It was cold outside. The young girl ran as fast as she could go. ‘I’ll be late, oh please let them still be at home.’ She ran past the little church that stood in the middle of the town square, trying to get home. From behind a window, a young woman stood, following the girl’s every move with her eyes.

The woman smiled, her eyes focused on the girl as if they could pierce through her body. ‘Ayane...’, she said, disappearing behind the curtain as the contours of girl slowly became one with the darkness.

Trying her best to catch her breath, Ayane unlocked her front door, stepping into the hallway where the lamps were fully burning, ‘I’m home!’ she said, still trying to slower her breathing. As she took a close look around, she noticed that all the furniture was pushed aside, and paperwork was spread all over the floor. ‘...Tatsuya, you there?’ No one answered.

Looking rather surprised and with her stomach turning upside down, she stepped into the living room. ‘Dad? Mom? Tatsuya? Anyone?’ She didn’t understood what was going on, Why was the house a mess, and why did no one answer her?They said they’d wait for her, though she’d be home late. ‘Dad?’ She listened carefully, but the only sounds heard were branches from the three in their backyard, ticking against a window.

She stood there, shivering, A sudden flood of panic seemed to slowly suffocate her as she gasped for breath. ‘MOM! DAD! TATSU! Someone please answer me…’ Her eyes filled with water, as she ran up the staircase.

In her haste, she skipped some steps, and as she almost reached the landing, she tripped and fell back, rolling down the stairs. ‘Ouch…’ She quickly stood up, dusting her clothes of before giving it another chance and walked up the stairs. Her footsteps echoed throughout the house.

Once she reached the landing, a cold puff off wind seemed to be surrounding her, as shivers ran up her spine. ‘D-Daddy..? Mommy..? Tatsu..? Her voice died away, as she gasped. Tears rolled down her cheeks as she fell to her knees.

‘Aya, what’s wrong sis?’ Tatsuya rubbed his eyes as he looked at his sister. ‘I heard you yell and I got scared.’ Ayane looked at him, then crawled to him, as she hugged him tightly. ‘Tatsu, I though you guys were gone…’ Tatsu looked at her, his eyes were big, and the light from the lamps made his eyes shimmer. He kissed her cheek then hugged her back, his arms around her neck. ‘Sis woke me up.’ Aya raised her eyebrow as she faced her llittle brother. ‘Woke you up? I though we would all go out for dinner today. How could you be sleeping then?’ ‘I’m six years old Aya. I need sleep to be happy during daytime. But mom and dad left around 7pm. They made me some dinner, then told me to tell you that they left you some food. It’s in the fridge.’ He smiled, then sat down on the ground.

‘Aya, I can’t sleep anymore. Can I sit downstairs with you?’ Ayane nodded, as she stood up, lifting her brother onto her shoulders. ‘Of course you can. In fact, I was already longing for some company.’ With her brother in her arms, she went downstairs, into the kitchen.

Once down, her brother rubbed his eyes and blinked. ‘Whaa??!! Aya, what happened?’ He clinged to her shirt, his eyes going sad. For a moment, Aya felt clueless. Scared herself, she looked at her brother as he softly pressed his head against her breasts, sucking his thumb in fear. ‘Nothing to be worried about Tatsu. I guess mom just looked for her wallet again.’ She smiled, making her younger brother giggle as she set him on the kitchen counter.

‘So, what’s for supper?’ She opened up the refrigirator’s door and bent her back slightly, searching through several boxes of food that were placed in it. ‘I don’t know in what box she put it, but you never eat it anyway. Can we eat pizza?’ The young boy’s eyes were set to begging, and craving for the pizza, he began to ask her over and over, until she shook her head in laughter. ‘Fine! They’re in the shed. Bring me a good one or NO pizza.’ She tickled Tatsu, forcing him to glide off the counter as he ran towards the backdoor.

She sighed, pondering about what could’ve taken place in her home, and where her parents were. Having mixed emotions about the issue, she picked up the phone and dialed her father’s number. It rang several

‘This number is currently out of reach. Please leave a message after the beep.’ She hang up, only to try again. This time, she immediately received his voicemail. ‘Strange...’she said, dialing her mother’s number. As she closed her eyes, she could hear the soft dial tune from her mother’s cellphone. ‘Forgot it...As usual.’ She hung up.

An icy scream filled the emptyness, as her eyes grew wide. ‘TATSU!’ She ran through the backdoor, into the backyard as she came close to the shed.

Once there, she saw her brother, cornered by something she couldn’t place. Something she had never seen before. Her brother’s eyes were wide and filled with fear as the creature slowly moved closer to him, it’s drool leaving a sticky mess, and it’s breath filling the small shed with a disgusting scent. She screamed...

Ayane couldn't move. Staring at the creature in awe, several thoughts drifted into her mind. 'Wh-What in the world...' As if her body was controlled by someone, she threw her shoes at the creature. As it turned around and faced her, she finally realized what she had done. 'RUN AYA!'

Awakened by the yelling of her brother, she quickly turned around and ran. The creature let out a loud howl, before running after her. It's big claws soon got hold of her foot, making her fall in the dirt. As she tried to crawl away, the creature took a jump, landing in front of her as it howled again.

Within several seconds, Ayane found herself surrounded by at least five more creatures, all looking the exact same. As the first creature howled one last time, the scene went silent. Ayane stared at them, their big, red eyes seemed to be looking right through her. She felt chills running down her spine as she began to feel more and more uncomfortable.

She tried to move her hands right next to her sides, planning on getting up soon, but the creatures growled at her. The drool of the first one, who seemed to be leading the pack, dripped onto her hands as she felt his warm, stenching breath in her face.

She trembled as tears rolled down her face. 'This is just a bad dream Aya, just a bad dream... Come on!' She closed her eyes, wiping her tears. 'When you open your eyes, everything will be fine...'

As soon as those words crossed her lips, a young man appeared beside her, firing a shot at the creature that stood over Ayane, causing it to take a few steps backwards. The creature, now holding it's left shoulder, growled angerly while baring it's teeth to the young man, who replied to his anger with a simple smirk.

'This won't be the last you've seen of us,' the creature said as it howled. The howl, followed almost immediately by a deep, black mist, echoed for a while, and as soon as the mist faded away, the creatures were nowhere to be found.

Ayane sat up in fear. Who was the young man who just saved her from a faith she's unwilling to know? How did he knew she was in trouble, or wasn't it her he had came for? And why did he wore a gun?

'Aya!' Tatsuya came running from the shed. 'Aya! You're alright!' He hugged her, trembling still. She hugged him back tightly as she held him close.

'Don't ever do that again. He could've killed you.' Ayane looked at the young man, who stared back in hers. He held out his hand to her. She blushed as she took it.

'What was that all about? What were those creatures? What..Who are you?' Ayane slightly panicked, but the young man laughed at her. 'Don't worry. It'll all become clear to you soon.'

He kissed her cheek before turning around and jumping onto the wooden fence, lifting his gun over his shoulder. 'For now...Farewell,' he said before jumping off the fence. Ayane ran to the fence and looked across it, but there was no one to be found.

She sighed, blinking as she touched her cheek. Who was he...