Let Me In

Chapter 2

Chapter 2

"What was that?" I whispered into the darkness, as if someone would answer. I sat up, my heart racing, which woke up Jeffrey. I pulled the covers off of us and found my flashlight. The click it made when I turned it on was the only noise besides the steady rainfall and the wind.

"Jeffrey, stay here," I told him firmly. "I mean here. Don't move unless I tell you, okay?" I could just barely see my penguin in the pitch black of my room.

I tiptoed to my bedroom door and unlocked it. Silently I turned the handle. There was nobody in the hallway, so I crept down the stairs and nearly had another heart attack when the sound was heard again.

This time it was clearer, and I could tell what it was and where it was coming from: someone was knocking on the door. But who in their right mind would be out in the dead of night in this weather...?

I walked through the living room and paused in front of the door. Holding my breath, I looked out the peephole. I sighed with relief when I saw who it was. Katie, my other, human best friend who lived down the street.

I unlocked the door and pulled it open. "Katie? Why aren't you home?" I asked her, now that we were face to face.

"I just wanted to see if you were alright," Katie looked panicked. Her dark, curly hair hung in wet ringlets and her clothes were still getting wet even under her purple coat. "And I guess you are, so I've got to get home. I'll see you--when it's over! "

"Bye! Good luck!" I called after her as she went down my front steps.

"You too!"

I closed the door and sighed again. That was a true friend: someone who came out to your house in the middle of the night and in the middle of a hurricane just to see if you were alright.

I walked back up the stairs and into my room, closing the door behind me. Jeffrey had hopped off of the bed and was now on the floor and seemed to be pacing around. I smiled and got out my radio again. I flipped the switch and listened. The signal was clearer this time.

"...Hurricane Sandy is approaching. Stay calm and continue to be prepared for the worst. New update: People are reporting strange figures with grayish skin, bloodshot eyes, and rotting bodies that are biting those around them. There is no scientific name for these unidentified creatures, so for now they are being classified as zombies. Once again, lock your doors and windows, and even if you have power still, keep your lights off. If there is someone outside your house asking to come in, do not let them in. I repeat, do not let them in. This is for your own safety. Stay tuned for more up-to-the-minute news--"

I switched it off. Zombies? Zombies weren't real. Thoughts swam around in my head like tadpoles in a pond going every which way.

This was not happening. Zombies weren't real. They just weren't. Just like fairies and monsters and mermaids weren't real.

I bet everyone got confused and scared in the dark and just thought they were seeing zombies. There was no such thing.

Goosebumps ran up my arms, making me shiver, still crouched on the floor next to the radio.

No such thing as zombies.

No such thing.

So why did I suddenly get the feeling Jeffrey and I were no longer safe?