Sons and Daughters of Cataclysm: PROLOGUE

It was a late and cold night in the Antelope Valley. The sky was pitch black, the streets were deserted, and the night howled like wolves crying to the whitest sphere. In a quiet neighborhood where all the lights in every two-story house was off, the rustling of the trees and the thunder in the distance suddenly woke up a little girl who was sleeping peacefully in her bedroom. The tree near her window brushed its branches against its window frame, causing an eerie scratching noise. The little girl’s eyes popped open and with a sudden breath, she sat up in bed, her  forehead wet and her heart pounding in her chest. She turned her head to the window and gasped when a lightning flashed and the shadows of the trees outside her window were exposed, but she could’ve sworn she saw a man standing in the corner of her bedroom, grinning. This caused the hairs on her neck to stand up on end.

With apprehension, she slipped her right hand under her covers where she searched blindingly for her flashlight— every move causing her panic. Who was he, and how did he get in? Should she scream? Should she expose the man? Maybe she was just imagining things. All these thoughts swarmed her head and her heart only pounded faster and faster. She couldn’t scream. She was too paralyzed with fear.

She peered through the darkness of her room, trying to make out the man’s silhouette. It was too difficult. She listened for anything. His breathing, a move that he would make. She heard nothing.

At last, she felt the handle of her flashlight. She gripped it tightly and slowly brought it to her chest. If anything, she could try and whack him with it, right? She waited like a panther getting ready to attack its prey. Although in this case, she was the prey. She couldn’t see anything in the dark. She could only wait and hear despite the disadvantage.

When she heard nothing, she flashed her light into the corner where she last saw the man. He wasn’t there! Just a bare, white wall, and her pile of toys. She wanted to believe that she was imagining things, that it was simply a trick of her mind, but a part of her refused to be fooled. She knew she saw him! She flashed the light around her small room  and turned her body to face the right towards the door. So far so good. There was no one there. She exhaled steadily and began to ease down a bit, her  heart rate slowly decreasing. 

Then suddenly, she heard someone breathing behind her. She caught her breath and slowly turned around. She raised her flashlight and flashed the face of an old man! His face wrinkled and saggy and his eyes sucked in. He grinned at her, revealing yellow-stained teeth. She gaped at him in horror as he cocked his head to one side. He held up a bony hand and reached for her face. She backed away from him, her eyes never leaving his face. Her blood curled in her veins. When will she scream?

All of a sudden the man stopped. He stopped grinning, but then he began to open his mouth as if he were going to take a bite out of something. The skin on the two ends of his mouth leading to his jaw began to rip apart as he opened his mouth wider and wider, pulling his head backwards. He let out a spine-chilling scream and when he brought his head back down and faced her, his eyes were pitch black and his mouth dripped with blood with rows of dagger-like teeth.

He smiled at her. “I promise it won’t hurt. I’ll make it quick if you like.” He rasps. “I just need to feed.”

With that, she screamed.