23:24

It was a wonderful day in Tulsa, Oklahoma. The weather was cloudy, yet warm and the quiet rustling of leaves expressed the transition of summer into autumn. Marco was grateful that he could spend time with his family, considering how busy he has been because of work. He is a consultant that operates in the oil fields in Tulsa, and the business is booming right now. He was finally able to go on his typical two weeks on-one week off. He decided to take his family to the lake at Woodward Park for the day because of the beautiful outdoor weather. Fortunately, most people were working at this time of day, therefore it was not crowded and overpopulated. The laughter of young children filled the air and the smell of the outdoors welcomed his family.

   

Marco’s wife, Audra, and children, Valencia and Xenon, were having a blast. Xenon was throwing leaves all around, and Valencia was running around with a young girl whom she just met. He and his wife were on a one-on-one romantic stroll through the park while the kids played.

   

“It’s so great to have you home honey. We have really missed you more than anything,” Audra soothed.

   

“ I know baby, I really missed the feeling of all of us being together,” he responded. She put her head into his chest and wrapped her arms around his waist. As always, the wonderful smell of lavender infiltrated his nose as his head rested upon her shoulder.

   

Almost abruptly, she claimed,“The sun is beginning to set, we should go ahead and head home before it becomes too dark.”

   

“I agree. I’ll go get the kids and we can go home.” And with that, she kissed him swiftly and he called Valencia and Xenon to the car.

   

At home, Marco was in a hurry to get things done because it was already getting late and it was a school night for the kids. He swiftly made some spaghetti and everyone was showered and in their pajamas by 9:00. While laying on the soft, sinking couch, Valencia and Xenon began dozing off. Marco told Valencia and Xenon to go lay their beds through. He went into each of their rooms and kissed each of them goodnight then he and Audra retreated to their bed to sink into the tranquility of sleep. Marco pulled the covers onto him and wrapped his arms around his wife while drifting into the world of dreams.

In the depths of night, Marco awoke with fluttering eyes. He leaned forward and unwrapped the covers. On the nightstand to his left, he glanced at the digital alarm clock. The time read 11:24 pm. Marco shrugged it off and layed back down, covering himself with the silk bed sheets. CRASH! Marco shot up instantaneously as the loud noise pierced his ears. Audra stirred and slowly awoke “Honey, what was that noise?” she softly spoke with a bit of a tremble. “ I have no clue, I will go investi-,” Marco froze mid sentence when he heard the Earth-splitting screech of Valencia’s scream. He sprinted to her room. When he arrived at the doorway, he merely froze in  disbelief. There, sprawled out on the floor, was his daughter. Mutilated. Ripped apart. He roared with despair and enragement. Her stomach was exposed as a sixth-grade frog would be during a dissection lecture. Her face. Her BEAUTIFUL face, was bashed in. The corner of her bedpost dripping with the blood of her innocence. He could no longer stand the sight and vomited onto the floor; knees buckling beneath him. It then hit him like a wave of despair that he still had two other people in the house with some potential maniac. As he got up to check on his son, he blacked out.

   

The blur of life infiltrated his vision when he awoke again. This time however, he was not in the safety of his bed. He was tied up and the back of his head was throbbing. His eyes focused on the room. His eyes lightly focused on his surroundings and the room that engulfed him. The towering, concrete walls rose beside him. His bare feet roughly scraped the floor as he swayed forward and backward slightly. And with each sway, he began to notice some liquid touching his big toe. Then it clicked almost instantaneously that he was tied up in his own basement. As he glanced to his right, he was horrified to see his daughter again sprawled on the floor of the basement. Only there was a disturbing, significant difference: She had a forced smile implanted onto her misshapen face with staples. Marco vomited again only this time it went all over his own body because he was hanging from a rope. To is right, he saw his son sprawled onto the floor almost identical to his sister. He had the same, forceful smile. However unlike his sister, his face was still intact. Although his body was ripped apart. His arms and legs were dismembered from his body and scattered across the bloody floor of the basement. If he wanted to, Marco could probably touch the hand of his son with his bare foot.

Then, he saw his wife. She was tied down to a chair in front of him. Her face was inflamed from a beating, her eyes were swollen. and her gaping throat was exposed. Three masked people, two men and one woman (based on stature) entered the basement with a BANG.

   

“Hello Marco,” the woman spoke maliciously.

   

“W-what is it you want from me?!” Marco desperately pleaded.

   

“What do we want? We want to extend our freedoms. We want to show society that it is blinded by fantasies. Fantasies that envelop the lives of everyone. Americans hope for the best in everything and yet they fail to see that the weak are left to die in the dark. Humankind is selfish in every way and we want everyone to know that the wealthy, joyous families are just as weak as the poor and broken. We have been closely watching you and your family for weeks now. And we feel that your family would be the perfect participants for our broadcasting,” she excitedly spoke.

   

As she hissed that last sentence, Marco noticed the camera in the corner recording this massacre. His heart began to rise with panic as he realized that a sick cult was using his family in what they see as a revolution.

   

“P-participants? What do you mean?! What do you want out of u-,” with a quick motion, one of the men opened up his mouth and the other sliced the front half of his tongue. Marco tried to scream, but all that was released was gurgles from the tremendous amounts of blood pouring from the other half of his tongue. The taste of copper exploded in his mouth and he realized in this moment that he had absolutely no control of the situation. Hope was lost and no one could save him.

   

“Shhhhhhh,” the woman cooed as she approached his wife. One of the men handed her a stapler and all Marco could do is silently stare as the woman stapled through Audra’s mouth. Forming a forceful smile, just as the rest of his family.

   

Marco made a futile attempt to sob as blood filled his mouth to the brim and all he could do was spit. His vision began to blur once again as the woman approached him. As she walked toward him, his heart collapsed with each step. Each agonizing second seemed to last an eternity in his mind and all he felt was in despair.

   

“Don’t worry. All we want you and your family to do is smile,” she spoke with absolute malice. “Smile because you are the representation of our New World”.

   

Then she smiled. Not a smile of comfort or tranquility, but rather one of pure enjoyment. One a child would form after stealing and eating a piece of candy. As she smiled, a single tear fell from Marco’s eye as he stared deep into her eyes and blacked out for the last time.

Marco awoke with a start. He launched out of his bed screaming. Audra awoke panicking and trying to calm down her husband. Finally, she was able to comfort him and tell him it was only a dream and not to worry. He settled down and relaxed a bit. That was until he heard an ear-piercing “CRASH.” He quickly exchanged his look to the digital clock on the nightstand. It read: 11:25.