INTRUDER

NOW

I wake up with a pain in my head. I might've hit it with all the tossing and turning the nightmare cause. Yesterday Wanda gave me a huge hug and told me that she was proud of me for telling her everything, but I wasn't proud of myself. I didn't tell her everything. I didn't tell her the truth that I am happy that Garred is dead. I feel ashamed of having this feeling and I hate it. I know it is wrong but I can't help having this horrible feeling. Maybe that's why I blame everything on Garred. I start to drift on to the thoughts on who killed my parents. 
I have a theory that Garred is alive. He might've seen— I grab my phone and dial 9-1-1. I tell them that I need to see them. 
I arrive to the police office with Johnny's car. An officer named Derek comes up to me and tells me that he is the one I am going to speak to. I follow him to his little mini office at the back of the station. What is it? Did you need to tell us something?" He asks me.
"Yes, I have a theory." 
"Is it going to help us find the murderer any faster?" 
"I hope." 
"O.K, so tell me. I'm dying to hear you theory," he says in a sarcastic voice. I already dislike him. He's annoying. 
"Well, I think that the murderer is my dad. I think this because my dad might not be the one that you guys think he is. He was an abusive and annoying dad and I think that he was the one in the woods stalking me and trying to kill me and the one with the gun. He might've killed my mom also. I also think that he is still alive, the person that is dead might be his brother... I don't remember but if I remember correctly they were twins.... Or maybe he committed a murder-suicide and now his twin brother is chasing me around and I am getting really paranoid."
"Claire, your dad did not have a twin brother, he was an only child."
"But I swear he told me once that he had a twin brother!"
"You need to get out now. Your psychiatrist tells me that you are not taking your pills. This wasting our time on the case."
Wanda knows Derek, wow, this town is so so small that everyone knows everyone here. 
"Oh, so now you worry about the goddamn case after a stupid year. You didn't do a thing when I was in the foster house. You guys didn't even investigate anything and when you couldn't find anyone you gave up! How am I suppose to trust you when you don't do anything about my family. I hate the police. All of you can just eff yourselves!" 
Derek remains quiet and doesn't speak for a whole minute.
"Get out." 
"Fine, but next time don't lie to me that you are worrying about this case because you guys don't give a sh—" I don't finish because I slam the door behind me and he couldn't hear me. 
I get into my car and hit my head on the steering wheel. I hate myself for thinking that the police were going to help when they were useless. 
I start to drive down the road, tears streaming down my eyes. I arrive at a small house covered almost completely in yellow police tape. My house, the one I grew up for 15 years. The one that my parents were killed in. I move towards the house and walk in. It's unlocked like always. I walk in and wipe away my tears. I look at the ground and see the dried up blood. Some of it was from my head but most of the blood was from Maggie when her blood was dripping from the stairs. 99% of the dried up blood was Maggie's. I go upstairs into the bedroom that Ellie used to sleep in and it is exactly the same, my room is too. I then go to my parent's bedroom and see the lamp with the slash of blood on it and the whole bed is full of blood. Garred's blood. If he didn't have a twin brother then this was definitely Garred. I see the pillow that I threw down in anger and the curtains that I yanked down. I can remember the event vividly. I screamed so loudly that Ellie thought I was in danger, Ellie had been drugged but by who. Maybe I could find some evidence here. I walk down to the living room where I was drinking water when the intrusion happened. I remember the door slowly cracking open and then he walks in. I remember that I tried to hide behind the couch and get my mom and dad but it was too late. They were already being killed when I yelled for them. That's when I raced up the stairs and he pushed me down the stairs that caused me to black out and not remember what happened after. 
I look into my reflection at the mirror that hangs in the living room above the couch. I place my hand in a fist on the cold glass. I look deep and see my face, my depressed face. I see the loneliness that is in my eyes. I bring my hand down and grab the television control. I bring my hand back up onto the glass and put the control on it. The tears start to build up in my eyes and then I hit the glass with all my force. The glass cracks and shatters it. My reflection is now split in half a little. I bring the control and smash it again, I see the knife slash in the blue light. I smash it again, I see my mom smiling on the beach with me in Florida. I smash it a fourth time, I see Ellie and Maggie running along the grass with me. I smash it and smash it, I see the man entering the house and slowly walking towards the stairs with the knife in his hands. I continue to shatter the glass, Maggie is on the floor with her eyes wide open and blood is pouring down the stairs dripping onto the floor. I slam the control into the shattered glass, the man is pushing me down the stairs and my head hitting it hard. I slam it on more time, the man standing in the woods watching me. Fear creeps down my spine and I drop the control. I fall onto the couch and close my eyes, hoping I will never have to open them again. Hoping that this pain and horror will all go away, that it will stop right now. I am tired of it, I can't deal with it any longer. 
While I am slowly crying, the door opens and I jump out of the couch. 
"Ben! What are you doing here?" I say, chocking through my tears. I can only tell it's Ben because of his jacket. 
"You texted me." 
"Oh, yeah I did. I forgot I did, here lets go outside."
"Is everything alright?" He asks, moving his eyes onto the now shattered and destroyed mirror. 
"Yeah."

We walk outside and Ben asks me again if everything is O.K. I tell him that it is, even though clearly everything is not O.K. since I just smashed a window with a control! 
Ben tells me everything he did in school and I smile at everything, I think about how much I love Ben. My best friend.

After a while, we say goodnight to each other. We hug and get into our cars, Ben drives off and I am standing there with just my house in front of me. I look at it, wipe a tear off my face, and get into my car.