A 15-year old girl named Donna lived
with her father in a small house in
the suburbs. Ever since her mother
died, Donna had depended on her
father for everything. They had a
wonderful relationship and loved each other very much.
One morning, Donna’s father was
leaving on a business trip. As they
ate breakfast together, he told her
that he would be home very late that
night. With that, he kissed her on the forehead, grabbed his briefcase and
walked out the front door.
Later that day, when Donna came
home from school, she did some
homework and watched some TV.
By
midnight, her father had still not returned so she decided to go to
bed.
That night she had a dream. She
found herself standing at the edge of
a busy highway. Cars and trucks
whizzed by at an alarming rate. She looked across the highway and saw a
familiar figure standing on the other
side. It was her father. His hands
were cupped around his mouth and
he seemed to be shouting something
to her, but she couldn’t make out what he was saying.
As the traffic whizzed by, she strained
to hear. Her father’s eyes were sad.
He seemed to be desperately trying
to communicate something to her.
She could barely make out the words: “Don’t… Open… Door…”
Suddenly, Donna was awoken from
the dream by a strange tapping
noise.
Tap Tap Tap.
Then somebody began to ring thedoorbell downstairs.
Ring Ring Ring.
She scrambled out of bed and put
on her slippers. Then, dressed only
in her nightgown, she ran
downstairs and went to the front door.
Looking through the peephole, she
saw her father’s face outside. He was
staring right at her. The doorbell kept
ringing insistently.
“OK, hold on! I’m coming!”, she shouted.
She pulled back the deadbolt and
was about to unlatch the door when
she stopped.
She looked through the peephole at
her father again.
Something about his expression didn’t look quite right.
His eyes were wide open. He looked
terrified.
She slid the deadbolt back into place.
“Dad!”, she yelled through the door.
“Did you forget your keys?” Ring Ring Ring.
“Dad, answer me!”
Ring Ring Ring.
“Dad, please! I need you to answer
me!”
Ring Ring Ring. “Is there someoneelse out there
with you?”
Ring Ring Ring.
“Why won’t you answer me?”
Ring Ring Ring.
“I’m not opening the door until you say something!”
The doorbell kept ringing and
ringing, but for some reason, her
father refused to answer her
desperate cries.
For the rest of the night, the frightened girl cowered in a corner of
the hallway, helplessly listening to the
ceaseless ringing of the doorbell. It
seemed to go on for hours.
Eventually, she fell into an uneasy
sleep. At dawn, she woke up and realized
that everything was quiet. She crept
over to the door and looked through
the peephole again. Her father was
still there, staring at her.
She cautiously opened the door and was confronted with a sight that filled
her with unimaginable horror.
Her father’s severed head was
hanging from a nail above the door.
There was a note attached to the
doorbell. It read: “Clever Girl”