The doorbell rang loudly as Miriam rushed to the door. Her socks slid across the smooth hardwood floors as she reached the foyer. She quickly fluffed up her bushy, black hair and hurriedly glanced at her reflection in the bronze mirror. The doorbell rang a second time as Miriam opened the door to reveal a tall boy with striking green eyes and a blue-eyed girl with strawberry blonde hair. 

“Hi, Nolan! Hi Katie! Thank you for coming!” Miriam said as she leaned against the door frame.

“Of course!” Katie replied as Nolan ran his hand through his jelled, brown hair. 

The pair entered Miriam’s home, and she led them through the house to the living room, in which Carter, Rachel, and Lucas were hanging out and waiting for everyone to arrive. Nolan dropped his black backpack on the ground, and then plopped down on the clean couch, in between Lucas and Carter. Katie set down her large duffle bag next to a plump, gray armchair, where she then sat down. 

“Miriam! Hazel! Sawyer! Come upstairs!” echoed a voice from the stairwell. 

“Coming!” Miriam replied. “I will be right back,” she told her friends as she ran towards the front of the house. 

She rushed up the wooden stairs as they creaked and groaned underneath her. She turned left and walked down the hallway into her parent's bedroom, taking another left into their bathroom. Miriam’s mother was leaning over the marbled vanity, applying a light layer of mascara, as her father stood in front of the full-length mirror, tying his blue tie, which was complimented with orange polka dots. Soon after, her middle school brother and sister Sawyer and Hazel arrived.

“Is everything going to be alright?” Miriam’s mother asked as she put on a pair of simple pearl earrings.

“Yeah, everything is going to be great,” Miriam replied.

Sawyer and Hazel sighed, clearly annoyed that they couldn't invite their friends over.

“They should stay in their bedroom for most of the time. There are a couple of pizzas on the counter. Are you sure you can handle this?” Miriam’s mother asked as she put her mascara away and started to walk away. Miriam’s father finished with his tie and quickly followed. 

“Bye!” Miriam shouted down the stairwell. Miriam rushed down the stairs to the living room, where her friends were waiting for her, ready to have a fun night.

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The sun started to set as the teenagers played games, watched tv, and ate pizza. Miriam went to the garage and got a bottle of Sprite from the fridge for everyone to drink. Lucas drained his Sprite immediately, the other boys cheering as he chugged. After the teens watched another episode of their favorite show, "The Watcher", Rachel suggested that the group should have ice cream, and Miriam went to the freezer to get it. 

“I think I had too much soda,” Lucas said as he danced around. “Do you know where the bathroom is?” he asked.

“It's this way,” Miriam said as she led Lucas up the stairs, and into the small hallway bathroom.  

“Thanks,” he said as he dashed into the bathroom. Miriam hadn’t even taken one step from the bathroom before Lucas let out a loud and relaxed belch.

Miriam giggled and ran down the stairs.

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Before long, it was getting dark outside and some of the teenagers decided to head home. Among them were Carter and Katie. Carter set out on his skateboard, as his house was only a block away, and the streetlights were barely flickering bright enough to see down the suburban road. Katie lived next door, so she started walking through the grass and towards her house. 

“I have to go to the bathroom, I’ll be right back.” Rachel said as she rolled off the couch. She had been to the house many times, as she was one of Miriam’s best friends, along with Katie.

“Okay,” Miriam said as she watched Rachel leave the room. She and Nolan sat and watched the show in awkward silence, as the teens waited for their friend to return. All of the sudden, the pair heard a loud, bloodcurdling scream coming from upstairs. 

“RACHEL!” Miriam and Nolan shouted as they sprinted up the stairs two steps at a time. When they reached the bathroom, they were shocked by the appalling sight in front of them. Lucas’s cold, dead, body was sprawled out across the floor, stab wounds covering his face, neck, and stomach. His blood was splattered across the floor and walls, and on the wall above the toilet the words “I’m watching you” were written in dripping, red blood. 

“We need to go, now,” Miriam said as she descended into a panicked state of disarray. She gathered a stunned Nolan and sobbing Rachel and ran to Sawyer’s room, she opened the door to see him lying in bed, playing a video game with his headset on yelling “Go, go, go” at the tv in his room. 

“Sawyer we have to leave right now” Miriam yelled in a frenzied, voice.  

Sawyer rolled off his bed asking “What do you want, and why is she crying?” ,pointing to Rachel, who was wailing, her face in her hands, and tears dripping down her cheeks.

“We don’t have much time,” Miriam said, not wanting to tell Sawyer the dark truth.” We need to go right now.” Sawyer complied, not having a choice and the group burst into Hazel’s room next.

“Hazel we need to leave the house,” Miriam told her. Hazel was on her bed, scrolling through social media, and when the group came in, Hazel exclaimed “Why should I go with you?” In a disgusted tone of voice.

“We have to go, whether you like it or not!” and Miriam said, and with that, she grabbed her sister’s wrist and pulled her out of her bed, terrified of what would happen if she didn’t. 

The group rushed out of the house as Miriam led them across the driveway’s cracked pavement. She marched away from her house, attempting to make it to Katie’s house, hoping that her family would be able to help. However, she had barely made it into the street, when she tripped over something and fell into the asphalt of the cul de sac. She let out a pitchy scream when she realized that she had tripped over Carter’s blood-splattered skateboard, and his corpse was lying next to her, a deep fissure penetrating his body, running from his forehead to his converse. 

“Call the police!” Sawyer cried out as he saw Carter’s body, and the reality of the situation hit him. 

The group ran to Katie’s house, however, when they opened the door, they were in for a surprise. Katie, along with her mother, father, and dog were hanging by ropes from their banister, their limbs cut off and in a pile on the floor.  Rachel started to make a noise, but her scream was cut short, soon to be followed by a plop onto the wooden floor. When Miriam turned around, Hazel was holding a large butcher knife dripping with blood, and Rachel was on the floor, a gaping bloody hole in the middle of her neck. Hazel looked deranged and started to approach the group.

Miriam screamed and ran away from Hazel, Sawyer and Nolan following behind her. The group ran to the back door, but it was locked. They desperately tried to break the door open, but their attempts were fruitless as Hazel approached them, first attacking Nolan. She stabbed him in the back, as he groaned and fell to the floor. A pool of blood began to leak into the carpet as Hazel stabbed him repeatedly. She gouged his eyes out and then stood up to face the siblings.

First Hazel stabbed at Miriam, getting her in the calf. Miriam managed to run away and out of Katie's house, dragging Sawyer along with her. Blood dripped down her leg as she limped out the door. When she exited the house, she was relieved to see a police car pulling up to the cul de sac. A tall man with dark brown hair and a short woman holding a gun exited the vehicle, and they entered the house as Miriam and Sawyer stood together, shaking and trembling in the cold of the fall night. 

They both were covered in blood, sweat, and tears, waiting for the police to apprehend their sister while a dark-haired cop bandaged up Miriam’s laceration. The cops exited the house, one holding Hazel’s knife, and the other ushering Hazel into the back seat of the cop car. The female cop asked Hazel why she did it, and Hazel replied with a simple answer, "It was fun." She gave the two of her siblings one last glare of deep hatred, and Sawyer and Miriam knew that Hazel had snapped, and she would never stop until she had killed them.