Lunar's Curse

Keep an eye on her, Alex had told me. Keep an eye on her.

Did he know? Or was it a coincidence? Questions kept running around and around in my head and I was coming to no clear conclusion. What in the world happened to Justine? Was she hurt, kidnapped? Where was she?

“Myra Eva Lamia,” Ms. Taylor's voice said. I jerked up at the mention of my name. I had forgotten where I was for a moment. “Presentation?” she asked.

“Oh, uh. I've...go my presentation on my email.” I wasn't sure if I did really. I couldn't remember finishing my project this morning but I must have because I wasn't feeling that sense of panic that I usually felt when I didn't finish my homework.

“All right. Load it up and get your presentation started.”

Heading towards the front of the class, I opened up my email on the laptop to find my power-point project I sent to myself. Opening it up, I cleared my throat. Eyes drifted my way and I started to feel the same anxiety from presenting projects in front of the class.

After asking the girl in the front to help me click for the slides, I went to the front of the class. The screen was enlarged onto a projector on a white flimsy paper.

“Go ahead,” Ms. Taylor said. The class was now focused on me in a lazy I-wish-school-was-over sort of way. I cleared my throat again before I started the presentation. It wasn't very long. I would just have to dive into the the legends about the Lamia monster and the Vampires...

Yeah, that sounded like a pleasant thing to do.

“So...” I waited for the title page to pass. The second slide appeared on the screen. It was of a woman (that wasn't naked) with a snake-skin bottom. I tried to ignore the confused stares coming from the rest of my classmates. “Er, well... As you might know, my surname is Lamia and this will be focused on the origins of the name and the meaning.” I took a slightly shaky breath before I continued on.

“Lamia is a monster in basic and most known terms. In other terms, Lamia means 'mythical daughter of Poseidon'...” I trailed off, looking at the slide for more information. “...in Latin...”

The slide switched and once again, it was about the monster again. “The Lamia...” I took in another breath, “is a half-snake...half-woman who...” I had to stop trailing off. “The Lamia is a half-snake half-woman who seduces men and kills them. They are described with Vampire attributes.” I scanned the room to a sign of a fan-girl. Just as I suspected, a girl stifled a squeal and began to whisper excitedly with a classmate beside her.

I fixed my look on the fan-girls. “The Lamia is said to eat children in legends. And um...” I looked at the screen again. “That's basically it.”

The class gave a half-hearted applause (except for the fan-girls who were clapping madly) and I hurried back to my seat. Just as Ms. Taylor was about to call another student to present the PA system made the screechy sound it always did when an announcement was coming up.

Of course this sound wasn't pleasant to many ears. People groaned and some went even as far as to cover their ears.

The voice of our principal came up. From the tone and the sombre of his voice made me instantly think another murder had happened. It was the same tone that he used during Amanda's funeral.

“Sorry to interrupt classes,” he began, “but this is an important message and I suggest everyone listen up.” There was a pause as if he was waiting for us to settle down. The whole class was already silent and waiting for him.

“A student has been reported missing a day ago,” he said. My heart sank. It was Justine that he was talking about. “Her name is Justine Anderson. She is seventeen, tall, and has blonde hair. She is currently in eleventh grade and was reported to be missing after school yesterday. It is possible that she was abducted. Anyone with information about Justine Anderson relating to her disappearance please come to the Guidance office right now.”

Many students turned and looked at me. I grimaced and tried to look as if I didn't care. It was all pretence and I was sure that they could see through it.

The girl in my class that had praised Justine yesterday fixed a worried look at me. “Do you think it's the work of Ella and co?”

My lips pulled up at the corners despite everything. “Yeah, maybe.” Except that I can't really explain how I have a feeling that Ella is not linked with it at all. She'll find another slutty friend and move on. Plus, she doesn't even know that Justine said something horrible about her unless someone told her...

“By the way, my name's Claire. You're Myra, right?” she asked me.

I nodded. “Myra the Vampire monster who eats children,” I added in. “For the Lamia part.” Claire laughed at my somewhat lame joke.

I knew that Ella would find another girl to spill dirty scandalous secrets with. Would I find another Justine? No, if I was replacing her, it meant that she was never coming back. Claire seemed nice enough. She was nothing like Justine from personality to appearance. We had rarely talked to each other in class. I've often saw Claire in the library reading from a thick book. That confirmed that she was nothing like Justine and maybe, just maybe, everything like me.

I smiled back at Claire and Ms. Taylor continued the presentations as if we hadn't just heard the announcement.

Differences attract, but so do similarities.



“Alex!” Here I was again, chasing that boy down. I felt like I was in a game where I had to continually chase Alex around the school. It felt like he was avoiding me but that might have just been me. I had no classes with him which made it a little more difficult to look for him. But I had finally spotted him far off down the hallway.

I waved my hand wildly in the air and pushed past people to get to him. I must have looked like Justine...always in a rush to see him...

Thinking about Justine put too many questions in my head. Too bad that I needed to ask him about Justine. Alex stared at me with raised eyebrows as I tried to catch my breath. Yes, a small run down the hallway can do that to me if I'm not filled with adrenaline like the time I saw Amanda...

“What is it?” Alex asked.

“It's about...” I hesitated. Would he be annoyed and leave again? “It's about the announcement this morning,” I finally said. Unlike last time, he looked a little concern at the least.

“Justine?” he asked. “I heard in first period class. Sorry for brushing you off yesterday,” he said somewhat sheepishly. “I honestly thought she was just home or something.”

“When was the last time you saw her?” I asked Alex. “Because I think it would really help,” I added in.

“Myra,” Alex began, sounding as exasperated as he did the last time I asked him, “if I had any good information, would I be standing around like I am right now?” I didn't know exactly how to respond to that so I just shrugged my shoulders. “The announcers just said to report to the Guidance office if we had any information. If I did, I would be there right now.”

“Oh,” was all I said. I looked up and he was staring straight into my eyes in a concentrated sort of way. Something in me calmed down. Why would Alex lie? He and Justine were probably soul mates or something like that. “I believe you.”

“I hope you will,” Alex said, taking his eyes off mine. He began to head off again and I went the other way, feeling slightly confused. I bumped into a student on the way and I muttered an apology. Now that I was away from Alex, something felt strangely...off. Why had I just believed him right there? I could have sworn that he was hiding something...

“Myra!” It was Claire. I met her blue eyes with my own green ones. She was the student I bumped into. Her red hair (real ginger red hair, not like mine which looks like it was dyed even though it's natural) was slightly messy and her glasses were a little slanted.

She fixed up her glasses and smiled at me. “You work at the Coffeehouse right?”

“Coffee Coven,” I replied.

“Right. So are you working today?”

“No,” I said, frowning. “Why?” Why would she want to know. Why should she even care?

“I was just heading to the library. The city library, not the school library and I was wondering if you wanted to come. You're always at the library in school so I thought I'd invite you. You don't need to come,” she said.

If I didn't go and take my mind off Justine's sudden disappearance then I would spend my time just going over everything and trying to find out where she was. I was pretty sure that she wasn't abducted and that was a reason why I wasn't going hysterical over this. But I didn't want to think about that topic. It was tedious and I doubted that I would get any sleep if I dwelled on that. I might as well turn into my grandmother.

“Sure,” I said. “I guess I have to finish that Math assignment...” Math assignment, right. I had forgotten about it in the midst of the Xavier, Justine, and Amanda fiasco.

And Xavier... I hadn't seen him today at all which was a little odd mainly because of the timing. He was absent the exact same day that Justine was absent and shudders went through me when I thought about Xavier doing anything to Justine.

I swear that he...killed Amanda. I wasn't sure how but my gut instinct told me. I had to be more aware around him.

Claire and I exited the school together. The day had been quite uneventful without Xavier, Justine, or Amanda. That is, uneventful until I saw Ella crying by the stairs with a few other girls around her trying to comfort.

The good thing about Amanda being gone (which was almost everything, as Justine had said) was that Ella no longer had the energy to bother me about anything unless I brung it upon myself. But Dean was beside Ella, patting her on the back rather awkwardly, and I had an urge to ask him about his part in our Math project.

“I need to ask Dean something,” I told Claire shortly. She nodded and I approached them, feeling my heart beating faster than it's usual pace. Some girls that were comforting Ella glared at me in a way that made me feel as if I was responsible for Amanda's death.

As I got closer, I heard Ella's sobs. She was either very good at acting or she was fearing for her own life next. After all, being on the top just means that you have a long way to fall.

“Um, hey, Dean,” I began. Dean's head jerked up at the mention of his name. For a moment, he looked surprised to see me but then the surprise quickly faded to be replaced by annoyance.

“What do you want?” he asked in a cool way. He didn't exactly hold a rude tone. It was the words that he chose to use that made him sound rude.

“I was just wondering...” I trailed off. Ella had abruptly stopped crying and she was looking at me with her clear blue-grey eyes. Her eyes were bloodshot and I immediately knew that all that crying was just pretence. She didn't have a single care in the world especially if it involved Amanda or even death.

I knew it.

But that didn't stop her from acting. Since her life revolved around so much drama, I wasn't surprised to find out that she was an excellent actress. “You!” Ella hissed, pointing her perfectly manicured finger at me. “What do you want?” She had said the exact words that Dean said but somehow made it sound much more menacing.

I didn't want to stand here and start a fight with Ella so I just ignored her. “Dean, are you done your math assignment yet?” I asked him rather impatiently. The girls surrounding Ella looked at me as if I was out of my mind. Nobody ignored Ella.

Dean seemed to find it slightly amusing. “Yeah, yeah,” Dean said absentmindedly. “I'll finish it tonight.” There was an implied 'if' there and I knew that he was never going to finish it.

Ella, on the other hand, was fuming. Her face turned into an embarrassing shade of red that I was sure she would have never let anyone catch her in.

“Bye Ella,” I said almost cheerfully. I felt like I was turning into Justine. “I feel really bad for you about Amanda,” I said almost earnestly. I heard a short laugh coming from Claire.

“Don't say sorry when you've done it!” Ella yelled. “You killed her! You horrible b—”

She broke off and began to (fake) sob. Once again the girls glared at me and Dean went back to awkwardly patting her shoulder. Ella must have known that she was fighting a losing battle and gave up.

I turned around to face Claire again. “Come on,” I said. “Let's leave her to her misery.”



While Claire made a beeline for the computers, I headed to the study area. It was nice and quiet here. All the other people here were either reading or doing their homework. The silence would help me concentrate and I took out my Math assignment and started to work on my part of the Math questions. Dean would probably never finish his and I probably would have to explain to the teacher why we didn't finish the last question on our assignment. What could I say? Hopefully I wouldn't get a lowered mark for what Dean did. She should know that Dean never cares about anything. It's a wonder how he got to eleventh grade.

The Math equations were a little hard but I finished an hour from when I started. When I looked up at the large white clock on the wall, the hands were at five. It wasn't very late. My grandmother's 'curfew' for me was at eight. I still had three hours before she left the house in search of food and me.

Claire was heading back now. “I've finished my extra credit essay a few seconds ago. Are you done?” she asked me. I nodded and began to pack my stuff. “Wanna walk home together?” she asked.

“Sure,” I said. As long as she didn't see my grandmother, I wouldn't scare her away.

We headed out of the library and down onto the streets. The sun was still up and shining in the sky. Claire and I were quiet on the way home. It turned out that she only lived about a block away from me.

Claire looked at the tiny house. “So you live here? Nice place.”

It wasn't nice when you got inside. Practically all my things I owned were second-hand and old. I forced a smile on my face and nodded.

“I live just down there,” Claire said, pointing further down the street. “All right, see you on Monday.” She waved goodbye and I did the same before I turned around and opened the door.

As usual, I was greeted with the sound of the television in the small living room. “I'm home!” I called and once again I was answered with a garbled reply.

Some things never change.

Except... I hesitated at the doorway. There was something off today. I felt almost nauseous and the moment I stepped through the threshold, I collapsed. Pain was searing through my body and I moved away from the threshold immediately and back outside. The pain subsided and I stared inside the house in confusion.

Tentatively, I stuck my fingers pass the threshold. Intense pain shot through my fingertips and up my arm. I gasped and dropped my arm to my side, curling my hands into fist to try to prevent more pain. But interestingly enough, the pain was gone the moment that I pulled my fingers away.

I examined the white door frame as if searching for any kind of electric sensor. There was none.

“Grandma?” I called. “Um...is something wrong with the door?”

She didn't answer. I took a deep breath and then flung myself through the threshold. Pain shot through my entire body and I convulsed. The pain was taking over my thoughts and my vision blurred. It was almost exactly like at Coffee Coven when the Hurting started. Except, this wasn't the Hurting. And this time, I

Couldn't

Think.

I screamed and crawled towards the threshold, anywhere but inside here. Screaming, screaming. Pain, pain. Blood. Curse.

My vision went black.



“Do you think she knows?” a voice asked. The voice sounded familiar and full of kindness. I tried to move my arms and legs but I couldn't because they were too heavy. My throat was raw and I had to fight to breathe.

“She is strong. Stronger than most of her kind but she's not strong enough. Not now.” I didn't recognize the second voice. It was feminine but a little tired sounding and frail.

I tried to open my mouth but the voices all faded away. A new voice replaced the others. This one sounded so much more familiar than the other ones. Who's voice was it? I tried to place my finger on it but every time I thought about it the name would slip away from my grasp.

“Myra.”

I struggled to hear the voice. The raging in my head made it nearly impossible to concentrate. There was a loud pounding and my head was spinning. It hurt so much and I could barely think.

“Myra, please, wake up.”

A fragment of my imagination must have brought the voice. That must have been it. This wasn't real. It was just a dream. It would go away, all of it. I forced my eyelids open only to be greeted with more blackness.

“Myra!”

A scream tore through my soul. The scream was so hideous that it hurt. I cringed and screamed along with it though no sound came out of me. I-I couldn't feel it. I brought my hands—or what I could feel, to my head and opened my mouth in a gaping soundless scream.

Then it slammed.

There was a blinding white light and then darkness once again. A painful squeezing started in my head. I could barely breath. My silent scream was cut abrupt.

I clawed at my throat, feeling the need to take a breath. The lack of oxygen was suffocating me. The need of air was overwhelming.

The white light came again and my head was released from the painful clutches. I slowly relaxed my arms as I allowed the light to take over.

Slowly, the darkness turned into grey and more voices could be heard.

“Damned girl. What are we suppose to do with her?” a gruff voice I didn't recognize said. The vision was now blurry and black-and-white. I couldn't really see anything. I couldn't feel my body parts again either. Instead, I strained to listen closely to the people speaking.

“Screw it. The bitch can die when she wants. I ain't killing her no more. Her blood tastes like crap now.” There was a southern drawl to the words. Blood? Kill? I cringed at the choice of words.

“I got her. I decide.” That was a familiar voice. But I didn't know who... I remembered the somewhat endearing lisp and a name appeared in my head.

Xavier?

I wasn't sure if I was right but it was a likely guess. Xavier, the crazy one, talking about killing someone. I listened closely now. If this was about Xavier, I had to listen to it. What in the world was he talking about? Would it benefit me?

“Why did you bring back the thing?”

“She passed out while I was feeding from her,” the voice said, sounding pleased with himself. “It's not my fault she's so weak but I'm sure that it's what to expect with humans. Nothing like our kind.”

“Get out of my sight. I don't want to catch your lycanthropy,” the gruff voice said. Lycanthropy? I wasn't familiar was that term. Before I could think any further there was a sound and I was whisked away to another vision.

This time, it was in clear colour. Everything was so clear and almost abstract that the colours seemed too bright.

But I didn't put my focus on the room. There was a girl sitting in front of me with her legs pulled to her chest. She was rocking back and front and her eyes were closed. But even with her eyes closed, I swear it was her.

She opened her eyes and looked up as if staring right through me. I tried to say her name out loud but it got caught in my throat. I choked—trying to get the word out, fearing that I wouldn't say it in time.

I jerked back, the word lodged in my throat. Brilliant light flashed again and everything went out like a light.



The knocking was the thing that woke me up. It was loud, staccato sound that jarred me out of my pain induced sleep. Sitting up, I realized night had fallen. I was lying on the tattered couch in the living room. The old television was off and so were the lights. Moonlight was drifting through the windows that didn't have curtains drawn over them.

My first thought was: how did I get from the door to the couch?

There was another knock on the door and I stumbled off the couch. My legs felt unused and weak. It was almost as if I was going to fall over at any moment. Trying not to dawdle, I headed towards the door and opened it without peeking outside. It was a stupid thing to die seeing as it was the middle of the night. It could have been some crazy serial killer. Or Xavier.

Xavier. What about my visions with his voice in it? Was it part of a ridiculous dream I was having or what? He must have been a figment of my imagination but it felt too real. Pushing it away from my mind, I focused on who was standing in the doorway.

I saw a flash of ginger hair and I knew it was Claire. She was standing in front of me with a frightened look on her face and something black in her hand. Her hair was in a tangled mess and she was holding her glasses in her other hand.

“Claire?” I asked. My voice was scratchy and my throat felt dry like I hadn't used it in years. I cleared my throat and said, “What are you doing here?”

“Myra,” she said. “This is important. Let me in. Please,” she added. She was trembling and taking in breaths like short gasp. Feeling curious, I opened the door wider and stepped aside so that she could enter. Claire let out a sigh of relief and entered the house. Then she took the door, slammed it down and clicked the lock in place. With a shuddering breath, she sank down on the floor with her back towards the door.

I clicked the lights opened. What in the world was going on? Why would Claire be randomly coming to my house and...

With the lights on now, I could see what the black thing was in her hand. It wasn't an ordinary object that you saw on the streets everyday unless you were a thug or a criminal.

“Is that a...” my own trailed off. Claire held it up and I backed away almost falling down.

“Safety's on,” Claire said almost absentmindedly as she put on her glasses. “There. Now I can see.” Seeing my startled look she let out a deep sigh. “My dad has one and I needed it.”

“What are you doing with a gun? What do you mean that you needed it?” I asked, my voice bordering hysteria. The sight of the dangerous weapon in Claire's innocent hands was enough to make me hyperventilate. I placed my hand against the eye and closed my eyes, trying to take slower and deeper breaths in.

“Look,” Claire said, sounding almost as hysterical as I felt. “I needed this. Listen! Myra!” She snapped her fingers. “There are...things in the darkness outside.” Claire shut her eyes and a shudder went through her. “Animals. Rabid animals. I don't know what exactly they are but...” She let out another shudder.

“A gun. For rabid animals,” I said finally. “You're not suppose to shoot animals in the city! And how would a rabid animal get loose?” I was entirely skeptical on this. How in the world was I suppose to believe that Claire (a girl whom I barely know) was being harassed by rabid animals?

Claire looked at me, her blue eyes wide and wild. “You won't get it until you see it.” She shut her eyes. “I don't think you'd even want to see this.”

At that moment, there was a loud bang on the door. I stared at Claire, feeling fear begin to spread through me. Claire's eyes opened again. She stood up and backed away from the door. Her gun went up. Seeing Claire handle a weapon made me almost nauseous.

“What's going on?” I whispered to her. Claire didn't answer, she had a grim look on her face and she was clutching the gun tightly as if it was her life line.

There was another loud bang on the door and then an inhuman growl. The hairs on my neck went up. There was another growl. It sounded as if it was hungry...hungry for...flesh and blood.

Claire let out a soft whimper. She clutched the gun tighter and remained as motionless as possible. I followed her example. What was going on out there? I didn't think that I actually wanted to know the answer.

Suddenly, there was a loud scream that sounded almost like Amanda's scream just before she died. I put my hands on my ears in a vain attempt to block out the sound. It was no use. The scream was abruptly cut off. It was quiet for a moment and I allowed my shaky hands to rest by the sides. Just as I let go of my ears, there was a sound like flesh being torn apart. A gasp escaped my throat and the ripping sounds stopped. There was a low growl.

It had to be a rabid dog. The thought of seeing one sent shudders through me.

“Whatever you do,” Claire said quietly, “do not open the door.”

Of course I wouldn't open the door. I had no idea what was out there and judging from Claire's expression, I had a feeling that I probably wouldn't come out alive if I opened the door.

There was heavy breathing and then scratching on the door. The sound sent more shudders through me because it sounded so natural. It didn't sound like there was a rabid dog outside ready to...kill us.

“Shh... She'll come...” a soft voice whispered. Claire shot me a look and I shook my head. I didn't say anything. The lights overhead flickered off and both of us were plunged into darkness once again. Claire let out a small squeal and my heart started to race faster.

The floorboards creaked.

Someone else was inside this house.

“It'll be okay,” I murmured, trying to convince myself. “Myra, just keep calm...”

The eerie soft voice came again. It was melodic and like a gentle breeze. “From light to dark and dark to light...” The voice faded until I couldn't make out the words anymore. But the words still kept on flowing and I knew that the voice was chanting something.

The growl at the door grew louder with every murmur of words by the chanter. The scratching became more pertinacious and finally—

“Blood be blood and return as one!” The voice had lost the flow and enchantment. In fact, it sounded frail, old, and coming from a completely different person. Namely...

“Grandma?” I whispered in the darkness. I spun around in the direction I last heard the voice. “Grandma?” It had been such a long time since I heard her speak coherent words. This was almost like a gift despite the rabid dog at the door, Justine's disappearance, and Claire's gun.

“Yes...child...” The reply was almost enough to make tears start streaming down my face. There was a slow shuffling-like movement across the floor and a darker silhouette came into view in front of the moonlight. I knew who it was the instant I saw her stout figure.

My throat closed up ad tears threatened to fall. She was finally responding to me in coherent English. This was a treasure. I wasn't sure how long it would be until she fell back to her pattern again so I had to cherish every moment.

Another silhouette appeared beside her. This silhouette was a little taller but had the same slow movements of my grandmother. The darkness made it nearly impossible to see out any clear facial features even as I squinted.

“Child.” It was my grandmother again. “...Myra Eva...Lamia...” She said my surname with distaste. “You and your friend have to get out of here as soon as possible.” She was speaking in full sentences. How was that even possible? And who was this stranger in the house?

My grandmother sighed as if she had heard the questions running through my mind. “Do not ask too many questions,” she said. “Curiosity killed the cat. Namely, your parents.”

“My parents...?”

“The child is wasting too much time!” the other person hissed. The voice was definitely feminine from the sounds of it and just as frail and old as my grandmother. “The spell will not hold for long! Lunar's creatures will come pouring through before you know it!”

Spell? Lunar's creatures? I had no idea what they were talking about.

“Yes, I suppose that you are right,” my grandmother said somewhat wearily. “Myra, you and your friend must leave now before the night creature enters.”

“What night creatures?” Claire asked, voice sounding very shaky. “Go where? That thing—it's fast. I only got away with a few good shots! It bit me!”

The other woman swore. Then she said very quietly, “We have to cast you out.”

“What?” Claire sounded hysterical. “What do you mean by casting me out? Outside? You can't put me with that monster!” My eyes widened. Claire had only gotten away and now this woman was deciding her fate for her?

“No,” my grandmother said. “We'll see about that. The Change will not happen if she is not dead. And the one outside our doors is only a half-breed.”

A half-breed what? I didn't think that I had the courage to ask.

“Myra,” my grandmother said. “Get out of here right away. If you don't, I fear for your safety.”

“What safety?” I asked. “Grandma, I'm worried about you too!” My heart was beating too fast. What exactly was outside our doors? It couldn't have been just a rabid animal if they were talking about it like this.

My grandmother laughed. “My safety? I haven't been concerned about it for years.”

“But I have!” I almost shouted. The fear was slowly turning into anger. “For years! You were crazy! Insane! I didn't know what to do and I—” I choked out the next words, “I—was—scared!” The tears pressed on and begged me for release.

“Oh Myra.” Her voice was soft. “I'm sorry for imposing that on you, but you couldn't have understood. They were after you. The family would have never let the last one out of their clutches...”

“What last one?” Claire asked. “What are you talking about?”

“None of your business, human,” the other woman hissed at her, sarcasm dripping from every word. She spoke to Claire as if Claire wasn't even human.

“We're wasting time,” my grandmother said. “How many times have I told you? You need to get out. There is an exit out the back, I'm sure Myra knows...”

I was about to say that I didn't know what she was talking about until there was another growl at the door. “Hurry!” the other woman hissed at us. “We'll take care of the monster.”

There was another loud growl at the door. My legs moved on instinct away from the door and towards where my grandmother and the other woman stood. Claire followed me. We were walking in a slow pace and when something loud hit the door, we both started running full speed.

I was not a good runner. That's why I fell behind Claire so easily. Now, in the kitchen, the moonlight made it easier to see. My grandmother had a determined look on her face that I rarely ever saw. The other woman was just as old as her. She didn't look like anyone I knew and it puzzled me on why she was even in my house.

My grandmother tossed something silver at me. Instinctively, my hand shot out to grasp it. It was a silver bracelet but that was all I could make out of it at the moment. Talking would take too much time so I didn't ask why she gave it to me. She gave me one last look. “Be safe Myra,” she said. “Don't fall.”

Don't fall for what? I shot her a confused look but she wasn't looking at me anymore. Her eyes were closed and she was facing the door, chanting. I forced myself to turn away and headed for the back like she had told me.

We were barely there when the door burst open. It was a loud sound—almost like a blast but a little weaker. Nevertheless, the sound was still loud and Claire let out a squeak.

“Where's the door?” Claire asked me frantically as the sounds of an animal raged behind us.

“I don't know,” I replied honestly. “I guess we search for it—”

“I appreciate your candour and all...” Claire started, “but we don't have time!” I could see why she said that. The sounds were getting louder and louder behind us and I was almost afraid that we wouldn't make it.

...Make it for what?

My footing stumbled as I thought about this and I tripped over something on the door. Sitting up, I realized that the something on the floor was a handle that led...to a basement...?

We didn't have a basement. But I never looked in the back of the house either. This was something new.

My grandmother kept more secrets that I thought. I used to think of her as an open book. How terribly wrong I was. My grandmother was anything but an open book.

I yanked on the handle, half expecting it not to work but to my surprise it budged open. Pushing the trapdoor to the floor, I looked down. Everything was black and it felt much less safer than the moonlit house. It smelled like decay and dust like it hadn't been opened or used for ages. I didn't want to go down there until I heard a scream and then the ripping sound again. After that, there was a moment of silence before a loud inhuman growl filled the air. It was coming after us. I knew it.

I didn't have to think again. I jumped down.

My feet hit the ground after a few second and the impact almost left me immobilized. “All clear!” I shouted to Claire. She didn't answer me and I looked up in confusion. She wasn't there.

“Help!” I heard her scream. “Myra!”

“Claire!” I said, my voice panicked. “Just jump!”

But she couldn't. Whatever had been there had got her. The trapdoor closed and I was left in the darkness with fear pumping through my veins.

“Anyone...?” I whispered into the dark.

The lights flickered on. I didn't even had time to survey my surroundings. All I saw was him standing in front of me with a malicious grin on his face.

“Anyone? I'm here, all right,” he said, his grin spreading wider until it looked grotesque.

He opened his mouth to show razor sharp teeth and it was the last thing I saw before more the darkness took over.