The wind screamed as I peaked outside the window. It had been a really rare day. The howling from outside was enough to keep a person locked away in their house, locked away in fear. As evening rolled around my mom came downstairs.

“I’m off to work. I’ll be back around two. Call me if you need anything.” She came over and hugged me. Something about her hug was off though. Instead of a light hug with a pat on the back, it was firm and mysterious. There was a secret to it. Something she wasn’t telling me. “I love you so much.” The whisper in my ear sent chills down my spine. This wasn’t my mother.

“I love you to mom.” She kissed me on the cheek and headed out the door.

“Oh, and baby, if anyone knocks, don’t answer it. Try to go to bed early tonight. I’ll check on you when I get home.” With that, she was gone. I didn’t know that was the last time I would see her or I would have never opened the door.

As the hours flew by, I had yet to realize that it was already midnight. I stared blatantly at the big red numbers on the clock. My vision began to blur and before I knew it, I was out.

I was suddenly awakened when I heard a knock on our small, wooden, front door. I continued to lie there for a minute, thinking it was just the wind. As I began to fall back asleep though, the soft knocking crept back into my head. I hesitantly got up and moved toward the front of the house. In fear of someone knowing I was there, I kept the lights off.
When I reached the door, I stared at the knob in terror. My heart began to beat faster and faster. I cautiously stood on my tip toes to see through the peep hole. Nobody was their. Instinctively, I went back to my room and curled up in a ball. I was scared to move. My eyes closed tightly hoping to make the fear go away. Nothing changed though. The tighter I held my eyes shut, the more bad images that ran through my mind. The howl of the wind became louder, the knock on the front door became more noticeable, and a small creak down the hall sent me into panic mode.
I wanted so badly for it to be two already so that my mother would be home. I was terrified by myself. After nearly ten minutes of lying in bed feeling scared, all the sounds started to drift away bringing me into a deep sleep. Within minutes I was awakened again from taping on my window. Someone knew I was here and they were etching to get my attention. Slowly, I crept out of bed and grabbed a small mirror by my bed. I stayed low to the floor to avoid the appearance of a shadow. I held the mirror up to the side of the curtain only to reveal nothing.
My nerves began to get to me as I started to feel sick. The tapping had not stopped and yet there was no one there. Again I looked through the mirror only revealing a shadow. I tipped it downwards and caught sight of a familiar face. I took a deep breath and walked over to my light. I flipped on the switch and returned to the window. I opened the curtain to find non other than my best friend staring through the window. I had been scared the whole time when it was only her. It was then, that I realized, she wasn’t moving by herself. A masked figure held the cold, still person and pointed at me. Horrified I began backing up. I swiftly grabbed my phone and called the cops.
Within minutes a police officer was at my door. Tentatively I peeked through the peep hole to find an officer staring at a pad of paper. I quickly opened the door and began spilling the story as tears streamed down my face. The officer ushered me in for a hug. Something didn’t feel right though. Seconds later I lay unconscious on the floor not knowing what had just happened. Instead of making any sudden movements I just laid there and pretended to be passed out.
After a few minutes of rustling around the “officer” found what they were looking for and booked it out the door. Still scared to move I stayed on the floor. I opened my eyes to look at the clock. It was two.
Ten minutes later my mother walked through the front door and screamed. I tried to open my eyes but they wouldn’t. I tried to talk, but I couldn’t. I found myself stuck in a state of unconsciousness, or was I dead? My mom cradled me in her arms and moments later I was in the car. The drive was quick. She ran me in through the doors begging for help. The doctors took me as she sat in a seat crying.
I didn’t know that cops were bad. I didn’t know what they had even taken, but whatever it was, it killed my mom too.