April 25th. That was the day my whole life changed. It was my brother, Max’s birthday; the best day of his life he had said before he was kidnapped. Max had just turned seven that day and my parents decided to go all out on his birthday. He hadn’t had a big party since he was two and didn’t remember that. This time, my parents got a couple of bounce houses, a face painter, and a magician. 

All of the kids at the party thought the magician greatest thing ever, but something about him set me on edge. He had long, greasy, gray hair and a pale complexion. His voice was raspy and cold- it sounded like nails on chalkboard. But his eyes were the main thing that creeped me out. His left eye was a bright icy blue. The other eye was a yellowish color and was blank. That eye wandered so when he looked you, it would look like it was staring at something behind you. I also didn’t like the way he looked at people in general. He looked at them as if they were prey and they were about to be his next meal.
The funny thing was, I seemed to be the only one who noticed his extreme creepiness. The grown-ups were so polite to him and so carefree like nothing was wrong with him when clearly there was. When the party ended, the magician started packing up his things, and as he was doing so, my mother went over and started talking to him.
“Hello there!” she said cheerfully, smoothing out her floral skirt. “I just wanted to thank you for entertaining those wonderful children. I don’t believe that I remember your name.”
The creepy magician grinned widely, revealing a set of disgusting yellow teeth. “My name is Happy Dan,” he said with his raspy voice. “Well that’s what the kids call me. You can call my Dan.”
Happy Dan? I thought. That was the stupidest name I had ever heard. His name should be creepy Dan. My mother kept talking.
“Well, I just wanted to thank you for your work,” mother said handing him some money.
Dan pocketed the money and said, “It was no problem! I love kids!”
I didn’t like the way he said that he loved kids. But the next thing he said made my heart skip a beat and made me a little bit suspicious.
“I love hearing them scream...in delight as I do my magic. It gives me so much...pleasure.”
As he said this, he slowly slid his gaze away from my mother and over to me, then Max who was standing next to my mother. He winked at Max. He turned back to me and I glared at him as hard as I could hoping that he would get the message that I didn’t like him and wanted him to be gone. I think he got the message because his grin slowly faded as he glared back at me with his different colored eyes; the yellow one staring past me.
Mother looked back and forth between Dan and I, most likely sensing the tension between us. Then she forced on a smile and clasped her hands together and said, “Well, the sun is setting. I should get inside and help my husband clean up.”
“Of course,” Dan said. “ I understand.”
“Come on Celeste, Max. Let’s go inside,” mother said to me and my brother while placing a hand on my shoulder.
The three of us walk to the door together. Max and mom go in to help clean up the party mess. As I’m about to go in, I turn around and see the magician standing at the end of our driveway. He’s holding the box of his magic stuff, staring at me with a grim look upon his face. I quickly go inside and slam the door behind me and lock. I take off my worn out converse and go over to the window. I look out and see Dan putting his stuff in his truck.
As he does this, I see him look around, almost as if he’s checking to see if anybody is watching. Once he is satisfied, he reaches for something in the back of the truck. When he pulls it out, it looks suspiciously like a kitchen knife. Dan quickly moves to the driver side, hops in and closes the door.
My heart pounds in my chest. What was the knife for? Maybe he needed to cut something in his car. I keep watching out the window to see if he’ll leave, but he doesn’t. Five minutes later he’s still there. Why wasn’t he leaving? I hear footsteps approaching from behind. I turn around. It’s my father.
“Hey kiddo,” he says rubbing his eyes. Wrinkles between his brows tell me that he is stressed out about something. “Why don’t you go ahead get ready for bed. Then we can watch a movie.”
I quickly glance out the window. Dan’s truck is still there. “What about Max? Is he going to watch with us?”
“No hon. I just put him to bed. He was tired after a long chaotic day.”
I nod my head and make my way to the stairs. My dad reaches out as a pass him and ruffles my hair. I walk slowly up the stairs thinking about Dan the whole time. When I get to the top of the stairs, I walk across the hall to Max’s room. I slowly open the door to see if he is still awake. He is. He sits up and holds his arms out towards me. I walk over to him, sit on the edge bed and embrace him.
“Happy birthday Max. I love you,” I whisper in his ear.
“I love you too, Celeste.”
I get up and kiss him on the forehead. I walk over to the door and slowly close it. I walk across the hall to my room to take a shower. As I get ready for bed, I can’t stop thinking about Dan and if he left or not. He has to have left by now.
When I get out of the shower, I hear a yelp come from downstairs. Then a big thump as if something hit the floor.This makes me curious. It was so loud, I could hear it with my door closed. I sort of forget it while I am brushing my teeth when I hear a door open upstairs. I stop brushing my teeth and walk over to my closed door. I hear footsteps running down the stairs and the front door open and then slam shut.
I slowly open my door and poke my head out. The house was silent.
“Mom? Dad?” I call out.
Silence.
I see Max’s door ajar from across the hall. I tiptoe over to his room and peer inside. I look over to his bed, expecting to see him sleeping still. But he’s gone. His blankets were thrown on the floor and it looked like someone was struggling.
“Max?” I call out once again.
Silence.
My heart beating loudly in my chest like a drum, I slowly make my way down the stairs. As I get down the stairs and walk towards the kitchen and living room, I see blood smeared on the walls as if somebody dipped their hands in red paint and ran their hands on the wall.  I walk into the kitchen and see my mother lying in a pool of blood in front of the stove. Her green eyes open and her mouth open in a silent scream. I let a scream and run over to her. I hold her head in my lap; my hands now covered in blood. I check her pulse.
She’s dead. My mother is dead.
Tears stream down my face as I sob. I look around for my dad. I walk to the living room and there he is with the remote in hand and a kitchen knife lodged in his chest. I look away and scream and fall on my knees and cry as loud as I can. But then I remember Max.
Max.
I run to the front door and throw it open. I run outside to the lawn in the dark and call out his name.
“MAX!”
I hear a door slam across the street and I see the magician turn and look at me with a sinister grin on his face. Blood is smeared all over his hands
“You!” I scream. “Where is my brother?”
Dan just cackles. He jumps into his truck and starts the engine. I run towards the truck as fast as I can but I’m not fast enough.
Dan shifts the gears and drives away; headlights disappearing into the distance as the truck speeds away.
I keep running after the truck.
Max. He’s gone. My whole family. My whole life is gone. Gone.