Her mother stood in the door, arms open waiting for a hug from her daughter. Kaitlyn embraced her, squeezing as tight as she could. Her mother’s coat felt warm against her face.
Then she heard a noise.
A strange but familiar noise.
Metal scraping. As if it was being dragged.
Her face felt cold. Cold and damp.
Her mother felt ... strange in her arms.
She opened her eyes and backed away.
It wasn’t her mother.
It was the woman she had seen in the window, the mailbox still dragging behind her as she moved into the house. Kaitlyn backed away, confused. How could she mistake that woman for her mother?
But it was her mother. It was her mother’s face, only distorted. It looked older; saggy and grey. She was one of them now.
Kaitlyn ran back into the living room. Dave and Hannah were gone. They, too, had left her.
“Help!” she screamed to the empty house. “Something happened to—”
She stopped abruptly when a hand squeezed her shoulder. She turned and the mother-monster was standing beside her. It had taken hold of her. It bent down, face to face. Kaitlyn screamed as her mother opened her mouth; her teeth, now grey and sparse, moved closer to take a bite out of her daughter’s cheek.
Kaitlyn snapped awake.
Her cheek ached where she had been digging her nails into it.
“You okay?” Dave asked, as she rubbed her face.
“Yeah,” she said, looking around.
It was nighttime.
They had candles and a lantern, but it was still very dark in the living room.
“Did my mom—”
Dave cut her off. “Not yet. But, it just got dark a little while ago. Earlier than it should have—it got really cloudy around six and—”
“Six?” Kaitlyn yelled.
Dave stared at her and swallowed.
“It’s 8:42,” Hannah said. “Exactly.”
“Oh my God,” Kaitlyn said. She body started to shake. Her mind went fuzzy and she couldn’t focus. “Oh my God! She’s been gone for ... for twelve hours?! She said ... she said ...”
“It just got dark a little while ago,” Dave said, reassuringly. “She’s probably on her way back now. She’ll be back soon. You’ll see.”
Kaitlyn shook her head as the rest of her body trembled.
Hannah looked at her dad. Dave looked back at her and smiled, half-heartedly. She smiled at him then walked to Kaitlyn and hugged her.
“It’ll be okay,” she said, trying to sound reassuring, but mostly trying to not sound afraid. “Your mom will be right back. My daddy said so!”
Kaitlyn looked to the little girl, tears filling her eyes and streaming down her face. “Oh, what do you know? You have no idea what’s going on! Neither does your dad! You don’t know at all! You don’t even have a mom! You don’t know what it’s ... what it’s like …” She felt the little hug from Hannah tighten around her. Her mind cleared and she realized what she had said. She hugged Hannah back. “I’m sorry! I didn’t ...”
“It’s okay,” Hannah said, now speaking through her own tears.
After a long, hug and sniffle-filled silence, Dave said, “Hannah, why don’t you take Kaitlyn upstairs and help her get ready for bed?”
Hannah let go of her hug and nodded.
“Is it all right if I stay down here for a little bit, Dave?” Kaitlyn asked, wiping her nose on her sleeve. “I want to watch for my mom. Just for a little while.”
Dave thought about it for a moment, then nodded. “Okay. But come away from the window.”
Kaitlyn looked back through the boards, into the total blackness, and realized it wasn’t helping, anyway. She moved to the Moores’ couch. Hannah curled up with her dad in his chair.
All three looked toward the windows, listening for any sound.
BANG!
In the living room, Dave, Hannah and Kaitlyn all awoke with a jerk.
“What was that?” Hannah asked, looking around the room.
Some of the candles had gone out. Kaitlyn didn’t know how long they had been asleep. Even Dave seemed to have slept, something he had not done much of in the past few days.
BANG!
“It’s coming from the front door,” said Dave, as he craned his neck to see out the covered windows. “I can’t see what it is.”
BANG!
“It’s Mom!” Kaitlyn exclaimed, as she jumped up and ran to the door. This was no dream. This time her mother would not turn into a monster, and everything would be okay again.
“Stop!” yelled Dave, catching up to her. “It might not be your mom. We don’t know who it is.”
BANG! BANG!
Kaitlyn stood looking at Dave, panicked. She had to find out. “What if it is her? We have to—”
Dave put a hand on her shoulder and silently shushed her. He slowly walked to the door. He listened at it for a moment.
BANG!
He jumped back with a start, which made Kaitlyn and Hannah jump as well.
“Hello?” Dave yelled through the door. “Who’s there? Joanne?” He stood, listening. “Why isn’t she saying anything?” Dave asked, trying to see through the board over the window. He hadn’t thought to leave a space there.
Kaitlyn thought for a moment, then said, “Maybe she’s hurt.” She took a step toward the door, but Dave put his hand up, stopping her.
He listened again. There was no bang this time. Whoever had been hitting the door had stopped. He looked back at the girls. “Both of you, go back into the living room. I’m going to open the door just a crack to see who it is, okay?”
“But Daddy,” Hannah whined, “what if it’s a trap?”
Dave smiled at the girl. “Just a crack, Boo. It’ll be okay. Now, go into the living room.”
Hannah nodded and grabbed Kaitlyn’s hand. Kaitlyn looked up at Dave, knowing that he’d tell them what was happening after he checked. She hoped it was her mother and she had only stopped knocking because she heard them answering.
Both girls sat on the couch, straining to hear who was at the door.
After a short silence, the door-locks clicked open. A few more seconds of silence. It was killing Kaitlyn how long it was taking.
What if
