The three teens piled eagerly in to the blue Buick, which Andrew had just received from his father for his seventeenth birthday. They were eager to be on their way to Ypsilanti Michigan to see their favorite band play in concert. Andrew slid into the driver's seat grinning nervously as his friend, Jordan piled into the back seat. Andrew ran his fingers through his short, brown hair, pursing his thin lips.. Jordan sat behind the driver’s seat, as Ashley sat softly in the passenger seat and smiled reassuringly, noticing his nervous expression.
"Just relax," she said gently, placing her hand on his. "It’ll be fun."

"Yeah," he said, as he stared out the windshield.
He noticed her hand on his, and his heart skipped a beat, and he quickly jerked his hand away.
She raised an eyebrow, analyzing him, staring at him intently as if trying to see into his thoughts. Andrew felt his face turn red, his blood boiling. Andrew felt her gaze and awkwardly snapped his head around to meet her gaze, his face darkening even more.
His eyes danced from the key he was fumbling with, and back to her, as he wiggled it around the ignition, before he finally managed fit the small piece of brass into the slot.
Andrew turned the key and the engine spurred, and then roared with life. He put the car in drive, and rolled off the concrete driveway onto the open asphalt road.

As the sun set below the horizon, the teens began to quiet down. They drove in silence for a while before the peace was shattered by a sharp “POW!” that pierced the night air like a gunshot. The car shook, as it bounced out of the pothole, but continued to shake and sputter as the vehicle slowed to a halt.

"No, no, no, no!" Andrew barked as he slammed his hand on the steering wheel.

"What was that!?" asked Jordan as he tore the headphones from his ears.

"A pothole," Andrew replied, rubbing his eyes.
He unbuckled his seat belt and opened the door, stepping out into the crisp night air.




Andrew hung up his cell phone and frowned. No answer. He redialed his father's number, but frowned again as the phone went to voice mail.

He walked to the front of the car to join Ashley. Andrew’s eyes were still adjusting to the dark, but he could still see the outline of her pink sweatshirt. She was a lot shorter than Andrew, her head only making it up to about the middle of his chest. Her brown hair curled slightly as it draped around her white face. Her brown eyes were fixed on the star filled sky above them, when she said:
"The tires not flat and I know nothing about cars, so..."

"Me neither," Andrew said reluctantly.
He had hoped it would be a simple flat tire and he could be the hero, fixing the car and get them to the concert.
He checked his phone. 6:52, yet it was dark enough to be midnight.
Jordan ducked as he stepped out of the car. He was tall, about six feet, three inches, and very skinny. The hood of his forest green sweatshirt was pulled over his short black hair. The hood masked his thin tan face, as he walked to stand by Andrew, matching him in height.

”You know anything about cars?" Andrew asked him.

“Well they run on gas, and have four tires," he said, eyes still fixed upward. "But that's about it."

”Well see if you can get a hold of your parents. We're on clement road right outside Ypsilanti. Hey Ash, You should call-" but Ashley was already holding her own cell phone up to her face, circling around the back of the car. Through the gray, Andrew could see the outline of her pink sweatshirt as she paced the width of the car. She was a lot shorter than Andrew, her head only making it up to about the middle of his chest. Her brown hair curled slightly as it draped around her white face. Her brown eyes were fixed on the star filled sky above them.

Andrew leaned against the hood of the car when he noticed a faint glow coming from farther down the road. He squinted, focusing in on where the light was on the ground. When the light remained shining on the same spot, he concluded that there must be a house at the edge of the tree line.

"I think there's a house down there," he said, announcing his assumption.

“Well do you think we should go down there?" asked Jordan uneasily.

"No" Ashley said firmly, putting her phone into the pocket of her pink sweatshirt. "Who knows who lives there?"

"But we'll never know if we don't go, and considering no one here knows anything about cars, I say we go," Jordan replied.

"Or they'll help us die sixty years before we're ready." she chimed back.
And at that Jordan had to be silent.

"Did you get a hold of your parents Ash?" Andrew asked.
Through the starlight, Andrew could tell she was nodding her head.

“My dad was not happy.” She said. “He’s on his way. I just told him we were on Clement Road.”
They were silent for some time, before Jordan brought up the house again.

They tossed the idea around some more, before they finally came to a conclusion.
“It’s not that far of a walk, we could at least just walk down there.” Jordan continued to say, but Andrew wouldn’t budge. “We could at least see the address, you know? Give our parents something to put in the GPS.” Jordan finished.
Andrew glanced sideways at Ashley. She tilted her head to the side and shrugged. Andrew ruffled his short brown hair, and began tugging at the collar of his green t-shirt that rested on his thin chest.
“Alright,” Andrew said, with a sigh, locked the car door, and led the way toward the light.
They walked in silence, plunging into the darkness. They walked along the white line on the left side of the road, until they finally stepped into the orange light, which was streaming through a large window on the side of the house. Through the dim light, they could make out the form of a mailbox, but as they neared it, they could not find an address, and concluded that the numbers must be posted on the house itself.

They stepped onto the gravel driveway, and walked toward the house slowly, taking in every detail of the new setting. It was a small, one floored house, with a decent sized garage on the left hand side. A wooden porch extended the length of the house, just in front of a wide window that most of the light was escaping from. Andrew could smell the aroma of freshly mowed grass, which filled his nostrils, helping him to relax a little. In front of the porch was a line of perfectly trimmed hedges, complimented by dark grass. The lawn was obviously well kept, and it definitely showed, as the blades gleamed in the light.
They walked closer to the house, and the large black numbers became visible. 4532.
Before they could make it to the front porch, they were compromised by a low booming voice.
“What are you doing here?” the voice grumbled from the darkness. “You have to leave.”
“Our car broke down just down the road, we just-“Jordan began, but the voice cut him off.
A tall man with broad shoulders stepped toward them. The teens had failed to see him, as he paced along the left side of his house examining his lawn in the dim light. But now as he stepped toward them, they could see the man’s wrinkled face. His grey, thinning hair was combed back, revealing the lines that extended across his forehead, chiseled there by years anxiety and raised eyebrows.
“I can’t help you” he said “you’ll just have to leave.”
“Can we just see-“but now the man was walking towards them, his long strides quickly closing the distance between them.
“No, I think not,” he said raising his voice.
And so the three of them backed off, not taking their eyes off the man, cautious of his movements. Ashley grabbed the boys by the sleeves of their shirts and directed them away back down the drive way. They stopped by the mailbox, listening as they heard the front door slam shut behind the grouchy old man.

Andrew motioned to walk away from the house, but his friends remained still, stopped in their tracks, eyes locked on the main window in which most of the light was escaping from. He watched, focusing to see what they were watching so intently.
A shadow danced across the wall. Then he saw her; a woman, in full sprint, right behind of the glass pane. She was older, in about her mid-fifties. Her hair was graying, wrapped around her face. Her mouth was stretched down to her chin, lips tightly covering her teeth, as she sobbed; a look of sheer terror.
Then a man entered the scene. Andrew recognized him as the man they had encountered earlier. He walked, slowly, with an almost calm stride.
Andrew’s heart hammered in his throat, his mouth wide open and his eyes wide.
The window was just big enough to show the scene, as the man slowly stepped toward her, he raised his hands to about shoulder height, as if trying to calm her down, but the long, slender knife he loosely grasped in his left hand wasn’t helping to convince her.

The woman moved suddenly, her arm shot out, faster than a bullet, snatching a phone off the couch side table, and then bolted to get around the man, but he was quick for his age, lunging to the side blocking her path. In a fluid motion, he raised the knife and there was a flourish in which the light cast a glare off the stainless steel, before he plunged the blade into the left side of her chest, just below her collar bone. The knife sank into her flesh, and the two beings were still, a look of horror was still engraved upon her face. The man was calm as ever, as he thrust the knife deeper, his eyes showed no pain, and no regret, and no sympathy as red blood flowed around his hand, soaking through the woman’s white blouse.

He let the lifeless body fall into his unarmed hand, as he slowly slid the red glazed knife from her chest. Ever so gently he caressed her, his lips moving as he uttered a few words, but then dragged the body from the view of the window.

The three teens watched in horror from the end of the driveway. Andrew thought he felt his own heart stop, but then realized it was still hammering against his chest. His knees were trembling, his hands dangling lifelessly by his sides. After a few minutes of staring blankly through the empty window, he finally managed to glance sideways, taking his eyes off the window for the first time, to see Jordan leaning against the wooden post that held the numberless mailbox, looking as if he would be sick. Ashley stood next to him, her whole body shaking, hands clamped firmly over her open mouth, her brown eyes wide.
The three of them stood in the dark silence. Andrew tried to speak but couldn’t find his voice. Ashley’s hands still covered her mouth, but Andrew could still hear the sobs escaping through her fingers, as a single tear trailed down her cheek.
Jordan broke the silence, “I’m calling the police,” he said in an uneasy voice.
Andrew thought he sounded like saying those words were hard enough for him.

Jordan took his phone out of his pocket with a shaky hand.
Andrew took a deep shaky breath, “4532… Clement Road,” he said, but the words made him nauseous as they rolled off his lips.

“No! She was… she was murdered!” Jordan said into the phone. “I saw it, through the window! Yes. Yes I understand. Umm, Yeah: 4532 Clement Road. Yes thank you sir.” He let out a deep sigh as he listened to the officer speak.

Andrew had worked up the courage to walk over and wrap his arm around Ashley, who rested her head on his shoulder, taking deep, quiet breaths.


“We have to leave. Now,” Said Jordan suddenly, in a low whisper, as he slowly lowered the phone from his face.
Following his gaze, Andrew slowly turned his head, and felt his face drain of color. The man stood just by the front porch, through the dark Andrew couldn’t see his face, but he was sure his eyes were locked on him. By his feet rested a large black garbage bag; big enough for a body.