The Day I Lost My Family

I sat slumped against the door and heard the officers on the other side of the door, "Drop your weapons and step outside with your hands up!" I choked back on my tears and stood up. I heard the lock click as I unlocked the door. I took a deep breath and tightened my grip around the doorknob, bracing myself to meet my impending fate. I stepped outside and came to face a few officers, realising that i was facing the wrong end of the gun, "M-my family, they were acting weird… I don't know what happened." Their guns were trained on me as if I were a threat to anyone around me.

The day started like any other. I could hear the birds cheerily chirping away, announcing the arrival of yet another beautiful day. "Dave, breakfast is ready. Come down for your breakfast or you are going to be late," my mum chimed. As usual, I got ready and started my descent down the stairs with my hands in my pockets. With every step, I felt a growing sense of unease. As I reached the dining room, the gentle breeze wafted the scent of aromatic Arabica coffee from the coffee pot up my nose. As I looked around the dining room, I noticed my father sitting at the table reading the morning paper while sipping on his coffee. My sister was sitting across from him, staring at her phone while munching on her morning cereal. I heard sizzling coming from the stovetop and saw that my mum was still frying some bacon and eggs. Everything was normal. No, in fact, everything was perfect - too perfect. So perfect that it felt like a fever dream - a simulation of a happy family.

When I came back to my senses, I realised that the sizzling had stopped and my mum's bowl of granola and my dad's plate of bacon and eggs were now sitting on the table. Only now my mum had her hand on my forehead with her eyebrows furrowed. "You look pale, honey. Did you sleep well last night?" I grabbed a mug for some coffee. "Y-yeah, maybe just a little tired," I responded, then watched the steady stream of coffee as it filled my mug. I thought I saw my coffee turn a dark green and gasp as I dropped the mug. The mug shattered to pieces, startling my family. I watched as the puddle of coffee started to spread. I looked up and realised my family was staring at me with worried looks etched into their faces. "Sorry," I grinned sheepishly and proceeded to awkwardly stoop down to pick up the broken pieces of ceramic. I felt a hand on my shoulder and wheeled around to see my mum's familiar hand gently placed on my shoulder. Her skin felt soft, free of calluses. Her fingers, long and slender, each had well-kept nails decorated with elegant gradient nail art. "It's alright honey. Go have your breakfast. I'll clean up the mess," her voice, soft and silky, gave me comfort.

Everything was perfectly normal, just as I expected. As I returned to my seat, thoughts started running through my mind. I could not pinpoint what the problem was. Everything felt right, yet they cannot be more wrong at the same time. I remembered hearing conspiracies about alien abduction, lizard people, and doppelgangers. I always laughed it off. These stories sounded way too far-fetched at the time. But now I caught myself entertaining the idea for a moment. I imagined that my family had been replaced by three strange, otherworldly beings. Beings capable of disguising themselves as my family and mimicking their behaviors down to their odd quirks. Beings with the sole aim to gain my trust and eventually replace me with their kind. And soon the entire population would be replaced by them, whoever or whatever they are. Only I knew what was going on, and only I can save mankind from their imminent destruction. I steeled my resolve to bring salvation to mankind from its impending doom.

I was going to need some answers. Why my family? Why me? I thought as I walked to the front door and listened to the bolt click in place as I locked it. I mean, I was not going to let them walk free if the plan failed. I could feel the adrenaline pumping through my veins as I thought about what I was going to do. Each step I took resounded in my mind as I contemplated the consequences of my actions. I pictured myself sitting in a cell marking the walls as I count my days. Before I knew it, I had picked up the knife from the knife block. The knife glinted radiantly in the morning light and blinded me for a second. I asked, "Mum, did anything happen to you?" A familiar soft tone replied, "What do you mean, honey? You have been acting weird since you came down, are you alright?" I heaved a sigh of relief, it was the same answer I would have expected from her. But something still felt different, as if she was no longer the same person she used to be. I had to do this, it was necessary for the survival of mankind, it was a desperate attempt at salvation.

As I steeled my resolve, I wheeled around to find my mum standing behind me. Instinctively, I pressed the knife against her neck and heard her shrill scream as it rang out through the neighbourhood, "Dave! What's gotten into you? Please put the knife down." Her desperate pleas shook my resolve as I felt a tear run down my cheek. All the happy memories I had with my family, all the times they have been there for me. I had longed for those moments to last. But I know I could not falter, I was not about to let these impostors get away for what they have done. A cacophony of screams and door knocks rang out down the street as my sister tried to get help from the neighbours. I could hear the desperation in her voice, but it felt different. I could not put my finger on what made it feel different. It is not like her voice or her reaction was out of the ordinary. It just felt to me like she had been replaced as if the one in my sister's body was not her. But none of it mattered anymore as my plan has been put into action. I felt something come over me.

My dad's impostor was grunting, attempting to wrestle the knife out of my hand, "Dave, please you don't have to do this." I felt like the impostors were trying to get into my head, making me believe that I was not thinking clearly. However, they were wrong, I was thinking as clearly as ever. They had all been taken over by some unknown force and there is no turning back. I felt like I had lost control of my actions for a couple of minutes as I continued on with my frenzy.

As soon as I got back to my senses, I heard police sirens wailing in the neighbourhood and officers broadcasting an announcement on a loudspeaker. I found myself slumped against the front door. As I surveyed myself, I noticed my blood-soaked hands. The once clean kitchen knife still sat in my hand, now crimson with blood covering the entire blade. I looked around and realised that the house now had blood splatters all over and my family was lying motionless on the ground in pools of their own blood. It was over, I thought. I had purged the world of the treacherous vermin who had mimicked my family. A voice came from the other side of the front door, "This is your last warning! Drop your weapons and step outside with your hands up!" I heard the lock click as I unlocked and opened the door. I held my hands up, choking back on my tears, "M-my family, they were acting weird… I don't know what happened to them and I couldn't save them. So I killed them."