked disappointed, and he couldn’t blame her.

When they started heading home, she drove quietly for a moment until she broke the tense silence. “How was your day at school? Besides what happened towards the end of it.”

At first Jack didn’t have the courage to respond, but he finally did after a few seconds of silence. “Not good, actually. Really bad.”

“Son… what were you thinking? Fighting your friends, and you even made your friend Veronica cry. You know better.” his mom said, looking upset. Her saddened tone said it all.

“I know, I’m sorry… I tried to apologize, but she kept saying mean stuff!”

“Honey, you know better. I thought I taught you that girls are meant to be protected and treated kindly. Not to hurt them, especially by calling them such a terrible name like...” She hesitated at first, but brought herself to say a disgusting word. “Like, bitch and causing them physical harm. Phew! What a shameful word to use Jack.”

Jack felt horrible that his mom had said it that way. “I’m sorry Mom. I failed you.”

She looked into the rear view mirror and noticed that he wasn’t lying. “Promise me you’ll always protect girls and not make them cry sweetie. Even if they are your best friends.”

Jack felt much better after hearing that, like if someone took a giant pile of wooden planks off his shoulders. He smiled and said to his mother, “I promise Mom. You can count on me.”

She smiled. “Well, Dad won’t be home later tonight. He’s got a lot of work, so why don’t we make him an awesome dinner?”

With a huge grin on his face, Jack replied, “Yes! Let’s do it! I’m ready!”

His mom replied with a joyful tone, “Your dad is going to be so happy! Let’s make him the best surprise dinner ever!” Then her tone quickly changed. She brought back that look back and toughened her voice. “But we’re still going to punish you though.”

Jack crossed his arms. “Darn it!” he said in a sarcastic tone.

They arrived home, got out of the car and headed inside. They began preparing for the surprise dinner for Jack’s dad. Jack couldn’t have been more happier and excited. It was enough to make him almost forget how awful the day was, not to mention that horrible dream he had last night.

Jack was still curious about Anna’s secret though and its true meaning. He looked outside the window and noticed it was getting dark pretty early. “Perhaps it’s daylight savings time?”

Jack’s mom helped him out because he tried his best to be a helping hand for her, but it wasn’t enough. Now, they were almost done preparing everything for the surprise. Both him and his mom just wanted to show their appreciation for everything Jack’s dad had done for them, and Jack just knew it would make him happy.

After failing to cut some ingredients, Jack got his mom’s attention and said, “I’m going to go take a shower. Can you tell me when Dad comes home?”

“Don’t take too long. There’s no excuse not to help me finish.”

Jack laughed. “It’ll only be five minutes. Don’t worry.”

As he walked upstairs, Jack began talking to himself. “I should have apologized to Veronica, especially when I called her a bitch. I don’t even know the meaning of it. Well, I guess I shouldn’t say words that I don’t know the meanings to.”

Jack sighed and walked inside his room. He took his clothes off, walked inside the bathroom, then went into the shower to bathe himself.

“I guess I do care enough to think twice about it. I’ll definitely take Mom’s advice to protect her and Anna, even if Anna is annoying sometimes, but they’re my best friends. I’ll do it tomorrow. I’ll give her the best apology ever!”

As he finished showering and rinsed himself dry, Jack walked over to the closet to put some clothes on. His mood had completely changed from feeling like crap to being extremely happy. The day had been so disastrous. It was a good thing that his mom and Anna saved the day, but more importantly, Jack thought about using Anna’s secret as blackmail if she ever tried being mean to him.

BUWAHAHA! It’s a great idea, Jack thought as he dried his hair.

He walked over to the window to see if his dad was home or not. He still wasn’t here because there would usually be a big SUV in their driveway. “Good, that would ruin the surprise if he came home early.”

Jack glanced across the street and there was a little girl standing below the street light. It creeped him out a bit, but as he looked closer her face was covered by her hair. It looked similar to what he had seen earlier in the morning.

His heart started pounding and she lifted her arm, then waved at him. He slowly stepped away from the window.

“What does she want?” Jack asked himself.

He stepped forward again, but was hesitant. His chest felt tight as he swallowed his growing fear. Slowly, he approached the window – all due to his stupid curiosity – and grabbed the window handle. As he was about to open it, she pointed at him then looked up again. She had no face.

Jack fell back in shock and started panting in fear. He quickly got back up and looked out again. She started walking towards their house, slowly approaching the vicinity of their lovely home from across the dark, empty street. The light behind her shut off and exploded, blanketing the street into pitch black.

Jack panicked and stormed out of his room, but as soon as he stepped into the hallway, all the lights were off and everything was quiet. He looked around and it was all dark. He slowly started walking to his mom’s room while being cautious. As he was walking towards her room, Jack could hear voices below him. They were quiet and didn’t sound familiar. Heavy footsteps were stomping all around too from below. He was really freaked out.

Without thinking, Jack was about to shout out his mom’s name, when suddenly an arm wrapped around him and dragged him into his mom’s room. Jack was about to scream, but upon looking over his shoulder, he found it was just his mom who dragged him in. Just by looking at her face, she looked terrified and was violently shaking too.

“Mom… what’s going on?” Jack asked quietly.

With an extremely terrified look on her face, his mom said, “Sweetie, listen to me very carefully. Go into my closet and be quiet okay? Don’t make any sudden movements or noises. Please listen to me!” She gave Jack a kiss and began pushing him. “Now go!”

“Mom… what’s happening?”

“Honey don’t ask, just go! And don’t say a single word, okay.” She pointed frantically at her closet.

He quickly followed what she told him and walked into her closet to hide. Jack’s mom started carefully moving her dresser against the door and blocked anyone from coming inside.

“I’m really scared and confused,” Jack whispered before closing the door fully behind him.

His mom’s phone vibrated and she answered it. “Yes, hello? Honey, ba-babe… the-there’s—”

Jack could hear her talking to his dad on the phone. She was on the brink of tears, with her voice quietly shaking from fear. She broke down, crying softly, then hung up and began dialing another number.

From what Jack heard it seemed like she was on the phone with the police now. She was calmly panicking, not making too much noise, moving around a lot. She grabbed a pair of scissors.

Jack was terrified. Why would she grab a pair of scissors? What’s happening?

She came towards where she sent Jack to hide and opened the closest door, repeating the same thing again, but with a serious tone. “Remember what I said earlier, keep echoing my voice in your mind and stay hidden. Lastly, like I said, don’t say a word. Okay sweetie.”

“Bu-But Mom?”

She whispered in a serious tone, “Mommy is going to protect you no matter what, okay? No matter what happens… I’ll always love you, alright?” She looked into his eyes with her lower lip quivering before she hugged him, whimpering from fear. Her arms trembled and she held Jack tight.

“Mom, please, what’s going on? What do you mean?”

She paused for a second with her head down, and grabbed his shoulders. “There’s strangers in the house, so we have to be quiet, okay.”

“Where’s Dad?” Jack asked nervously.

“He’s on his way right now. Don’t worry, the police are coming too!”

“Okay Mom, I’ll stay quiet and stay hidden.”

“I love you sweetie. Once this is over, how about we go to an amusement park as a family?”

“Yeah, that’ll be awesome. I believe in you, Mom.” Jack placed his hand onto his mom’s shoulder.

She smiled and grabbed his hand. “Thank you sweetie. I promise to…”

Suddenly, there was banging at the bedroom door. At first it was mild, like someone trying to knock angrily. Then, it got worse, much worse. The door was rattling and the banging grew more intense. Even the dresser too became victim to the ferocious banging of whoever was ensuing it.

Jack’s mom looked at him and blew a kiss. The banging got more violent and intensified, so his mom closed the closet door. She made her way to the bathroom and turned off the lights, hiding behind the door.

It got quiet all of a sudden, too quiet. It felt almost as if the house had become abandoned. Feeling stupidly curious, Jack opened the door slightly, trying to take a peek until his mom heard the door creaking.

She came out from behind the door she was hiding and placed her index finger on her lips, shushing Jack to stay silent. He nodded in response, closing the door quietly. She smiled back and the door started to break apart. Someone was using a blunt object to break through it.

Pieces of the door panel flew out into the room, destroying the upper part of the door. The intruders successfully broke apart the door and kicked the dresser out of the way. Three men walked through the rubbled door and immediately began inspecting the room. They searched under the bed, Jack’s mom’s jewelry box, and his dad’s belongings. All Jack could assume was that they were being robbed.

But he didn’t understand why the criminals were here in this part of Detroit? He thought they were safe from these types of situations. His dumb curiosity was getting the best of him again, because he wanted to get a better look at the perpetrators.

Opening the door slightly without their notice, from Jack’s observation it appeared that the three men were two white males and a black male too. One of them looked disgusting, quite slimy and unhygienic, not to mention his skin looked gross. The other was really skinny, and the last guy looked like a normal black guy who wore a hoodie.

They finished their search and as both Jack and his mom hoped that they would leave, they turned their attention to the closet Jack was hiding in. All three criminals started walking towards his direction.

Jack’s heart pumped with intensity as he slightly panicked, covering his mouth to ensure his silence. Even his breathing became heavy too and Jack could feel sweat bead out of his head. He closed his eyes, hoping it was all a dream.

As soon as they were about to open the door, Jack’s mom burst out of the bathroom and charged at one of the men. She managed to stab one of the perpetrators in the arm, but shortly afterwards he overpowered her and forcefully took away the scissors. He slammed Jack’s mom on the ground, while the other men rushed to their partner’s aid and pinned her down. They all started chuckling maniacally, like a bunch of twisted, thirsty villains, except for the black guy.

The nasty looking man got on top of Jack’s mom and taunted her by waving the scissors in front of her face. “What were you doing hiding in there? Huh, momma! Trying to surprise us with your fine ass?” He started rubbing one of his hands on her leg, which made her shake uncontrollably.

The skinny guy placed his hand on her other leg, rubbing it sexually. “I bet she can handle more than she can chew!” He laughed and winked at Jack’s mom. “I’ll forgive you for stabbing my arm. You just have to repay me, that’s all!”

“Dumb bitch, you see what happens when we don’t pay attention!” shouted the man in the hoodie. “You got stabbed and now we’re in this predicament!”

“Now hold on guys, I think it’s best we leave her be.” He laughed and continued waving the scissors, petrifying her more. “Tell me something momma, did you already call the police?” He slowly leaned his face towards her. “You don’t have to lie to me sweetie. I promise I won’t hurt you!”

“LE-LET ME GO! LET… ME… GO!” Jack’s mom shouted at the man with anger and desperation. She continued to struggle, as the two white males continued laughing.

The nasty man covered Jack’s mom’s mouth and she freaked out from his disgusting hand that looked dirty. “I’m guessing that’s a yes, huh?” Jack’s mom groaned and she tried her best to break free from his disgusting grip. “I guess we can have a little fun before the police arrive,” the man said sadistically. He picked her up and threw her on the bed.

The man wearing a hoodie began to get agitated. “Well, hurry up! Cause they’ll be here any moment if she did call them!”

Jack’s mom started shouting again, yelling cries for help.

“Someone make that bitch shut up!” the man in the hoodie said, walking towards Jack’s mom and slapped her. “Shut up bitch!”

The gross man placed his hand again over her mouth. “Hey Momma? How about you and I have a nice time?” He started smelling her hair as well. “OOO! You smell good too!”

“So you’re gonna fuck her, huh? Shit, how about we all take turns then?” Both men started laughing sadistically, except for the guy in the hoodie.

The man in the hoodie started to get more impatient. ”We should just kill her and leave with what they have. We need to stop wasting fucking time.”

Jack couldn’t bear watching, so he clenched his fists in anger. He couldn’t just sit there and watch his mom get hurt. Jack couldn’t take it any longer.

“Yeah Momma, let’s get busy!”

She trembled with fear and desperately tried to escape the man’s nasty grasp. “No! Let go! Let go!” she shouted, her cries of help full of terror and fear.

The man started ripping off her clothing. She screamed and cried, trying her best to fight off their horrendous act. Though all her kicking and wasteless struggles were of no use, it only amused their game more. Jack wanted to help, but his mom had told him to stay inside no matter what. But he couldn’t take it any longer. He felt so useless. He couldn’t just sit there and watch her get tormented. He wanted to save her. No! He absolutely needed to!

Without thinking, Jack burst out of the closet with one of her shoes and started charging one of the guys. Before he could do anything, one of the men spotted him and punched him in the gut. Jack stood there with the man’s fist engulfed in his stomach. He gagged and fell onto the ground face first.

“Yo! There was a goddamn kid in the closet. Must be her kid?” the man in the hoodie said, while placing his foot onto Jack’s back, pinning him down with tremendous weight.

“Shit, you knocked his ass out!” The skinny man chuckled.

“Lucky I didn’t kill his bitch ass, you know what?!” He began to put more pressure on Jack’s back. “I’mma do that!”

Jack screamed from the amount of pain he was experiencing until he heard a crack inside his chest. Jack felt his ribs break one by one. The pain was so unbearable that he momentarily lost consciousness.

Jack’s poor mom screamed at them and pleaded, with tears of desperation flowing down her face. “No! Please, I’ll do anything! Just don’t hurt my son! Please don’t hurt him. I beg of you. Don’t hurt him!”

The man on top of Jack’s mom smiled wickedly. “Anything huh? Well, you heard her boys! Leave the kid be!”

Jack started to regain consciousness. “Oh! He’s coming back to us. Watch this boy, we’re about to show you a great educational lesson.” The man started groping Jack’s mom’s chest. “They don’t teach you this in school, right boy! Hahaha!”

Jack could barely hear what the men were saying. His ears were ringing and his vision was blurry. He could feel someone place their hand on his chin and forcefully turn his head to his mom. He could hear his mom crying and shouting, “Please don’t make him watch! You sick fucks!”

He realized she cursed, which surprised him for a moment. He has never heard her curse before.

Wh-What’s happening?

“Shut the fuck up bitch!” the man in the hoodie said and dropped Jack. He walked towards them and punched Jack’s mom to shut her up.

Jack could see the men arguing with each other, while his mom moaned in pain. The man with the hoodie left as the other two men laughed. One of them pulled his pants down.

The skinny guy grabbed Jack’s head and whispered into his ear, “Everything’s going to be alright! Mommy’s just gonna have some fun with my buddie over there!”

He laughed hysterically as the other guy gave Jack a thumbs up and winked. When he was about to proceed in whatever action he was gonna do to Jack’s mom, the sound of a car’s screeching tires pulled up the driveway.

The man in the hoodie walked back in. “Hey! Stop fucking around for a second! I heard a car pull up!”

The nasty fellow said, “We all heard it smartass. Go check it out, I’m busy here!”

The hooded man looked at him in disgust. “You’re one sick fuck! You know that?”

“I know I am!” the man said with a maniacal grin.

“My guess is that it must be Daddy. I say let’s kill his ass!” the man in the hoodie said aggressively.

Jack groaned in pain over what they said. “My dad’s here to rescue us?” Jack said very quietly. He felt some closure when hearing that and he smiled.

The skinny guy noticed he was smiling and smacked Jack’s face. “Don’t be a fucking smart alec, kid.”

Jack started crying out of fear. They all laughed at him. As soon as the man who was near Jack’s mom was about to return to whatever he was about to do to her, Jack’s dad rushed out of nowhere and stormed into the room. He grappled with the closest guy and pummeled him with his fists. The men were distracted and Jack’s mom took the opportunity to fight the man who had hurt her.

Jack’s dad tackled another guy viciously and started beating him. He shouted, “You bastards hurt my son and wife! I’ll make you pay!”

The other guy, whose face was a bloody mess, grabbed Jack’s dad by the neck and slammed him to the ground. The man who he’d pinned down a moment ago pulled out a knife and pointed it at his dad’s face. The nasty man was still struggling against Jack’s mom and then Jack heard him shout something at his partners.

“Kill the father! Once you’re done help me finish this bitch off.”

The skinny guy listened to his command and stabbed Jack’s dad. “How does that feel, huh Daddy?!” He impaled the knife through Jack’s dad’s chest. His dad gagged, coughing out blood, but then spat out his own blood at the guy who stabbed him. The man wiped the blood off his face aggressively, then growled and stabbed Jack’s dad again out of annoyance.

The very sight made Jack’s blood boil, which gave him a new feeling of anger he’d never felt before. He started to get up, but the hooded man kicked him and he fell back down. His dad’s blood flowed onto the bedroom carpet, staining it. Jack’s mom screamed out with agony and sadness.

The guys laughed, but it angered her. Her eyes were as red as her own blood. She screamed bloody murder and bit the man on the neck in retaliation to her own emotions like a rabid animal. Her teeth pierced his flesh and she drew blood.

He screamed in pain and tried punching Jack’s mom in the face. He yelled at his partners, “GET THIS BITCH OFF OF ME!!” while she continued biting down.

The man with the knife rushed to his partner’s aid, while the hooded man still had poor Jack pinned down. Jack repeatedly whispered, “No, No… No, please!”

One of the guys helped him out and they both managed to pin her down again. Jack mumbled “NO!” repeatedly, but he was in too much pain to say anything out loud.

Out of nowhere, his dad tackled the man who had Jack pinned, and they both tumbled on top of a small dresser and knocked over a candle. It ignited one of the curtains and a small fire started to form. The smoke detectors went off while they continued to wrestle, until the other guy rushed to his partner’s aid and pushed Jack’s dad off of him. Jack’s dad landed on his backside, bleeding profusely and struggled to get back up. His dad crawled towards the bed and reached a hand out to Jack’s mom.

She spotted him and tried to do the same, but she was still pinned down. Jack’s dad managed to grab her hand, and she cried out while looking into his eyes.

He smiled, “I lo-love… you, so much… the bo-both, of you.”

She replies with a whimpered and devastated voice, “I love y—” but as soon as she could reply… Jack’s dad let go and his arm fell.

He bled out and his body laid there, lifeless, motionless and empty. The last reminisce of his lingering warmth came out as his eyes turned white, leaving this cruel world behind.

Jack’s mom was devastated… she broke down and her screams of agony alone haunted Jack’s ears. Jack had witnessed the whole thing and now he was livid, his eyes burning red with hatred. Jack didn’t care about his safety. He wanted to save his mom.

Jack tried breaking free, but he was pinned down again by the same guy. He yelled out for his mom and she looked at him with eyes full of sorrow. She extended her arm out towards Jack.

Her eyes quivered and she smiled weakly. “I’m… sorry, sweet… heart.” Her voice sounded broken, hopeless. Her arm quivered as her tears rained onto the blood that once belonged to his dad, expanding their immortal love on the bloodstained carpet.

For what though?! I needed to break free to save her! Why is she looking at me like that! Like she’s given up?!!

The man laughed at her and lifted the knife over her heart. Jack stood still in shock, and for some reason, he couldn’t move anymore.

He heard a faint voice in his head all of a sudden. Telling him, “Stop!! Please, don’t look!”

His ears began to ring and his vision started changing. The man’s knife extended higher into the air and it seemed like the whole world slowed down for Jack. The knife was slowly getting closer towards her chest. His vision became black and white.

“No! Please stop!” the voice said, getting louder. Something forced his eyes to stay open so he could print hate into his mind. Jack could still see his mom’s arm extend out towards him. He reached his hand out as well, hoping to reach hers.

He could hear her mumble something. “I… love you.”

Hearing that made his heart skip a few beats out of relief. It calmed him down for a second. She had a soft peaceful smile and he tried to reach out further for her, and it almost felt like they were about to touch hands. The lingering warmth set upon her hand never felt so close to him.

Just when her warmth reached his fingertips, her arm paused and fell, then dangled off the side of the bed. Upon looking into her eyes, they were lifeless. And now, she was completely motionless. Her blood that was once full of love and warmth ran down the side of the bed.

Jack looked at his dad’s lifeless body. “Da-Dad?”

No response. He looked at his mom and said with a horrified tone, “Mo-Mom?”

She didn’t move. Not even an inch. Didn’t blink.

Jack was on the brink of tears. “Mom-Momma?” She didn’t respond… because she was dead. The man who stabbed his mom had a smile that haunted his very sight.

The voice in his mind said, “Look away! Avert your eyes for your own sanity or else you’ll succumb to darkness!”

But Jack couldn’t. Images began flashing through his mind, most of which were memories of his parents. The times they shared, how they all laughed together. That was when they were all happy as a family, and now they’re all dead, taken away from him.

Why me? Out of all the things that could happen to someone and for God to help you lead you to a new path in life, why did it have to come to this for me… WHY?!

Jack gritted his teeth in sheer, saddened rage and looked at his mom’s lifeless face. She still had left over tears trickling down her face. She had died painfully. The very sight engulfed his mind with pure unadulterated rage.

Jack heard another voice now. It sounded familiar and gentle. The other voice giggled and said, “I’ll make sure… you’ll get what you want, and then… you’ll come to me.”

In Jack’s new vision of black and white, he saw the faceless girl gliding out from beneath his mom’s bed. She extended her arms out and her very essence wrapped around him. His mind went blank and his vision was engulfed into an endless void of pitch black.

What had just happened? Did I die too? I guess that’s good… I don’t have to witness this horror any longer. I can be at peace and become an angel. My parents and I can be happy again… together.

The birthed flames rose more the moment when Jack’s body emitted a faint black mist as his pupils became as black as night. The mist startled the hooded guy and he immediately let go of Jack. Stunned with shock, he didn’t realize he had dropped his knife.

Jack slowly stood up as the fire around them started surrounding the room. Then his blackened eyes set aim for the knife he just dropped. He walked towards that knife and picked it up with malicious intent by stabbing the air, trying to get a hang of the knife.

The hooded man was so stunned with fear that he couldn’t move or speak. Just watching Jack, a child with the growing flames growing behind him while stabbing the air and practicing as a faint mist of black surrounded his body, was enough to leave him stunned. It was like watching Satan himself become resurrected and figuring out his newfound body.

Jack turned back to look at that hooded man and stared into his eyes, filling the man’s soul with plagued terror. He lunged at him and the fiery hell behind reacted to Jack’s lunge as he stabbed the man in the eye. The man screamed in pain as they both fell on the ground. Jack sunk the knife deeper into his eye socket, forcing the metal blade to go even deeper into his skull, killing the man without mercy.

The other men noticed this sudden shift of the situation, especially the depths of hell that surrounded them, so they panicked, gasping out of extreme shock. The disgusting man who killed Jack’s mother was so freaked out that he stormed out of the room just in time before the flames reached the door. He dashed out but mistakenly tripped over his own foot and fell down the stairs, breaking his ankle.

“You’re sick! What kind of kid kills a person?!” the skinny guy shouted, shaking with fear. He noticed how the entire room was engulfed in flames. He was trapped inside the room with Jack, who seemed lost in his own train of thoughts.

Jack clenched the knife and prepared himself to fight the man head on. He expressed a gentle smile and walked towards the last man standing. The faint black mist became even more exposed.

The skinny man was petrified. His twig legs wobbled and he was on the brink of tears. He pointed at Jack. “You’re a devil, kid.” He rushed towards the bedroom window and noticed that there was no way out.

Jack kept walking towards him with an innocent smile. The man threw his knife at Jack but missed. Jack dropped the other knife and walked towards his parent’s corpses, then picked up the pair of scissors his mother had. He gripped it tightly. Having felt her warmth once again, he became fueled by the fiery rage in his heart. He looked back at the man with a face so horrific, a face that resembled insanity and a demon from the Bible. The man couldn’t move any longer.

Jack lifted his hand, pointing it towards the man’s direction. The man stood there, still, waiting to see what Jack was about to do. Jack chuckled softly and the last thing the man saw was a force of darkness hurtling towards him like a spiraling vortex of corrupted black smoke.

The man who killed his mom could hear his partner’s blood curdling screams. The sound of agonizing pain that was heard across the house made the man tremble in fear.

He tried crawling away, but heard a window being smashed and spotted his partner’s body fall to the ground, burning near the front door. He shrieked in fear and crawled faster. He heard childish laughter and turned to look back up the stairs. The whole room was in flames.

He calmed down a bit, thinking that this whole nightmare was over until he spotted a shadowy figure behind the fire. He freaked and saw something walk out of the flamed doorway. It was Jack who stood behind the flames.

With the fire spreading across the top floor, the sound of a lullaby erupted in the house’s atmosphere. It was being sung by a little girl as it echoed not only throughout the home, but through the man’s ears and into his mind. It sounded like one of those songs from the Dark Ages, the ones filled with torment and rage. It resembled the most infamous song of all… Ring Around the Rosie.

The man covered his ears and cowardly rocked from side to side, trying to muffle out the horrific singing. With the man distracted, Jack casually walked through Hell’s Gates, burning off some of his clothes through the inferno and out the room.

That disgusting man, who only moments ago was confident and had the mindset of a murderer, was now a cowardly child crying for his mommy in the middle of the giant hallway. He stopped his patheticness and looked up again. Spotting the weapons in Jack’s hands, he panicked again.

The singing continued, bouncing off his stained eardrums as he desperately tried to crawl away, but his ankle was in too much pain. He felt something stop him abruptly. He looked down and saw that a knife had pierced through his knee. Ahead, the man heard another metallic sound and looked up. Another knife had landed in front of him from out of nowhere.

He looked back and saw the boy slowly walk towards him. Jack reached the stairway and descended slowly while clanking the scissors along the rails. He laughed like a maniac while his body twitched violently.

“Please! Don’t kill me! I’m sorry!” the man cried out while clasping his hands together.

Jack finally reached the bottom step and looked at the man. All that was in Jack’s mind was hatred, darkness and bloodlust. From watching his parents being murdered in front of him to being toyed with by these wretched fools, it was more than enough to fuel anyone to fall into a blackened rage, but something else was intervening with his revenge, something darker. Jack had no clue what made him do these actions that strove for such murderous intent.

The sounds of the man’s laughter echoed in his once innocent mind, now defiled by his own dark rage. Jack walked towards the pleading man who reeked of hypocrisy, and taunted him with stabbing motions, even smiling and winking once at the man.

The pathetic gross goon continued to beg for his life, but it was of no use. Jack stopped in front of him and looked into the man’s worthless eyes.

The poor bastard couldn’t believe what he was seeing. The black mist around Jack’s body and his eyes were so evident. The boy was a menacing aura of wretched black that would consume the embodiment of light. The tiny red glow emitting off his pupils terrified the man.He saw a figure forming above Jack. It laughed at him and then Jack stabbed the man.

Jack stabbed his back and buried it deep inside until only the grip of it was exposed. The man loudly groaned from the sheer pain, and moaned with such suffrage that made him cry like a baby. He looked at Jack as the mysterious figure was the source of the singing.

He cried deeply and begged for mercy. “Please! Don’t kill me… I’m sorry!”

Instead, Jack ignored his pleas and grabbed his hair. He lifted the man’s head and opened the scissors wide.

“I be-eg of you! I’m sorry, I’m sorry!” he wailed and began to pray. “Hail Mary, Mother of God... Please Forgive me fo-or my sins!” He collapsed his hands and closed his teary eyes to accept his fate.

The figure finished her song with a gentle giggle, then Jack closed those big scissors on the man’s windpipe, snapping the man’s throat in half. Blood violently gushed out like a fire hose, splashing all over Jack’s face as the villain left the world stained with his parent’s innocence.

The voice inside Jack’s mind whispered, “We’ll be together soon!” The voice giggled and the mist around Jack’s body slowly disappeared.

Jack blinked repeatedly and looked around, noticing that he was no longer in the room. A strong odor of iron overwhelmed his senses, and then he spotted the dead guy in front of him, which made him gag in disgust.

He noticed the scissors in his right hand with blood all over it. He freaked out and looked back up the stairs. The room was buried with fire, along with the rest of upstairs, which blew ash towards Jack’s direction.

His face was full of despair as he dropped to his knees and cried. A fleet of firefighter and police vehicles showed up, finally arriving at the last moment and at the wrong time.

Before the firefighters could do their jobs, and as soon as officers were stepping out of their vehicles and making their way towards the front door, they were the first to notice a dead body, burnt to a crisp.

One officer shouted, “Jesus, we’ve got a deceased victim, and a bad one too.”

The firefighter chief said, “Holy shit, that’s brutal. Everyone hurry and put out the flames before this place collapses! We’re not sure if there’s anyone else alive in there, but we gotta hurry either way!” His team right away went off to begin the process of putting out the flames.

Another officer said as firefighters began pulling hoses and opening a fire hydrant, “We’ll be the first to enter the premise and make sure that it’s all clear.”

Acknowledging their advice, the firefighters gave orders to the rest and were now in the process of putting out the huge fire that grew at the top floor of the house. Every officer at the scene prepared themselves to go inside, with some staying behind to radio ambulances and to make sure no civilians would enter the scene.

They were already walking around the burnt body. The main police chief had his gun drawn and he walked inside shouting, “Police! If anyone’s in the house, please let us know!”

The others shouted, “Police, we’re coming in!” Then they walked inside the front door with their guns drawn.

As they walked in, a heavy black fog covered everyone’s vision. They turned their flash lights on and observed the areas. When they walked further into the home, they heard crying. They flashed their lights forward and spotted Jack. The moment they did, it was a sight no police officer wanted in their minds. A child’s face covered in blood and his clothes were slightly burnt as he stared at nothing while crying. He seemed so innocent by his posture, but he was the only one left standing in this burning crime scene. Seeing how stunned Jack was, they were cautious just in case he would harm anyone else or himself.

They approached him slowly. “POL-police? Dear God, what the hell happened here?”

They spotted Jack’s whole body covered in blood and noticed the dead man lying lifeless in front of Jack. They also spotted the scissors and halted. Other officers went upstairs and were in utter shock. They saw Jack’s parents’ burnt corpses as well as the hooded man’s corpse. They immediately notified everyone of the situation through their radios.

“We have more victims up here, three more bodies, unidentified,” said one of the officers as he radioed the rest.

“How awful. We better hurry and notify the fire department to put out the fire faster before this whole house burns to the ground,” said the officer behind him.

While those upstairs were analyzing the situation, the rest downstairs all looked at Jack, who was still crying and hadn’t realized there were officers on the scene.

One of the officers, the chief, approached Jack and calmly said, “Listen carefully son. We’re here to help, okay?”

Jack still didn’t notice and continued to sob.

Another officer walked beside the chief and they both carefully placed a hand on his shoulder. “It’s gonna be okay.”

One of the officers talked into his radio. “Yeah, it appears to be a mass murder… Suspect at the moment is a child. We have him in custody.”

Hearing that shocked Jack enough to make him panic like some crazed maniac. The police pinned him down and tried to calm him down. He cried and yelled in despair because he couldn’t believe what they just said. They thought he was the suspect.

They arrested Jack and one of the officers carried him so he could take him inside his patrol car. As Jack was carried, he watched the firefighters put out the once growing flames to now being dimmed. The cop opens the door to his patrol car, and pushes Jack inside. He shuts the door and Jack sits there, emotionless. He looked out the window and spotted the other guy on the ground, burnt to a crisp.

Ambulances arrived on the scene as well as more firefighters. They put out the flames and proceeded to investigate further. But Jack’s mind was blank. The only thing that he kept thinking of was if everything was all just a bad dream.

He quietly chuckled as he watched the fire being put out. “They think I killed my parents… me!!” he muttered under his breath.

He couldn’t remember what happened after seeing his mother get killed. All he remembered was his vision going black and white, and then his mind was overtaken by darkness.

Jack, with his head down, sobbed quietly. The cop hopped inside the vehicle and noticed him crying. “Um… hey kid… everything’s going to be alright, okay. Don’t cry, we’re going to take good care of—” He stopped talking, deciding it was best not to talk to a child going through such an awful crisis.

As they were about to leave, Jack looked out the windshield one last time to look at the place he had once called home. All he could think of was, Did I really kill those men? Did… I really do that… me?

He chuckled silently, which creeped the cop out. The cop pulled away from the scene. Jack had nothing, no family, no home, absolutely… nothing.

However, the dead rose on his table started to come back to life, blossoming out beautifully as it regained its light. Then, after being reincarnated, it started to fade away and smoldered into nothing