Midnight Knock

Midnight Knock

by Rachel Yoon

Hi there, my name is Katie Smith. My life seemed to be normal, but then something traumatizing happened and I don’t think anything will be the same anymore…

As I was about to head out the door for school, I heard an unplanned and loud knock on the window. I figured it was just the neighbors complaining about something like they always do but this time, it wasn’t that. Instead, I found a package lying down next to our small porch swing. It was a bit strange because my family never orders any packages. I called down my parents to let them know that something arrived. When they finally came down from the second floor, their faces instantly lit up! That was the strangest thing ever. I mean to me, smiles from my parents were only a miracle. After getting ready, my parents took me to school. I then forgot about everything that has happened earlier that morning. The rest of the day was perfectly normal. Well, that is what I thought. That night, I was about to doze off when my parents were bickering as usual. For some odd reason, they always whisper every night about something but I never get to hear what they are talking about. It was 11:21 P.M. at the time and I was exhausted. When I finally went to sleep, I heard a blaring knock and I nearly jumped out of bed since I was so alarmed. As I got closer and closer to the front door, my somnolent eyes became as big as the moon. “What is going on!?” I questioned in disbelief and shock. Red and blue flashing lights were gleaming in front of my house! “MOM, DAD!? WHERE ARE YOU?” I was beginning to panic. “Don’t worry, honey! We’re in the kitchen.” “What do you mean you’re in the kitchen!? HAVE YOU LOOKED OUTSIDE YET?” “Of course we have, sweetie,” my parents replied in unison. The police officers knocked on our window again, but this time they knocked even harder. I had a million questions running through my head, especially because of the eerie and strange vibe my parents were giving off… “We are going to check around inside to make sure everything is OK in there,” a police officer said through a megaphone. My parents got up from their seats and responded with an, “Okay.” We let the officers into our house and they checked it like they said they would. Then, the most bizarre thing happened! The police officers told us that we were clear and that the whole reason why they were here was that our next-door neighbors had died and there were cracks in their windows. The cops also mentioned that there were bloodstains throughout their house. So, they assumed that one of their neighbors must have slaughtered them. However, that reminded me of the booming knock I heard earlier… “WAIT, OFFICERS! I think I know who murdered the family next door.” “I think my parents killed them,” I whispered quietly to the officers. Before I told them, I looked back on the clues. I remembered how loud the knock was and it sounded like it was close by. Also, my parents weren’t sleeping even though it was a few minutes before midnight. Even though the officers checked our house for any evidence, they weren’t at our house before. This means that something could have happened before they came to check our house. I mean anything can happen when it’s midnight! My parents being awake, them whispering every night, and being very suspicious?? How could it not be them!? I was sure that they committed murder because they were always talking bad about our neighbors as well. *KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK* “Mrs. Smith and Mr. Smith, I would like you to come out of your house with your hands up,” a cop declared. I saw their devilish eyes as they hesitated to come out. I just knew it was them. “Okay officers, we admit it. We were the ones who killed the Johnson family.” “I KNEW IT WAS THEM!” I exclaimed with pride in my voice. I remembered that I wasn’t supposed to be excited because they were my parents so that was super awkward. I discreetly remarked, “Hehe oops.” After that embarrassing little moment, the cops immediately took out their guns in case my parents decided to do something horrid. My parents automatically put their hands up in the air and confessed that they have committed murder. “Well, now we have to take you to jail,” the police officers declared with a serious tone. So, that was it. A few minutes after the whole crime scene, my mom and dad got put into jail and I sort of missed them. However, I knew that they had to learn their lesson.

The next day at school, I was a chaotic mess! I was so worried about people finding out that my parents committed a crime, especially my best friends. ‘What if my friends treat me differently if they find out that I am a daughter of criminals!?’ ‘OR WHAT IF THEY DECIDE THAT THEY DON’T WANT TO BE MY FRIENDS ANYMORE??? I was literally hyperventilating at the time. “Hi, Katie!!” my friends all exclaimed. “Hey, guys!” ‘Okay, I just need to pretend like I am fine so that my friends won’t think of anything suspicious,’ I thought to myself. “Hey, guys!” “What…” they said in unison. “What do you mean?” “You already said hi to us,” they replied. “OH, I DID! HAHA SORRY! I COULDN’T GET MUCH SLEEP LAST NIGHT SO UM YEAH!!” I quickly blurted. “Oh ok?” I ran as fast as I could to the school restrooms. As I was sitting on the toilet, I thought to myself, ‘WHAT AM I DOING? I AM JUST MAKING THEM SUSPICIOUS WHICH IS THE OPPOSITE OF WHAT I INTENDED TO DO. I better be more careful from now on…’ 

*The next few days* 

“Guys, I have something to tell you and I have been holding this back for a few days now. I feel super bad about hiding this from you guys because this is super important and it might affect our friendship.” “What is it?” they all questioned with curiosity. I rapidly blurted, “My parents committed a murder! I hope you guys will still see me as the same person even though I am a daughter of criminals!” “Of course we will! It wasn’t even your fault. Your parents are the ones who are evil, not you. We understand what you are going through and we’re here to help! That’s what friends are for, after all.” My eyes were welling up with tears. I never expected that reaction from my friends. “Thank you, guys. I am so grateful to have such supportive pals,” I said with happiness and joy.