“Darn it!” Jake shouts from the kitchen.

From in the living room, Mollie turns around on the couch, her hair in a messy bun, and her clothes all wrinkled.

“What are you fussing about now?” Mollie asks seeming annoyed.

“Nothing Mollie. Just cut myself trying to open this orange.” Jake walks over to the counter to get a paper towel. He rips a piece off the roll and wraps it around his palm.

Mollie slides off the couch and walks into the kitchen rubbing her eyes. She goes over to table where Jake had been cutting his orange. A knife was laying on the table next to a plate with an orange sitting on top. , and the knife had  blood on the tip. She looks down at the floor and sees blood on the floor that dripped from Jakes hand. It was all over the table. Mollie looks at the contents on the table and then at Jake, then back to the contents on the table with confusion on her face.

“How did this even happen?” she asks.

Jake glares at his sister. Blood stains the paper towel like cherry juice would stain a white shirt. “I was trying to cut my orange open, but the knife slipped and stabbed my hand.”
“Let me look at it.”

Jake walks over to where Mollie is standing. He removes the paper towel from his hand to show her his wound. When Mollie sees the cut, she raises her eyebrows, purses her lips, and nods her head slightly. The cut was deep, but small; not bad enough that he would need stitches.

“Good one,” Mollie says simply. She then rolls he reyes and shakes her head, her bun bobbing on her head. “You would think an almost 13 year old would know how to use a knife properly by now. There’s some band-aids and treatment stuff in the cabinet above the fridge. Clean yourself up. I’m getting in the shower before mom and dad get home.”
“You’re not going to help me?” Jake cries out as his older sister turns to leave. Mollie turns around slowly with a fake smile on her face, her teeth gleaming white.
“No, I’m not.”
“Why? Mollie, I’m bleeding and I’m not trying to get blood everywhere. Just help me. It will take two minutes. I think the shower can wait two minutes.”
“Dude, you’re twelve. Since mom and dad aren’t here at the moment, you’ll have to fend for yourself for a while. I’m just here to make sure you don’t burn the house down or kill yourself.”

With that, Mollie turns around and walks out of the room. Jake huffs and pulls a stool from the island to stand on while he gets some antibacterial cream and a bandage. When he opens the cabinet doors, a bunch of stuff flies out at him. Crud, he thinks to himself.

“Don’t make a mess!” Mollie yells from the stairs.
Jake shakes his head and bends down to clean up the mess. I wish mom and dad were here to help me,he thinks to himself. Where are they anyway? It’s 7:30 and dark outside. Maybe they’ll be back soon. Jake cleans up the stuff that fell from the cabinet and quickly finds the things that he needs. He climbs down and starts to tend to his cut. He hears the water from his sister’s shower running upstairs.

As he is applying the cream to his hand, he hears the front door open. Someone steps inside and closes the door softly. Jake can hear them shuffling around in the foyer. That must be mom and dad, he thinks.
“Hey mom! Hey dad!” Jake calls out cheerfully, relieved that his parents were finally home. “I cut myself while trying to cut up an orange.”
There was no reply.
“Mom?” Jake continues to call out.

There was still no reply. Confused, Jake slowly gets up from the island, and makes his way to the hallway that leads to foyer. When he peered into the hall,what he saw was not his parents. Instead, he saw a tall middle-aged man standing there. From the light of the lamp, Jake could clearly see what the strange man looked like. He had long, thin, greasy hair, and his skin was as pale and as white as the walls in hallway. He looked like a ghost. The man wore grease stained blue jeans, a black shirt, and worn out Skechers.  The thing that stood out the most about the man were his eyes. His left eye was a bright, icy blue. The other eye was a golden yellow color. The yellow eye wandered, so when he looked at Jake, it was like he was staring at something behind him.

Jake stood at the end of the hallway in shock and fear. There was a strange man standing in his house and he was practically alone. His sister was in the shower and his parents were gone. There was no one there to help him. He stood there staring at the man in horror. Then the man opened his mouth and spoke.

“My name is not Mom. My name is not Dad. I’m your new friend. Wanna play chase?”

Jake stood there in silence, staring at the man. Then he turned suddenly and ran to the kitchen to grab the phone and call 911. But he couldn’t find it. Dang it-there's a creepy man in my house and I don’t have a phone, he thought. Mollie must have taken it upstairs earlier- dang it Mollie! Jakes’ heart was beating so fast, he could hear it in his ears. He could hear the strange man’s footsteps in the hallway. Jake quickly ducked behind the counter, out of sight from the entrance of the kitchen. He tried to keep his breathing under control, for fear that the man would discover him. The footsteps now entered the kitchen and were approaching his hiding spot.

“You can run but you can’t hide. I want to play chase, not hide and seek,” the man said in a cold raspy voice.
Then there was silence. Jake’s heart was beating like drums. He held his breath, trying to hear if the man was anywhere near him.
“Boo!” The mans’ face appeared next to the spot where Jake was crouched down, hiding.

Jake swiftly got to his feet and tried to run, but the man snarled, grabbed his shirt and pulled him back. Trying to tear away from the strange man’s grip, Jake lurched forward and went flying through the kitchen. Regaining his balance, he ran through the hallway and to the foyer. He could hear the man behind him now cackling like a maniac.

Jake was just about to reach the front door when his socks made him slip on the hardwood floor. He fell back and hit his head hard. He groaned and as he lay there on floor, seeing stars, he heard the man’s footsteps coming towards him. Jake groaned again and tried to sit up, but the man grabbed his head and slammed it back into the ground. The mans wrinkled face was now above Jakes. He had a nasty grin spread across his face that revealed yellow and rotting teeth. His breath reeked a putrid smell. With one hand still on Jakes head, and the other holding the knife that was left on the table, the man shoved a knee into Jakes stomach, pinning him to the ground. Jake tried to call out for help, but no words formed in his mouth.

The man, still grinning, raised the knife above Jake’s heart.

“Please. Don’t do this to me,” Jake pleaded. Tears were streaming down his face.
The man cackled again. “I had fun playing chase with you, boy. But now… It’s game over.”

The man with the yellow eye plunged the knife into Jake’s chest. Jake’s eyes widened and blood sprayed onto the walls. A noise escaped the boy’s mouth that did not sound human and he squirmed like prey would in the predator's mouth. The man twisted the knife deeper and deeper into the boys chest until the breath went out of him. Satisfied with himself, the man got up from the floor and wiped the blood onto his already stained jeans. He then left the boy in a puddle of blood, a silent scream painted on his face.

Upstairs, Mollie just finished her shower. She dried off, and put her pajamas on jamming to the Taylor Swift song coming from her speaker. She then gathered her dirty clothes and towel, turned off the speaker, and went to open the bathroom door. She opened the door and turned out the light. But when she stepped out of the bathroom, something was wrong. All of the lights were off upstairs, and no light came from downstairs. Jake must be playing one his pranks, Mollie thought.

“Jake! Stop whatever you’re playing at right now! It’s not funny!”
The house was silent except for the sound of a clock ticking somewhere downstairs. Yet, she heard something else there too. It sounded like...breathing, coming from a few feet away. Her heart rate quickened.
“Jake?” Mollie said reaching for the light.
But just as her fingers hit the switch, a cold, raspy voice said, “My name is not Jake. Wanna play chase?”