The trees whipped their branches to and fro mercilessly. The light cut through the crippled leaves like shattered glass, piercing creatures in its unwavering rays. The moon was stained a bloody crimson, shrouding the land in a veil of red, for this was the time for the undead, a time to rise and seek redemption once more. They prowled the menacing forests with an unrelenting lust for blood to stain their soulless bodies. They seek while the unknowing humans frolic and laugh. The little children go from door to door, unnoticing the invisible eyes waiting, waiting for a chance to snatch and feed. Halloween arises the twilight of every 31st of October, and as the howls echo across the endless valleys, and the snarls ripple through the air, they come swiftly, hunting you.

A car trudged through the dense undergrowth; it’s glare of the lights beckoning all. As the car crossed broken, deserted paths, a sudden crack silenced the forest.

Crawling slowly to a stop, the door swung violently open. A small, red- faced teenager hopped out of the car and went toward the burst tire.

“First the damn GPS, and now this? Is there no God?”

The petite girl kicked the tire furiously. A few minutes later, she kneeled and buried her tear-streaked face in her clenched hands. Mumbling, she hastily wiped her tears on her muddy coat, locked her old Chevy, and continued along the broken path.

The winds trembled and the mighty earth shook with a thundering roar. Three trees lay parallel along the soiled path, blocking the girl’s way. Her heart started to pound maniacally, her pupils dilating in terror. The leaves rustled once more, but this time it was not the wind passing by. She stood there, paralyzed by her own adrenaline. It was closing in fast, around in circles it went, it’s rogue eyes glinted in the thick fog. The branches were torn off of the trees and were flung toward the girl. She shrieked and curled into a protective ball, her screeches shaking her body.

Suddenly, everything was still. Only the moon emitted shafts of cold light through the torn branches, making its presence know to all. Slowly lifting her disheveled head, the girl started to relax her tense muscles.

“Pathetic.”

Her vision was eclipsed with blood as she found herself choking on the dirt as her head collided with the rigid ground. She hadn’t even registered what had happened when the next blow came, sending her flying into a massive trunk of a tree. The blood slithered down her arms and her face, seeping itself into her very being. Her vision blurred and her body was dead weight. Bile rose in her throat as the fear replaced the shock. A pale hand shot out and had quickly closed her mouth, its sharp nails producing blood from her drenched cheeks.

“Lost?” A searing pain rocketed her body as the pale hands flashed and had snapped her arms in two. The girl writhed in pain and hot tears dripped onto the worn dirt. She whimpered as the hands had disappeared as quick as they had come, and tried locating her legs. Shifting her weight forward, she lunged and stumbled to her feet. A gasp of pain erupted from her mouth as she tried moving forward. Seeming like eons had passed, the girl switched from one foot to another, not knowing that this was what it had desired. As it watched its prey limp toward the looming trees, its sharp incisors prodded out of its pale lips. The hunt had begun.

She ran without any thought, any sense. Right, left, right, left. Her whole body screamed in forever lasting pain, but she never stopped, for she had known that creature was not human. Something else.

The ground gave away and she fell into a damp pit. As she steadied herself, something had crackled under her foot. Bending down, she saw it was a long, thin bone. But, as realization dawned upon her, she backed away as fresh tears smeared the long-forgotten dirt on the bones. Starting to blindly scrape away at the walls with anything she could use, she stopped. Something had chipped from the wall and had fallen on her arm sleeve. Craning her neck, she peered at the sliver, and recognized a bloody nail, ragged and torn. Her knees buckled and she collapsed onto the human bones, barely conscious. A rupture of fresh pain exploded as she was being lifted out of the hole, bringing her back to sanity.

“I went to all this trouble just for you.” The bloodthirsty eyes trapped hers, winding her thoughts around it’s web of blood and gore.

Slowly taking her hand in it’s pale, slender one, it flashed her a demoniac sneer and hacked her arm apart. The sinew and tendons broke and spilled dark droplets of crimson, staining the weeds. The vessels gushed out life and writhed in the haunting twilight. The skin was ragged and uneven as the layers underneath were exposed, the veins shriveling up in the evening chill. Then, he ripped the other, this time excruciatingly slow, savoring the emotions that had flashed across her face. Piece by bloody piece, he disembodied the human, once the body of a young girl, but now no more. Her pieces were scattered across the town, and those that were found were completely drained of blood. The creatures of the night descended back into their eternal sleep once more, awaiting the 31st day of October.