For several months, I enjoyed a respite from all the bad memories, the threatening e-mails, the gruesome pictures of my dead sister Dorothy, and the carcasses of dead animals being left on my front porch, but last week, the horror returned and it's worse than ever, which can only mean one thing: the killer who killed my bedridden, handicapped sister is still on the loose.

I am more terrified than ever to leave the sanctity of my own home, which has been my safe haven ... but is it really??  I mean, I still can't go into the bedroom where Dorothy lay in her bed; I see the blood stains still on the floor and the carpet, and I get sick all over again.  I am still plagued with ongoing nightmares; I don't think I shall ever get over it as long as I shall live!

The police have been searching for the killer, but few leads have been found.  The killer remains as elusive as ever.  Then this morning, I found my beautiful red Irish setter, "Shannon", lying on the porch, her throat cut.  She was dead.  There was also a note on the front door (written in blood, probably the dog's); what it said chilled me to the bone.  Now I am shaking-scared.  Meanwhile, I have to wait until my husband comes home, so we can bury Shannon in the backyard.

He won't be home for at least several more hours.  By then Shannon's body will start to stink and flies will gather around it in thick, clumpy droves.

I'm not going out.  What if the killer is hiding somewhere in the shadows?  I know he is just waiting for the opportunity to strike me at a moment's notice!

I have the Fourth of July to think about, but I doubt I will even go out to celebrate.  Too much of a risk.  I mean, I could be watching the parade, feasting on a picnic lunch at the park, or looking skyward as the fireworks bloom overhead like night flowers, and the killer could strike and rub me out of existance.  It's not worth getting killed over, so I guess I will stay home and wonder what's going to happen next.

I just wish this horrible nightmare would end! I am tired of being held prisoner by a mysterious stranger who obviously has a death wish against me.  I just wonder what I could have possibly done to warrent him murdering my sister and now he's threatening to do the same to me!

~To be continued.~