It was a cold winter night, the stars shined above me. I was sitting on the old wooden fence next to the shed, my head tilted back to admire the Big Dipper. This was a secret midnight routine for me, the house was always so hot from the wood stove, that it felt like heaven to step out into the fresh air at night. I was always careful not to wake my parents up, but on the other hand, they always slept so soundly that my acts of stealthiness seemed wasted. The breeze blew through my short, blue-dyed hair. I closed my eyes and enjoyed the cool breeze on my face. If only I knew at the time what fate lied ahead, I would of never gone outside that lone, cold night.

The wind grew in intensity, cutting though me like knives. It made the barren branches of trees creek with an erie sound. There was a sudden feeling that someone was watching me... I opened my eyes and looked around nervously. But I saw nothing out of the ordinary. “Think. It’s the middle of the night, nothing’s gonna be out here.” I muttered to myself. Just then, I saw something in the corner of my eye. The silhouette of tall figure within the trees, shadowed from the full moon. I blink and the next second it’s gone. I looked all around me, feeling the spark of deep paranoia alight in my mind. It seemed foolish to look around franticly because I thought I’ve seen something that could have just as well been a tree that my imagination transformed into something not. But like a wild fire, my fear could not be doused by simple thought. Another blink and it was closer this time, out of the trees now, just only a few feet away. I stood there in shocked horror, for I could make out some of this man. He had no face. But he was looking. Right. At. Me. I turned and bolted to the house, leaving my hoodie behind. I sure as hell wasn’t going back for it. Screw being stealthy. I slammed the door behind me, then locked it.

My heart was thudding in my chest, making a loud thumping in my ears. Even though it was a short distance to sprint to my house, I was exhausted. My lungs ached with every breath, but that was minor compared to what I saw. What the hell did I see? The fact was, I knew exactly what I saw. He had no face. Completely nothing. No features at all. Just a pale, faceless head. He had no eyes, but he looked at me! What was this man? A ghost? A Demon? Some....monster? My mind was racing at a-mile-a-minute. Was he still out there? At that thought, I slowly and cautiously brushed aside the curtain, peering outside to find. Nothing. I let out a sigh of relief, and turned around to head upstairs to bed. I didn’t even walk two steps before I stopped dead in my tracks. There was a trail of blood drops that started from the back door and lead up the stairs. The drops of crimson had stained the hardwood floor.

I felt drained of life as I followed the grim trail to the upstairs hallway. The trail went into my parent’s bedroom. The door was closed. I could hardly breath. All I could think was; Oh god no...please, don’t let it be this... as I went over to the door and reached for the knob. I noticed how my hand trembled as I grasp the nob and turned it. The door creaked open. I stifled a shriek. There, in the bed lay my parents. You would think they would be sleeping, if it weren’t for the fresh blood that poured out of there slashed necks. I stared at my mom and her cold, dead eyes stared back at me. Unseeing. That’s it. I couldn’t stand it anymore. I cried. It loud sobs shook my entire body, full of despair, pain, sadness, anger, and mostly, fear. Complete and utter fear. Then I heard it. An awful, demonic chuckle, deep and evil. It made the hair on the back of my neck stand up. It came from that-that monster. And he was downstairs. The backdoor...I forgot to lock the back door! Now he was in the house...and he is coming for me...

I tiptoed as stealthily as I could to the closet and hid in there. I prayed to god that it wouldn’t find me. I could hear his footsteps, the shuffling of things as he looked for me in every possible hiding place that was downstairs. His footsteps walking to room after room, slowly progressing towards the stairs. I backed up into the deepest part of the closet, pushing up against a corner. I accidentally knocked over a broom in the process. I sucked in my breath as it fell to the floor with a loud bang. All the noise, even the footsteps from downstairs, abruptly stopped. He must have heard me! As if to answer my horrid thought, I heard him chuckle that low and sinister chuckle, one that made my heart miss a beat. I Imagined him cocking his faceless head to the side and looking up at the ceiling. He knew where I was now. Then, footsteps. A soft Thud..Thud..Thud..Thud as he leisurely climbed the stairs, ever so closer to my hiding place. A grim realization grew in me. I knew he would look in this room first, for this was the room closest to the stairs. It wouldn’t be long till he found me.

Thud..Thud..Thud..Thud I could hear his footsteps becoming closer. He was now in the hallway. Ever so closer...

Thud..Thud..Thud...Creeeek Light from the hall flooded the room. Though the small crack in the closet door, I could see him. He didn’t move from the doorway, he just stood there for awhile. All the while, I took in the details of him. He was abnormally tall, his head just barely touching the top of the doorframe. He was wearing a midnight-black business suit with a crimson-red tie. He was as pale as freshly fallen snow, his hands were long and slender. His face absent of all features, but yet, he was looking around the room. I took my gaze off his face and I looked down at his shoes. They were sleek-black business shoes. I silently gasped in horror. There was nothing out-of-the-ordinary about them, but what made me gasp was that they were wet with blood. My parent’s blood... I choked back a sob, giant tears rolled down my cheeks and dripped onto my knees instead. As if sensing my fear, he turned his head towards the closet where I was hidden. “You cannot hide from me, child.” he sneered. He began to walk, pass the bed where my parent’s corpses lay, to the closet.

Thud..Thud..Thud..Thud He was now right infront of the closet door, his blood-stained shoes visible from under the door. The door knob turned agonizingly slowly and I sat still, as still as a mouse cornered by a cat. Just sitting, paralyzed in fear, waiting for the awful fate that lied ahead for me. The door creaked open, revealing the Flaceless Man, standing tall, staring down at me. Now, I can tell you that you have never experienced true fear until you stare Death in the face. And here I was, cornered with Death to greet me in the doorway, dreading every second that passed. What happened next, I could not explain, nor even describe. I remember black tentacle-like appendages protrude from the man’s back and his slender, pallid hands reaching towards me....Then, everything became dark. How odd, very odd indeed, that the last thing I felt was warmth, a warmth that enveloped me completely. Then nothing at all.

TWO MARRIED COUPLES MURDERED, DAUGHTER MISSING

In an investigation of a break-in, Police found couple
Terry May Parks and Charlie H. Parks dead in there room with fatal wounds inflicted on there necks. Their only child, Ann June Parks remains missing, believed to have been abducted around the time of the killing. The only clue to Ann Park’s disappearance was a jacket belonging to her found hanging from a tree branch in a nearby pine forest. Blood had soaked the jacket thoroughly, whether it is Ann’s blood or her parents is still unknown.














Dedicated to Ellen Barry, who told me not to give up on writing this story, after so many people had put me down in the dumps about even writing it.