It's impossible to describe the sheer terror we felt on Halloween night. Timmy locked the door on us in his bedroom and something wasn’t quite right.

My stomach turned to knots. I thought this was a joke, but I looked at Sam who trembled from head to toe. I knew then that this was real. Timmy must have snapped when we heard on the news that his brother, Dean had been killed two days ago. The killer had yet to be caught, so everyone in town was on edge.

I leaned on the door whispering to myself but to Timmy even more, “Sam is terrified, please let us out. We’re here to protect you, even if it's from yourself. We know how you can get stuck in your head.”

“No,” he replied with a heavy sigh. “You don’t understand. I have to keep you all safe. The real killer’s out there and the cops say they have leads, but no news yet of him. Why did it have to be Dean? I feel so guilty for leaving him alone. It should have been me!”

I saw the light turn on from under the door. “It’s so dark in here I can’t see my own hands, Timmy, but if you let us out then Sam and I can help you.”

“He was a problem,” we heard the sink turn on.

”Who was a problem?” Sam asked.

“Dean. He wasn’t a match…His blood. I mean. I thought he was a match to cure our mother’s illness. But I accidentally killed him!”

We heard the sink shut off.

“I think he’s trying to get rid of the blood stains from his clothes,” I whispered to Sam. The strong smell of bleach wafted to our noses. We hadn’t eaten for hours and we both felt neausous.

”W-what’s going to happen to us?” Sam asked the question that we were both thinking.

”Well…” he hesitated before continuing. “One of you has got to be a match of course.” I could hear the malice in his voice. Not all the person we knew a week ago.

The door was the only barrier between us and him. We could barely see the doorknob turn and with a faint click it opened.

“Don’t worry though, Dean would have wanted this.”

Dad, I swear this wasn’t my plan. You have to believe me. I never meant for Charlie’s door to open when we were driving 60 miles an hour down the highway.

I told you about how I had put all of my stuff near me so that Charlie wouldn’t mess with any of it, right? Well, I had my binoculars… my broken binoculars (because of Charlie) in between us so that she would have to see what she had done. But then I started to get really sleepy.

When I woke up, everything seemed quiet. The only sounds were the hum of the tires on the road and some wind. I remember that it was really hot in the car, too. I looked around to see what Charlie was doing, and I saw that she was asleep against the door. It felt like something was off, though.

I felt in the floorboard for my backpack. It was there, and everything seemed to be in it. None of my magazines were missing. Then I realized it… my binoculars were gone.

“It’s impossible to describe the sheer terror we felt…” no truer words could have been said about that night as I thought back to the events leading up to a night we will never forget.

It was the seventh and final day before we would be heading home in the morning. We decided to dedicate the day to fun not that the previous days weren’t fun but we were going to attempt to top them. It was hot out and Shane decided to go through some of his old things from his childhood and located water balloons and a water balloon sling shot along with his old lazier tag sets. We filled the water balloons and played a game where most of the group would stand on one side of the yard near the front porch and we would send two people a few yards away on the other side of the yard near the garden then we would slingshot a water balloon over there and the two people standing there would try to catch it. After the water balloons were all gone we had lunch which was grilled ham and cheese sandwiches and potato chips. After that the boys decided to go into the woods to play lazier tag. My friends and I retreated back into the air conditioned house and compiled a few moves to watch Sandlot being one of them along with Pirates of the Caribbean and Top Gun. When they got back Shane asked if we wanted to go on a walk before dinner and we all agreed. We just decided that we would walk down the road awhile. As we walked along we were talking and joking with each other and we sort of lost track of time. It was dusk when we decided to head back and it didn’t take long before we were in almost complete darkness the only light being the full moon. We were still a fair distance from the house when we herd the high pitched howls along with some yipping and barking sounds. “It’s ok sounds like they are behind us.” said Shane but no sooner had he said this than we hear howls from ahead of us and then from the east and west as well. There was no telling how many there were but it sounded like a lot “Are those all one pack?” Jeff asked “Doubtful coyote packs aren’t that big I think we are dealing with multiple packs.” Shane said then continued saying “Keep heading towards the house and stay close.” As we walked I could see dark silhouettes darting amongst the darkened trees and a image of Gmork with his glowing green eyes and razor sharp fangs leaping forward to kill Atreyu flashed through my mind. I cling a little closer to Draya and she squeezes my hand reassuringly. As we continue steadily towards the house we hear more high pitched howls and also barks and yipping that sound very close by. Suddenly a cloud moves over the moon plunging us into darkness a few of my friends I’m not quite sure which ones have taken out their phones and are using the flashlights on the phones to provide us with light and yet the sounds of the coyotes are coming closer. At one point the flashlight of one of my friends catches at least two coyotes trailing us “Don’t run…” Shane warns “…if you run they see you as pray and chase you also if five of you can continue to face them that would be helpful.” We linked hands Brain, Raquel, Forest, Jeff and Phil facing the coyotes backing away from them as we all keep making our way to the house. Then it is in sight but something else is in sight too. Four coyotes standing by the side of the road. We momentarily pause as do the coyotes who are trailing us as we begin to back away into Shane’s yard. The coyotes fallow but only to the edge of the road. For some reason they won’t seem to pass that threshold into Shane yard. We back all the way up to Shane’s front door and the instant it opened all thoughts of moving slow are forgotten and we are rushing and scrambling to get inside. I am surprised we didn’t trip and fall over each other with how hasty we were trying to get inside. Shane shuts the door and locks it.

As we sat at the dining room table with a meal of roast beef and vegetables in front of us we discussed the ordeal we had just experienced. “That was the scariest thing I have ever been through ever.” Kelsey said “I agree I won’t be able to go outside at night for a week.” said Tracy “A week it’s going to take me a month maybe more!” Hallie exclaimed “Why were they fallowing us anyway?” Phil inquired “If I had to guess I think they were just curious big group of us they probably thought we were a herd of some strange animals.” said Jeff “They were probably wondering if we were food or a threat or competition.” Forest said “I don’t know how I am going to get any sleep tonight.” Raquel said We fall silent for a moment at the sound of high pitched yips and howls but they are far away in the distance now. “I hope they don’t keep that up all night.” Kelsey complained. “First thing tomorrow I am installing a floodlight or two in my yard and looking up dogs that can ward off coyotes and then I’m gonna purchase a pup or three of that breed.” Shane said “One thing is for sure…” I said “It’s impossible to describe the sheer terror we felt…” no truer words could have been said about that night.

The end to be continued in story titled Overnight Storm

“It is impossible to discribe the sheer terror we felt, though I suppose I will have to try.” Juila subconsciously twisting sheets of strawberry-blonde hair around her fingers, “Me and my brother are victims, to start with.”

I cut her off afraid she say to much, “We had nothing to do with the murders, expect being hunted down by who ever the real murder was.”

“Jacob’s right. We would never, those were our friends! You see, Officer, it makes no sense because why would kill-“

The police investigator held out his hand, signaling for her to stop.

“While it may be they were your friends, the evidence points to the two of you. Your track records don’t help much either. You a former drug dealer and addict.” He nods to me.

“And you, oh god,” He pinches the bridge of his nose as he glances at my sister, “Drunk while driving a stolen car; at age fourteen.”

Heat blooms on her cheeks, “That was two years ago, in my defense. People can change.”

The officer begins to stand, “That doesn’t change a thing. And Jacob, I was able to get you out of juvie last time. I’m not so sure I can help you this time. Your seventeen, just five months away from turning eighteen. You will be tried as adult. Just a warning to you.”

He leaves the room, his last words still ringing in the air.

“Jacob.” A hint of terror in Julia’s voice.

“Yes?” My voice firm, knowing what she was about to ask.

“Are you going to tell Officer Robin the truth.”

I turn meeting the sea green in her eyes, “We can’t. And you know that. Robin can never know who the real murderer was, and because of that; I will gladly take the blame for you.”

It’s impossible to describe the sheer terror we felt. I didn’t think we’d make it through the year unscathed, but somehow we did. The world around us had gone to crap and humanity as we knew it would not be the same. It’s almost as if the world went dark alongside us. They no longer needed or desired the light. They felt the world had failed them, so they gave up. They allowed their bodies to become infected with the deadly plague that had consumed every living thing on earth. Whether or not they succumbed to this plague was based solely on them and their immunity. We had lost thousands upon thousands of good people. And then the food supply chain had been lowered drastically.They weren’t the only ones that were suffering. We had the worst in my opinion. We lost a good chunk of our blood supply from all the humans we lost. But those that became infected and didn’t get sick ultimately have their blood now tarnished. When we vampires drank the blood of those infected, we became sick to the point of where we couldn’t feed. And when we couldn’t feed most of us starved to the point of disintegration. It was tragic to lose that many vampires. Like I said we had it the worst.

But Thanks to these humans and their quick thinking advanced ways, they were able to come up with a medication to help clean their blood of the virus and once again provide us with clean blood. I’m grateful I survived this dark time within the vampire community. We don’t scare easy but that truly was a terrifying time for us. Be glad young vampire that you didn’t have to live through that. We really did have  it the worst.

It’s impossible to describe the sheer terror we felt that night. We walked for hours, tied together with that coarse rope, sticky from the blood it slowly rubbed from our wrists as we ached to either find some kind of comfort or from trying to break free from it’s bind on us. Terror that lasted all night. Going from flight to fight, rinsing and repeating these animalistic impulses so ingrained in our DNA that we shed pride and dignity in a matter of moments to dawn meekness, doing anything we could to recede away in the hopes that this threat would move on and forget our existence. I would almost describe it as hopelessness. Were it not for our beating hearts. Our persistence to move forward. My urge to make my hand small enough to slip through the rope’s aggressive hold over it.

She cackled knowingly. Sweat building and racing down her craggy forehead, along the course of her jagged nose bridge and to the edge of her wet and mucus-y nose only to launch itself down into the bubbling cauldron below. Foul odors filled the room but we could not parse from whether they were coming from her, the potion she was stirring, or the slaughtered and rotting carcasses dangling above her horrible work station near the rear of this hovel.

“Enough!” She shrieked. Her horrible gaze was upon us cowering and shrinking away into a spot that could not be out of her range. Her bones moved like independent ancient machines. Almost audible as she jerked our way, and reaching out with that gnarled hand and yanked the rope towards the doom that awaited us.

It's impossible to describe the sheer terror I felt as we looked into eachother's eyes. Fight or flight had kicked in and for once, I didn't want to fly away. For once, I wanted to stay and let this man in completely. But I couldn't tell if he felt the same. I smiled and tilted my head, examining the expression on his face and trying to determine if he was as happy to have his arms around me as I was to be wrapped in them. I finally felt safe. I finally felt free. Free from all of the doubts I had. Free from my own mind. I finally felt like I was worthy of being loved. If only I could tell that he truly loved me back.

“It was impossible to describe the sheer terror we felt the first time we died. The finality of it all….it was almost too much to bear”, the patient- our newest John Doe- murmured. His dark eyes were glossed over, trapped deep within a memory he seemed to be reliving over and over again in his mind.

I cleared my throat and shifted my weight from one foot to the other, unsure of how to break him from his trance.

“Um…sir, you pressed the assistance button. Is there anything you need?”, I asked hesitantly. At first, when the patient had arrived, delirious and covered in injuries with no record of his identity, it had been exciting, almost thrilling. My first official day as a nurse in the emergency ward and I would be assigned to the one patient everyone was wanting to get a peek of.

But now, alone in the room with him, I felt uneasy. Perhaps even a little scared.

“We were so young back then. So young and so stupid. Carlton had only been about fourteen, and Maria and I were days away from graduation”, he continued, his voice taking a deeper lilting quality.

“I never should’ve let Carlton drive us home. Maria and I were drunk and desperate and if we didn’t get back home in time for curfew, our parents would ground us”.

I frowned as he continued, curiousity making me edge closer to the bed. Suddenly, a brilliant idea sparked in my mind and I quickly reached for the tiny notepad and pen in the pocket of my scrubs. I flipped to a clean page and jotted down fragments of his story.

• Carlton age 14 and Maria- siblings? Friends?

• Car accident

It was the most information he had given about himself since arriving here. In fact, I had assumed he was entirely mute until he went off on his bizarre speech.

Rather unexpectedly, he cranned his neck towards me and pinned me with those deepset eyes. Though he was looking straight at me, his gaze felt locked on something else; something deeper in my chest that filled me with intense discomfort.

“Have you ever died?”, he asked sharply, still trapping me in his sights.

“I er…what?”, I offered awkwardly, taken aback by the question.

Had I ever died? What did he mean by that?Was the fact that I was standing here before him proof enough that I was alive?

I took a second to scribble quickly again in my notepad:

Drugs? Possible hallucinogenic leading to a NDE.

He seemed to consider me for a moment longer then shook his head and turned his gaze back to the the doorway.

“It seems you are lucky then to not remember if you have”

He hacked a cough and beat at his chest. I stepped forward to help him but before I could even place my hands on him he stopped and lost himself once more.

“We must’ve died around the same time, because when I entered that place, Carl and Maria were there too”.

His eyebrows then furrowed, face suddenly ashen.

His hands, folded in his lap, began to tremble as he continued.

“It-it was horrible in that place. Not quite hell, but a purgatory all the same. The pain was….god it was unexplainable. Physical and in my head and in my soul- it all hurt so much”.

He swallowed hard and squeezed his eyes shut. When he snapped his sights back towards me I had expected it this time, almost knowing he would address me once more.

“That was the first time we died. When we were reborn we were….we were not us. We were no longer even related anymore, but somehow we found each other again”, he added.

I crossed out the word ‘friends’ that I had jotted down earlier and circled the word beside it: siblings.

“The second time Maria died first. Cancer. But by the time Carl and I followed her she was still in that place. She had..”, he cleared his throat and swiped at his glistening eyes.

“She had been in that place, experiencing that pain for forty years until Carl and I joined her again”.

He paused, and that pause turned into an extended silence. I waited patiently, eager for him to continue his intriguing story. It wasn’t like I actually believed him- clearly this guy wasn’t right in the head. But something about his story felt so genuine, so heartfelt and so real. Even if it wasn’t true, it was clear that he believed it was.

“And? I’m guessing you were born again because you’re here today”, I said, too enraptured by his story to let it go unfinished.

The notes I was taking earlier were now long forgotten, no longer an immediate interest to me.

He laughed, but it was humourless and hollow.

“Yes. I was reborn again. This body is the fifth and I do not doubt it will be the last”, he answered.

“And Maria and Carl? Have they been reborn again?”, I asked, almost wanting to reprimand myself for encouraging his ludicrous story.

His expression grew grim and his jaw tightened.

“They have. We always find each other eventually, and when we do all those memories come back, all the lives we’ve spent together. But this time is different”.

I frowned and cleared my throat, a restless feeling uncoiling in my gut. I wanted to stay frozen to the spot and hear him speak, but at the same time I wanted to bolt out of the room and drive run to safety.

“Different? How?”

He looked me dead in the eye, his expression hardening and tone turning dark.

“This time Marissa hasn’t come back and Carl….”, he drifted off, and cocked his head to the side to intently appraise my face.

“Carl what?”, I asked, guessing that he wanted me to ask the question he knew was at the tip of my tongue.

“Well Carlton, I’ve been speaking to you for the past fifteen minutes. Even after telling you everything it seems you have not remembered me”

“It’s impossible to describe the sheer horror we felt… all I can do is try” Tori said glancing over at Keisha. “There is a chance you won’t even believe us, Mark”, Keisha chimes in. Tori and Keisha held each other then both sat in front of the fire place. Mark walked over calmly and sat across from the two women. He noticed how they both looked like they have been through hell. Tori has light skin and dark brown watery eyes. Her pretty face was covered in dirt and minor scratches. Keisha big light brown eyes welled in tears. People often questioned if Tori and Keisha were actually sisters. People often fail to recognize that black comes in every shade. Her complexion was deep rich and smooth like an ancient goddess. Keisha was older and often Tori’s protector and so no one has ever seen her with this much terror in her eyes.

“I’m your big brother you two can tell me anything. Last I knew you two were coming up here to the cabin for the weekend like you always do. So please tell me why you called me screaming and crying. You really fucking scared me okay.” Mark said gently. He was gentle but giant. He taught Keisha to be defensive and to fight. Their parents agreed this was an important skill in the city.

“Okay, so I asked Tori to go find some little sticks and kindling for the fire and I was going to start prepping to chicken and potatoes to cook on the open fire,” Keisha began explaining. The trio is from the heart of the city but they love escaping to a cabin on a private lake that their grandfather build as an escape.

Tori wandered into the woods scanning the shrub layer and forest floor for kindling. The canopy was dense and there was only speckles of light seeping through. She collected sticks thoughtlessly not really paying attention to where she was going. Tori realized she wandered into a clearing in the forest.

The ecosystem didn’t seem so alive here, even the air felt stale and dry. This Tori took note of. She considered herself to be the nature witch type. Their mom hated that word as she thought of her self as a conjurer not some new age bruja.

“Tori, help” Keisha said, almost too calmly. Tori didn’t reply right away. She figured she’d been wandering into the woods for about a half mile. She couldn’t see the cabin anymore but she was fairly certain which way she traveled. These woods are familiar stomping grounds.

“Keisha, where are you? Are you okay?” Tori replied. “Hang on, I’m coming.” Tori assured her sister but Keisha never answered. Turning in a slight panic Tori scanned the trees surrounding the clearing. She didn’t see anything unusual at first. Walking slow in the direction Keisha’s voice came from Tori thought she caught a glimpse of something odd. However she decided it was probably just a deers antlers. Tori headed south a little bit past the clearing and ended up on a dirt path. Oddly enough the path appeared to simply end. Tori could see that although the path ended about 20 steps in front of her there was something at the end of the path. It looked like a shrine. One tree was decorated in charms that hung from twine ropes, looped around branches. The funny symbols looked familiar but she couldn’t place them.

“Looks indigenous,” Tori said aloud. She reached for a symbol and gently tugged it out of the tree. She wasn’t really sure why she did it but her instincts said take it. She glanced down at the tree stump that was placed before the decorated tree. It had some language and sigils burned into it. The language was unknown but still not entirely foreign. Tori brushed a cold hand across the smooth stump and she swears her heard a voice inside her own head. “You’ve been armed,” she swears she heard in a voice that didn’t resonate with hers. Tori clutched her self trying to stave off the rampant chills creeping up her neck. “Tori,” her sisters voice called again calmly. This time fear struck Tori in the pit of her stomach. That classic intuition has saved her before. She reached into her back pocket and called her sister.

“Tori?” Keisha answer. “Yes, are you in the woods with me?” Tori whispered. “What are you talking about sis I just finished prepping dinner, why are you whispering, what’s wrong?” Keisha wondered. “This is going to sound crazy, I heard your voice,” Tori said. “Send me your location on iMessage. Start heading back the way you came. And sis please be fucking quiet” Keisha said in a sacred tone. “Don’t hang up, okay?” Tori asked desperately.

Keisha picked up the knife she used to cut their chicken into strips. She opened her messages and located her sister. She was pretty close but not in shouting distance. She put Tori on speaker and headed for the tree line. “What the fuck is going out here today,” she thought out out.

Tori turned around and headed back down the little path. Something seemed odd though. Those chills were back, she noticed glancing at the goosebumps prickling her arms. Her hair was starting to stand up. Her body was reacting and her mind was trying to process why. Then she heard something. It was definitely footsteps, and her instinct was look but she fought it hard. She thought, “Don’t look”. She started to walk faster but the sounds were gaining anyway. There was a eerie whistle that accompanied the steps. Her sisters voice came from directly behind her head, “Tori”. The whistling stopped. A tear welled up in Tori’s eye. “Please help me, I can feel it breathing,” Tori begged into her phone. “Run!” the real Keisha screamed through the phone.

Tori had already turned around. She screamed at the sight. The creature in front of her was massive. It had to be almost 7 feet tall. It was grey in color and it’s flesh looked like leather. It definitely wasn’t human but it looked like it might have been once. There was a large set of antlers growing straight out of its head! It’s breathe smelled of rotting meat. It grabbed her around the waist and let out of voiceless yell blowing her bouncy curls all over her face. She screamed again and dropped her phone. Then she remembered the twine in her hand and the odd charm that hung from it. The rope felt like it was starting to burn. She swung it frantically at the creature and it glowed a fiery red. The beast dropped her and let out and another silent roar. Standing her ground she waved it again. It felt like she was holding a torch it was so bright. The strange heat source warmed her whole body. Apparently this monster wasn’t a fan of the sudden increase in temperature. It was backing away. The beast kept its colorless black eye sockets locked on Tori. It back away into the tree line but it looked way more angry than before.

Tori’s head was suddenly very clear. She wrapped the twine around her hands and picked up her phone. She could hear Keisha screaming her name. Tori brought her phone to her mouth, “I’m okay Keish. I’m running to you now”. And she was, she was running straight for the cabin and definitely not looking back this time.

When Keisha came into view Tori ran directly into her sisters arms and cried. After hearing everything Keisha looked terrified. She couldn’t imagine how such a beast could be so close to their cabin and never been seen before. Not to mention the ancient looking alter that saved Tori’s life.

Both the women looked up at Mark. The fire still crackling and popping behind them. “Well you’re right it does seem hard to believe. However as a former park ranger I can assure you there’s things in the woods that most modern people never survive”, Mark said carefully. “I worked with an indigenous man for many years and something about this story feels similar to his tales. I can’t remember the word he used for the beast but I do remember that hearing the tale, gave me chills. And just as you told your story the same chills creeped back up my back”.

The three siblings decided to nail the talisman to the main door of the cabin and drove back to the city that night.

It is impossible to describe the sheer terror we felt… Someone was shooting at us We kept running and running but no matter how fast we ran we didn’t run fast enough I turned around to see John laying on the floor blood gushing out He’s dead I keep running trying to get away, I ran so far that I couldn’t hear the gun shots anymore.