Jessica began to sprint when she noticed footsteps trailing behind her. She was gasping for air, and her heart was pounding. Fear engulfed her, and suddenly, everything before her eyes became black.
When she opened her eyes, everything was blurry, and Jessica's head was spinning from the extreme pain. She rose silently, glanced about, and inhaled sharply. A man seated in the chair, was observing her with a strange smile.
"Hi there, little girl," the man murmured in a haunting voice.
Jessica was immobilized and felt her throat dry like a desert. The man across from her was the serial killer everyone had been discussing for days.
Her mind was flooded with countless thoughts. She recalled the stories she had heard about this man's victims, including how ruthlessly he took their lives, and then her mother's voice echoed in her mind. She instantly regretted not heeding her mom's warnings before departing the house with her brother, Thomas. Then, another thought hit her; where was her brother?
"I believed you were a brave girl?" that man remarked as he rose and approached her gradually.
Jessica swiftly ceased her thoughts and started to retreat from him using her small hands. "But I'm pleased because you are the first to die in my hands," the man remarked, and laughed oddly.
But just as he took a seat in front of Jessica and reached his hand out to her, the door swung open and Thomas appeared, breathing heavily, his eyes wide open. "Keep your distance from my little sister, you jerk," he shouted and lunged at the man with his small frame.
The man screamed in agony as Thomas bit his arm and shoved him back. He stumbled and struck his head against the wall. "Jessica, run!" Thomas shouted while grabbing her hand.
They both dashed out of the room downstairs, but when they entered the dark living room of that gloomy house, the man seized Thomas by the collar from behind and struck him on the head with a heavy object. Jessica screamed and gazed at her brother, who collapsed onto the floor as blood started to stain his clothes.
"Th…Thomas, look at me," she pleaded, sitting beside him, crying and stroking his face, not knowing what else to do.
As everything unfolded so suddenly, Jessica felt a heavy blow to her own head, causing her to tumble a few steps away from Thomas.
"That's why I despise children," the man shouted furiously. "They ruin even the perfectly made plan."
He then pulled a rope from his jacket pocket, bound her hands, and approached Thomas. Jessica cried and pleaded for her brother's life, but the man laughed sinisterly and picked up a metal rod from the ground near a ripped couch. He raised it with both hands while towering over Thomas, gazing at Jessica with a monstrous grin, and proceeded to strike Thomas on every part of his body. He screamed out in agony as the house echoed with the cries of both Thomas in torment and Jessica imploring for mercy for her brother.