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Chapter 1 - Soers

So sers pressed under the front door of her ho at those baby fingers straining desperately to reach her as she stood trehtly puffed out her pink nightgown Her pale fingers clutched the thin bathrobe tightly closed at her throat as she continued to stare at the child’s hand grasping in her direction

I knee needed weather stripping, she thought vaguely Texas weather could change so fast and this early March ap under the front door was far too large These new modern homes looked so fancy, but were actually not very well built If they had bought the nice Victorian she had wanted there wouldn’t be a gap under the front door A gap large enough for that little hand to slide underneath

The tiny fingers clawed desperately under the edge of the door

The banging from inside the house had reached a steady staccato It had a rhythroans The sound terrified her But as truly horrible were those tiny, desperate fingers pressed under the front door of her ho to reach her

Her voice caught in her throat as blood began to trickle out from beneath the door Of course the blood would eventually flow out There was so much It had been everywhere when she had stood in the doorway of Benjamin’s bedroom The walls had been splashed red

She covered her mouth with her hand Another wave of chills flowed over her as her knees literally knocked together

The rhythainst the door

Through the thick, lead glass of the door she could see the dim outline of her husband’s body It was distorted by the thick sh to lass, then her gaze was dran to those tiny fingers scrabbling so desperately toward her

She really should have insisted on Lloyd putting doeather stripping

An angry howl from the other side of the door made her ju hands she pushed back her tresses Her gaze did not ers

The pool of blood was slowly spreading toward her bare feet

She should ers were no, tips of bone showing and yet they still sought her out

There was a loud thunk! to her left and her gaze shot over to thebeside her Mikey stood in thehissing at her as he beat on the ith his fists His torn lips were drawn back in a gririly

"Why, Mikey, why?" Her voice was a plaintive whisper

Why had her twelve-year-old son rushed back to try to fight his father?

Why hadn’t he run when she had screamed at hi end?

Clutching her head, she swayed slightly She felt so cold touch her toe and looked down to see thick blood welling around it Stepping back, her gaze slid back to the fingers pressed under the front door The tips of the tiny fingers were raw and skinless

"Benjamin, please stop," she whispered

He always did this Every time she went to the bathroom, the persistent three-year-old would be on her heels She could never relax and just go She would have to talk to hiainst the crack, his tiny chubby fingers pressed under the door

Was one eye pressed against the crack under the front door now?

How had he et downstairs? There was so little left of hi eater…

She almost threw up and both hands flew up to cover her , she stepped back fro violently

There was a loud clattering noise now, loud and painful to her hearing

Covering her ears with her hands, she took another step back

Why wouldn’t it just all stop?

The clattering was louder now and her jaw hurt

Oh, her teeth were chattering

She closed her eyes, swaying

Those tiny fingers…those tiny fingers…

Glass shattered and growls filled the coolto push his way through the broken

"No, no, no…" She stumbled backward down the front steps and fell as her bare foot slipped on the slick dew-drenched grass

Mikey continued to shove his way through theand the glass ripping away his flesh But he didn’t seeh the shattered glass