Jefferson Collins wiped the sweat from his forehead as he knelt down under the kitchen sink in the house that he and his crew had just constructed. The pipes under the sink were leaking, so his team had been called back to fix it and do one final walk-through before the Watkins family moved in the next day.
It was said that this would be the Watkins’ dream home – from the blue prints to the countryside location – the woods and Three Mile Creek in their backyard, cornfields as far as the eye could see - everything was decided on by them personally.
“Jeff! Hurry up, we have to get moving out!” one of his crew called to him, his voice echoing from the empty and hollow living room. Jefferson tightened the pipes with his wrench and looked it over – it all looked good.
Jefferson walked out the front door with his toolbox in one hand, and locked the door with the key in his other. He walked towards the truck where the three other members of his team stood waiting for him.
A cool wind blew in from the south, quivering the cornfields to the right of the property. Kill them…
Jefferson stopped in the middle of the front yard and looked towards the cornfield. He then peered down the side of the house towards the barn in the backyard. The locked barn sat still in front of a canvas of dead trees and the creek.
Kill them...
The autumn breeze carried in the whispering words he’d been hearing all week on the property. Jefferson wasn’t sure if it was just in his head, or if it was something more sinister.
“Maybe I will,” Jefferson said under his breath. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. When he opened his eyes, everything was foggy and distorted. There was a ringing in his ears – a commanding one.
The ill-omened voice had convinced him it was what he needed to do. With a crash, his toolbox hit the ground and opened up, spilling out all of its rusted contents.
Jefferson clenched his hand into a fist, and released the hidden blade from the box-cutter he threateningly held in his callused grip.
Kill them...
Jefferson approached his men, the autumn sun glistening in the blade…