Her father's eyes were out of focus as he looked at the wall behind them. He lowered his head to look directly into the eyes of his daughter. Yasmine's action of stepping forward completely halted. Jason Boise's gaze was nothing like she had ever seen before. Jason Boise shook violently, like a person with epilepsy. Then he looked directly into the eyes of his children, "Run! Before it…" He did not finish his words for blood spurted out his mouth the next instant. Yasmine's eyes widened in shock and she took a small step back. Her hand trembled.
Jason Boise then looked up. His eyes were now blood red, the red seeping into the whites of his pupil. Elroy shook slightly behind Yasmine. He held on to Yasmine's sleeve. Yasmine looked back at her brother and gave him a small smile, "On three, we run."
Elroy did not ask many questions. He nodded and looked at the small hallway that led to the kitchen, "One," Yasmine pushed her brother to take a step back. Jason took a step forward, "Two," they repeated the same actions, "Three!"
With a sudden burst, Yasmine pulled her brother with her as she ran for the kitchen. Jason Boise let out a loud roar. The sound of his boots echoed through the empty hallway. Yasmine breathed heavily as she ran, Elroy panting behind her. The two reached the kitchen and shut the door behind them. Elroy locked the door and pushed the dining table using all his strength to block the door. They then ran straight for the door. Yasmine rattled the door handle, but the door didn't open.
The footsteps got closer.
She slammed her shoulder onto the door, trying to break the door down. "Ouch!"
The shut kitchen door began to rattle as Jason tried to break it from the other side.
Elroy scrambled to the side of the stove where he had seen his father keep the spare keys and handed them to Yasmine. Fingers trembling, Yasmine tried different keys, in the hopes that one of them would open the door. Her fingers seemingly lost all their strength and the ring of keys fell from her grasp and onto the floor. Yasmine bent down to pick them before continuing to try opening the door.
The last key opened the door just as Jason managed to break down the doors. Yasmine pulled her brother out of the house and shut the door behind them. She looked all around her for something they could use to stall their father, but came up with nothing. Finding nothing, she pulled Elroy to the end of their back yard. The wall was not too high and would be easy to jump over. Yasmine gave her brother a small smile. "It's not too high, is it? Don't worry. I am here for you. Nothing will happen to you."
Elroy's knees buckled as his sister pushed him up and over the wall. He landed on the other side on his back with a loud thud. Yasmine followed behind, jumping over the wall that separated their house from the forest behind it. By this time, Jason Boise was running out of the house. His breath was heavy. Thanks to the kitchen light, Yasmine was able to spot blood running down his shoulder where a large piece of wood stuck onto his shoulder. Yasmine hesitated for a moment as she sat on the wall, one leg on the other side. Her mind telling her to go see if he was alright.
This thought was thrown out of her head when Jason spotted them and he threw the knife that was in his hand to his daughter. The knife lodged itself on the wall just below her foot. He roared and ran towards the wall. Yasmine scrambled off of the wall and landed in her brother's arms.
Elroy put his sister down. He looked up at the wall they had just climbed over. "What is wrong with dad?" He spoke in a whisper. If Yasmine had not been close to him, she would not have heard his question.
She looked up the wall, shaking her head, "I don't know El. I think we are safe for now though."
She swallowed down her words when Jason's arm appeared over the wall. Elroy and Yasmine stood frozen for a moment. They watched as his eyes appeared over the wall. They heard him mutter something hoarsely, "Get Skylar Boise! Get Yasmine Boise! Get Elroy Boise!" He continued to repeat this over and over like a mantra, sending a shiver down Yasmine's spine.
"RUN!"
Yasmine pulled on her brother's arm. They ran into the darkness that was the woods.
Heavy breaths sounded from their father who was keeping up with them. Yasmine stumbled over a root and fell face down to the ground. Elroy skidded to a stop and pulled his sister up. This short delay was enough for Jason Boise to catch up with them. When he arrived close to them, he stopped for a second, and cocked his head, as if confused.
Yasmine coughed the soil she had swallowed into her mouth. "Dad."
Jason gave her a blank look, as his eyes began to bleed, and growled. Yasmine scrambled back and Elroy helped her pull her to her feet. He looked at the wood that stuck out of his shoulder before pulling it out in one long swoop.
Blood dripped onto the soil.
Yasmine placed her hand over her lips to prevent her from screaming. "Dad…"
This time, it was Elroy who pulled his sister, "That isn't dad anymore Yas! Run!"
Yasmine hesitated for a second before allowing Elroy to pull her. They had ran for barely a few seconds when Jason jumped over them and landed in front of them.
The mantra continued on, "Get Skylar Boise! Get Yasmine Boise! Get Elroy Boise!"
This time, he moved swiftly and grabbed onto Elroy's arm, squeezing until they heard a pop. Elroy screamed loudly. All this had happened too fast for Yasmine to comprehend. She kicked her father on the stomach, trying to push him away. However, she was nearly half his height, and lacked strength on all parts of her body. Therefore, all this did was to anger the man more.
He roared and pulled Elroy to his side.
Just then, a circular blade whooshed and sliced his arm at the elbow.