Savannah Watson

Preface

For the spooky month (my favorite time of the year), I am going to post a short mystery/thriller/spooky-type fiction one part at a time. Every Sunday in October, the next part will be posted. I hope you enjoy!

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Part One

“Mom, I’m home!” Owen announced as he walked through the front door.

The house was quiet. His dad was still at work, but his mom could be lurking around, or she could have taken his sister to softball practice. Owen’s mother had a gift for stealth, so he was never sure if the house was empty or not.

He kicked out of his shoes at the door, leaving them in a pile, and made a b-line for the kitchen. He grabbed a granola bar from the fully stocked pantry and pocketed a candy bar for later.

“Mom?” he hollered again.

Owen went back down the hallway towards the stairs, passing baby pictures of himself and his younger sister Olivia, family holiday photos, school pictures, and photo collages from the numerous family trips they had taken. Owen hardly paid attention to these photos anymore; they had been a permanent fixture in the house for as long as he could remember.

As he made his way upstairs towards his bedroom, he tried one more time, just to be sure. “Mom!”

Getting no response, he went into his room, tossed his overloaded bookbag onto his unmade bed, and closed the door with a small smile. Just what every teenage boy wanted: undisturbed time on the internet.

Unlike most teenage boys, however, Owen wasn’t looking for X-rated content.

Owen opened a news website, then another and another, until the top of the browser was completely filled with different news sources. The headline for each and every one of them read some variation of the same thing:

Serial Killer Jason Ray: Man or Monster?

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Part two will be out next Sunday, October 9th.

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