The decomposing bodies of my parents grab and pull at my limbs, telling me how I'm such a horrible son. That I'm worthless, insecure. I try to pry them off of me, but they knock me down to the ground. I can smell the stench of rotting flesh as their bodies bubble and melt into a gooey, putrid slurry all over and around me. My stomach churns as horribly disfigured versions of my adoptive parents and sister appear with a dark, hulking figure lurking behind them. Its mouth overflowing with long, jagged teeth and a serpent like tongue that shot out of Its jaws and licked Its black, leathery lips.

"YOU DIRTY, FILTHY, LITTLE FA-!

"Augh!" I shot up from the bed. The sound of trickling rain outside brought a wave of relief over my chest. I wiped the sweat from my forehead and fell back down onto my pillow. "It was just that dream again…"

I pulled the comforter to my chin and turned onto my side. I stared at the digital alarm clock that flashed 12:00.

"That can't be right," I sat up and looked over at the analog clock that was hung up on the wall opposite of me. 9:15 seemed more like it. I reached down to the ground and grabbed my leg prosthesis and socks. I sat up right on the bed and pulled my socks on; one for my left foot and one for my residual limb. I smoothed out the wrinkles and put my leg into the socket of the prosthesis. I jumped off the bed and made sure my leg was securely in the socket. I fastened the straps that went around my thighs then swung my leg back and forth a couple times. The added weight on my right leg added a strange sense of security. I dropped my pajama bottoms to the floor and grabbed my jeans, pulling them over my prothesis. I jumped up and yanked the jeans the rest of the way. I tugged one of the suitcases up onto the bed and unzipped it. I dug through the mess of shirts and jeans until I found my favourite grey and purple striped pullover. I put on the shirt when there was a knock at the door.

"Uh, come in!" I yelled, quickly grabbing the pajama bottoms and throwing them into the suitcase. Relda Grimm popped her little face out from behind the door.

"Good morning," she said with a warm smile. She was wearing a bubblegum pink dress that went down to her white kitten heels.

"Morning," I replied smiling back. I pulled my shirt sleeve down as I scrambled at my brain for something better to say.

"Did you sleep well?" She asked.

"I did, actually," I brushed my hair back and turned to the unmade bed. Dammit, I must look like a horrible houseguest… She's gonna kick me out and accuse me of being a spoiled br- "Uhm, thank you! For letting me stay the night. I-I really appreciate it."

"It was no trouble at all," she walked over to windowsill and gazed out into the backyard. "I've learned over the past few years that it's always a good idea to have an extra bedroom or two ready." She giggled to herself.

"Heh hehmm…" I readjusted my shirt. There was an awkward silence as Mrs. Grimm still stood there staring out the window. I swung my arms nervously at my sides waiting for her to say something.

"Faryn, may I ask you something. About your mother and father?"

"Sure, what is it?"

She turned back towards me, concern in her eyes. "They weren't-to your knowledge- involved in any group or cult or anything like that?"

I shook my head. "No, I-I don't think so."

"Hmm," she hummed smoothing out her dress. She clasped her hands together then looked down at her feet. "They didn't ever mention an entity or maybe a 'leader', maybe you've overheard something they've said to each other, maybe they were trying to hide it from you?"

I shook my head again. "But are… are you referring to the red hand prints?"

"Yes," she said uneasily.

I looked up at the white stucco ceiling and tried my best to recall a time where maybe my parents were discussing or doing something that they didn't necessarily want me to know of. But all of I could think of was the moment I found out Santa Claus wasn't real and the first time I caught my parents having sex. Oh God... "I'm sorry, but I can't think of anything out of the ordinary."

Mrs. Grimm gave me a weak smile. "Oh well, I was just, er, curious."

I nodded but I could tell that something was bothering her.

"Uhm, one last thing. How did you know about Everafters?"

"I just always have," I shrugged. "I grew up knowing they were real. My mum used to tell me all the stories and folklore and… yeah."

"And your father?"

"Actually, I don't think he even knew," I stared down at the floor and shuffled my feet. "She never really talked about Everafters around him."

"Really?" She raised an eyebrow at me.

I nodded. "Yeah. Come to think of it, in fact." I zipped up the suitcase and set it down onto the floor. "There might've been something a little weird that she always did." I sat down on the edge of the bed and Mrs. Grimm scurried towards me, listening intently.

"When I was little I didn't pay much attention to it, but now that I'm actually thinking about it… there was an odd thing that she did, a-and even my dad pointed it out a lot I remember." I was looking down at my feet, but I could feel Relda Grimm's green eyes staring me down with anticipation. "She wouldn't allow full lengths mirrors in the house. I don't know why, but she just always got uneasy around them." I looked up at the elderly woman and noticed that she looked more uneasy than she did earlier. A tiny bead a sweat dripped down her wrinkled cheek, but she quickly wiped it away with her hand.

"Ah hem, is that so? Heh," she whisked towards the door and pulled the door open. She gave me a weird smiled. "Well, I think my eldest granddaughter is downstairs. Why don't you go meet her? I-I'll be downstairs in a bit to fix everyone breakfast." She slammed the door shut and I could hear her tiny feet pitter into her bedroom, closing the door behind her.

"What," I muttered. I scratched my head and pulled my shoes on. What was that all about? I opened the bedroom door and exited into the long upstairs hallway. Rows and rows of pictures covered every inch of the wall. I took a minute to gaze at the isle of memories and thought about my own little collection of pictures I had brought with me from Vancouver. I didn't get to keep much of my stuff when I was put into foster care, but I managed to grab a few little things to help me remember my late parents.

Mum would've loved this place, I thought. The whole décor seemed a lot like my mother, it made me a little homesick. I felt a lump form in the back of my throat. I shook the feeling and moved slowly down the hallway, wondering why Relda seemed so uneasy about the mirrors.

"I should've mentioned all that before hand," I muttered angrily to myself. When she let me into the house last night, I did my best to tell her everything as quickly as possible. Giving her the basics of my life story. As soon as I had mentioned the red hands prints on my parents dead bodies, she quickly asserted that I would stay in the Grimm household until we figured something out in the morning. Well, it was morning and I was anxious to see what was going to happen. I wondered if maybe the Grimms had some weird superstition about mirrors, my mother had a whole bunch of superstitions that she believed in, where she unfortunately passed on her beliefs to her neurotic son.

I led my hand down the stairway banister as I slowly walked down the steps into the downstairs hallway. Rows and rows of bookshelves filled with old books littered the living room and dining room. It made the whole smell musty and sweet. Elvis, the Grimm family's 200-pound dog rested on one of the couches in the living room. When he heard me come down the stairs he jerked his head up and let out a tiny bark, but when he saw it was me he sheepishly lowered his head back down on the couch cushion and closed his eyes. I smiled and turned to my right, following the hallway to the kitchen. Mrs. Grimm had formally introduced me and Elvis last night, when he staggered into the dining room where we were talking and drinking tea. I heard growling behind me and turned to see a freakin' horse bearing his teeth at me.

"What is that?!" I squeaked, nearly dropping my mug of hot beverage onto my lap.

"Oh, Elvis! You big goof," Relda giggled. "He's no threat!" She patted my hand. Once the dog saw I wasn't there to hurt his family, he lowered his head and bounded towards me, begging for pets.

I've always been kind of uneasy around dogs, but when a dog weighs more than you, you give in and do what he wants. I carefully moved my hand towards the dog's muzzle where he happily greeted it with sloppy, wet kisses.

"Oooh, that's lovely," I moved my hand up upwards and watched strings of goo drip onto the floor.

A picture of blonde man and a brunette woman caught my eye. They cradled a small baby in their arms, all pink and new looking. I couldn't help but grin myself as I watched the happiness in their eyes. Even though it was a photo, it was almost like you could hear their laughter as they cooed over the baby.

I set my hand on the kitchen door and pushed it open, catching one last glimpse at the photo. Huuuh? I stood in the doorway dumbfounded as I watched two teens leaning towards each other over a table. They touched noses just as I went, "Oh! I um…" They both flinched forwards and ended up clonking their heads together. The jolted away from each other and rubbed their heads. Oh my God, oh my God, what did I just walk into? I looked away towards the ground as I stammered, "I-I didn't mean to-!"

Something heavy hit me in the chest and I flew backwards back into the hallway. The back of my head hit the wall and I felt my vision pull. I looked up and saw a blonde, teenage boy pinning me to the ground. He had my shirt balled up in one hand as he held his right fist behind him, getting ready to punch me in the face. "Holycrapshit!" I croaked as I tried to shield my face with my hands.

"Who are you!?" He shouted. He pulled me closer towards him and tightened his fist. "What are you doing here?'

"I-I'm sorry! I just! I didn't know! I-I!" I stuttered. I watched his eyes turn a muddy blue as they pierced into my soul.

"Puck! Stop it!" Mrs. Grimm came running down the hallway and pushed the boy away from me. I closed my hands over my face and felt the adrenaline pump through my veins. After a second I peeped out from behind my fingers and saw that the blonde guy was offering a hand to help me up. I nervously grabbed it as he pulled me up to my feet and brushed the dirt from my shoulders.

The blonde girl appeared from the kitchen and ran over to Mrs. Grimm. "Granny! What's going on? Who is this guy?"

Mrs. Grimm put a hand on my shoulder and looked at the teens sternly. "This is Faryn. And you need to get everyone to the house now."

We all stood in silence, until a little brunette girl in pigtails emerged from the hallway, rubbing her eyes. "Whatsa with all the ruckus?"

Yes yes, I know I'm a horrible person for taking for so long to upload this! But hey, don't blame me! Blame YouTube, Tumblr, and Netflix, yo :P Anyways, it's up and I should be able to get number six up in the next couple weeks or so.

Thank you for taking the time to read my story!

Luv,

R