The Visitor

It's was beautiful morning in Jacksonville, Illinois. The birds were singing, the flowers were slightly blown away by the late April wind.
Mrs. Elizabeth Palmer, the wife of Mr. Frank Palmer has made scrambled eggs and bacon strips for breakfast:
-Nothing like a good refreshing shower, said Frank while grabbing his newspaper from the doorstep, he does that every morning, but this time something caught his attention: There was more than one newspaper on his neighbour's doorstep across the street. He knew his neighbours were kind of strange so he didn't really panic when he saw a silouette staring at him from a window on the second floor.
-Huh...guess the Landon's are out of town.
-Honey, said Liz, come drink your coffee while it's hot, or I'll have to pour it into the sink again. As Frank entered the kitchen, he greeted the sleepy expression on his daughter's face.
-Guess the Saints won again, said Frank while focusing on the newspaper's sports section.
-Mommy, I wanna drink coffee like daddy, said Frank's little girl, AVA.
Just eat your cereal sweetie, Liz rushed to interrupt her.
-Coffee is bad for your head, daddy needs it to concentrate, explained Frank without facing his daughter's disappointed eyes, he was to busy examining the economics article.
-Wow, look at the time, I'm late for work. Frank rushed out of the kitchen without kissing his beloved spouse and little girl, only a sudden “love you” was heard coming from the front door. Frank had a normal day at work, nothing unusual, he kept thinking of the “Friday Special Pizza” waiting for him when he gets home. The Palmer's have had this tradition for already 3 years now, he didn't realize this Friday night was going to turn into a case even the FBI couldn't solve.
AVA adores the pizza her mom makes, she couldn't get her mind of it all day:
-Mommy, is the pizza ready?
-For the 9^th time sweetie, No, just a couple more hours, ok? She got no answer in return.
-Just go outside and play for a while, just remember not to live the front yard. 
She also noticed the pile of newspapers on the doorstep of the Landon's house, she watched too many detective movies to let that fact slip through her mind.

-Sweetie, your favourite pizza is ready...AVA?! Well, guess I'll call her when Frank comes home from work...

-Honey, I'm home! Frank entered the house, ignoring a couple of drunk teenagers shouting on the street. Nothing could ruin such a wonderful evening.

-Wash your hands honey, the pizza is ready.

-Where's Ava?

-Isn't she outside playing?

Frank realized he didn't notice her daughter's blond curly hair that he used to compliment every 5 minutes.

-I'll call her.

When he reached his doorstep he had a strange feeling of a Deja-Vu, he remembered the morning stare he threw towards the pile of newspapers on Landon's front yard, suddenly he remembered the shady figure dissolving through the perfectly white curtain that were also motionlessly standing still. When Frank was emotionally preparing himself for a possible eye contact, his eyes pointed at the direction of the front entrance of the house, Ava was there, facing inwards, door open. All Frank could see is her back, not the expression being sucked out of her soul, neither her pointless stare.

-Ava! Get out of there! Darling!?

Nothing. As he started running faster than a racing horse, Ava entered the hallway with patient equal steps, as something was dragging her inside. Frank didn't notice the time, neither the distance between his house and the tight grip he held on his beloved angel's hand. It was like he held a remote control and hit the “Next Scene” button, but the missing episode in his mind didn't matter now, all that mattered was Liz holding their little girl in her warm, loving hands.

-Let's have some pizza.

Frank didn't hear Elizabeth's voice, he was focusing on Ava's strange behaviour. His personality divided itself. Thoughts like: “Frank, look at her, it isn't your daughter anymore, something has it” and “Just relax, it'll be fine, it's just her age, she's growing up” were overflowing his mind.

-Sweetie, just have a bite, it's your favourite.

This time Frank heard Liz's voice and they gave each other a confused look.

-She didn't say a single word

-Honey, we're not mad at you, just have a slice of your favourite pizza...

-...

-What's wrong with her?

-Liz, it'll be fine, I guess she's just tired, aren't you sweetie?

It was like nothingness was thrown in his face but Frank remained positive, what really made him panic was another missing episode of his ruined evening.

He was standing in front of a pink door with stickers and drawings all over it, but his attention was caught by set of letters that formed a “Ava's room” sign. For a brief second his lips shifted into a form that could resemble a smile. The door was slightly opened and through that space darkness was flowing outside. Frank opened the door. Pitch black. The time between the moment he stepped inside and when he finally found the light switch felt endless. He began to sweat and to shiver.

“Oh so now you're afraid of your own daughter?”

“Or maybe she isn't your daughter anymore?

“STOP IT!”

Frank's sanity began to collapse, but he had to remain calm and fix his problems that became even more severe when he saw Ava at the window.

-Is everything all right? The familiar nothingness pressured his chest till his breathing became as hard as trying to talk some sense into his daughter's mind. She stared at the place where he saw the mysterious shape earlier.

“ I'll check on her later”. He was still trying to convince himself everything would be fine.

The voice of his wife while he was laying on the bed sounded very relaxing and he felt a relieving flow of oxygen into his lungs

-We'll take her to a psychologist tomorrow.

Frank couldn't tell the difference between a missing episode and falling asleep, but now he doesn't see Liz laying on his shoulder as the used to fall asleep every night. The clock shows 2:39 A.M..

“Guess she went to check on Ava”. As he tried to fall asleep and wish everything would go away with the blink of an eye, his world collapsed with the scream that reminded him to much of his absent wife. It came from outside. From the second floor to his front yard he started begging everything would go away, everything was just a nightmare and he would wake up in his comfortable bed, and his wife would still support her head on his shoulder. He had to enter Landon's house because that's where the scream was coming from.

He's walking through the hallway, scared like a 4 year old of Boogeyman, he didn't know what to expect.

The two white bodies of Mr. and Mrs. Landon that Frank caught a brief of, were standing motionless on the living room couch. Frank begged they would turn up all right too, but he had no time to stop and check on them, something had his wife.

Every step of the ladder that led to the second floor tore a little piece of Frank's soul, he had no choice but to keep moving. His eyes adjusted enough to figure his wife's lifeless body on the bedroom floor. 

As he fell on his knees and began crying on Elizabeth's pale body he turned in fear to witness the demonic creature that greeted him with a hideous grin and the words “DADDY, IS THAT YOU?”