PROLOGUE
Though the darkness of the night the rain fell and not unpleasantly so, it was soft cooling. The soothing vibe of the midnight drizzle was not to last as it was soon shattered by an ear piercing shriek abruptly cut short by a sickening SNAP and then silence… "That was Michelle. Another one down, another friend lost. That was it, no more friends." He was the only one left. This was a realization that struck him hard, if only for a moment but profoundly so. For an instant, just an instant he stopped running and let the rain mix with tears streaming down his face. How could this night have gone so wrong?
This night was supposed to be like any of the other times they camped out in the woods. They'd drink, laugh, and have fun doing all sorts of stupid things just like any normal teens would do in this sleepy-eyed town. But he had to be extra brave and extra stupid tonight when they found that hidden moss covered grave. He had to climb onto the grave had to vandalize the site with everyone else, to mock and belittle the unknown occupant, he HAD to answer the call of that ghostly whisper and say yes to its little game. "What the hell kind of game was this anyways!?" He could still remember the look of abject horror on Amy's face as that…that…thing rose up. It was in this instant that warm memories of Amy flooded into his mind. Memories of brighter days spent laughing with their friends Michelle, Luke, and Jeff. Memories of school days gone by, talking in the halls or just skipping out on school altogether. Memories of how nice she felt cuddling against him as they spent another night together underneath the covers of her bed.
All these memories were quickly banished though by a single depressing thought. She wasn't here anymore; she didn't make it, just like everyone else. And just like that Alan returned to the reality his body currently inhabited, one filled with darkness and a now steady rain fall. He swept his hands over his face and slicked back his short black hair. Anyone watching him at this moment would see that in his eyes there was resolve. A burning resolve to survive this and live on, resolve enough to win this game of hers, that undead…. whatever the hell she was.
He shook the memories from his head and ran forward, the mud splashing below his feet. He had been running in the direction of the cars hoping to get there in time before that thing "found" him. He was so close to, almost there but, in his fit of confidence and determination to survive he tripped over himself and fell face first into the cold yielding mud. As he stumbled to his feet he felt it more so than heard or saw it, but it was there none the less. Quickly he spun around to come face to face with that which had been chasing him. That which, in one fell swoop, had single handedly ruined his whole life by killing his friends. It looked human enough, like a thin wisp of a 12 year old girl with long black hair and pasty white skin that almost seemed to glow in the dark of the night. But this thing wasn't human. For one, humans have eyes to see with and this thing had none. As for another thing, people can only smile so wide, this thing could literally smile from ear to ear, a true Glasgow grin.
Alan's heart beat faster and faster, impossibly fast to the point where it might burst and a well of ice opened up from within him as the humanoid girl stumbled in a broken manner towards him. She put a finger to her lips as if to shush any terrified scream that might escape his throat and simply said in a raspy, ashen whisper "game over, I found you. And then…..C-C-R-R-A-A-Ck. For Alan the world faded to black. Deeper yet still in the woods an owl caught a mouse attempting to scurry away and began to devour its prey.