Flesh and Blood

Sixteen-year-old Emma drives with reckless abandon along an isolated stretch of a Meyer County road. 

In a small county housing nearly 7,500 souls, each with tales whispered in hushed tones, Emma's story is uniquely chilling. 

Her face, wet with tears, speaks of a night drenched in sorrow. As each cry reverberates within her car, destiny gears up to commandeer her journey. 

Haunted by the echoes of that traumatic night, Emma seeks solace and escape.

Yet, in a fleeting heartbeat, the trusted path she knows morphs into the unfamiliar.

Almost unwittingly, she steps over the threshold that might destroy her. 

Accompany The Night Creeper, your narrator, as he unveils another tale from the chronicles of horror writer Casey Burrin, leading you into the enigmatic depths of the Doorway to Darkness.

For more horror, visit caseyburrin.com.

Transcript

In the dark shroud of a long winding road, 16-year-old Emma hurtled toward the precipice of her own demise.

As tears streamed down her face, Emma hit the gas pedal, accelerating to 65 miles per hour, 35 miles over the speed limit.

“Why did they do that to me?” she cried. “I don’t understand any of it. Why did this happen to me? What did I ever do to them?”

Most everyone else in Meyer County, population 7,500, was at home, leaving Emma’s car a singular presence on the moonlit road, rimmed by a dark forest on both sides.

Emma jabbed her finger into the car’s console as her tires squealed around another corner at nearly 9 p.m

“Call Mom!”  Emma said to the car’s automatic phone dial.

In a tight turn, the car veered into the opposing lane, nearly running off the embankment. But Emma didn’t seem to care. Instead of her mother, Emma got voicemail immediately, which meant her phone was turned off.

“Jesus, God! No! Why?” Emma cried. “I don’t want voicemail! I want to talk to someone.

Emma smashed her hand on the console, turning off the car phone.

“Stupid Gary!” Emma said. “I wish he’d fall off a cliff into a lava pit.”

She stepped on the gas, propelling the car to nearly 70 miles per hour.

“You’re the reason why her phone is turned off,” Emma said. “So you can sleep because everything is about you. We can’t disturb Gary. That ass. He has to get up at 4 a.m. to go work.” 

Emma stepped on the gas as the car barreled down the slick road that was now only illuminated by the headlights.

“Now, when I need to talk to you because of what happened tonight,” Emma cried. “You’re not there, Mom!”

She rounded a curve so sharp that the right side of her car left the pavement for a moment.

Her hand shook as she brought it upward to her face, rubbing her forehead.

“Call Mom!” she commanded the car phone. Once again, she got voicemail.

“It’s me! I need to talk to you!” Emma said. “Please, please, call me asap. Something horrible has happened. I need to talk to you. Please, Mom, call me back.”

Emma ended the call, holding back tears that began to well up in her eyes.

“I wish I wasn’t even alive right now,” Emma said. “I wish I was dead.”

Emma pressed down on the gas pedal, accelerating the car faster in a bid to get home.

The tires screeched while the car’s right flank lifted off the pavement. Desperate to maintain control of the car, Emma wrenched the wheel to the left and slammed the brakes. But the vehicle careened past the road’s edge, down the embankment, plowing through the untamed underbrush until it smashed into the unyielding trunk of a sapling that splintered upon impact.

The airbag exploded just in time to keep Emma from slamming full force into the steering wheel. Emma’s eyelids fluttered as she laid across the airbag. Its acrid fumes stung her eyes, lips and lungs, causing her to awaken again.

“Ouch,” Emma said as she felt a sharp pain across her chest. She glanced out the front window, seeing the misshapen metal of a buckled hood. Steam boiled up from the car hood that had crumpled upon impact with the tree.

“My God, what happened?” Emma whispered. “What is this place?”

One moment, she’d been driving on a highway, and now she sat in the bottom of a forest floor. She glanced down at her chest, where a red welt had formed, perfectly matching the seatbelt that had saved her in congruence with the airbag.

As she inhaled more of the airbag fumes, she remembered the miserable circumstances of her life, now made worse by a car crash.

“Oh no,” Emma said. “What have I done?”

She moved the airbag away from the steering wheel so she could see the dashboard. The car clock said 9:03 p.m.

Emma peered up behind her, spotting the road a few feet above her.

As she grabbed the door handle, she felt a wave of pain on her left side.

“Ow! That stings,” Emma said. “Ah, everything hurts.”

The door popped open, and she slid outside into the still night, now only illuminated by the car’s headlights.

She came around the front of the car to fully peruse the damage.

“What am I going to do now?” Emma said. “I’m dead. Literally dead. Mom and Gary are going to kill me.”

Leaning up against the car door, Emma descended along the curve of the car, her face buried in her hands

“A loser all the way around,” Emma said. “That’s me - at least we can all agree on that. All tracks.”

Each salty tear seared trails down her cheeks while her sleeve grew damp as she wiped them away. She stared up at the moon through the trees that had lost much of their foliage.

As she sat there in near silence, she heard it – a rustling in the brush in the woods off to her right.

Footsteps – one after the other – through the thicket – each step trudging through the underbrush.

Crunch, crunch, crunch, she heard as the steps crushed the dried brush beneath them.

Emma stared into the darkness of the woods, straining to hear it again, praying that she’d simply been deceived by her own mind.

Emma’s thoughts turned to her car keys. She’d left them in the ignition. Didn’t she? And if she did, was the car door locked, and if it wasn’t, could she make it there in time?

An uninvited chill ran down her spine. Using the car as support, she gathered herself upright. She cast her eyes into the darkness, straining to hear in the stillness of the night.

Emma bolted for the driver’s side door and threw it open, jumped inside, and locked the door.

She peered into the blackness of the night, yet she heard no more footsteps. She waited for many seconds but only heard the wind gliding through the forest.

“Probably nothing or a little animal,” Emma said, slumping back into her seat, wiping away the excess tears from her face. “I’m losing my mind.”

She adjusted the rearview mirror to look at herself – a puffy red mass of swollen eyes stared back at her.

“OK, all right,” she said to herself in the mirror. “Pull it together, loser.”

Emma noted the headlight blaring into the darkness of the night. That caused her to test the phone feature that let her call from the car. She pressed a button on the console to make the call and to her surprise, it worked.

“Meyer County police,” a woman on the other end of the line said. “May I help you?”

“Sgt. Conroy, please,” Emma said. 

“Connecting,” the woman said.

“Conroy here,” Sgt. Conroy said.

“Uncle Jeff, it’s Emma. I need your help. I kind of screwed up Mom and Gary’s car. It won’t drive.”

“How bad is it, Emma?” Sgt. Conroy said. “Forget to put gas in the tank again?”

“Just kind of hit the front a little bit with a tree,” Emma said, as her voice cracked. “Can you come get me?”

“Whoa, you must’ve smashed it good. Right?” Sgt. Conroy said. “Otherwise, you’d call your Mom and Gary.”

“I’m stuck in the forest off Highway 37,” Emma said. “Drove off the road a little bit.”
“What!” he said. “You OK? Break any bones? Where are you?”

“Just hit a tree, is all,” she said, wiping the last remnants of tears off her face. “Went down an embankment. Hit a little tree, but I’m fine. Really, I am. It’s the car that’s not fine.”

“You could have internal injuries,” Sgt. Conroy said. “Emma, this is serious.”

“Gary is going to hate me even more than he does now,” Emma said. “I just want to go home. It’s been a night from hell.”

“You feel tired, like you’re winding down?” Sgt. Conroy said.

“I only have bruises on my chest from the airbag and the seatbelt. I’m not hurt otherwise,” Emma said. “Believe me. I just want to get out of here, and I didn’t know who else to call. I appreciate that you even took my call tonight. I know you’re busy at work.

“You sound alright,” Sgt. Conroy said. “So, what’s his name?”

“It’s not like that,” Emma said.

“There’s only three reasons why a woman runs off the road – drugs, alcohol or a guy. You’re not drinking, and you don’t do drugs, so what’s his name?”

“You’re not funny,” Emma said. 

“I’m trying to make you laugh,” Sgt. Conroy said. “You sound like you’ve been crying and not the kind of crying because you crashed your car.”

“The car just went out of control for no real reason,” Emma said. “I told you. And I did try to call Mom, but her phone was off, as usual.”

“Oh, right, Gary has to work early,” Sgt. Conroy said. 

“Exactly, because everything is about him,” Emma said.

“Well, that is her husband now and your stepfather, and you could try to be a little more understanding,” he said.

“You know what Gary said to me yesterday. He said I was on Z track,” Emma said. “What does that even mean?”

“Any witnesses?”  he said. “To your crash?”

“I’m all alone,” Emma said. “No one saw it.”

“When you call insurance, tell them that a deer ran in front of your car, and you overcorrected because you didn’t want to hit it,” he said. “Don’t tell them you ran off the road for no reason. You were speeding recklessly. That’s the only reason people run off the road and say they ran off the road for no reason. You’re lucky it’s not worse. I’ve seen some really ugly crashes in my time. Lesson learned, Emma. Just don’t do it again."

“Mom and Gary are going to kill me,” Emma said. “Not that they’d miss me that much. Gary would probably throw a party after the funeral.”

“Listen, I’ve pulled off some amazingly stupid stunts when I was a kid, and I’ll take those stories to the grave. So, stop beating yourself up all the time,” Sgt. Conroy said. “And don’t you worry about your Mom and Gary. We’ll tell them the same story. Deer ran in front of you. Happens all the time here. Now, where are you now?”

“Highway 37, I don’t know where exactly,” Emma said. “I was heading home, about 10 minutes away or so.” 

Emma heard another police officer yelling for her uncle in the background.   

“Whoa, what? Say that again. OK, hold on,” Sgt. Conroy said to the other officer before redirecting the conversation back to Emma. “Gotta go! Something is going down! I will call you back in a few minutes. Just hang tight.”

With that, Sgt. Conroy ended the call.

Emma reclined back in her seat, taking in all that had transpired. Despite the wreckage of the car hood, the interior seemed like a safe haven.

Emma wondered if she should call her mom again. She just wanted to hear her voice. It’d been just the two of them for so long until she married Gary a year ago. If she called, she’d have to tell them about the crash, and it’d only cause more upset. It’d be better if she confronted them with Uncle Jeff, who would back her story up like he promised.

Her eyelids fluttered as she grew more tired since it was past the time she usually headed to bed. Just as the near silence of the woods lulled her to sleep, she saw it.

The car's stark headlights cast an unforgiving glow in the dark woods. Out of the corner of her eyes, a ghostly white streak zipped past her line of sight.

Emma's eyes darted across the foliage and tree trunks, looking for another fleeting glimpse of it.

She searched for many moments and strained to hear any remnants. Hearing and seeing nothing, she sank back into her seat. But her eyes remained peeled to the impenetrable darkness outside her car.

Just when she thought she’d only imagined it, she heard it.

The unmistakable crunch, crunch, crunch echoed once more, but now seemingly coming toward her. 

Emma hit the car lock button securing herself inside. 

She turned and looked into the backseat as if someone might be lurking there. She peered out from the rear window. She waited and listened but saw and heard nothing more.

When she turned back, it presented itself. Illuminated by the harshness of the car headlights, a mere breath away from the car’s buckled hood, it stood before her. 

She clasped her hands over her mouth as her eyes widened at the shock of what she saw. But then her hands dropped away from her face onto her chest, and she leaned forward to get a better look. 

She opened the door and stood halfway out of the car.

“Are you OK?” Emma said. “Do you need help?”

A woman whose face was obscured by a black mass of wavy hair stood in the headlights. She wore a white dress that hit mid-thigh as she appeared off-kilter in front of the car.

She seemed to be about 25 years old, not moving or appearing to acknowledge anything in particular.

“You all right?” Emma said. “You shouldn’t be out here in the forest alone.”

The woman stood motionless, seemingly ensnared in a trance-like stillness as if dazed

“Can I help you?” Emma said as she inched closer to the woman. “What’s your name? If you need a ride, you’ve come to the wrong place, as you can see.” 

Emma pointed back to her car, but the gesture had no effect on the woman.

“So I guess that makes two of us – not having a good night,” Emma said. “Do you want to sit in here? Out of the cold? My uncle is coming to get me. It might be a while. He’s a sergeant with the Meyer County police. Are you from around here?”

But the woman stood there as if she neither heard nor saw Emma. 

“OK, I’m going back in the car,” Emma said. “If you want to get inside, you can.” 

The woman stood motionless, giving no indication she recognized Emma's presence. She thought the woman quite odd but felt relieved to have someone to talk to instead of sitting alone in a dark forest. 

“Wait there,” Emma said. 

She headed back to the car, where she popped open the trunk. She pulled out a first aid kit and a blanket. Emma stepped toward the woman as if she were approaching a scared animal. She opened the blanket up as she got closer to the woman. 

“It’s cold out and you’re in a short party dress,” Emma said. “That’s so short it’s almost a shirt. Not that it’s bad. It’s the style today, I guess. Some people wear it that short.

Emma placed the blanket around the woman’s head and shoulders. The woman seemed to grab it around herself.

“Sorry I’m talking too much, but I think the blanket is better. Not so cold, right?” Emma said as she tried to make eye contact with the woman, whose wavy hair still obscured her right eye. 

As the woman grabbed the blanket, Emma noticed her hands.

"I... Oh…I," she said, her eyes locking into the woman’s hands. I've never...seen that….Are you all right?"

Emma took a step back as her stomach suddenly felt uneasy while she maintained a steady gaze on the hands that she couldn’t fully understand. 

One hand appeared to be perfectly manicured – a delicate appendage that seemed as it should be. But the other hand looked beefy, unkempt, nearly masculine.

“I’m sorry, I don’t mean to stare,” Emma said. “You know what? Forget I said anything. Come with me. Get out of the cold.”

Emma put her arms around the stranger’s shoulders and guided the woman into the passenger’s side of the car. 

“Sit down here,” Emma said. “You can stay with me. We’ve both had a bad night.”

With her head partially covered by the blanket, the woman sat mutely, staring ahead, seemingly only partially aware of Emma’s presence. 

“My name is Emma. What’s yours?”

Emma extended her hand, but the woman didn’t acknowledge it. 

Emma strained to see the woman's features, cautiously maintaining her distance to avoid appearing intrusive.

The woman's demeanor hinted at intoxication or perhaps the aftermath of a lover's quarrel, a car accident, or some distressing revelation. Regardless of the cause, Emma sensed a shared undercurrent of sorrow between them.

“I’m sorry whatever happened to you tonight,” Emma said. “But I’m glad I found you. It’s scary out here by myself. I’m glad I don’t have to wait alone. It’s nice to have someone to talk to.”

Emma sat back in her seat, looking forward over the car’s hood.

“I’ve had a horrible night, as you can see,” Emma said. “My mom and stepdad Gary are going to be all over me about this even if I tell them that I almost hit a deer. Gary won’t believe it. Even if it’s a lie, which it is. I was driving too fast and balling at the same time like an idiot. It’d be nice if he’d believe anything good about me for once, though, even if it’s not true. Even when I do good stuff, he twists it into something bad.”

Emma glanced over at the woman, who stared straight ahead. 

“Did someone hurt you?” Emma said. “You can tell me.”

Emma reached into the backseat for a towel that she’d placed in her gym bag. 

“I’ve seen blood before. Like yours,” Emma said, placing the towel near the woman. “My dad used to hit my Mom. That’s why my Mom got rid of him. He wasn’t a good Dad.”

Emma leaned in closer to her, trying to make eye contact. Emma noted the woman’s brown eye, but the other appeared hidden by her black hair falling over half her face.

“I was happy when he left finally. But we had no money. Her business went bankrupt,” Emma said. “No place we could afford anymore. My Uncle Jeff and his wife, Aunt Carrie, let us live in their attic here in Meyer County. My mom hated it. She wasn’t used to being poor. But I was so happy. I had her all to myself, and no one was yelling anymore. No one was hitting my Mom.” 

Emma spotted a reddish streak on the woman’s arm, so she dabbed it with the towel

“That’s how I came here. To Meyer County. I used to live in Orange County. In California. Los Angeles. Around there,” Emma said. “It’s not like here. At all. But I didn’t know anybody here, and nobody likes me. Especially my step-father, Gary. He likes my Mom but hates me. He doesn’t want me around. At all. He wants her all to himself. He does little things to let that be known to me. Everyone thinks he’s a great guy, but I know better.”

As Emma dried off the woman’s arm with the towel, she noticed the woman’s legs that were partially covered by the blanket. 

She slightly moved the blanket to better see what had originally confused her. One foot appeared to be encased in a red high heel while the other one was in a gym shoe. One leg appeared unshaven and muscular, while the other seemed perfectly smooth. 

The woman moved slightly, which caused Emma to move back. A trickle of blood cascaded down the woman’s neck

“What happened to you? I’m so sorry someone did this to you,” Emma said, dabbing the blood on the woman’s neck. “Why are people like that? So hurtful. For no reason. Just to be mean.”

Emma glanced down at her purse that laid at the woman’s feet. She pulled it up, riffled through it and pulled out a sheet of paper. She placed the paper on the woman’s lap.

“We could be here a long time before Uncle Gary comes and gets us, so I want to show you something,” Emma said, as her voice cracked. “I don’t mean to burden you, but I don’t have anyone else to talk to. Something horrible happened to me tonight.” 

With her finger, Emma tapped the flyer still in the woman’s lap. 

“I was invited to this party at school,” Emma said. “Or I thought I was. I was so excited because I had never been to a party. When I got there, it was so fun at first.” 

Tears welled up in Emma’s eyes, but she composed herself and continued. 

“There were 50 people or so. Maybe more. A big party. Juniors and seniors. College people I didn’t even know,” Emma said. “But then everyone started staring at me, and no one would talk to me. Then, this guy named Bob came up to me. He told me I had to leave. Said I wasn’t invited. I showed him the flyer that said anyone could come. He said I was a party crasher. Some of them were laughing.” 

Emma tapped on the flyer in the woman’s lap. The woman’s head moved, so her gaze appeared to be on the paper as if she was finally acknowledging Emma’s presence. 

“I just don’t understand,” Emma said. “I would never do that to anyone. Even if they showed up accidentally, I wouldn’t kick them out. Never. I would never do that.” 

Emma wiped her tears away as her mouth quivered and her voice cracked. 

“Why do they do it?” Emma said. “Why are people so mean?”

Emma leaned in to get a better look at the woman, whose right eye remained hidden behind her black hair.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to unload on you,” Emma said. “You’ve been through a lot. I shouldn’t burden you with my problems. When Uncle Jeff comes, we’ll help you. Whatever happened tonight, I’ll make sure you get the help you need.”

Emma’s cell phone rang, automatically switching over to the car phone. Emma pushed a button on the console to answer it. 

“Emma, are you OK?” Sgt. Conroy said, nearly breathless. 

“What’s wrong?” Emma said. 

“Thank God you picked up,” he said.  

“I’m waiting here like you said to do,” Emma said. 

“Don’t get out of the car,” Sgt. Conroy said. “Don’t move. Don’t talk to anybody. You hear?” 

“What happened?” she said, glancing at the woman who hadn’t moved, staring straight out the car's front window as if she were a robot waiting to take orders. 

“You could be in grave danger,” he said.   

“Don’t think so,” Emma said. “I told you I’m fine. Really, I am. I’m just waiting here, but I need to tell you something.”

“It’s bad, Emma. Real bad,” Sgt. Conroy said. “Worst thing that’s ever happened in Meyer County. Worst in the state. Maybe even the country.” 

“What are you saying,” Emma said. “How could it be that bad, and how am I in danger?” 

“I can’t tell you that now,” he said. “I don’t think I should. You’ll know soon enough, anyway.

Everyone will. It will be all over the news tomorrow.”

“I’m in danger?” Emma said. “And you can’t tell me?”

“It’s going to be all over the world probably,” he said. “Makes no sense. It’s heinous, disgusting, grotesque. Really, you don’t want to know. Never seen anything like it.”

“What are you talking about, Uncle Jeff?” 

“Stay in your car,” he said. “Don’t get out for anything. And I mean anything.” 

“What are you driving at?” Emma said. 

“Listen to me! Will you listen?” Sgt. Conroy said. “Are you listening?”

“OK, all right,” Emma said. “What is going on?”

“If someone comes by who needs help, you don’t offer it,” he said. “Do you hear me?

Emma glanced over at the woman, who continued to stare straight ahead. 

“Why not?” Emma said. 

“Can’t say,” he said.  

“Tell me!” Emma said. “Tell me now!” 

“It’s too horrible,” he said. “Worst I’ve ever seen. I’ll be having nightmares for the rest of my life.”

“I want to know now,” Emma said. “You have to tell me. If I’m in danger, I need to know.

“Just do what I say,” Sgt. Conroy said.

“Tell me now, or else I’m getting out of this car,” Emma said.  

“No! Don’t!” Sgt. Conroy said. “Don’t do that! Emma, listen to me!” 

“Tell me then,” Emma said. “If it’s going to be all over the news, then I should know. Tell me. If I’m in danger, tell me.” 

“You’re not in danger as long as you don’t get out of the car and stay away from everybody, especially strangers,” he said. 

“Please, I need to know,” Emma whispered, glancing at the woman. “You’re really scaring me.”

Emma heard her uncle take a deep breath and then exhale before he spoke again. 

“All right. But you can’t tell anyone,” he said. “Not even your mother. Not until everyone knows. Do you understand? The only reason I’m telling you this is because you need to stay safe.” 

“What is it?” Emma said. “Tell me. Please.”

“We’ve got a maniac on the loose,” he said. “And it’s bad. Real Bad. Do you hear me?”

“What are you saying?” Emma said. 

“Shannon Galley?” he said. “Remember her? I went to high school with her. She’s four years younger than me, though. Maybe you know her?”

“I don’t know the name,” Emma said. 

“A mess of long black hair,” Sgt. Conroy said. “Down to her waist.” 

Emma again looked over at the woman whose long black hair fell at her waist as well. 

“Dead!” Sgt. Conroy said. “Hair and ears ripped right off.” 

“What do you mean?” Emma said. “I don’t understand.” 

“Nothing to understand. Someone scalped her. Took her hair clean off. Ears too. And she’s not the only one,” Sgt. Conroy said. “Eight people found tonight. Dead. Could be more.”

“I don’t understand at all,” Emma said. “What are you saying? Here? In Meyer County?"

“One guy – big guy - had his hand ripped off. And I mean ripped. Not cut. Not severed. Ripped! Sgt. Conroy said. “Now, do you understand?”

Emma again looked over at the woman, hoping to get some reaction. 

“One man had his right leg ripped off. A woman had her left leg ripped off. One person lost an eye. Another lost a nose. Each person had something missing. Like someone was trying to knit together a whole body.”

“Who would do that?” Emma said. 

“So that’s why I need you to stay put and not to engage with anyone,” he said. “So sit tight. I’m coming to get you as soon as I can. Gotta go. They are calling me.” 

“Uncle Jeff…” Emma said, but he had already hung up. 

Emma stared at the car console, almost willing it to return her uncle’s voice to her. But she knew he was not coming back.

Emma strained her eyes, glancing at the woman before moving her neck to see her better. With a deliberate turn, the stranger finally met Emma's gaze, their eyes locked in a silent confrontation, causing Emma to recoil upon full sight of the creature.

Inky black tresses no longer concealed its right eye—or rather, where an eye should have been. Instead, a vast abyss stared back in an empty socket, echoing the darkness of the night. A rivulet of blood cascaded from her scalp down her temple, coalescing on her chin. A droplet clung onto woman’s jaw before thudding onto the high school flyer still in her lap.

Emma knew, as the creature did, too, that this grotesque being had stitched together a human semblance from the remains of its prey. And now, it hungered for its final piece: the very eye that trembled within Emma's socket.

Emma realized she was the creature's next target, as an unfortunate victim stranded in the midst of Meyer County's woods.

Unable to bear it any longer, Emma turned away from it. She stared out into the darkness, only illuminated by the headlights as it sat beside her, less than a foot away. 

Frozen in fear, Emma heard its labored breathing as it inhaled and exhaled as if it was struggling to take in air.

Plop. Plop. Plop - Drops of blood fell from the woman’s jaw, pinging against the high school flyer she’d placed in the woman’s lap. 

Emma smelled the stench of iron, a component of fresh blood that filled the car. The pair sat there for many moments. Not moving. Not speaking. Just the sound of blood dropping on the flyer echoed off the car ceiling.

The stillness was broken by the creature's strained respiration. Each breath it took seemed labored, like the raspy draw of air through a withered throat.

It sounded slightly human but not quite. It struggled to expel breath from its lungs that made a hissing sound in slow labored language. 

A putrid stench emanated from its mouth as it struggled to enunciate every word. 

To Emma, this is what it said:

“In a time long ago, I counted myself as one of the many, but I was cast out. As I was receding into the nether, five of the Circle appeared at the threshold to console me before I left forever. With hope, I assured them: fear not my fall, for should your stars dim, like mine, peace would find you once again. And do you know what they said to me? Nothing. Not one word. Eyes gleaming not with sorrow but with smugness. They’d come not to comfort but for one purpose – to gloat. It was only then that I realized – how very small they all were.”

Silence hung in the air as Emma sat next to it. She had plastered herself against the car door, turning away from the creature as much as she could. She waited for her fate that she could no longer control. Whatever it wanted from her, it could take, and Emma could not prevent it.

About 30 seconds later, she heard the car door open and then the sound of a body slithering out of the passenger’s seat, and, finally, the door closing behind it.

Crunch, crunch, crunch, she heard the sound of footsteps fading away into the night until all that remained was the whispered song of the wind as it danced among the trees in the shadowed forest.

.