“Mom, Dad, meet my boyfriend.”

The snow was falling lightly on the ground in the front yard. A light chill was felt in the air. It was Tess’s first Thanksgiving back home since she moved away to college 4 years ago. She was happy to see them again, but worried about how they’d react to her boyfriend.

Horse_ebooks held a hoof out to Jennifer’s father, who was standing in the open doorway. “Hello Matt , I just wanted to say that you are the”

Tess cut him off. “His name isn’t Matt!” she whispered angrily into his ear. This wasn’t going as well as she planned.

He turned his attention to Tess’s mom. “Perfect CURLS” he exclaimed before kissing her hand.

“Er… come on in.” Tess’s mom said, reluctantly.

The two walked in. Horse_ebooks immediately started looking around. “Indoor Living” he sighed happily to himself. He then began to investigate the room further.

He stopped at the family’s aquarium. “Your Fish Now Seem Sick, Your Tank Looks Dull” he said, turning his head to the father.

Next, he trotted over to a stuffed bird Tess’s dad had shot when hunting. “silent wren” whispered Horse_ebooks to himself wistfully.

“Honey, can we have a word with you in the other room?” Tess’s mom worriedly asked her daughter.

“Sure, Mom. Horse_ebooks, why don’t you go into the dining room and meet the rest of my family?”

Tess and her parents walked down the hall into an empty bedroom and closed the door. Satisfied, Horse_ebooks started walking towards the dining room. He found a pie cooling on the table. He looked around to make sure no one was looking before he dug his snout in.

“PUMPKIN “PIE”” he sneered, spitting the rest out.

Suddenly, a small boy crashed into the horse’s legs.

Horse_ebooks looked down to see what had happened. “Do Not Fear the Horse The Little Boy”

He looked back up to see the child’s wide eyed mother, one of Tess’s aunts. “That s a parent s worst nightmare: A child”. he said to her. He chuckled and waited for her to return the laugh. She didn’t.

He was tired of this. Tired of everyone treating him like a horse. He was like everyone else, he just wanted to make a connection with someone, to be happy. He thought maybe Tess’s family was different but he was learning quickly they weren’t. He snapped.

“you are going to get a rare glimpse into the pain-causing secrets of the best trained soldiers” he snarled at her.

She began to turn to run. He grabbed the nearest heavy object, a large family photo album, in his mouth and flung it at her. It hit her in the head, and her body crumpled to the ground in a bloody pile. The little boy screamed.

“Are you overwhelmed by your photographs?” he laughed.

Another scream was heard behind him. He turned around to see Tess, pale as a sheet.

“Tess begins to suspect her family was murdered.” he murmurs to himself. “what to do in court!”