Thump.
Thump.
Shadows dropped from the trees, like raindrops falling from the sky.
The car lurched forward, flying over the blanket of snow.
"They're in the road!"
I screamed.
"What?
Where?!"
"Everywhere!
Can't you see them?!"
"Of course I can't see them!
I can barely even see where we're going!
You took my glasses, remember?!"
The shadows came closer, flitting into the headlights' beams.
I closed my eyes tightly shut.
We're safe, I thought.
We're in a car.
Protected by layers of glass and steel.
Even that Excalibur guy on the internet said you're safe in a car.
The car swerved again.
But that's if they haven't already seen you.
The car swerved violently.
My head glanced off the window.
The engine roared, as Daniel muttered under his breath – "come on, come on…"
"Why are we slowing down?!"
"I don't know!"
Daniel said, his voice starting to quaver.
"Everything's working fine.
I don't think the snow is deep enough to stop us –"
Rrrrr-rrr-rrrr! – the sound of wheels, spinning against the snow.
"I think they're stopping us."
Even with my eyes closed, I could feel them.
Their eyes, that glittered in the headlights like the freshly-fallen snow.
Their silhouettes, that were little more than shadows, or wisps of smoke.
And – after they killed us – their new forms, shaped into eerie, uncanny versions
of us.
Tap-tap-tap.
They were at the glass, now.
How long did we have until they broke through, just like they did in the cabin?
Minutes?
Seconds?
The wheels stopped spinning.
Click – Daniel shifted into park.
"What are you doing?"
"I have an idea."
I opened my eyes, shielding my gaze from the forest with my hand.
Daniel reached into his pocket, and pulled out the book of matches.
Fzzzssshhh.
He struck the match.
The flame fizzled and glowed, and small wisps of black smoke floated towards the ceiling.
"Wait – isn't that going to attract more of them?"
"Exactly," he whispered.
No.
My heart began to pound.
I trusted him.
I let him pull me across the snow.
Pull me into the car.
Pull me to my death, trapped here as they closed in.
It wasn't him.
It was one of them.
"What did you do to Daniel?!
You killed him, didn't you?!"
"What are you talking about?!"
"You're leading them right to us!
You said so yourself!"
"Not leading them to us!
Leading them to me."
He dropped the match, which had already extinguished, and struck another.
Fzzzssshhh.
"I'm going to run out there with this match.
Hopefully they'll all follow me.
And then you're going to drive as far away as you can."
"…Oh."
I shook my head.
"Wait, that makes no sense.
How am I going to drive with my eyes closed?"
"If we're lucky, they'll all follow me, and you won't have to worry about that."
"But – but, you'll die!"
"If we stay here and do nothing, we'll both die."
The metal groaned and screeched, as they worked to pull it apart.
The tap-tap-taps echoed across the glass, like the ticks of a clock.
And I knew he was right.
"I love you, Daniel."
"I love you too, Rebecca."
The door swung open.
In my peripheral vision, I saw his feet, fading into the shadows; heard the movements of the
creatures, thumping towards him, off the car, over the snow –
Eeeeeeeeeeeee!
A shrill screech.
And, involuntarily –
I looked up.
Daniel was standing several feet from the car, holding the match.
But the figures weren't running towards him.
They were running away.
In seconds, the silence of the forest returned.
Snow slowly drifted to the ground.
The trees were still as statues.
And the branches above were dark – no glittering, white eyes.
I opened the door and ran out to him.
"They're afraid of fire," was all he could choke out.
After holding him for what felt like an eternity, I realized how little sense that made.
"But wait.
That Excalibur guy said that they were attracted to fire – attracted to the smoke.
Why would he say that?"
"I guess he didn't know."
"Or –" My voice faltered, as the realization sunk in.
"Maybe he had seen one of them.
Maybe he was speaking for them."
"But then why would he tell everyone to stay inside and cover their windows, too?"
"Maybe we weren't supposed to stay inside.
Maybe being trapped inside our houses, waiting out the storm, is exactly what they wanted."
Daniel looked at me, his eyes wide in the darkness.
"What are you saying?"
"I'm saying that maybe… the second radio message was the one we should have believed."
We raced back to the car.
I thrust the keys into ignition, and the car rumbled to life.
"We're going to Maple Street."
When we turned onto Maple Street, a strange sight greeted us.
A small house sat on the edge of the forest.
It was surrounded by dozens of small fires, their trails of smoke merging into one large
pillar that reached up towards the sky.
Several people stood in the yard, and a few started pointing to us as we approached.
As we entered, a black-haired woman ran over to us.
"Stand over here to the side, please.
We need to test you first."
She picked up her handheld radio.
"Two more just arrived."
"Test us?"
"We need to make sure you aren't compromised, ma'am."
We awkwardly stood in the yard, the fire hot against our backs.
"Maybe this was a bad idea," Daniel whispered.
"Are we sure that –"
"Hey!"
A burly man walked over to us.
He wore tattered jeans, and an ill-fitting flannel shirt with a large slash across the
chest.
"Let me just test you guys, and we'll be good to go."
He slipped a flashlight out of his pocket, shined it in our eyes, asked us a few questions,
and then called over: "Hey, Nancy, they're good!"
She motioned for us to come inside.
"Please, make yourselves at home.
Eat some dinner, take supplies – we have plenty.
Not many have come by… we were too late in intercepting the alert, it seems."
"What are they?
In the forest?"
Daniel asked.
"Are we safe here?"
I added.
She didn't reply.
Instead, she led us to a table of sandwiches, and hurried away.
Daniel and I took plates, some sandwiches, and joined one of the tables.
Across from us sat a teenager – chin resting on her hand, pushing the cole slaw on her
plate in circles.
"Why won't they tell us anything?"
I said to Daniel, my voice low.
"And how did they set this up so fast?"
Daniel said.
"Firewood, an external generator for power, tons of food – it's almost like this has
happened before, and they were ready."
"It did happen before."
We looked up.
The teenager was staring at us, her lips curled into a small smile.
"My dad told me it happened back in the '70s, during a really big storm, and they've
been prepared ever since."
"So – what are they?"
Daniel asked, a little too loudly.
From across the hall, the burly man shot us a disapproving look.
"I've heard the name 'ice shadows' thrown around," she replied, shrugging.
"But who knows what they really are?
Shape-shifters, phantoms, demons – we could really call them anything."
"What I don't understand," Daniel started, after a long slurrrp of coke, "is why they
wanted us to cover the windows.
Don't they want us to see them?"
"Windows covered or not, they'll find a way to lure you out.
They're really good at that.
We had one outside the bedroom window, talking in my mom's voice, telling dad she wanted
to get back together.
Thankfully, I barged in before it got to him."
"But why cover the windows?"
"Oh, well the sun burns them up, just like the fires do.
That's why they come out in the blizzard, too."
She lowered her voice further, and glanced around the room.
"They want the house to be totally safe for them.
Because after… they want to live in it.
Breed in it.
Make it their own little den."
"But why?"
I asked.
"This is just my theory, but – I think they don't want to be confined to the forest.
They want to take over this whole town, one house at a time.
Spreading from house to house under the cover of night, until the whole thing's taken
over.
And then –"
But at that moment, the burly man stormed over.
"Kendra, that's enough," he said, placing a hand on her shoulder.
He looked at us, and rolled his eyes.
"She likes to tell tall tales, this one.
Sorry if it caused you any trouble."
"No trouble at all," I said, with a smile.
Kendra sighed, and rose from the seat.
Mark took his hand off her shoulder.
His shirt shifted, causing the slash to open, and exposing some of his chest.
My heart began to pound.
Underneath was a tattoo.
A tattoo of a sword, stuck in stone.
Of Excalibur.
For more infomation >> 小哥自駕遊意外成鏟屎官【心靈健康娛樂新聞】 - Duration: 1:51. 
For more infomation >> 안희정 부인 아내 민주원 나이 직업 아들 결혼 풀스토리 - Duration: 6:15. 
For more infomation >> 奴才你看牠啦！「飯飯被負鼠搶走」皇上超驚恐 「水汪汪大眼」求救網友笑：你不是貓嗎？【心靈健康娛樂新聞】 - Duration: 1:15. 
For more infomation >> 讓你秒懂「狗狗眼中世界」的7張插畫…原來我們都誤會它們不聽話的原因了。狗狗 搞笑【心靈健康娛樂新聞】 - Duration: 1:40. 
For more infomation >> TIME TO PANIC: New Polls Shows BIG Midterm Troubles For FIVE Top Senate Dems - Duration: 2:14. 
For more infomation >> Group Wants To Add Restrictions To E-Cigarettes - Duration: 0:54. 
For more infomation >> Hayward Parts Ways with PG&E, Switches to 100 Percent Renewable Energy - Duration: 2:18. 
For more infomation >> "¿Te puedes hacer la muerta?": Llamadas revelan la petición de una madre a sus hijas en Parkland - Duration: 2:53. 
For more infomation >> Congresistas enojados le exigen a Paul Ryan llevar la discusión sobre DACA al pleno - Duration: 1:54. 
For more infomation >> Tres dreamers dueños de una fábrica de dulces podrían perderlo todo si se quedan sin DACA - Duration: 2:12. 
For more infomation >> E-Devletten Yeni Hizmet: Miras Sorgulama - Röportaj Adam - Duration: 1:01. 
For more infomation >> Antonella Clerici e Mara Venier in pole per Domenica In? | M.C.G.S - Duration: 4:27. 
For more infomation >> Gossip Uomini e donne, Sabrina Ghio si è fidanzata? La svolta dopo Nicolò 84562 - Duration: 3:54. 
For more infomation >> Gemma accusa Giorgio di averla illusa e porta le prove, ma lui le dice addio | M.C.G.S - Duration: 3:53. 
For more infomation >> BBB18: produção erra gravemente, Paula vê Gleici e descobre trama; veja como - Duration: 3:58. 
For more infomation >> Apuñala y degüella a su esposa en plena vía pública por un ataque de celos - Duration: 0:34. 
For more infomation >> Acusan a este padre de raptar y matar a su bebé tras una pelea con la madre del pequeño - Duration: 0:26. 
For more infomation >> Policía abatió a balazos a un hombre que dijo de tener explosivos en su vehículo en Los Ángeles - Duration: 0:27. 
For more infomation >> En video: El brutal atropello de un motociclista por unos ladrones que huían de la policía - Duration: 0:36. 
For more infomation >> Lorenzo Crespi dichiarazioni shock: Sto morendo e nessuno cerca di aiutarmi! - Duration: 4:38. 
For more infomation >> Duro golpe al cártel de Sinaloa: Autoridades estadounidenses realizan más de 70 arrestos y confiscan - Duration: 0:26. 
For more infomation >> Revelan 10 de las llamadas al 911 durante el tiroteo de Parkland - Duration: 0:30. 
For more infomation >> Un menor de 14 años se hace pasar por policía y termina preso - Duration: 0:38. 
For more infomation >> Una pistola se cae de la mochila de un estudiante y desata el pánico en una escuela en Florida - Duration: 0:24. 
For more infomation >> Hyundai planea retirar masivamente algunos 'Sonata' del mercado - Duration: 0:30. 
For more infomation >> Trump's pressure brought North Korea to the negotiating table: Rep. Duffy - Duration: 4:09. 
For more infomation >> Opel Astra Sports Tourer D111pk Navi TrekH. Lmv A/c Cv El.r org.NLse auto 1.7 CDTI BUSINESS + - Duration: 0:42. 
For more infomation >> How I Make Money Online
For more infomation >> Hannity 03/08/18 9PM | March 08, 2018 Breaking News - Duration: 36:49. 
No comments:
Post a Comment