We thought we were lucky to see Dad lying in that hospital bed.

There was a ventilator on his face, and a few cords attached to his chest that led to a heart monitor beside his bed.

A police officer stood on the other side of the bed, chatting with someone on the other end. He glanced up and saw us walk in.

“I’ll talk to you later,” he said into the phone.

The officer was about to approach us but our attention was so fixed on Dad that we barely noticed the officer at all. We simply ran past him and stood at the edge of Dad’s bed before the officer could get a single word out.

“Sam?” Mom said.

Dad cleared his throat and came close to shutting his eyes again, but opened them wider.

“A-am I alright?” Dad asked.

“It looks like it,” I said, giving him a slight smirk.

“Why am I in a hospital?” Dad said.

He glanced around the room.

“You were in an accident,” Mom said, “they found you in your car.”

“Accident you say….well, what about my car. Is my car alright?” Dad asked.

Mom and I laughed.

“That car is a goner,” the officer chimed in, a slight smirk stretching across his face.

“No…I…I…want to get it fixed,” Dad murmured.

His speech was a bit slurred.

“I’m afraid you’ll be much better off finding a new car rather than trying to repair it,” the officer said, shrugging his shoulders.

“W-well shit!” Dad hissed.

All three of us burst out laughing.

Eventually the officer finally got a chance to introduce himself.

“I’m Allen Daniels. Or you can just call me officer Daniels if you wish,” he told my mom.

Officer Daniels started to ask Mom a few questions as Dad sat up in bed listening to them both.

That’s when I walked away and dialed my best friend Kylie’s number as I stepped out of the room. It was almost four in the morning, but me and her often stayed up late on the phone anyways.

When I got off the phone I went back into the room and found that Dad was asleep again. Mom was at the side of the bed, brushing her hand through his hair as Officer Daniels watched.

“Well Mrs. Blake, I'm gonna head out now, but I will be giving you guys a visit again. Whenever Sam recovers, there are some questions I have to ask him about the accident. Maybe within another three or four weeks?” Officer Daniels said.

Mom looked up at him and nodded her head.

Dad remained stuck in the hospital for the following few weeks. When the doctor came in, he said that it was nothing short of a miracle that Dad came out of the crash with the small amount of bodily injuries he had. All there were was a few small cracks in his bones here and there, along with some slight damage to his head. But some head trauma may have had some effect on him because of how loopy and confused Dad seemed to be when first waking up.

Upon visiting Dad just a day later, it was confirmed that it was indeed the accident that had altered his cognitive functioning. When Mom and I entered the room he couldn’t even remember who we were, despite the fact that we were just there the previous night. It took a few minutes for us to convince him that we were his family. After showing him several pictures on my phone of all of us together, along with verbally recalling several memorable moments in our lives, it finally clicked in.

Within the next two weeks Dad was somewhat normal again, but there were still some things his brain had trouble recalling. He no longer had an issue remembering that I was his daughter and Mom was his wife, but he still often forgot our names. Even if we were in the middle of a conversation, or if he repeatedly said our names minutes prior, it would leave his mind within seconds as if it were never there. No matter how many times we’d remind him, he still couldn’t seem to keep up.

Soon it was finally time for Dad to come home. On the day Dad was scheduled for release, my friend Kylie decided she’d go to the hospital with us.

Dad was seated on the edge of his bed when we all walked in his room. When he saw Kylie he seemed confused.

As we came closer a wide grin spread across Dad’s face as he looked Kylie up and down.

“Who is this young gal?” he said.

Gal? Since when did he start talking like that?

“Wow, you guys dun’ gained a bad habit of dragging some random folk’ in here ain’t ya’” Dad muttered.

All three of us glanced at each other. It looked like Mom and Kylie also noticed that something was really off about the way he was speaking.

I was really puzzled at this, as Dad had just been speaking normally when we gave him a visit a few days ago. Also, what the hell was he talking about? What random people?

As I expected, he couldn’t consistently retain memories of Kylie either. But on the bright side, he was still a jokester, and he still seemed to enjoy the company of Kylie. He laughed and joked with Kylie and I all the way up until we got ready to leave.

In the midst of hysterical laughter Dad asks me, “Hey Kate, why ya’ ain’t ever tell me you had a friend that was so funny?”

While Mom wheeled Dad out of the room, Kylie leaned forward and whispered in my ear,

“What’s up with the accent?”

I simply just shrugged my shoulders.

Dad seemed happy to be home again, although for the first few days I couldn’t tell if he actually remembered the fact that he lived here. Over time it became apparent that Dad in fact did recognize his own house and the street he lived on. He was also finally starting to resemble the Dad I’ve known all my life.

The strange southern accent that he just picked up out of nowhere eventually faded, and he remembered who Kylie was again. She was no longer referred to as “that funny girl” as I just happened to have as a friend.

When he remembered that his car was totaled he was quite disappointed. But he had insurance, and he wouldn’t have much trouble getting another car soon.

There were still certain things Dad had to pick up on. Personal hygiene was a big one. When he first got back he hadn’t brushed his teeth or showered in three days. Mom and I noticed the musty odor radiating from him when he walked past us, along with the foul smell coming from his mouth every time he spoke. Mom and I tried to ignore it at first. The smell was getting so bad that she just had to speak up. She urged him to head into the bathroom and take care of himself right away.

She soon discovered that Dad had also forgotten how to use a toothbrush. He had no idea how to turn on the faucet on the sink or bathtub either. Mom had to actually re-teach him these things.

The biggest glimpse of some of the few flaws still left in his brain was one morning while we were having breakfast. My parents’ anniversary was just three days away.

“So Sam, what are you thinking about doing?” Mom asked, taking a sip of coffee from her mug.

Dad was munching away at the eggs and sausage on his plate. Then he finally glanced up at her.

“Doing what?” He asked.

Mom stared at him with a blank face.

“Well Samuel, our anniversary is on Friday and I just thought maybe you were making some plans,” Mom said.

“Anniverzzery?” Dad mumbled in a very weird tone.

He could barely pronounce the word correctly.

“Yes, our 25th anniversary. It is in the next few days,” Mom explained.

Dad could only reply with a face full of confusion.

Then there was the sound of the mail truck pulling up outside. Dad caught this right away.

“I have to go get the mail,” Dad said, standing up.

Now, before the accident he would always procrastinate going to the mailbox, if he went at all without being reminded. It was strange that he decided to hop up the second he heard it.

While sitting in the kitchen we hear Dad shouting outside. Mom and I went out to see what was going on.

He was having an argument with our neighbor across the street, waving his arms around in the air, shouting maniacally as our neighbor shouted back. Mom jogged her way over to Dad and tried to sway him back into the house with gentle whispers.

Dad and our neighbor across the street had actually been going at each other’s throats for some time. It was a few years back when the neighbor moved into our area. Most of the homeowners in our area were middle aged, and he was no different. He didn’t appear to have a wife or any children. Since he’s been around I don’t recall ever seeing anyone else at his house but him.

Within weeks we were starting to see the man for who he really was. He was a pest, often filing complaints over very small and trivial things. We got three complaints mailed to us within the first two weeks of him moving in.

We all knew it was him. No one had a problem with the way we did these things until he moved in, and he and Dad have been going at it ever since.

I thought maybe Dad would’ve forgotten about the beef between them, considering his new ailment. But I guess his mind insisted on prioritizing that memory over a lot of the others.

Officer Daniels soon gave us the visit he promised. It’s been almost a month since the crash happened, and by now Officer Daniels expected Dad to be able to answer some questions.

Mom went to open the door, and Officer Daniels seemed to have a puzzled look on his face. He greeted Mom then shot me a quick wave before stepping in. I waved back nonchalantly.

“Mr. Blake around?” Officer Daniels asked Mom.

She nodded her head then called for Dad.

Dad came trotting into the kitchen moments later, right away greeting Officer Daniels with a firm handshake.

I went to the living room, glancing behind me just in time to catch the two taking seats at the kitchen table. Mom leaned against the front door with her arms crossed.

There were seconds of silence until Officer Daniels broke it.

I sat on the sofa and listened.

“There’s something I didn’t inform you of the first time we met,” he started, “the other driver that was involved in the crash….there was no sign of them at the scene,”

More silence.

I was a bit confused. As totaled as Officer Daniels said Dad’s car was, there was no way the driver could’ve just fled the scene uninjured.

“What?” Dad said.

“The car you collided with. There was no one in the driver’s seat when we arrived,” Officer Daniels replied.

“But…how?” Dad said.

“Now Mr. Blake, I need you to tell me as much as you can about what happened in the crash that night. Think. Try to remember something,” Officer Daniels encouraged.

It took a minute for Dad to reply.

“I…really can’t recall much. The last thing I remember is braking my car to a screeching halt. Then waking up in the hospital. I can’t picture what the driver looked like at all,” Dad said.

From there the questioning continued. Officer Daniels kept trying to squeeze explanations out of Dad, almost to the point of pressuring.

At one point in their conversation, Dad started to quiver and stutter when it came to questions that he could actually answer. I also noticed that his stories changed a lot, and he backtracked several things he’d said before. Dad did this quite often, and I could tell by the sound of Officer Daniels’s voice he was starting to have second thoughts about Dad.

I had second thoughts too - about them both. I was still aware of the fact that Dad had suffered some brief trauma to his brain, so part of me just brushed off his strange stories as another side effect.

Soon Officer Daniels went from asking simple questions to sounding like he was kind of interrogating Dad. He was getting a little aggressive with the questioning, and I think Dad may have been catching on.

“So exactly when did you wake up in the hospital, again?” Officer Daniels asked.

“I told you….me and the other driver collided and I passed out, then that’s when I woke up,” Dad explained.

Officer Daniels let out a giggle.

“Earlier you said the last thing you remember is slamming on your brakes,” Officer Daniels reminded.

I felt that Officer Daniels was holding something back. As if he already knew something else, and in a way, was trying to trick Dad into “confessing” something.

“I think I’ve had enough questions for today,” Dad said.

I let out a sigh of relief when I heard the kitchen door open and the sound of Officer Daniels stepping outside.

Over the next couple weeks Officer Daniels would call our house non-stop, trying to get in touch with Dad. He never could. Whenever Officer Daniels would call, it was either mom or I who would pick up the phone because Dad would either be at work, or conveniently elsewhere. Even if Dad was home he never answered the phone. Every time he heard the phone ring he’d ask me to answer it instead, then walk out of the house.

Officer Daniels didn’t catch Dad one time during those phone calls. He even gave us a second visit. But Dad wasn’t around. He was willing to sit and wait for Dad to return, but hours had passed by, and Dad never showed up while Officer Daniels was there.

It was obvious Dad was trying to avoid being questioned again.

Other than Dad's refusal to cooperate with the police, there was something else peculiar. While Dad was doing all he could to avoid Officer Daniels, our neighbor across the street was doing his best to avoid Dad.

I first noticed one morning when Dad was leaving for work. Our neighbor just happened to be mowing his lawn. The first second he laid eyes on Dad coming out of the garage I could tell he was startled. The panic on his face told everything. He instantly cut the engine on the lawn mower and hauled it back into his garage, even though only half his lawn was cut.

A few days later he was caught outside by Dad again as they were trying to check their mail boxes. Our neighbor stopped dead in his tracks, then spun around before rushing back into his house. He came back out again after Dad checked his mail first.

This went on for some time. Anytime our neighbor came outside and spotted Dad, he’d right away back off.

Mom wasn’t exactly right either. She was starting to become more withdrawn and less social. Especially around Dad. Her and Dad both used to greet me with small talk when I got home from school every day. That came to an end.

Soon I was going home to almost complete silence, instead being greeted by what appeared to be my nervous and distraught mom.

Then there was Dad, who always met me with a blank stare. The only communication I’d get from him after school was a bland,

“Hi.”

Like a robot devoid of any life or emotion.

If Dad was still in the house, Mom would spend a lot of days silently cleaning or sleeping upstairs in her room with the door shut. Anytime she came out of her room she would finally talk to me for short periods of time - only if Dad was out of the house.

I sometimes went and listened to mom in her room, with my ear against the door. Most of the time I heard nothing unusual. At other times I swore I could hear her silently crying.

Officer Daniels gave us one last visit. Dad’s car wasn’t in the driveway so it was apparent Dad wasn’t around once again. He didn’t look happy. He had a, ‘now this is the last time’ type expression.

“Hello once again Mrs. Blake,” Officer Daniels mumbled.

Mom glanced at me then pulled Officer Daniels into the living room.

Again I listened.

“Mrs. Blake, your husband is about to become a suspect,” Officer Daniels said.

There was a lot of hostility in his voice.

“What appeared to just be a simple accident at first, is now starting to become something else,” he continued, “Now what your husband told me is not matching up with the evidence at the scene.”

“A suspect? Why, what’s going on?” Mom asked.

She was scared.

“Well, we found your husband’s fingerprints inside of the other driver’s car,” Officer Daniels revealed.

Officer Daniels gradually became more vehement the longer he spoke.

“Mr. Blake keeps dodging me and it’s only making things look more suspicious on his end,” he said, “Now I’m gonna call here again in a few days, and he’d better pick up. Then I’m gonna stop by here one final time, and he’d better be around. Or else I’ll get more officers to track him down and we’ll haul him into the police station and question him there!”

“O-okay, Mr. Daniels. I’ll let him know what you said,” Mom stammered.

Officer Daniels came trotting out of the living room, then past me, before walking out the door.

That was the last we heard from Officer Daniels. He never did call our house again, or give us that final visit as he promised. It was like he’d abruptly forgotten about us, or maybe even vanished.

In the meantime I realized that our neighbor wasn’t leaving his house at all. Not even to check his mail. It didn’t matter whether Dad was outside or not. His car had been sitting in his driveway for some days.

I mean, he couldn’t be that afraid of Dad. Not after all these years.

Soon we saw an ambulance truck along with two police cruisers parked outside our neighbor’s house. One of our other neighbors told my parents that he died.

I started telling Kylie about what was happening. At this point she was the only person I had to talk to since mom had become some depressed soul, and Dad was acting like a robotic puppet.

When I told her about our neighbor she was surprised, as she used to often see him out in his yard when she came to visit.

“Well, now your dad won’t have to worry about bumping heads with him anymore,” Kylie said.

Kylie always found him to be a bit weird. And yeah, he was a male Karen. But I still didn’t wish death on anybody.

Out of nowhere she thought of this bright idea of breaking into my deceased neighbor’s house just for the hell of it.

“Maybe I should visit you more often, because clearly you’re losing your mind when I’m not around,” I told her.

“Aww come on, the guy was way off. I’ve always wanted to know what did in that house all day when he wasn’t out in that yard,” Kylie replied.

After some time of Kylie trying to convince me of why it was a good idea to break into the neighbor’s house, she failed to do so. However, she didn’t fail to convince me to go through with it anyway.

Don’t ask me why, and don’t judge. I didn’t want to do it. But knowing Kylie, I just had a feeling that even if I didn’t stroll along with her, she would find some time to do it on her own.

So one night while Dad was at work, Kylie came to my house. While Mom was once again slouched away inside her bedroom, I met Kylie in my driveway. Then we scurried over across the street.

We went to the backyard then Kylie found a basement window. She drew a pocket knife and tried to pry a corner of the small window open.

Kylie finished cracking the window before sliding through and landing inside. I followed behind her. We were both thin girls so it wasn’t much of a struggle getting through.

I turned my flashlight on and waved it around after landing inside the dark basement next to Kylie.

Don’t worry. There wasn’t a dungeon down there or anything. No blood stains covering the walls, or outlines of dead bodies. Unlike Kylie, I’ve never thought our neighbor was that kind of guy. Besides the darkness of the basement itself, there was nothing creepy about the basement at all. It seemed to be just an ordinary place to kick back and relax in.

We snooped around the basement for a bit then made our way upstairs, deciding to keep the lights off in fear of someone outside noticing them.

Just like the basement, the rest of the house looked, well - normal. Overall, the house was really neat and well kept, besides a sink full of dishes and an empty pizza box on the living room table.

When we went to his bedroom the first thing we saw was an unmade bed with some scattered clothing. Kylie took her hand and ran through them, finding an opened playboy magazine sitting beneath.

“I guess weirdos need excitement too,” she said, tossing the magazine to the floor.

“Please, try not to touch much of anything else,” I whispered.

I went over to the closet and started to pull the double doors apart, then stopped when I saw there was almost nothing in there. There were a few hangers and shirts, along with a very large picture sitting against the wall. It was almost large enough to cover the entire wall in the closet, and for the frame to touch the floor. The picture was just some generic stock photo of a dining room.

Kylie came to see what I was looking at. Then she pried the closet doors open even wider to get a better look. When she did that, the top of the picture started to slowly lean forward. I tried to catch it, but noticed a little too late. The picture hit the floor, falling flat on its face.

When the beam of my light hit the bare wall from which the picture fell, we saw an outline on the wall.

It was a door.

“You see this?” I asked Kylie.

She stepped inside the closet and pulled the door open.

Inside was another dimly lit room. Three monitors were mounted on the wall. A desk with a control panel that contained many buttons sat beneath the monitors. An office chair on wheels sat under the desk.

At the moment the monitors were turned off, but the buttons on the control panel were lit with white.

I approached the control panel on the desk. There were two white arrows that pointed in opposite directions. Then there was one more lonely button in the corner of the control panel that contained a power symbol.

I pushed the power button then right away all the monitors on the wall switched on. At first there was nothing but white static on the screens. But soon that disappeared, then Kylie and I saw something else being displayed.

On each screen was a view of a room. The left monitor looked like a bathroom. The middle monitor was a bedroom. The last was a living room.

We were looking at the inside of someone’s house.

“The hell?” Kylie said, reaching forward and pressing one of the arrows.

Upon pushing the button, a new sequence of rooms were displayed. She pressed the button several more times, displaying even more rooms with camera views from different angles.

Kylie stopped when she noticed something in particular.

“Isn’t that your Dad’s car?” she asked.

It was the monitor on the left that showed us a glimpse of the outside through a window. We saw a driveway, and it was during the day time.

Kylie was right. The black car sitting in the driveway looked exactly like Dad’s.

Kylie hit the arrow again. For the first time we saw a person appear on one of the monitors. It was a woman, her back was facing the camera and it looked like she was in the bathroom. A bath towel was wrapped around her body.

When the woman spun around and revealed her face, my jaws dropped.

“Uh Kate….is that your mom?!” Kylie exclaimed.

It was.

I stared in disbelief, watching my Mom on screen as she looked in the mirror. She left the sink then went to the bathtub, starting to undo the towel around her body.

Kylie quickly flipped to another sequence of footage before we could see the towel hit the floor.

“Okay, that’s when I stop watching!” Kylie said.

In the next sequence we saw another person. This was a man. He just happened to be walking through the front door of the house.

As Kylie flipped through more and more footage, I soon realized that it was my house on surveillance. Every room had been recorded at least once. Even the basement.

There were even recordings of Kylie and I up in my room. Some from months ago. Just like my Mom, there were recordings of me in the bathroom, stepping into the shower with nothing on.

“What a creep!” I yelled, starting to get angry.

It was at that moment I started to regret my decision to break in there.

Since when were there cameras in our house? When did the neighbor invade our home and plant them?

“He’s not a murderer…but he is a pervert,” Kylie commented, flipping to yet another sequence.

We saw Dad on one of the monitors again - with Mom. They were both in the kitchen. Dad was just stepping in, and he had on his usual suit and tie. Just came home from work I suppose.

Mom was at the kitchen sink washing dishes, and it looked like she jumped at the sound of the kitchen door unlocking.

They exchanged a few words as Dad made his way over to Mom. As they spoke, Dad’s expression grew hostile. Then he suddenly started shouting in Mom’s face. Mom started shouting back. That’s when Dad raised a hand and slapped Mom across the face.

Kylie gasped.

Mom fell to the floor, balling up and doing all she could to protect herself. Dad stood over and held a look on his face that I never thought I’d see him express. He was expressing pure anger. A look that made him look almost unrecognizable to me.

My eyes filled with tears. Then I glanced over and saw Kylie covering her mouth.

I cried, thinking about the fact that Dad was doing this to my mom. The fact that he’d been doing this for some time and I was unaware of it. What was up with him? I’ve rarely ever seen him get angry, let alone like this.

In a matter of seconds, Kylie and I saw something even more daunting than that.

That menacing face Dad was holding started to turn into something much worse. Hair began sprouting from his cheeks, then his nose and mouth were twisting and contorting into something I couldn’t recognize right away. It looked like his face was gaining a snout that soon held many sharp and pointy teeth. Pointed ears on top of his head had replaced his human ones. At the same time, the rest of his body was also changing. His arms and legs were slowly elongating, making him just a tad bit taller, and his arms slightly longer.

Within seconds, Dad had become some hairy, monstrous, and wicked thing. Some animal-like creature standing on its hind legs - in my house.

I was so distracted by his bodily transformation that I didn’t notice his green glowing eyes until seconds later.

Dad took a few steps towards Mom. She looked like she was screaming for her life, as she tried to crawl backwards to distance herself away from him. But Dad just kept creeping his way closer.

Kylie hit the power button before we could see what happened next.

She was on the brink of tears.

“What the hell was that?!” Kylie exclaimed, pointing at the monitors.

I didn’t know what to say.

“What the hell is going on in your house?!” she continued.

At that moment it all made sense. This is why our neighbor suddenly became terrified of Dad. He saw…what Dad really was behind closed doors.

Worst part is he couldn’t even call the police about it, as he’d have to tell them how he found out, and reveal his little perv cave he had going on. So he was stuck with no choice but to live with the knowledge that he was secretly neighbors with a literal monster.

This also explained Mom’s sudden change in behavior. She had to actually see this side of Dad in person.

There was a deafening screeching sound outside. Sounded similar to how I’d assume a banshee would sound. It was so loud I swore I felt the house slightly rumble.

Kylie and I glanced at each other.

“I - I think it’s time to go,” I mumbled.

We headed back to my house and used my bedroom window as a way to smuggle ourselves in. We heard the loud screech again while climbing through. This time it sounded twice as terrifying.

“What is that?” Kylie whispered.

I shrugged my shoulders then went to glance out my window. I could see Dad turning in on our street.

“Shit he’s coming!” I said.

I tried to tell Kylie to go home, but she refused. She didn’t want to leave me behind knowing what was about to come in. She said she would stay overnight just in case anything happened.

My heart started racing when I heard the front door open downstairs, and the heavy thuds of work shoes. Mom let out a slight cry as Dad mumbled something. Then for the third time, there was that booming screech. This time it came from downstairs, inside the house.

Tears started to stream down Kylie’s face, as she backed away towards the window.

When that screech went off for a fourth time that’s when I swung my bedroom door open and dashed downstairs.

“Kate, wait!” Kylie whispered.

That was the last straw. Now knowing what was really going on, I wasn’t going to just lay back and allow my mother to be harmed - not anymore.

Dad put on a smile when he saw me. It was obviously just a facade.

“Kate!” he said, “how’s my baby girl doing? What have you been up to all day while I’ve been at work?”

Mom tried her best to hide her terror, but her tear shrieked eyes and scrunched face was a dead give away.

Kylie crept behind me, then jumped when she laid eyes on Dad.

Dad laughed.

“It’s the funny girl again! Kate, you didn’t tell me she was gonna be over,” he said.

I had to get Mom out of the house.

“Kylie and I need something from the store…a - and we need Mom to take us. Kylie is here because we’ve been working on something for school,” I lied.

Dad just kept smiling, and Mom’s eyes widened.

“I can take you,” Dad said.

“No, you just..got back from work I know you just wanna kick back,” I said.

“It’s not a problem. I haven’t gotten comfortable yet, and most of the stores are still open for another two hours. So it’s not that big a deal,” Dad replied.

He just wouldn’t let it happen.

“There’s certain things that I think Mom knows more about, and I think she’d be a bigger help,” I said.

Dad gasped then leaned against the kitchen counter before folding his arms.

“Kate, whatever it is I’m sure I can be somewhat useful in, “ Dad insisted.

Out of frustration, Kylie suddenly yelled,

“NO! Just stop it!”

I instantly started shushing her and trying my best to silence her. But she just kept going.

“Stop it! Fucking stop it right it now!” She continued, ”You are not Mr. Blake! What are you?...What the fuck are you?!”

Dad just stared back, confused. His smile faded.

“Uh Kate, are you oka - ” Dad started.

Before Dad could finish his sentence Kate charged at him while repeatedly screaming,

“Shut up, you freak! Shut up!”

Dad pushed Kylie to the floor.

Mom gasped.

Kylie took off one of her shoes and threw it at Dad with all of her might. It hit him in the nose hard, causing his nose to drip with blood.

That right there is what set him off.

Dad’s “confusion” turned to anger, and he glared at Kylie with cold eyes, which soon started to glow green in a matter of seconds.

“You bitch,” Dad said.

After he said that, the hairless parts of his face started to sprout hair. His nails were replaced with razor sharp claws that were quickly starting to come in.

He opened his mouth and let out that familiar screech that probably would’ve burst my ear drums had I not covered my ears. I could see that he now had a mouth full of pointed teeth. Slowly his height was increasing by inches, as he took a few steps towards Kylie and I. At any minute I expected to see something that resembled the creature we saw in the footage.

“You fucking bitch!” Dad yelled, his voice sounding a bit different now.

Mom ran and grabbed a frying pan on the stove before swatting Dad upside his head.

“You leave them alone!” Mom cried, ready to strike him again.

Dad growled in pain before turning around and running one of his claws across her neck, slitting her throat wide open. Blood began to squirt across the kitchen table in front of her, as she dropped to her knees then flopped face first to the floor, a small pool of blood forming around her head.

“Mom!” I cried.

Kylie screamed.

Dad turned to us again, then Kylie and I ran out of the house, splitting up and running in different directions. I didn’t even bother checking behind me. I just wanted to find somewhere to hide. I still had my flashlight in my back pocket, so I used it to see my way around my dark surroundings.

The first place I thought to go was the old shed in our backyard, as I knew it was empty and seldom used. If Dad were to come after me I figured this would be the last place he’d look - if he remembered it.

When I got to the shed and swung the door open, I soon found out that the shed wasn’t going to be a good hiding place after all.

I shined my light inside and almost screamed. I had to get a hold myself in case Dad was nearby.

Inside was a dangling human skeleton suspended on a hook. Bits and chunks of flesh were left behind in some areas of the body. I shined my light down to the floor only to find more flesh bits mixed in with scattered internal organs sitting in the middle of dried blood.

The horrid smell made me gag. In the middle of blocking my nostrils, the beam of my flashlight catches a small pile of clothes sitting a few inches behind the suspended corpse. They were dark in color, maybe a navy blue or black. Something on the pile reflected a brief glare of light back to my eyes. I leaned in just a little bit closer and saw what it was.

A badge - a police badge.

I uncovered my nose and stared, eyes wide in disbelief as soon as I looked at the dangling corpse again and realized who it was…Officer Daniels.

I heard Kylie scream from a distance, followed by another screech from Dad. Despite the screech and the scream sounding as if they were a good distance away, I glanced behind me only to see two glowing dots floating in darkness not too far away from where I was standing. Then there was a brief growl.

Right away I dashed away from the shed and ran into the wooded area nearby. As I ran I was surprised to glance back and see that I wasn’t being chased. Dad just stood there and watched me get further away.

I ran continuously, passing tree after tree, until I was out of breath. The plan was to reach the other side so then I could ask another neighbor for help. But when it got to the point where I started to see houses again, I saw those glowing eyes already waiting for me. So I had no other choice but to turn and run back into the woods again. I was baffled at how Dad was able to make it to the other side so fast.

My attempts at doing that in other directions resulted in the same. Dad would already be waiting, creeping towards me on all fours, snout caked with blood.

So now I’m stuck in this small neck of the woods, desperately trying to find a way out. I’ve been hiding for a few hours now, but I’ve been having to change my hiding spot often, as no matter where I go Dad is always nearby crawling and sniffing around, constantly getting closer. Every time I hear his low growls, or see his glowing eyes patrolling my area, I know it's time to move.

He’s already tried to lure me out by saying things such as,

“Kate, sweetie I’m sorry….I got a little outta’ hand. Just come on out so we can take your mother to the hospital.”

Or things like,

“Katie come on, it's late. I have work in a few hours and you have school. It’s time to stop this now!”

I don’t know how he’s doing it, but it seems that he is imitating the voices of people I know.

It was only a matter of time before I heard whispers from Kylie.

“Hey Kate! I think your dad is gone now. You come on out so we can get out of here!”

That didn’t sway me either. Not only because Dad likely already killed Kylie, but also because Kylie was right - this thing is not my Dad. I’m pretty sure my real dad was killed in the accident. But whatever it was that got a hold of him that night, had also come after his friends and family…..And it was working on picking me off last.

I believe “Dad” knows exactly where I’m hiding. It’s toying with me - playing with its food. It enjoys seeing me scared and in distress, feeding off every bit of my fear before it finally decides to go in for the kill. I’m just hoping I find a way out before it does. Or at least make it until dawn.