I laid on my bed, looking up at the ceiling. My thoughts were everywhere and nowhere at the same time. Yesterday had been the funeral of my father and I cried the whole time. The only people there, were my aunt, her boyfriend and my cousin. It had been a beautiful day. Like today, the sky was a never-ending plane of cerulean blue. In a movie, it would have poured from the heavens to mourn the loss of the main character's loved one.

My train of thought was interrupted when I heard a knock on the door. "Come in", I said, knowing the one behind the door was able to hear me. It opened and revealed a young girl whose blond hair was tied up into a ponytail. "Hey Alice. Is there a reason you come to me?" Said girl nodded and stepped into my room. I gestured for her to close the door which she did. That's when I noticed she held something in her right hand. It looked like a bracelet.

"I thought about how to cheer you up. So, I made you a bracelet", she said, holding up her work. Then she walked over to me.

As I got a closer look, I realized it was a friendship bracelet. The pattern zigzagged. She had even used my favorite colors. I blinked a couple of times. Did my niece really make this all by herself? She was only eight years old. At that time, I had no clue something like friendship bracelets even existed. "Do you like it?" "Yeah, of course I do", I answered without hesitation. Alice proceeded to tie it around my wrist, where two other bonds were.

The moment she finished; my aunt entered the room. Like her daughter she had blonde hair and green eyes. "Alice, what are you doing here?" "I made Sascha a bracelet to cheer her up", she replied excitedly. A huge smile formed on her face and I couldn't help but grin too. When Alice saw my facial expression, she exclaimed that it worked. "That's nice. Can you please leave the room? I want to talk with Sascha." My cousin nodded and hurried out of the room.

My aunt knelt down in front of me, asking me how I felt. "It's... okay? I guess?" I didn't really know what to say. My feelings were all over the place. They were beyond my abilities to describe.

She sighed. "We're visiting a friend and that will take a while. Will you be okay?" I thought about it. If she was away and something happened to them, I wouldn't be able to handle it. The thought of losing them hurt. But I couldn't just prevent them from visiting others because of my irrational fear. It didn't feel right. "Yeah, it's okay. I will be alright." This was a lie. Lucky or unlucky enough, Aunt Cassie believed me. "If there is something, just call me." I nodded. She waved me goodbye and left my room.

Now I was alone again. I scanned the room. The walls were blank and right next to my bed stood a bunch of boxes. For the time being, I lived with my aunt and most of my stuff was in these boxes. I hadn't taken them out yet as I didn't know if I could stay here or not.

My gaze wandered over to the nightstand where my phone was. The screen displayed a few messages, coming from my friends and other students in my class. They consisted mostly of condolences and apologies. I hated it. All I wanted was normalcy.

I heard the sound of a car driving off. Now my family was gone. They'd come back. They just had to come back or else I might break. "Okay, calm down. They will be fine", I thought. What I needed now was a distraction. Or maybe I should just get a nap. Yeah, that's it, sleep. So, I laid on my bed again and closed my eyes.

When I woke up again, the setting sun tainted my room in a warm orange. At first it didn't seem like I'd slept all that long. Until I remembered it was summer. I reached for my phone. The display showed the time. It was 8:30pm. I'd been out for four hours. Wow. That meant I wouldn't get sleep for the next 24 hours. Great.

I stretched and sat up. My thoughts were shuffled like the random playlists on YouTube. In an attempt to clear and sort them, I decided to take a walk. Since it was warm and dry, I wouldn't need shoes. Going barefoot was also healthier, so it was perfect. Okay, in all honesty, I just didn't want to go to the wardrobe and look for shoes.

I opened the backdoor and wandered towards the forest. Something in my head yelled at me it was dangerous, but I ignored it. My gaze turned to the sky. This reminded me of the walks I had always taken with my dad at night. We talked about everything while doing so. Of course, there had been a few disagreements over the years, but especially then, we needed them. Father never wanted me to go to sleep without apologizing after a fight. He didn't care if he needed to or not. All that was important to him was that we didn't part ways on a negative note.

I shook my head. They were just fond memories. Something that would never happen again.

I turned my attention back to where I was walking. As soon as I did so however, I saw a body laying on the ground. Without thinking I rushed over. It was a boy. He looked to be around my age though my judgment may be impaired due to the mask which covered part of his face. I scanned over him, checking for any injuries. Thank god I didn't see any which meant the boy was just unconscious. He wore a brown hoodie with striped sleeves. And jeans. A belt held two hatchets in place. That sent a shiver down my spine. A pair of goggles held back his unruly, brown hair. The bags under his eyes made him seem paler than he already was.

Acting on instinct, I shook him. "Hey", I whisper-yelled. His eyes fluttered open, and he sat up. "Hey, are you okay?" My dual-colored eyes met his brown ones. Wow, that sounded cheesy, like in a romcom. I got the thought out of my head. Instead of answering me, he just stared, his eyes almost piercing into my soul. His eyes widened and his gaze darted around. "No buzzing... No voices... Nothing. But why?" Confusion entered my mind because I had no clue what he meant.

"I don't know. But are you alright?" Again, he looked at me. He seemed to think for a moment. "I think?" This answer was better than nothing, so I decided to roll with it. "That's good." I noticed; his fingers twitched.

"Uh, where am I", he asked, tilting his head. "Kalispell, Montana." Once more his eyes widened. At the same time, I asked myself what had happened to this teen. Had he been kidnapped? Or maybe he had amnesia. It could be both. "How... did I get here?" Yup, he had amnesia. I should get him to the next hospital and call the police. "I have no clue. I'll get you to the next hospital though. Just to be safe." He shook his head. "Just point me in the direction. I'll get there on my own." I asked him if he was sure about that. A nod from him didn't do much to convince me, but I couldn't force my help upon him.

I pointed him into the direction. "But in that direction is also my home. So, mind if I accompany you a bit?" "No", he replied. More twitches followed, I saw them in his face and hands. He probably had some kind of condition which made him do this.

So, the two of us walked down the path I had been following. Silence descended over us and despite me wanting to start a conversation, I didn't know how. Instead I asked myself who this guy was and why he was here. I mean, I was convinced he had amnesia. Was he hit over the head a couple of time when he was held captive? Wait, why did I assume he had been kidnapped? He could just be lost or ran away from home and hit his head somewhere. The hatches on his belt though made me question this. What would he need them for? The thought of me just helping someone who may be a killer; I didn't know. It made me nauseas. But either way, he wanted to go home, and I understood that 100 percent. I just had to be careful.

Then we reached my home. I asked him once more if he really didn't want me to come along. He denied it again. "Okay, then just walk down the street this way and soon you'll see a sign for a hospital." "Yeah", he answered absentmindedly and wandered off.

When I entered my house, there was still no one at home. It turned dark yet; thanks to the glowing arms of the clock I saw it was 9:02pm. Aunt Cassie would be back soon. I went over to the living room and turned on the TV. As I hit the couch, the screen showed an episode of Criminal Minds. I rolled my eyes but didn't bother switching channels. On the small table in front of the couch laid a magazine. It was a science-themed one. Since I was bored, I read it.

"Sascha! We're home!" "I'm watching TV", I yelled back. Just as I turned my head, I saw Aunt Cassie entering the living room. Her boyfriend James followed suit. "Oh, watching Criminal Minds", he asked. I nodded. "I thought you didn't like that show?" "I don't. I'm just too lazy to switch channels", I replied.

Then I noticed the absence of Alice. Before I could even ask where she was, Cassie told me, she slept over at her friend's house. Well, that explained it.

"I'll make you something to eat", Cassie said and went to the kitchen. James meanwhile sat down next to me. "This is a new episode", he stated. I didn't ask him how he knew it and just rolled with it.

Out of nowhere something crashed. I looked over to James who stood up and looked. A bad feeling settled in my chest. A scream confirmed it.

Something bad happened.