My mother always told me to be weary about being alone at night. “Nothing good happens after the sun goes down” she would say. I never really understood this philosophy until much later in my life.
The morning started off like most mornings, I made breakfast for my family. Pancakes, freshly squeezed orange juice, and toast (the boys’ favorite). Mornings like this were my favorite, I loved spending time with my boys. We had planned a day full of fun while Tom was home from business, Steven was excited to see his father as was I.
Once we finished breakfast we headed to the car where we decided to go to the beach. Steven being 7 was still at the age where he liked hanging around his parents. Tom wasn’t always around because of work, but when he was home he always spent loads of time with Steven and I. At the beach we built sandcastles and ate lunch, sandwiches on the beach. Ironically, the sandwiches ended up being a little sandy, but we didn’t care, we were together.
After finishing at the beach we went home and changed into our fancy clothes for a nice dinner by the pier. We watched the sunset together, it was a lovely evening. Following dinner, we went home and decided to watch a movie on the couch together. Midway through Steven begged Tom and I for a midnight snack, so we decided to walk to the local 7/11 and grab some snacks.
The journey to the convenience store wasn’t a long one, but considering it was so late, we had decided to take a shortcut through the woods. Tom, Steven, and I had all grown up playing in the woods, we knew exactly where we were going and what we were doing. However, the woods at night are no joke. I had clutched onto to Tom’s arm simultaneously Tom held Steven in his other arm.
Although Steven was no longer so young, I understood why he clung to his father, I was doing the same thing. While venturing on our way we began to hear noises and whispers behind us. I told Tom we should turn back, but he insisted we were almost there, and should keep going. I heard footsteps behind us, getting closer and closer. I let go of Tom’s arm, and began to run, Tom followed, still holding onto Steven.
As the footsteps got closer, I heard a wicked laugh. I heard a slash, and then a scream, but I didn’t dare to look back, my mother had always warned me about the dark...