5/25/1991
It was a night when only the wicked were brave enough to step outdoors. A flood advisory had been issued, warning residents to stay indoors. Not that they'd be missing much. There wasn't a lot to do in a small town like Bayless which could only brag of a grocery mart that doubled as a supply store. The relentless showers of the afternoon had continued their rally across the rural town's already soggy grounds into the late evening hours.
Inside her two-story cabin, Maggie Caldwell pulled back a curtain to see if her husband's approaching car was anywhere in sight. Her hot breath against the rattling cold glass clouded her view. She wiped the condensation with her hand to see the massive rows of oak trees that surrounded her home, their wet leaves flapping around in panic as though they too were scared of the night's storm. Lightning flashed above, illuminating her face for a brief second. The dogs outside barked incessantly from the nearby shed, begging to be let loose.
"Momma?"
Maggie turned to see her six-year-old daughter, Crystal, standing at the base of the stairs. Betsy, Crystal's beloved rag doll, swayed in her grip as she ran towards her mother in her pink pajamas. Her blonde hair was loose in wild curls.
"Did the rain wake you? Or have you been up this entire time?" Maggie asked the precocious child with a slight smile. Maggie had read Crystal her bedtime story over an hour ago.
Crystal smiled, showing off her missing front tooth before running upstairs, her laughter trailing behind her. Maggie was right behind her, trudging up the steps as her thoughts wandered to her husband's whereabouts once again. After Maggie tucked her daughter back into bed, she twisted the crank to her daughter's music box. It had become a nightly ritual for Crystal to hear the soft melody before drifting off to sleep.
"This song is sad, Momma," Crystal whispered, listening to the delicate melody. Engraved on the music box was a forlorn-looking prince and princess, neither happy with the other. The edges of the box were lined in silver that had begun to chip.
"It is...but someone special gave this to me," Maggie said, stroking her daughter's cheek.
"Is that why you gave it to me?" Crystal asked, hugging her doll tighter to her chest.
"Of course. I want to share everything special with the person I love most in the world," Maggie said before tickling her daughter.
Outside, the sky roared and the lights flickered, causing both Maggie and Crystal to jump.
"Will you read me a story? I'm too scared to sleep," Crystal confessed.
Maggie kissed her daughter's forehead. "Of course I'll read you another story."
After reading her daughter a tale about a brave princess and a ferocious dragon, Maggie's eyes drifted towards the princess clock that hung in her daughter's room. It was close to ten. She made her way downstairs and picked up the house phone, trying to dial her husband's work number. He didn't answer. She thought about the pager he wore and remembered him telling her not to call it unless there was an emergency. Maggie sighed thinking how a wife's emergency could be a husband's annoyance. Her fingers floated above her phone for a moment before she grimaced and decided not to call her husband's work again. Hadn't they just had an argument about her not always calling him at work?
Maggie paced in circles around the area rug downstairs, hoping her husband hadn't been in an accident. She looked at the fireplace where pictures of her family and friends stood.
"Where are you?" she asked as if her husband could magically hear her.
The barking of her dogs was becoming louder, almost vicious. A sudden pounding at the door caused her to still. Her body froze in place, not sure if she had heard correctly. Who could possibly be outside at this hour? In this weather?
Rain battered against the roof as she waited. She wasn't disappointed. Three fierce pounds once again banged against her front door.
Maggie slowly took a step forward. "Who...who's there?"
Another three pounds against the door answered back.
In a louder voice, she asked, "Who's there? Who are you?"
"Open the damn door!"
Fear burned her chest as she nervously licked her lip. "Go away or I'll call the police."
Maggie was grateful for the dogs barking. Perhaps it would scare the man away. She picked up the receiver of her phone and tried to dial out again without success. It wasn't unusual for the phone lines to suddenly go down because of a storm. Maggie cursed as she once again wondered where her husband was.
She slowly moved one foot in front of the other as she walked closer to the door. She wanted to see if the man had left. Bayless was a small town. Everyone knew everyone. It was a well-known fact that the Caldwells lived in their cabin on the outskirts of town, hidden in the forest, because they enjoyed the outdoors and the quiet but unless you knew where the Caldwell Cabin was, you probably would never find it by accident.
Since the pounding at her door had stopped, Maggie allowed herself to breathe and hoped the man had left. She turned around to head back to Crystal's room when she heard a whelping sound from outside.
Dread sizzled down her spine as she felt a knot of fear get stuck in her throat.
Why did the dogs stop barking?
Another rumbling from the sky caused her to jump. Cautiously, Maggie once again made her way to a window. Rain continued to pelt her roof, as she slowly pulled back the curtain.
A man's face stared back at her.
Maggie gasped and fell backward before scrambling to get up. Why wasn't her husband here?
The pounding on the door spurred Maggie to run upstairs to where Crystal was.
"Momma, what's going on?" Crystal asked rubbing her eyes after suddenly being woken by her panicked mother.
"Don't ask questions, baby. Shhh...stay quiet. Momma wants you to play a game with her. Okay? Do you want to play a game with me?"
"A game?" Crystal repeated.
"Yes, a game. I want you to play hide and seek. Hide in the closet, and no matter what...don't come out. Understand?"
Crystal clutched her rag doll and nodded as Maggie ushered her into the small space. Maggie kissed Crystal. "Stay quiet. Your daddy is the only one that can find you...okay? No matter what you hear, you stay hidden in this closet, okay? Promise me."
"Momma, you're scaring me."
"I know, baby, and I'm sorry but I need you to promise me you'll stay hidden and wait for your daddy."
Crystal shrugged her tiny shoulders before saying, "I promise, Momma."
"I love you, baby."
Crystal nodded and Maggie gave her another kiss on the forehead before telling her to close her eyes and count to as high as she could remember. Maggie closed the door and ran back downstairs, desperation engulfing every movement.
She could see the door frame budging with each forceful kick from her uninvited guest. The uninvited visitor's deep voice growled through the rain, "Let me in!"
Panic bubbled up inside her. "I called the police! They're on their way!"
Laughter.
His laughter mocked her. Was he the cause of her dead phone line?
Maggie ran to the kitchen and grabbed a butcher knife. She pushed her feet into the rain boots that were next to the kitchen door before locking herself outside. She slowly edged around the corner of the house, rain slapping at her face. She could still hear him demanding to be let in. She watched as he finally kicked open her front door, the light from inside shining against his wet raincoat.
She ran towards him, knife above her head, ready to mortally wound.
He quickly turned around and kicked her before she could get close enough to do any damage.
"You're an idiot," he sneered. He picked up the fallen knife and pulled her by the hair, dragging her inside. Maggie attempted to get away, but he grabbed her leg and pulled her towards him.
"Why are you doing this?" she asked, now sobbing.
"You know why I'm doing this."
She watched as his gloved hands pulled some rope from the large pocket of his raincoat. He had clearly come prepared.
Maggie bit against the piece of cloth that was shoved in her mouth. Her wrists burned from the rope as he dragged her to where Crystal's room was. Her body bounced onto the mattress as he shoved her away and looked around the empty room, his eyes fixated on the closet door where Crystal was hidden. He softly chuckled as he tightened his grip on the knife Maggie had dropped earlier. Maggie screamed through the cloth in her mouth.
"First, I'm going to take care of her. Then I'm going to take care of you."
A muffled scream filled the air as the man opened the closet door.