Chapter 1: The night visitor
Lucas was having the dream again. He was at his family's farm. A small calf knelt at his feet while a faceless man stood behind him like a mountain blocking any hope of retreat. The man placed an ugly looking axe in Lucas' hands, in the agonizingly slow way that could only happen in a nightmare, as if the axe were moving through water. "You know what you have to do" the shadowy figure said flatly, his voice distorted as if coming from a million miles away. "This is the way you survive, off the deaths of others, show me you have what it takes to survive, show me now". Lucas tried to choke out a protest, but his voice carried no sound. He shut his eyes tightly and tried to scream but nothing came out. When he opened his eyes, he saw the calf was no longer a calf but a child, looking up at him wordlessly pleading for his life. Lucas raised the ax as he did every time the dream came and swung as hard as he could at the child, wanting nothing more than to make it go away. The axe never touched the child. As always this was when the dream ended. He was home in his bed, safe. He turned to his side to check the time, 1:30 in the morning, the worst time of night. He pulled himself out of bed, knowing any attempts at sleep were futile. On the nights the dream came, all he could do was sit and wait for the sun to come up. At least there was no school the next day so he could afford to be tired. Today on his way out of school a fanatical animal right's activist assaulted him. The crazed woman threw a bucket of red paint at him and his brother. The woman screamed something about how his father was abusing the cows on his dairy farm. Holding them in captivity his only concern being how much milk they produced, milk that rightfully belonged to their calves. She compared him and his family to vampires. He knew the woman and her followers were irrational, but part of him still wondered every time he looked over the fields of his father's dairy ranch. This was not the first time the woman or one of her followers had threatened him. She was part of The New Inquisition, a fanatical Christian church that seemed to have some new crusade every year. This year it was protecting animals, last year it had been protecting children, the irony did not escape him. As he settled into a pile of sheets in the corner of his bedroom where he waits for morning every time the dream comes am unnatural sound caught his attention. It was a scraping sound, like metal being dragged along the ground. At first he thought it was his parents returning from their night on the town, but no human or animal made that kind of sound. If it were his father digging in their small garden there would be some kind of rhythm or purpose to the scraping. This sounded more like a wounded animal. Concerned one of the cows had broken out of the pasture; Lucas peered out his bedroom window. A man was walking up the barren lawn to the front door of the house. Lucas could sense right away that something was not right with him. He was walking like he was injured and he was dragging something behind him, a section of barbed wire fence used to keep the cows from wandering off. To scared to speak, Lucas crept into his brother Phillip's room and shook him awake. Even though they were less than two years apart in age Lucas and Phillip were as different as any two people could be. Lucas was calm, patient and thoughtful. He believed any problem could be solved through rational thought. Phillip was the embodiment of manic energy. His first instinct in any problem was to take action as fast as possible. The dull fear Lucas felt throbbing inside him lessened a little when he saw his sleeping brother. Even if they didn't get along all the time, at least he wasn't alone anymore. "Phillip, wake up, there is someone in our front lawn" whispered Lucas trying to keep from panicking. . "Are mom and dad home yet" asked Phillip his voice still strained from sleep. "I don't think so," said Lucas, suddenly afraid whoever was lurking outside could hear him. "Our baby sitter is still here". Their mother had left them in the care of one of the ugliest women alive, a girl named April Denio. She looked like a baby hippopotamus stuffed into a dirty pair of sweatpants and a tank top several sizes to small, though Lucas and Phillip both doubted they even made tank tops in her size or if they even should. She looked like the embodiment of stereotypical trailer park trash, her hair in rollers and her face obscured behind a think coating of neon blue facial mud. Lucas did not look forward to having to ask her for help. Even though he had spent little time with the woman, he doubted she could hold herself together well in a crisis. Living so far from civilization and his karate classes had made Lucas far more self-reliant than most boys his age. He knew that he could defend himself if it came to that, but he hoped for a quick safe resolution nonetheless. Presently she was munching on a king size bag of pork rinds watching a bad TV movie starring her favorite boy band. "I wish I had a boyfriend," sobbed April dreamily through mouthfuls of fried pork fat, "I am nothing without a boyfriend." "Quickly" said Lucas trying to get the behemoth's attention. "There is an injured man in the front lawn, he needs our help". "What" said April excitedly, her attention complete from the word "man", "I hope he is cute, I hope he is single". "Listen" said April as she opened the front door and paced nervously loading the single handgun the family kept for defense. "It's probably just a stranded motorist, nothing to worry about. But if it's trouble I need you to call your parents or the police ok". Lucas didn't appear convinced but he felt calmer having some plan of action. April opened the door and called out to the approaching stranger who appeared to be dressed in a business suit, probably a lawyer. "Listen, this is private property, if you need help tell me" said April raising the handgun to the injured man standing in their doorway, "if not then please leave now, I will call the police". Neither the mention of the police or the gun pointed at the lawyer's face seemed to mean anything to him. In one swift motion, he lunged at April grabbing her by the arms and sunk his teeth into her neck. She didn't scream. She was dead before she hit the floor, eyes staring glassy in shock as the wounded man took a second, then third bite out of their stocky babysitter. Phillip sprung into action almost instinctively. He grabbed his baseball bat left on the floor and swung at the intruder with all his strength. The blow served only to get the man's attention; he looked up at Phillip with pure animal hunger in his eyes and began to crawl after him. Still lost in his rage he hit him in the head a second then third time and kept swinging until the lawyer lay twitching on the ground. Phillip collapsed to the ground breathing heavily, they both sat there in silence staring at the two bodies in their living room, no one sure what to do next. "I'll call the police," said Lucas the calmest of the two, he walked over to the phone slowly but steadily, trying to keep moving before the horror of what happened breached the protective layer of shock that deadened his senses. "The phone is dead" Said Lucas growing more worried, "we can't call the police, what we have to do is wait here for mom and dad to come home, they will know what to do". But before either could get settled down, a noise caught their attention. April was moving. Her eyes snapped open and she lifted herself to a crawling position like a drunk unsteady after a night of binge drinking. She began to crawl towards Lucas with an animal look of pure hunger in her eyes. "Run," shouted Phillip desperately trying to keep him mind focused of what to do next and not on the nightmare in front of him. He grabbed Phillips arm and practically dragged him out the front door and out into the night, as their babysitter's inhuman screams of hunger echoed after them.
Lucas was having the dream again. He was at his family's farm. A small calf knelt at his feet while a faceless man stood behind him like a mountain blocking any hope of retreat. The man placed an ugly looking axe in Lucas' hands, in the agonizingly slow way that could only happen in a nightmare, as if the axe were moving through water. "You know what you have to do" the shadowy figure said flatly, his voice distorted as if coming from a million miles away. "This is the way you survive, off the deaths of others, show me you have what it takes to survive, show me now". Lucas tried to choke out a protest, but his voice carried no sound. He shut his eyes tightly and tried to scream but nothing came out. When he opened his eyes, he saw the calf was no longer a calf but a child, looking up at him wordlessly pleading for his life. Lucas raised the ax as he did every time the dream came and swung as hard as he could at the child, wanting nothing more than to make it go away. The axe never touched the child. As always this was when the dream ended. He was home in his bed, safe. He turned to his side to check the time, 1:30 in the morning, the worst time of night. He pulled himself out of bed, knowing any attempts at sleep were futile. On the nights the dream came, all he could do was sit and wait for the sun to come up. At least there was no school the next day so he could afford to be tired. Today on his way out of school a fanatical animal right's activist assaulted him. The crazed woman threw a bucket of red paint at him and his brother. The woman screamed something about how his father was abusing the cows on his dairy farm. Holding them in captivity his only concern being how much milk they produced, milk that rightfully belonged to their calves. She compared him and his family to vampires. He knew the woman and her followers were irrational, but part of him still wondered every time he looked over the fields of his father's dairy ranch. This was not the first time the woman or one of her followers had threatened him. She was part of The New Inquisition, a fanatical Christian church that seemed to have some new crusade every year. This year it was protecting animals, last year it had been protecting children, the irony did not escape him. As he settled into a pile of sheets in the corner of his bedroom where he waits for morning every time the dream comes am unnatural sound caught his attention. It was a scraping sound, like metal being dragged along the ground. At first he thought it was his parents returning from their night on the town, but no human or animal made that kind of sound. If it were his father digging in their small garden there would be some kind of rhythm or purpose to the scraping. This sounded more like a wounded animal. Concerned one of the cows had broken out of the pasture; Lucas peered out his bedroom window. A man was walking up the barren lawn to the front door of the house. Lucas could sense right away that something was not right with him. He was walking like he was injured and he was dragging something behind him, a section of barbed wire fence used to keep the cows from wandering off. To scared to speak, Lucas crept into his brother Phillip's room and shook him awake. Even though they were less than two years apart in age Lucas and Phillip were as different as any two people could be. Lucas was calm, patient and thoughtful. He believed any problem could be solved through rational thought. Phillip was the embodiment of manic energy. His first instinct in any problem was to take action as fast as possible. The dull fear Lucas felt throbbing inside him lessened a little when he saw his sleeping brother. Even if they didn't get along all the time, at least he wasn't alone anymore. "Phillip, wake up, there is someone in our front lawn" whispered Lucas trying to keep from panicking. . "Are mom and dad home yet" asked Phillip his voice still strained from sleep. "I don't think so," said Lucas, suddenly afraid whoever was lurking outside could hear him. "Our baby sitter is still here". Their mother had left them in the care of one of the ugliest women alive, a girl named April Denio. She looked like a baby hippopotamus stuffed into a dirty pair of sweatpants and a tank top several sizes to small, though Lucas and Phillip both doubted they even made tank tops in her size or if they even should. She looked like the embodiment of stereotypical trailer park trash, her hair in rollers and her face obscured behind a think coating of neon blue facial mud. Lucas did not look forward to having to ask her for help. Even though he had spent little time with the woman, he doubted she could hold herself together well in a crisis. Living so far from civilization and his karate classes had made Lucas far more self-reliant than most boys his age. He knew that he could defend himself if it came to that, but he hoped for a quick safe resolution nonetheless. Presently she was munching on a king size bag of pork rinds watching a bad TV movie starring her favorite boy band. "I wish I had a boyfriend," sobbed April dreamily through mouthfuls of fried pork fat, "I am nothing without a boyfriend." "Quickly" said Lucas trying to get the behemoth's attention. "There is an injured man in the front lawn, he needs our help". "What" said April excitedly, her attention complete from the word "man", "I hope he is cute, I hope he is single". "Listen" said April as she opened the front door and paced nervously loading the single handgun the family kept for defense. "It's probably just a stranded motorist, nothing to worry about. But if it's trouble I need you to call your parents or the police ok". Lucas didn't appear convinced but he felt calmer having some plan of action. April opened the door and called out to the approaching stranger who appeared to be dressed in a business suit, probably a lawyer. "Listen, this is private property, if you need help tell me" said April raising the handgun to the injured man standing in their doorway, "if not then please leave now, I will call the police". Neither the mention of the police or the gun pointed at the lawyer's face seemed to mean anything to him. In one swift motion, he lunged at April grabbing her by the arms and sunk his teeth into her neck. She didn't scream. She was dead before she hit the floor, eyes staring glassy in shock as the wounded man took a second, then third bite out of their stocky babysitter. Phillip sprung into action almost instinctively. He grabbed his baseball bat left on the floor and swung at the intruder with all his strength. The blow served only to get the man's attention; he looked up at Phillip with pure animal hunger in his eyes and began to crawl after him. Still lost in his rage he hit him in the head a second then third time and kept swinging until the lawyer lay twitching on the ground. Phillip collapsed to the ground breathing heavily, they both sat there in silence staring at the two bodies in their living room, no one sure what to do next. "I'll call the police," said Lucas the calmest of the two, he walked over to the phone slowly but steadily, trying to keep moving before the horror of what happened breached the protective layer of shock that deadened his senses. "The phone is dead" Said Lucas growing more worried, "we can't call the police, what we have to do is wait here for mom and dad to come home, they will know what to do". But before either could get settled down, a noise caught their attention. April was moving. Her eyes snapped open and she lifted herself to a crawling position like a drunk unsteady after a night of binge drinking. She began to crawl towards Lucas with an animal look of pure hunger in her eyes. "Run," shouted Phillip desperately trying to keep him mind focused of what to do next and not on the nightmare in front of him. He grabbed Phillips arm and practically dragged him out the front door and out into the night, as their babysitter's inhuman screams of hunger echoed after them.