Happy Birthday

Hours after the events upstairs, the birthday party has reached it's prime... Except.. The hosts still have yet o make their appearance.

July 10th 1994

Cheers and other sounds of celebration fill the air inside the White mansion, as family and friends alike enjoy the party. Baby blue balloons and streamers had been hung from every pillar and arch inside the mansion, and the smell of chocolate cake wafts in the air from the kitchen. the sound of piano gets lost in the background as laughter, squeals and the buzz of conversation dance around as everyone waits anxiously for the main event. 

The party was at its prime, and it had only just started. If someone had listened carefully though, this day that started out blessed, may not have been quite the tragedy. With the excitement bustling downstairs, the screams and cries of the hosts begging for help happening upstairs were unheard and unnoticed. In fact, not a soul had realized the absence of their hosts. The party went on strong, and the missing hosts were overlooked. The guests were in their own world filled with an anticipation that would never be satisfied. It was a few hours later when Andrew Davidson, a former police officer, had gone to find the couple, because he had been unable to stay any longer, due to his own sick child at home. 

As he walked up the stairs, a distinct and familiar smell hit him, and there was an eery silence that gave him chills. A sudden thump caused him to start running and begin a search of each room. It wasn't until he reached the fifth door to the left of the staircase that his worst fears were confirmed. The walls of this bedroom were splattered red, and on the floor in a pool of blood, cold and limp was his colleague. Andrew wasn't in the room too long before a piercing scream, and the sound of glass smashing reached his ears. Before leaving the room he grabbed a letter opener off of a nearby desk for protection and ran toward the screams to help. 

Down the hall Leila was bleeding out, but she didn't care. She needed help, she needed her baby, her husband. With a knife in her back, it was all she could do to crawl into the hallway, and try to get downstairs. The door handle fumbled in her blood soaked hand as she tried to turn it, with luck the knob turned. Slowly and painfully she dragged her body down the hall, and than she heard footsteps. Leila tried to muster any noise she can, but all signs of sound had gotten stuck in her throat. The clock chimed beside her to tell her it's a new hour but the sound was far away to her. Fear struck thoughts that her attacker may be coming back, filled her head and so she laid in the middle of the floor, sprawled and afraid.

Andrew heard a doorknob click open in the distance, and the sound of something dragging. Not a moment later did he see Leila, sprawled on the floor. Afraid she was dead, he proceeded slowly and cautiously, it wasn't until the clock chimed, and he noticed her jump that he sped up. As he approached her, he whispered her name softly. As he was kneeling beside her, Leila sobbed and grabbed his shirt with the last spurt of strength she could muster. 

Leila's throat was on fire, she knew she had one shot to get help for her baby. She was clutching onto Andrews shirt as hard as she could.. Leila licked her lips, spreading a thin layer of blood on them. Her heart was pounding but with her last few breaths she managed to struggle out what she needed to say. “Save... My baby. She's.. . " And with that, Leila went limp, and a single tear fell from her eye as she stared aimlessly fixated towards a door.

Knowing what Leila was staring at, Andrew mustered his courage and walked toward the door to the nursery. Although scared of what or who was on the other side, he smashed the door in. 

As he entered the room, his breath shortened and his knees weakened. There was blood in the crib, but no baby. He looked angrily around the room, checking for the disgusting person who could do such a thing but it came to no prevail. The bay window in the nursery had been blasted and broken, used for an escape by the person or people who ruined a family that never got to grow. 

Tears fell from Andrew's eyes. Although he never got close to the family, he knew the excitement that appeared in Aiden's voice just after he announced the birth of his daughter. The happiness in Aiden's eyes ran through Andrews mind while he looked around the destroyed nursery and the ghosts of Aiden and Leila's dead faces haunted him. Hundreds of guests present at the party, and not one of them noticed a thing. Not even him. It would be a long time before Andrew forgave himself for this.

After what felt like hours, Andrew stopped crying and made his way towards the stairs, walking past the body of Leila, unable to look at her.

|Happy Birthday to you;

Happy Birthday to you -”

The familiar old tune filled Andrew's ears and more sorrow grew within him. For those few moments upstairs, the reality of downstairs escaped him. For those few moments, he forgot why he was even at the White Mansion.... Reality hit him, and his stomach churned. It was the first birthday of Delilah White.