Prologue

Residence of Mike Stone, October 31st, 1973

The knocking on the door grew persistent. Jeannie Stone turned down the heat on the stove before she picked up a bowl of assorted candy bars and rushed out of the kitchen. She opened the front door with one hand, while holding the bowl in the other. A smile broke out across her face when she was met by two figures standing on the doorstep dressed up as Frankenstein and the Wolfman. "Aren't you two a little too old to be trick or treating?" Jeannie quipped, looking up at the two men. She held out the bowl of treats for them and grinned broadly.

A hand shot forward and pushed the young college student backward as the two men forced their way into the house. The bowl flew from her hand and fell to the floor. A gasp turned to a scream which was cut short by a hand covering her mouth. The front door slammed shut and Jeannie's eyes widened in horror as the man in the Frankenstein costume tore at her blouse.

Mortified, Jeannie struggled to free herself from the grappling hold the man had on her. She clawed at his face; her finger nails raking down his cheek and peeling away the green face paint from his skin. She tried to pull his hand away from her face and ripped his sleeve, revealing a tattoo on his forearm of a crow in a shield. She fell back onto the floor and stars exploded in her eyes as her head connected with something hard. Darkness closed in and consumed her.

The two men looked at one another, before Frankenstein unbuckled his belt and stepped closer to the prone girl.

"Hey, man, let's get out of here. She's bleeding!" the Wolfman said, nervously. He reached out and gripped his companion's arm.

"So? What did you think we were going to do here? Have a tea party? If you don't want to watch, keep your eye on that window. I don't want any interruptions from a bunch of brats, you got that?"

"Oh come on, Troy! I thought you were just kidding around. You're not seriously gonna…"

"Shut up, Evans and watch that window!"

At the sound of a car pulling up, both young men swore under their breaths. Headlights shone through the drawn curtains and a car door opened and shut.

"Let's go!" Zach Evans called out to his friend as he bounded down the hallway, searching for a back door.

Zipping up his jeans, Troy Hartman dashed after his accomplice.

…..

Sliding the key into the lock, SFPD's Lieutenant Mike Stone unlocked the door to his home. "Something smells good! You know I could…." The words died on the detective's lips as his eyes roamed over the still body of his daughter lying on the floor with her blouse unbuttoned and blood trailing from her scalp. "Jeannie? Oh my God! Jeannie!" Mike dropped his keys to the floor and hurried to his daughter's side. He knelt beside her and checked for her pulse. His hands trembled as he mechanically checked for injuries. It didn't take long for him to locate the source of the blood flow from her head. Her light brown hair was matted from where she bled. Placing his handkerchief under her head to staunch the bleeding, Mike then shrugged out of his coat and draped it carefully over her body. He rose shakily to his feet and made his way to the telephone in the living room. "Operator, get me an ambulance….."