I woke up to see Jared staring out of the window. "Morning," I said after I managed to fully wake myself up.

He responded without looking away from the window, "Morning."

I got up, "Do you see anything out there?"

"Nothing, it's just..." he started to respond, then stopped himself. He seemed hesitant to talk.

"What is it, Jared? You can tell me," I asked, then I realized what must have been bothering him, "Did you have a nightmare?"

He nodded, "It was about my brother. There were dozens of those things tearing him apart outside this window here. I tried to move my body to save him, but I couldn't move my legs. I could only slam my hands against the glass and scream. Then one of them, the one that ran away, it walked over to the window, pressed its face up against the glass and spread its mouth wide. Then I woke up in a cold sweat."

"Jared, if you feel guilty about your brother..."

"I don't. I know there was nothing I could have done to save him back in Arborline. I just miss him, that's all."

"I know exactly how you feel," my voice was choked up, "An hour hasn't gone by where I don't think about what happened to my wife, and about how Aaron must feel."

Then a crash came from upstairs, one that sent a shiver through every cell in my body. For a second, there was silence, and then a low gurgling noise that sounded almost like someone was trying to talk while their throat was full of blood echoed from down the stairs.

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

Jared wasted no time, he instantly ran to the guns (the shotgun we had got from the old man and his own pistol). He tossed the pistol to me, we both started towards the stairs but stopped dead in our tracks when I heard a sound I hadn't heard since Arborline. The screams echoed down the stairs. I knew immediately what it was, but I couldn't believe it; it was that one that had run away after Jared shot it. Did it follow us all the way here? Was it lurking in the shadows the entire time, just outside of our range of vision? Waiting for the right moment to strike?

Another scream scrambled my thoughts, threatening to tear at my sanity. I heard the creature fumbling around on the top floor, trying to find its way through the house. Jared ran up to the stairs, and I followed after him.

"I'll get that bastard, if it's the last thing I do. I'll make him pay." I heard Jared mumbling. I found myself nodding in agreement. That thing also killed Jessica.

I hesitated for a moment, I didn't want to leave Aaron alone but he would be in even more danger if we brought him up with us. I quickly rushed to wake him up, rushed him into a little cubbyhole in the corner of the room, told him not to leave unless I came back and told him it was safe to come out.

"Will you really... be..." he started, his voice trembling.

I grabbed him by the hand, "Don't worry," I tried to say firmly, but my voice was trembling too.

He squeezed my hand, reluctantly let go, then I closed the door to the cubby and ran back to the stairs.

It took all of my willpower just to get up the stairs. Part of me screamed for me to turn around and run away, but if we ran now, it would find us again. There was only one solution; if we killed that thing, we wouldn't have to worry about it anymore. We'd be safe. Jessica would be avenged.

Full of fighting spirit, Jared and I ran ran through the living room to the stairs that led to the top floor, but stopped and stared at what we saw was waiting for us at the top.