Music. Music. Music. Avery tossed and turned, until she finally shot up in bed. Make it stop. It didn't stop. It wasn't in her head anymore. She looked up at her ceiling, and got out of bed. She headed to her door, glancing at Reagan's masterpiece with a smile. Peering out, she made sure her parents were asleep. It was 2 a.m., but you never know. She heard her dad's rhythmic snoring and headed opposite their room to the attic stairs.

The piano music was getting louder. She wanted to wake up her siblings, but something told her not to. Slowly, she padded up the steps. The attic door creaked as she pushed it open. Two orange crescents were illuminated on the night table, where the radio was. She walked in, and quietly closed the door behind her. She flicked on the light, and walked towards the radio.

Avery reached her hand out to touch it. "Do you like my music?" Avery gasped when she heard the voice. She whirled around.

"Your...m...music?"

"Yes. I played that song. I'm Frida."

"I'm Av..er...y? I do like your song... it's been in my head all day. Who are you?" Avery looked at the radio and back to Frida, who was suddenly surrounded by other children - two other girls, and two boys. Simultaneously, they all made a shushing gesture, and she suddenly felt very calmed. She felt that if she were to try to scream, she physically would not be able to. "Where did you come from?" she asked quietly.

"You'll find out eventually," a girl with long, red hair said. "I'm Ashley. I hear you're an artist too?"

Avery didn't stop to wonder how this stranger already knew something about her. "Yeah, kind of. I draw a bit."

"That's cool," Ashley replied. "Our father is a big fan of art."

"You're... all siblings?" Avery wondered. None of the kids looked remotely like each other. Maybe they're adopted. Ashley nodded. She looked at Cody and glanced her eyes at the film box. "What's in the box?" Avery asked.

"Why don't you open it?" Cody, the barefoot boy with curly black hair and dark eyes suggested. He had swim trunks and a tee on.

Avery knelt down in front of it, cautiously eyeing Cody and Ashley. She unlatched it and slowly opened it. It creaked tiredly until she finally swung it open full force. "Are these... films?" she asked. She repeated some of the names to herself. "Did you make these?"

"We did," Luke, a well-dressed, albeit a tad muddy, blond with a British accent said, nodding.

Ashley reached in and picked hers up. House Painting '12. "I did this one." Avery felt uneasy, yet curious. She had no idea what was on those tapes, and she didn't want to find out. But all at once, she was overcome with curiosity.
Ashley heard her father's voice in her head. Subtlety. "But it is awfully late for movies. We will stop by tomorrow?"

"Don't leave," blurted Avery. "I want to watch your film, Ashley."

Frida was about to speak up, but Ashley shot her a look. She waited to see if Bughuul would give her any input. Nothing. "Avery... Look, these tapes... Their names are kind of..."

"Deceptive," lisped Evelyn, the youngest, who had large hazel eyes and shiny black shoulder-length hair. Ashley face-palmed.

"How so?" Avery's eyes widened.

Ashley felt the suffocation of her father's realm envelop her. The suffocation she'd feel if she failed. They would all be doomed. Exiled. Did Bughuul not send her to do the talking? "Sometimes," Ashley said slowly, trying to formulate the correct wording in her mind. "Things are put a certain way to be more... appropriate... for... others. These films are different than most home movies. It's not really something you watch and laugh about with your family."

Avery paid no mind to the precaution. "I want to see your film. Please."

Ashley shook her head. "Later. I promise, you'll get to see mine, and Cody's, and Evelyn's, and Luke's. And Frida has something else on that radio we'll show you in time."

"I want to see your film, Ashley. Why are you hiding them from me?" Avery wondered. She was gripped with such fascination. She almost felt the evil surrounding the kids and the tapes. She almost wanted in.

"Avery, listen. You'll get to see them. I don't know if you're ready. They contain a lot... of graphic... violence... That's, uh, real?"

"Like what kind?" Avery wondered.

"Murder." all of the kids said in unison. They knew they had to slightly scare her off. Her curiosity levels were high, so they knew they'd get her to watch the films. What happened next took them off guard.

"I want to see," Avery replied soberly. "I'm not afraid. My parents say violence and death is all over the world at all times. You can't get away from it."

Ashley looked at her group. "You're sure?" Avery nodded. Is this what Bughuul had in mind? Maybe? Either way, Ashley had Luke and Evelyn set up the projector and screen.

Ashley glanced at Avery one final time, but Avery's eyes were glued to the blank screen. The film started abruptly, cutting out right as the father got an axe to the head. Not a single response from Avery when she saw Ashley shushing. Nothing when the blood-painted walls were shown. Nothing when the kids were all on screen. Ashley flicked off the projector and looked at Avery, waiting for a response.

"You did that?" Avery asked, fascinated. "Your whole family? You killed them. What was that symbol? How did you paint with their blood? Can I see another?"

"Slow down. That's all? You don't... you don't care? Avery," Ashley said, grabbing her shoulders. "You need to understand, that was real. That wasn't just some fictional horror movie scene. I filmed that. I killed my family." Very subtle right there. Ashley hoped Bughuul hadn't been paying attention at that moment.

"I know. Why would a group of kids show up in my attic with creepy music, to show me old-fashioned fake movies? I can put two and two together. I'd like an explanation, and I want to see someone else's."

"He's going to love you," Ashley nearly gushed.

"He...?" wondered Avery, uncertain.

"Our father," Ashley explained.

"Who's your father?" prodded Avery.

Ashley's eyes shifted to and fro uncomfortably. "Mmm, I don't know if he wants us to tell you just yet."

"Why not? Same reason you were secretive about the videos?" Avery asked, more curious than accusatory. Their expressions said it all. "I would like to know. I'm kinda confused."

"I bet," Ashley replied, trying to laugh. She sighed. "Ok. We call him Mr. Boogie, sometimes... but his name is Bughuul. He's, uh, not exactly ...human... maybe he'll let you meet him before he adopts you. That symbol you saw was his. We made those videos for him. After we do that, he adopts us, we go to his world, and live as one giant family. Sometimes, he has us go find other new siblings, like you." The only reason Ashley continued, is that Avery looked so eager and fascinated.

'He's going to love you.' That stood out to Avery more than any of that other stuff. "So for him to adopt me... I have to do ...that?" She couldn't bring herself to actually say "kill my family". Looking at the blank screen, and back to Ashley with wide, concerned eyes, she asked, "What about Reagan and Chance?"

"Bughuul chose you, Avery. And just you," replied Ashley, emphatically but apologetically.

"So... I..." Avery wrung her hands together. Her two best friends, Chance and Reagan Grace. She loved them more than life itself. Was this worth it? "Can I watch another one?"

"Sure." Ashley looked at Luke, gesturing to the box. "You're up!" Luke went to the box and took his out. It read, "Gardening '93".

He set it up and flicked on the projector. It started off with a family of four sitting in the grass, laughing. A scruffy little dog was bounding around. It panned to a young girl and her mom pulling weeds, and then to the dad and - apparently Luke - playing football. Avery thought nothing of the pitcher of lemonade on the patio table.

Suddenly, the screen got darker as there were now deep, long holes in the ground.

There were people in those holes. They were bound and gagged, but their eyes said it all. Someone was shoveling heaps of dirt into them. Occasionally, the shovel would whack down on a buried body. A few more shovels, and another scene change. The camera appeared to be set up somewhere in front, to show Luke planting flowers atop the filled holes.

The final scene was a lovely, normal-looking new garden, with flowers and edged with cinderblocks. Luke showed up in front, doing the shushing gesture. The film ended.

"What did you think?" Luke asked excitedly.

Avery's expression was a little bit horrified, yet an equal mix of fascination and satisfaction. "You did a nice job with the garden. That was creative. You both were extremely creative."

Ashley was legitimately surprised at the accolades. "Our father needs some sort of artistic medium along with the sacrifice itself. Usually just filming it would work, but we don't have a camera anymore. So we can't rely on cinematography anymore. That's why he had us come. Our sacrifices would have been just fine without them being taped."

"Why don't you have a camera anymore?"

"Daddy doesn't want us talking about it," Ashley said a bit uncomfortably. "Well, I think this is enough for tonight. We'll come back. You can see the rest of our tapes later."

"Alright," Avery said. "You promise you'll come back?"

"Of course. Oh, and Avery?"

"Hmm?"

"You cannot, I repeat cannot tell anyone about any of this, you understand? Else Bughuul will get very mad at us, and you. And we don't want that. So please," Ashley pleaded. "Not a word."

Avery looked Ashley straight in the eyes. "Not a word," she repeated fervently.