A loud bang woke her up, and as she sat up and looked around, she could see nothing but darkness all around her. Still half asleep, she strained to hear anything besides the crickets and frogs outside in the yard. She got out of her bed and slowly made her way to her door, opening it and hoping it wouldn't squeak as it normally did. She poked her head outside the door and looked around. She could see and hear nothing, but an odd smell caught her off guard. Covering her mouth with the sleeve of the shirt she wore, she walked down the hall to her parent's room. She half expected to see both of her parents sleeping in the king-sized bed that they'd shared for more than twenty years, and she had to remind herself that her father would not be there. Never again.
She saw that the door to her mother's room was open a crack and found it odd. Her mother always slept with her door shut tight. "Mom?" she whispered as she pushed the door open. The smell she'd noticed at her own bedroom door suddenly became stronger. Her heart dropped when she flicked on the light and saw her mother lying in her bed, blood splattered everywhere. "Mom!" she ran to her mother's side, really knowing that it was too late. There was too much blood and she knew she was gone.
Sobbing, she got off the bed and realized she was covered in her mother's blood, but all she could think of was finding her brother and sister-in-law who were sleeping in the downstairs bedroom. She stumbled to the stairs and forced her legs to move down them, seeking out her family. As she reached the bottom landing, another loud bang rang out, causing her to fall back in surprise. "No." she felt as though she was going to be sick as she struggled to get back to her feet. Clutching the old, solid wood handrail, she made her way forward, desperate to get to Kevin and Julie's room.
"Kevin?" she called out, not even thinking that she could be attracting the attention of whoever was doing all of this. "Julie?"
"Hi, Christie." Julie stepped out of the room she shared with her husband, her clothes covered in blood. "I need you to be good for me." she said as she stepped forward, holding the gun that Kevin and Christie's father kept in a lock box in the basement.
"Julie?" Christie stopped dead in her tracks. "What's going on?"
"You've seen what's happening out there, Christie." Julie wept. "You know what we'll all become!" she screamed. "I don't want to end up like that, I don't want any of us to."
"We won't..." Christie was having trouble breathing as she sobbed harder and harder. "Please...what have you done?"
"What needs to be done." Julie smiled, tears and snot running down her own face, mixing with her husband's and mother-in-law's blood. "I won't let it happen to us." she lifted the gun and aimed it at Christie.
Christie forced herself to move, she had to get away. She wouldn't let herself be killed. She was going to survive this, she'd promised her father. They all had.
"Christie, come back here!" Julie screamed at the top of her lungs. "I have to do this."
Christie continued to move even as Julie fired at her. She was able to avoid the first and second bullet, but the third grazed her shoulder causing her to scream in pain. She made her way to the front door and ran out into the night.
"Christie!" she could hear Julie call out one last time before another shot rang out and silence fell upon the neighborhood again.
Christie collapsed in her front yard and stared back at the old Victorian house. Between the pain and the sobbing, she couldn't hold back anymore and began to vomit all over the grass in front of her. Her stomach ached and she felt as though she had no energy left. As she tried to collect herself, she heard a shuffling noise and a hiss and turned to see one of them coming towards her. Groaning, she stumbled to her feet again and forced herself to go back inside. She tripped on the second step and felt a hand grip her ankle, pulling her down the steps towards the sidewalk.
"No!" she cried as she grabbed the heavy ceramic gnome that sat on the edge of the porch. Swinging with every ounce of strength she could muster, she lashed out and caught the thing in the side of the head. Not enough to kill it, she knew that much, but enough to break its grip on her leg. Even more inspired than before, she got to her feet and ran into the house, slipping in a pool of blood as she shut the door behind her. Struggling to reach up she locked the door. She looked down the hall that led to the kitchen and back bedrooms and saw Julie lying on the floor, her face unrecognizable after the self-inflicted wound.
She huddled herself up against the door and wept, rocking back and forth. Everything had gone to hell, and now she was completely alone.
Christie sat up, screaming as she did, her body drenched in sweat. She took a few deep breaths, feeling as though she had been drowning. That dream. Again. She didn't know how long she was going to have to put up with it. She wanted nothing more than to forget that night, but she knew that she never would. It would always be with her. She sat up against her headboard and clutched a pillow to her chest and wept into it. No matter what, she would always be alone.