The day was February fourth, 2007. Three sisters, Christy, Meghan, and Penny Kellan all set out on a walk with their golden retriever, Noodle, on their suburban street just as the sun was setting. There were clouds drifting in the sky, dark with rain, but the hue on them cast by the sun was made up of many ranges of color: pink, orange, lavender. The houses were all built in the same style, colonial, but farther down were a range of dingy apartments painted in pastels long weather-worn. That was where the girls were heading. As Meghan walked, she couldn’t help but feel content. She loved her sisters and their parents and their house; her entire life was peaceful and relaxed. She was especially happy thinking about a certain boy at he school named Tyler Brown whom she especially liked and knew he liked her back.

All three were attractive; all had the same brown hair and green eyes and porcelain skin as their mother. Christy was the eldest, age seventeen. She was walking behind Meghan, the middle daughter, age fifteen, who was holding Noodle’s leash. Holding Christy’s hand was Penny, the youngest girl, who was only five. She was happy that she wasn‘t forced to stay at home like she had been forced to do in the past. All were in a jolly mood but Christy couldn’t help but feel bad for their youngest brother, Jack, who had been forced to stay home. He was a premature baby and was barely out of the danger zone; he had just turned three. The air was damp with the impending storm and their mother had worried that he would get sick. The girls had gone out leaving behind a crying Jack. All of them felt bad for him but this was the last walk they would be able to have before the storm broke so they had gone with promises of taking him another day.

As the girls approached a busy street, Christy handed Penny’s hand to Meghan and took hold of the leash. They looked both ways and crossed. As they approached the opposite street, Meghan had a bad feeling as was about to suggest turning back but she shook it off. She thought she was being silly. They continued walking and Meghan let herself return to her thoughts. The street was pretty and everything about her life was good. She had good grades, good friends, and reasonable parents. She was thankful for her happy life and especially her sisters.

The girls walked up to an open driveway that led into a parking lot for one of the apartment buildings and looked both ways again. The bad feeling in Meghan increased and she grabbed Penny’s hand tighter. They were half way across when a car screeched around a corner and headed straight for them. It was so fast that Meghan didn’t see what was coming. All she heard was the sound of tires and then felt Penny’s hand slip from hers a moment before she was flying through the air. She landed in a bush and heard a snap. She tried to get up but her arm wouldn’t move. All she could do was lift herself up over the plants lowest to the ground and see the scene in front of her. What she saw made her eyes fill with tears and her heart drop to her shoes.

Penny, a mangled heap in the middle on the deserted road, quivering slightly. Christy’s screams as she was grabbed by someone from inside the car and Noodle’s barking. The leash was severed and he broke free and ran to Penny. A man got out from the car and dragged Penny’s body out of the way of the car. Meghan heard her cry and moan in pain. She saw the man pull out a pistol and aim at her and gasped in horror. Thankfully someone from the car shouted, “Not now, people will hear. We’ll get the other two later.”

He turned around then and she could see his eyes, that was all. They were piercing black eyes. The rest of his face was hidden by a red bandana with a black swastika on it. He didn’t see her from her hiding place but she saw him get back into the car. From inside, she hear Christy’s screaming and then the screech of tires as the car drove away. Before they drove she saw the license plate and burned the numbers into her memory: 481175.