Prologue
There was nothing but darkness and the sound of rain hitting the muddy ground. They could barely see but they kept running. Chris was there along with James, Seth, and Mark. They could make out trees around them; they were clearly in a field. The grass was long in spots and they tried to avoid it by running only on the muddy track. James slipped and fell into a puddle. Chris slowed down a little but kept going.
"Come on James, we gotta keep moving!" Chris yelled over the splashing of the rain, Seth stopped to help him out of the growing puddle around them.
"What the hell was that thing?! It almost killed us!" James said, as Seth helped him up.
"I donno, but we have to get out of here, and fast," They ran to the edge of a forest, where they stopped as the scenery changed around them.
It was snowing or something; white ash poured down from the sky and covered the ground. The boys turned around to see a path leading to a terrifying scene; flames engulfed a house further along the pathway.
"Is that--" Mark started to say but couldn't finish.
"Yeah, that's Veronica's house, come on let's get out of here!" Chris said as he turned around. They didn't seem to realize that the house was in the middle of nowhere, instead of the usual street in Chicago.
"Isn't there anything we can do?" Mark asked, sounding worried. The other boys nodded their heads in agreement.
"Yeah... We should go and see if she's in there. Maybe we can get her out." Seth said.
"What?! You saw that thing right?! What if it comes back? We'd all be screwed!" Chris said. "And besides look at that house... If she's in there she's dead." Everybody knew Chris was right; besides Veronica was helpless because the scenery had already started to change again.
The sun had risen, although there was too much fog for sunlight. It had stopped raining and the boys were on the other side of the forest. There was a tower in the distance, on either side of them stood rows of tall trees with grass underneath them. They stood with their backs towards the forest and faced a worn path that led towards the tower. As they started walking towards the tower they heard a loud, high-pitched screech from behind them.
"Oh shit! The monster! Run!" Seth yelled over the sound. Chris took the lead, Mark directly behind him followed by Seth and James. Suddenly a rip formed in the ground, and Chris fell into it. Mark was behind him, and almost fell in as well but the rip closed just in time. Not looking to see if their friend would come back out, James, Seth and Mark kept up the pace.
Seth reached the door first, opening it quickly and clambering inside. James and Mark were a little further behind, and Mark tripped over his feet. James tried to help him up but it was too late, the monster had caught up with them. James watched as his friend was ripped up into the sky and flailed around by the monster. The thick fog rolled by and suddenly James couldn't see anything for a moment. Mark's body was thrown on to the ground a foot away from James, it was twisted and mangled, but Mark was somehow still alive.
"Run... Run!" He whispered before he was wrenched back into the fog where there came an ear piercing scream of agony and pain. James stood in place for a second, that's when he saw the monster clearly for the first time. It was very large and had dark scaly green skin. James bolted for the door of the tower. He reached the door and slammed it shut behind him, so hard that the whole tower seemed to shutter.
"Where's Mark?" Seth asked James just looked at him. "Ok, well, we'll have to wait until it's gone, and then we might be able to find some more people in this hell... Or even better: a way out."
Inside the tower it was very spacious, although the roof had fallen in partially, and there was a large chunk of brick in the center. James found a ladder that led up to a ledge about twenty feet up.
"Hey Seth, come over here. We can hide up there!" James said, finally thinking they could get out of there alive.
"You go ahead. I'll be there in a sec." Seth replied, walking curiously and cautiously towards the brick wall. James started up the ladder, half way up it cracked. James fell to his death, smashing his skull on a piece of brick... Seth was alone in the tower; he stood still for a couple of minutes, absorbing his friend's death. After a few minutes he started walking towards the wall again; slowly at first, quickening his pace as he got closer. There was something that drew him towards the brick. There was a pulse of black and suddenly he was swept off his feet and flung into the wa--.
"No! Seth!" She said, springing out from underneath the covers, almost falling out of bed in the process. Her back was as straight as a board; a layer of sweat had formed on her forehead... She wiped it off with the back of her hand: Only human... "Shit... Only a nightmare..." She said after a few minutes. There was a knock and the door to her bedroom creaked open. Madeline's head pocked through the crack, she stood there smiling and nodding for a minute, then closed the door again. The girl was halfway out of her bedroom when her phone vibrated on her bedside table. She went over and checked the caller I.D. It was Caroline.
"Hello Caroline...?" The girl answered, yawning once.
"Hey, I've been trying to call you for hours!"
"Do you know what time it is?" She said looking at her alarm clock; it was three fifty seven in the morning. The girl frowned and then said, "Well, anyways... What's up?"
There was a pause...
"Uh, C-Chris... H-He's de-dead!"
