Far Away

Nightcrawlers

Isabella's POV

It's getting darker and darker each second that passes by. Drew goes over to the door and locks it in place, bolts down the windows, and then pours the rest of the water from the kettle on the fire.

   The darkness envelops us. What he said about being on an alien space ship and him being from 1949 crosses my mind over and over again. I can't believe it. It's impossible. This only ever happens in Sci-fi movies.

   He can't be from 1949, but when I looked at the photo and read the letter, I couldn't help but feel like he was telling the truth. This is all going so fast. Way to fast. I begin pacing, once again. I haven't stopped in a while. It's what I do when I am panicking. I pace.

  Moving back to the red dusty chair, I think about the content that was held within its folds, trying to understand
the fact that he was from 1949, an active member with that.

Andrew J. Trusan,


All of us from the White House would like to thank you, personally, for your part in the War. Your part played a significant role for us and our allies to win.
You hold a great honor to us all, and with that, I would like to honor you with this medal knowing that you have saved countless lives from a terrible fate.

We know what horrors you have faced and what you will have to face in the years to come. We wish you and your family a happy reunion and hope that all will end well.

Your General,
Dwight D. Eisenhower

I can't stop staring at the letter. The 34th president wrote this letter, wrote on this piece of paper and signed it. The only reason why I know that it is his signature is because we had a project in college about signatures and I did mine based on Eisenhower's signature.

My major in college was journalism. Hours and hours of studying and writing, just so I can make a living writing and getting into people's business. Fun. But what do I care? I love to write. Plus, it comes with a steady income and you get to travel. If you are in one of the big leagues, you even get to attend parties. Even some at the White House.

When I looked at the photo, I stared at all of the faces wondering if any of them had survived the war. I don't want to ask Drew because it might be a sensitive topic to him. I know it would be for me. I'll ask once we get to know each other more. For now, I'm stuck with him.

" Isabella?!" I hear him say, panicked.

"Yeah?" Nervousness crept into me. Why was he panicking? Nothing happened.

I can hear him shuffling his feet over to the chair that is by mine. I have many questions about the letter and the photo. How many people in the photo survived? What part did he play? How many people did he kill? What horrors did her face. I push it all to the side when I hear him sit down on the chair. His weight against it.

He lets out a sigh. Why? I don't know. Just when I was about to ask about the photo, I hear a ear-piercing howl from outside the shack. I was to concerned about the letter and the photo to wonder why he was locking everything into place. It was to keep things out. But what things? When I showed up there weren't any animals or any bugs.

I hear the chair move a bit but I can still make out the fact that he was sitting. Was he scared? Of what? It was just a howl.
The creature that howled was coming closer. I can hear it's paws crunch against the wheat and the weeds. It was getting closer. My heartbeat was getting faster, pounding against my rib cage. Wait, why was I scared? The doors are locked, it can't get in.
Just then, something ran into the door. I jumped, a new wave of panic was coming in. Why the hell would it run into the door? What was it? It howled again as it started to scratch at the door. I heard more howls following the scratching. Oh God! There are more!
It runs into the door again, the whole shack vibrated but held its ground. I was freaking out. It must be huge if it could shake the whole entire shack. More footsteps were heard. They are coming for us. But why?
The creatures sniffed around trying to find a scent to track. They all howl at the same time causing me to scream. A growl was followed, which caused me to jump up. Even though I know that they are outside, I still am afraid that they are going to break in. I'm so scared that I run over to Drew. I don't even care if I like the guy or if I trust him, I ran to him and held on. I was holding on for dear life. He was shaking, breathing rapidly. He was afraid too. Great, now I am even more scared. Drew was a pretty big guy. As far as I know, nothing could get past him. But he was terrified. Literally shaking.
I buried my head in his chest. I can hear his heart beating frantically. The howls were continuing, and the pounding had subsided. At least, for now.
The creatures circled the shack looking for a way in. I am so glad that Drew bolted everything down. How did he know that they were coming? Unless...