I can hear the footsteps on the creaking floorboards. Softly, slowly, as though they don’t want to be heard. Careful through the night. We all heard him though, Mr. Tiddles, me, and Buzz. We all know he is in the house.

He may have been quiet but I had been stargazing through the gap in my curtain with Mr. Tiddles when I saw him jump our fence.

Step after step I can hear his every movement. On the stairs now. The corridor. Past the bathroom. Outside my room. Silence. I hug Mr. Tiddles closer. Pull the duvet over my head. I’m in another world, away from the stranger who jumped my fence.

The doorknob, as softly as the footsteps, turns and I sink deeper into my bed. The door is opening, left to swing by itself. I don’t hear any more footsteps approaching but I do feel the weight on my bed causing it to lurch.

“Hello, my darling.”

Lila panted as she ran through the forest, her normally silky skin was now scratched and rough. It seemed as if the underbrush was grabbing at her legs, forcing her to stay in this wretched place. The sound was drawing closer as she panted exhaustedly from her fleeing her pursuer. Then it went dead silent... A crow’s caw shattered through the deafening silence. BANG. Lila lay on the ground a pool of crimson forming around her head. The only remaining sounds were the cawing of crows and the crunching of leaves beneath feet. A deep ominous chuckle resonated throughout the forest as a creature emerged from the trees. He had black hair, but terrifying glowing red eyes. The man stopped in front of Lila’s body, who was slowly waking up. She saw him, and her skin went deathly pale, shivers racked her body. The man put his hand under her neck lifting her up so she was eye level with his blood-red orbs. His touch was tantalizing yet so very forbidden, and Lila realized that too late.

”Lila darling, come now, we must be getting home.” Like shook even more violently at his tone of voice. She whimpered and nodded, tears flooded out of her glossy green eyes.

”Y-yes Dimitri, let's go” she stuttered as she shakily stood up with his assistance. He smirked and nodded as some blood dripped onto his skin. What was never mentioned was that the blood melded onto Dimitri’s skin perfectly? After all, red blends in with red, a demon has no empathy.

That day was the day the Lila Seliona was killed, her body littered with scratches and stab wounds. Lila died a painfully slow death by blood loss, her last moments filled with pain.

As for Dimitri, they say that he still resides in that very forest, luring young girls to a predetermined fate, death...

But after all, it's not Dimitri’s fault that he became the way he is today... Dimitri is the victim in this situation, as blasphemous as it sounds. You see, Lila was a demon, but she bit Dimitri, thus making him one as well. Newling demons are said to have more bloodlust than any creature on earth, and Lila was aware of this. Dimitri had no one to teach him how to control his urges, and he was unwillingly turned. Dimitri in this scenario is just trying to survive, like a caged animal that was finally set free. In any scenario, Dimitri is at no fault, he cannot control his actions. If you were him, what would you do? Would you try to kill yourself to save Lila, you can't demons can't die. Would you kill Lila and then learn, from who though? Would you flee in hopes of saving everyone, but there are people everywhere. This is the only logical way things could ever happen. Dimitri’s life has been ruined, and all he can do in his position is to do the same others to others

It was over. It had to be over. I sat by the old oak tree, the one with the initials craved into it. I rocked back and forth, trying to come to grips with what had happened. They were all gone. Only I was left.

How could the had happen? The day had started normal, even dull. We had planned to go for a walk in the woods, have a few beers, and just generally goof off. The walk was just a three mile level jaunt, nothing strenuous. We stopped in the clearing, near the old shack, and cracked open the beers.

We laughed, we sang, we told stories. We stayed out until after the sunset, and then decided we should head home. In the distance, we heard a wolf howl. Strange, there were no wolves in this state, not for well over a century. Perhaps it was someone’s dog? It was the beer doing its work, but we decided to find this canine.

Tripping over roots, and laughing at out foolishness, we didn’t think about the danger until it was too late. Isn’t that always how these tales go? It happened so quickly, a flash of red, and claws. Joe was down, screaming in agony. His chest was ripped open, and we had no idea where the assistant was.

Another flash of red, and Susan’s throat was ripped out. At least she died instantly. I ran, coward that I am. Steve was following after me, telling me that I should stop and help Joe. But I knew we was gone.

I did eventually stop, and caught my breathe. Steve stopped near me, yelling at me. Another flash of red, and Steve was no more. I ran, tears streaming down my face.

At the old oak tree, I ran my fingers across the initials. I was calming down, trying to think of where to go next. The cops would mock me, no one would believe me.

I stood up, wrapped my arm around me, and looked down.

Huh.

Was I wearing this red hoodie before? Why were my fingernails cracked?

Another howl.

I smiled. And walked off.

My hands felt through the thick darkness like the tentacles of a distressed octopus, the cold midnight air brushed the tips of my fingers and traveled through my bones to my spine making me jitter with fear. My frightened digits met the hard bark of a tree, I slumped up against it tenderly, allowing the warmth of the presence of another living organism to course through my veins. As I stroked the dry bark of the towering plant, a tone stretched through the vast woods, a sort of high pitched resonance that rattled my Skelton and made my skin crawl. Such a sinister sound could not be caused by that of any living creature known to this earth.

Just as I had shoved the thought to the back of my mind, a sensation similar to that of a long finger, running its tip over my cheek reared itself from the horror pit of this Forrest. It startled me, I helped my self up from the thick trunk and began through the thick grass, one leg after the other, stretching as far as I could with each stride and launching my self the furthest distance that I could muster. As the chaos came to a halt, my pulse slowed, my mind gradually came to ease and I almost forgot about the frightening events that had just take place.

I continued to trample the soggy grass under my thick boots, trying to make as little sound and impact as I could with each step. Soon, i came across a figure, it almost blended in with the blackness of the wood. As my eyes met it, I stopped in my tracks. Adrenaline began pouring back into my blood stream and I could feel my pulse increasing. I could feel every heart beat and the blood pushing it’s way through the thin tunnels of my arteries beneath my skin. Beads of sweat began one by one dancing down my face and back, and at the height of my panic, the figure lurched forward and revealed its face.

I will never forget the look of this demonic blood fiend as it’s retched face uncloaked itself from the mist of the dark forest. A pale face, white almost with an alarming lack of eyes. It’s mouth took up at least 40% of its face as it breached its lips and stretched open its jaws, showcasing an array of shattered yellow teeth, each one dripping furiously with the blood of the innocent.

I don’t remember much after that, but know this, not a day goes by where I do not see that morbid creature in the blacks of my eyes when I close them for merely a second. He visits at night, in my dreams. But when I wake up, I can almost swear, every night... He is just to slow disappearing from the foot of my bed.

As the car pulled up, I parked in our usual spot and took a deep breath of the fresh mountain air before rolling up the window. Looking behind me I see my little girl laying with her head against the window and her mouth open, drool all over her chin. Wanting to let her get a bit more rest, I opened the car door and looked around. We took a vacation at my parent’s cabin every few months, it was a pretty run down place without hot water and barely functioning electricity. But we loved it here, it was an escape from the trivial actions of everyday life. The cabin had a pitched roof, few windows high on the walls, and a deck out front. There was a driveway and a small clearing with a fire pit in front of the cabin. I stretched my legs and back before walking up to the door and unlocking it, the inside of the cabin had been left the same as the last time we were there, but with more dust. I opened the windows and started a fire in the fireplace, it was already 7:00 and would be dark soon. I turned to leave, but the door was closed and locked. Not odd for an old house on a windy day. Heading back outside, I quickly noticed something wrong, the car was gone. My breath quickened as I ran down to the parking space that was previously occupied by my car with my sleeping daughter in it. How could this have happened? I reached for my pocket, I still had the car keys. Wouldn’t I have heard something? The cabin was only ten feet from the car and the forest is silent and has been since we got here. My heart was beating out of my chest. What do I do? Before I can think I’m already running down the dirt road, directly into the forest. I call my daughters name as I run as fast as I can trying to keep my balance on the uneven road. In the distance I see a cabin, maybe they can help me. The closer I get, I realize that’s my parent’s cabin with my car in the drive way. I don’t recall turning around at any point, but in my panic i could have. I ran to the car and quickly opened the door to see my beautiful and safe six year old daughter sitting in the backseat. “Hi mommy, are you okay?” She questioned, noticing my distress. I wrapped her in a tight embrace, glad to have her in my arms again. “Everything is just fine lovebug, mommy isn’t feeling well, so I think we’re going to head home. Is that okay?I’ll buy you some ice cream on the way back.” She excitedly nodded her head and buckled her seatbelt again. I ran up and locked the still open cabin door before driving off, not planning to return soon.

It’s so dark and damp. My chest is tight and my feet are shredded from the brambles. I’m trying to be as silent as I can. I don’t want it to notice me.

It woke me up. Streaking its hands down my window. On the third floor. I’m sure it would’ve scratched if it had claws, but it doesn’t even have skin. Or eyes. It still saw me though. It still chased me.

I can hear it above me- there is ragged breathing that masks the rustling of the trees. I can smell it. Blood. My face is wet with tears. If I close my eyes, will I wake up?

Nobody will save me. They can’t. They’ll never find me here, deep in the woods. Buried alive.

I crouched in the brush, my back against a large tree hiding me from the hiking trail. My pulse pounded in my ears, my chest heaved with gasps, and my body quivered with adrenaline and terror as the strains of the song “Happy” filtered faintly through the stillness of the forest.

A bead of sweat trickled maddeningly down my temple. I raised a shaky hand and smeared it into my hair as I tried to slow my breathing and melt into the rough bark behind me.

The music got closer. I could now hear humming, off-key and jolly like a Santa Claus. I shrunk into the leaves, my chest heaving despite my best efforts to stay quiet and still.

The music grew louder and I began to discern feet tramping through the underbrush. The music, humming, and crunching leaves mingled to create an orchestra of terrifying sounds.

A chilling breeze swept through the trees, warning me to run. Yet I huddled, frozen, waiting for my fate.

The music was cacophonous. The crunching leaves stopped. He was right behind my tree. He knew I was there.

An arm snaked around and gripped my elbow. A scream ripped from my open mouth as he dragged me around the tree and into his waiting arms.

—

The forest was silent. The trees were still. No shadow dared to stir.

A man sat on a log, hunched like an old woman. A mound of dirt rose before him the size of a casket. He leaned forward, touched the mound tenderly, then stood. He stooped and swung a large boom box to his shoulder. The cheerful melody of “Happy” filled the silence as the man turned and tromped away through the dusky stillness.