The Compound

The terrifying echo of my mother’s screams carry in the air. My baby sister has already been silenced.

Flames lick my back. Screams echo from those trapped inside. I’m running for my life. Down the stairs, taking the steps two at a time in my desperate escape.

As my foot finds the final step, I slip. The slick sensation underfoot is unmistakable — blood. My brother’s blood.

From upstairs, the man’s voice resonates through the house. “You think you can get away with what you’ve done?” His threat hangs in the air like a promise as I make my escape, leaving everyone else to die.

Now, twenty years later, I’m back in the small town in Iowa where I grew up. Where this all happened.

It’s the worst mistake I’ll ever make.