Carrie Ithil had always thought of herself as a brave and composed woman but that night she felt different.

“Will she be home soon, mommy?” one of the twins asked. She knew it was Gabriel.

“Yeah, will she be here soon?” Raphael echoed.

She patted the children’s head and sighed. “She’d better be, my darlings.”

The three of them sat on the front porch facing the darkness. All the house’s lights were on as if it’d guide her daughter home but said daughter was taking far too long. Luana had called a number of them times from the library to inform the assignment’s progress and her last call had been almost two hours back. During this last call she had told Carrie everything was finished and she was heading home.

The school’s library was only two or three blocks away and Luana hadn’t arrived yet.

Carrie’s husband, Juan, had gone out in the family’s car to search for their daughter. Another half hour and they’d call the police.

The woman sighed and ran her fingers through her short hair. Luana had turned fifteen a little over two hours ago and they’d made her a birthday cake. The twins wouldn’t sleep, they were too excited about their sister’s birthday ad had even helped in the making of waffles.

Carrie’s worry, however, seemed to have been caught by the children like a hyena caught the scent of blood. They had stopped laughing and making jokes and were now by their mother’s side, staring sleepily into the night. The birthday cake rested on a plate on Raphael’s lap and the waffles on Gabriel’s.

“Will she like the cake?” Raphael asked tentatively, eager to break the silence.

“Of course sweetheart, chocolate’s her favorite, remember?” Carrie gave a half-hearted smile.

“She’ll like the waffles better!” Gabriel interjected.

The three of them fell silent as Juan parked the car and hopped out, his usually happy face now grim. He shook his head.

Carrie’s heart sunk and she felt on the verge of tears when her husband stood by her side and placed a comforting hand on her shoulder.

The woman stood and meant to walk inside to call the cops when she caught movement with the corner of her eyes. That had to be Luana.

A girl walked into the dimly lighted garden as if in a trance.

Carrie frowned. “Where’ve you been, for God’s sake?” she asked, her tone rising with each word. “It’s quite late, lady, and you’re only fifteen, remember? Do you know how worried you made us!?”

The twins whimpered as they sensed something odd.

The girl kept on coming towards the house, her head down with her bangs covering her face. “L-Luana…?” Juan stuttered a little shocked. “Why are you covered in blood?”

Carrie’s stomach lurched at the sight. Adrenaline rushed through her body.

“Raphael and Gabriel, go inside” she said as firmly as she could.

“But…”

“Just go! Hurry in!”

The twins ran inside the house as fast as they could without dropping the food they had in their hands.

Carrie could smell death in the air. The girl stood in front of them and raised her eyes to meet theirs. She had a bloodstained pair of scissors in her hand, and the sight of it made Juan step in front of his trembling wife in a protective manner.

The woman brought a hand to her own mouth to suppress a gasp of both shock and fear. That wasn’t their daughter.  Those blood-red eyes weren’t Luana’s, as wasn’t the insane grin plastered across her face.

“Luana?” Juan asked, his voice raw with fear.

The girl smiled and only then seemed to breathe.

“No,” she stated, and a moment later Juan and Carrie fell to the ground in excruciating pain. The girl just stared.

Juan screamed, and screamed, and then stopped moving.

Carrie had never felt that much pain – and fear – in her life. It was as if her insides were burning and melting. She managed to crawl in an attempt to block the entrance of the house.  Sometime during the torture she was going through she thought of the two small children inside.

Her eyes rolled to the back of her head and blood poured from her mouth, nose and ears.

So… much… pain…!

The woman felt someone step on her, and she heard the front door open with its usual noise. The girl went inside, and Carrie’s world went black.