A Darker Beginning

"Whoa," I said, backing away from the door. Everyone looked at me, puzzled. I could hear Allie in the bathroom, her whimpers getting quieter by the second. "What is it Cate?" Trevor asked demandingly. Alex shot him a glare. I shook my head no, still staring at the door. My whole body shook. I didn't know what was wrong with that kid. He was so young, so small. But his eyes were just...evil. They were pale, almost see-through. But it was as if he knew I was there at the door, the way he stared right into my eyes. And then the scratching began.

Alex bolted to the door, his hand on my stomach to hold me back. He looked through the peephole and turned his head to me slowly. "That's what you were worried about? A kid?" He began to unlock the door. "No!" I shouted, I knew there was something wrong with that boy, something horrible. But he opened the door anyhow. The lights outside the apartment were flickering, and weren't really bright to begin with, so the vision I saw of the boy was now shrouded in shadows. Alex knelt down.

"Hey little guy, did something happen to you and your mom?" The boy just stood there, head down and breathing heavily. The sound coming from his throat was unsettling. Just a gurgling growl almost. Alex could hear it too, as he stood up and backed away a bit, staying in front of me. Then it all just stopped.

It was almost as if the boy quit breathing. He dropped whatever it was from his mouth. It was pink and snake-like, with purple lines covering it. I gasped. "Alex! Get away from him!" The boy looked up and bared his teeth. The were covered in a fleshy pulp, red and bloody. His eyes were empty, nothing but pale blue circles that seemed to glow in what little light that we had. Trevor and Alex, weapons ready, backed away from the door. The boy ran at Alex and he just stepped out of his way. This seemed to anger him, and he growled more. "I'm not going to hit a kid! I can't!" He said, screaming in a puzzled tone. Until the boy ran for me.

I screamed, grabbing the nearest lamp to me and holding it in front of me. As soon as he pounced, I hit him over the head. The lamp broke and the boy fell to the ground, motionless. I stood up trying to wipe the blood from my arms and face. I ran to Alex. He dropped the bat and wrapped his arms around me. "It's going to be okay, baby, it's over." I looked up at him. He's never called me that before. I smiled very weakly and shook my head. I heard noises from behind me.

The boy began to rise to his feet again. I looked at him in disbelief. He started to growl even louder, ready to attack. I grabbed the bat as he began to lunge towards us, and I put my years of softball to good use.

I cracked his head open with a loud hit, and he fell immediately. Blood gushed onto the carpet, but he stopped breathing and laid there for longer than he did before. He was finally dead. I dropped the bat and ran to the kitchen sink, throwing up my dinner from hours before. I can't believe I just killed a kid. I started to weep.

"I just killed a little boy, I just murdered a child," I said over and over frantically. Alex slammed the door and locked it tight, and he and Trevor began to barricade it with the couch and little items. I could no longer hear Allie. She is prone to cry herself to sleep, so she either passed out or was too shaken to come out.

"I don't know what that was, but it wasn't no little boy. That was...something," Trevor said, shaken, but trying to console me. "I'm going to stay up, try to get Allie out of that damn bathroom. You two do what you want. But please, if you fall asleep, don't close the door, and keep your phones on. Who knows what will happen after this."

I looked at him in disbelief. How could I sleep? How could any of us sleep after that? My first guess would be that Trevor was in shock, and his mind wasn't in the right place. Alex pulled me to my feet and led me to the bedroom. He sat me down on the bed and somehow in between all of that he was able to get a wet rag because he began to wipe the blood from my body.

"Everything is going to be fine, I promise. I won't let anything happen to you Cate, I won't," he said reassuringly.

Little did we know, this would never end. This would never stop. It was only the beginning. A very, very dark beginning.