I look at the clock, which reads 12:00 – midnight to the very second.

            I get out of bed and walk down the hall, wondering why the others left without waking me. I know they’re respectful and all, but I would still have expected some kind of good-bye.

            Bowls with food remains sit on the living room table. The music collection is mostly still in one corner, with a few CDs scattered around the room. All of this I can pass off as regular teenage peers at work.

            But then I spot the shoes. They’re all still lined up along the wall where everyone left them. Well, I decide, either they’re playing some silly sort of a prank or they’re off somewhere on the property.

            I hear a thud out front of the house and open the door. Evan falls in on me.

            “Ha. Ha. Ha. Very funny,” I say. Even so, I wonder how this is supposed to scare me. I’m not very gullible, and they know it – most of all Evan.

            “Sure thing Evan. The joke’s quite lame though.”

            I stand there for a while, the top of his body at my feet. The slight feeling that maybe, just maybe this is not a joke comes into my head – if it turns out to be one, I’ll always be ready to turn it back on them.

            Finally I bend down just to verify that this actually is a joke. But when I do so, I see Evan’s bare back more clearly. It’s all cut up and bleeding. I touch it, clearing up any thoughts of a prank when Evan groans out of pain.

            “Ev, you okay?” I ask him. No response.

            I’m not sure what to think. This looks like the real thing, and I decide to play it’s the real deal. But what caused it?

            As I turn him on his side to check out his front, I hear a weird noise from outside. I’m not sure what it is, but if I was a fool I’m sure I’d think it was some sort of howl. Nothing to worry about, but I decide to bring Evan all the way into the room anyway.

            He’s taller than me and of a slightly awkward build, so the only way to move him is to slip my hands under his arms and drag him headfirst in. As a gust of wind blows into it, the cheap screen door bangs shut behind us.

            Another howl comes from outside. I’m definite it is a howl now and not something else. I’m curious as to what the howl’s coming from, but I decide it’s more important to take care of Evan first. Just to be careful, or maybe out of paranoia, I close the solid door behind me.

            I leave Evan backside up, parallel to the couch, and place a pillow under his head. I head to the bathroom. Opening the medicine cabinet, I pause and realize I’m not sure what to do. Finally I just grab the rubbing alcohol and a rag.

            I pour a little bit of the alcohol onto Evan’s back, just enough that he groans again. I see he might be coming to.

            His eyelids quiver and finally open up a little. “Jackie?” he asks me, then pauses for a while so that I almost think he’s out again. “What happened?”

            “I don’t know,” I tell him.

            “Where’s everybody else?” he asks in a weak voice.

            “I don’t know that either,” I say, “I just woke up about five minutes ago.” Right at that second we hear the howling noise again.

            “What’s that?” he asks.

            “I don’t know, but that’s the third time I’ve heard it. You think you’d be okay if I went outside for a few minutes to check around? There’s something about that sound I don’t like with everybody missing and all.”

            “I’ll be fine,” says Evan.

            As I put my shoes on, I watch him slip back into unconsciousness again. All the more power to ya’ kid, I decide. Slipping on my jacket, I head outside.

            It’s chilly, and there’s a slight gust of wind. The edge of the horizon is slightly lit. I don’ t pay much attention to this however. I’m looking around when I see a bright flash come from the barn.

            I rush over to see what it’s all about. Opening the door, I realize something isn’t quite right. Then I see the rest of my friends. They’re trapped behind some sort of glowing rods for all I can tell. Where the pole-things came from, I have no clue.

            “What’s this?” I ask them.

            “We don’t know,” says Caleb, “otherwise we’d say.”

            “Something attacked Evan,” says Griffin, “After that, it kind of ran into here somewhere. We were looking around when these…poles just surrounded us. I’d be careful if I were you. That thing could still be in here.”

            Looking in the cage-thing, I realize that somebody’s missing.

            “Where’s Ryan?” I ask.

            “Um…I don’t know,” says Tyler. “Did you see him, Griffin?”

            “No,” says Griffin, “How about you?” he turns and asks Marisa.

            She nods “no” and asks, “When did he disappear? From all I know, one minute he was here, and the next…”

            “Well, I saw Evan,” I say. “Did you see what your attacker-thing looked like?”

            “No, it was too dark, and by the time we could see, the thing and Evan were both gone. That’s a definite. We saw it prowling around here just a few minutes ago and decided to check things out.”

            “Smart move on our part, huh Jack?” says Tyler.

            “Yeah, whatever,” I say. “Let’s just see about getting you guys out of this thing first. We can worry about your prowler later. Maybe you can knock out the barn-wall side.”

            “Tried that;” Tyler says, “It didn’t really work out so well.”

            “Have you tried getting past these bars?” I suggest.

            “Let’s at least test it for plausibility first, okay?” Griffin advises.

            “You’re not scared now, are you?” I joke. I’m sure we all are, somewhat at least.

            I look for something to test the bars with, and am just about to try it out, when I am knocked hard into, and almost all the way through the bars. As I go through them I feel suddenly weak, as if they were draining my energy. A cutting sensation runs down my skin right along the bar intrusions – I’m sure to have some deep scars for a long time. Something, some kind of beast-like thing turns around and comes back towards me. I know that if it gets me, I could be a goner.

            I take off out the barn, running as fast as my mind will let me. The beast thing is right behind, closing our gap at a pace too fast for me to get to the possible shelter of my parent’s house. If only they hadn’t had to leave for the weekend, maybe this wouldn’t be happening. But as it is, I race towards the road, hoping that maybe, just somehow, somebody will drive by and stop when they see a dead body by the side of the road.

            The beast tears into my back like crazy, and as I collapse to the ground losing consciousness, I am faintly aware of a gunshot in the distance. Something weighs down on me and then I am out cold.

            I wake up to a flood of light above me – hospital light? I wonder. Then something blocks the light, and I realize it’s a badly beaten up Ryan standing over me.