Twilight Echos

The Mimics

A little girl sits in the middle of a rug watching her favorite shows. The rest of their family were doing their own thing. Her mother was making dinner, her dog was sitting next to her sleeping, her little brother was reading a book, and her father was staring out the window waiting. As the girl was clicking through the channels, an amber alert popped up on the screen with a man in the middle of it.

"Attention all residents," the urgent voice of the news anchor pierced through every home, "It's that time again - beware the mimics among us.
Stock up on supplies and lock your doors tight. If you spot a pale figure with dark eyes in the distance, flee for safety; but if it stands before you...
pray you make it to heaven in one peace."

And just like that, the T.V cut off and there was complete silence in the house.

The whole family was silent in dread, but they knew what to do in this situation. The father quickly grabbed his keys and a rifle that was hanging near the front door while the mother grabbed a knife from the kitchen and picked up the little boy.

"Alright, sweetheart. It's that night again. We'll get supplies while you stay on guard in the house. It's the safest place for you. Make sure all the doors and windows stay locked and DON'T let anyone but us inside, okay?" The mother said to the girl, and she nodded. She watched as her family left and hurried to lock the door behind them. She was nervous, but she wasn't afraid. After all, this wasn't the first time this had happened in Pittsburg. She then went back to her spot and sat with her dog. Waiting for the night to end.

12 AM

It was already midnight, and the girl was awoken by her dog barking through the window. She jolted up and looked around. Her family was still a no-show. She then went over to where the dog was and looked through the window. There was nothing out there but large trees. She looked back and her eyes widened in uneasiness. Her dog was nowhere to be found. "Mills?" The girl called in a desperate tone. She looked back at the window and noticed her dog outside.

Without a thought in mind, she ran out through the front door and tried to chase the dog before it was too late. "Mills come back! It's not safe!" She yelled but the dog was unresponsive and continued running off through the woods. And before she knew it, she was far away from her cabin. She felt hopeless until she saw a person grabbing the dog in their reach. The girl sighed in relief and walked over to them. "Thanks. Mills can get a little cra-".

Before she managed to get very close to the person she stopped and took notice of them. The person looked paler, and their eyes were pitch black. Before she can even think, before she can even BREATHE, the figure raises the dog, and their mouth is enlarged. Showing all of their many sharp teeth. And in a blink of an eye, the dog was out of sight. But the figure was still hungry. The girl felt the color drain from her skin from what she just witnessed, and she ran away as fast as she could. So many thoughts were going through her head but one thing that made sense to her was that what she saw was no human.

It took her a while to find her way back but eventually, she made it to the cabin and slammed the door shut. She couldn't even steady her breathing after witnessing a mimic for the first time. She felt this strange adrenaline inside of her and for the first time felt true fear.

1 AM

Now it was already past midnight, and the girl was still alone. Waiting for either danger to appear or her peace to come back. But just before she was about to fall asleep again, she heard a loud knocking noise on the front door. She started to get uneasy and grabbed the nearest object next to her, which was nothing but a small table lamp, and walked near the door. "Who is it?" The girl asked. There was silence through the other side of the door, but eventually, a woman's voice was heard. "Please... help. I got lost and I-I don't know where else to go." The lady's voice spoke in a begging tone. The little girl felt a bit of guilt and sorrow for the lady and sighed. "Okay. Let me just open the door." She said as she was about to unlock the door. "What a sweet girl you are, Jules."

The girl froze at the last sentence the woman said. "...what did you say?" The girl asked, but there was nothing but silence again. The girl then kept silent and took a few steps back from the door. It wasn't too long till the lady started thumping the door. "LET ME IN JULES!" The lady yells. The little girl knew that it would be already too late to block the door, so she ran through the bathroom and locked the door. She slid her back down in front of the door, covered her ears, and dropped her head down. Praying that the mimic wouldn't find her. Even though she covered her ears, she could still hear the bark of the front door slowly breaking and the mimic wailing in anger.

She continued to hear the door breaking apart until a different sound lured in the darkness. Someone entering the house. Hearing the coarse noise of the footsteps the creature was making. Planning to eat her alive. The girl tstarted to realize that this was truly her end. Due to all the tension and noises surrounding her ears, she collapsed and passed out.

3 AM

The little girl was finally awake from being knocked out for a while and she never made a sound since she woke up. She was too frightened to. She was too frightened to even leave the bathroom because she was worried that she would get caught by any mimic nearby. But she was starting to get hungry and desperate. When she finally had the boldness, she slowly opened the door and walked through the house. She was making sure that she was quiet and hidden if there were still mimics around. The girl then noticed that there was a mimic in the living room, and she hid behind the wall watching what they were doing. The mimic was on all fours eating something from the ground. It was a body.

The girl covered her mouth in repulsion. But that's when she realized it was her chance to defend herself. She quietly sneaked around the creature and went through the kitchen. She already had a plan of how to kill them but as she was making it to the next step, the floorboard creaked. The mimic immediately heard where it was coming from and jumped through the kitchen. The little girl was terrified and felt trapped. She didn't know what would be next. But, just as the mimic was about to launch at her, the mimic got shot through the head and collapsed on the floor.

The girl looked at the dead creature in shock but felt relief at the same time. And she was more in relief when she noticed who shot the mimic. Her father was standing over the carcass with his rifle and the rest of her family were right behind him. Her little brother looked at the monster in shock while the mother grabbed onto the little girl and embraced her. The girl had tears of joy coming down her eyes and she hugged her back.

6 AM

It was now the morning and everything was back to normal. The whole family was sitting on the couch watching TV in peace. Feeling relieved that it was all over. The little girl was watching TV as usual until the news randomly popped up with the same man. "On other news, we've received a shocking number of deaths last night due to the mimics and the worst one was over at the Pittsburg bridge where a family crashed in the side of the anchor and was attacked by the mimics."

The man said as the news showed pictures of the family. The girl stood silent in shock. Those weren't just any family. Those were her family. She stopped watching TV and looked over next to the people near her. The ones who she thought were her family didn't make a noise. All they did was smile at her with all of their teeth.