"We should call the authorities. This isn't safe." Tristian insisted as I tugged on my rain boots.

"I know it isn't," I admitted, grabbing my raincoat and then glanced down at the picture that sat on the coffee table, "But Drakon is there. I need to go and see for myself."

Tristian shifted his weight from one foot to the other. "You could call them to check it out for you."

I tore my eyes away from the picture and met Tristian's mask. "What if this is my only chance, my only lead? Tristian, we haven't heard or seen anything about Drakon. Not even a footprint or a hair. What if I blow it by calling the police?"

"What if this is a trap?" Tristian returned, clenching his hands.

I nibbled on my lower lip. This could be a trap. No one just leaves something like that on anyone's front door. This was meant for me to go there. This wasn't an act of surrender or a clue to the hidden treasure.

Something was going to happen. Something that made my stomach twist in knots the more I thought about it.

I glanced up at Tristian and swallowed hard. If I was going to go there, guns blazing, I might as well bring someone.

"Come with me," I began and Tristian stood up right at that, "It's raining. I'm pretty sure no one is out there, so no one will see you."

"You can't be serious?" Tristian sputtered out, "What if someone is looking out the window?"

I frowned and looked around. I spotted an umbrella and picked it out, opening it up and almost hitting Tristian who dodged it. I gave him the umbrella and he very reluctantly took it.

"Use this as a shield. And with your hood on, I'm pretty sure no one will get a good look." I added.

Tristian stared at the umbrella and then back at me. He didn't want to go, but I knew he didn't want me to go alone and there was no one else who could go. Javon was in the city and probably wouldn't even make it without driving into a ditch with these weather conditions.

Tom meowed, catching our attention as he rubbed up against Tristian's worn out boots. He seemed to notice Tristian's discomfort as he sat down in front of him, his head tilted back to stare.

My frown deepened as they seemed to be having a conversation by the way they stared at each other until Tom got up and hopped on the couch, sniffing it before claiming his spot and sat.

"I know I'm asking for too much and it's okay if you don't want to go—" I started to say, but Tristian shook his head.

"I'll go... Just stay close to me. Please." He added, gripping the umbrella tightly to emphasize his discomfort.

I nodded, secretly finding it amusing he was scared of going to town without me. I grabbed the picture and my phone and locked everything up before we headed out to the bar.

The instant we stepped out of the house, the rain slapped at our faces, making me grimace as I struggled to keep my hood on. Tristian held the umbrella in front of us to stop the rain from hitting us. I rubbed my eyes and the wind shifted, blowing hard from behind us.

I yelped as the strong wind pushed us forward and Tristian almost slipped. I gripped on his arm and Tristian held on the umbrella for dear life as the wind howled.

As we rounded the corner towards the bar, a car drove by. Tristian quickly hid his face with the umbrella and my heart started to beat wildly in my chest as the car slowed down. I hurried, pulling Tristian along as he tried to hang back and run the other direction.

"We're almost there!" I shouted when the car took off, splashing water on the sidewalk.

I crossed the street and Tristian jogged to catch up with me. I stood in front of the bar; wrinkling my nose at the condition it was left in.

After the murders and the fire, the owner decided it wasn't worth restoring it and left it up for sale. It didn't look so bad on the outside. It was two stories with a small balcony on the second floor. The windows were shattered, but to keep people from peering inside, the windows were sloppily bordered up and only allowed small cracks for a peak. The front door was bolted shut with a simple lock.

Tristian and I stood by the door as the small overhang provided us relief from the pouring rain.

"What do we do about the lock?" I loudly asked and Tristian motioned for me to step aside.

I gave him room and stood in front of the lock. I tried to peer over his shoulder, but I couldn't see anything and a second later, the lock popped.

He pushed the door open and a cloud of dust hit us in the face. I waved my hand in my face, coughing as I stepped in with Tristian close behind me. I scrunched up my nose at the faint scent of burnt wood and gasoline. Tristian coughed and cleared his throat.

"I find it hard to believe anyone could be hauled up in here." Tristian commented, his voice quiet.

I grimly nodded, eyeing the place warily. The bar that sat on the left was abandoned and covered with dust and empty bottles and cups. Behind it, where the bottles were displayed was completely ruined. All the tables and chairs were turned and thrown on the floor, some burned to crisp. The wallpaper was torn and in some places, I was able to see where the fire licked the walls. The ceiling was completely black and crumbles of ash fell on us as the wind howled outside.

Tristian and I made our way towards an opened archway, pausing every so often when the floorboards creaked loudly.

"Go slow," Tristian warned me when he noticed my rushing, "The floor could break under our weight."

I nodded when we heard a faint muffled shout. We shared looks, an uneasy feeling going through me as we stopped to listen where that sound came from.

Tristian looked around our surroundings and there was another creek. I whirled around as I heard it somewhere behind me, but there was nothing except an empty chair.

I swallowed hard when there was a loud moan and something scratching on a surface that made me flinch. I stepped closer to Tristian as the jukebox that sat next to the bar was suddenly brought to life. Creep by Postmodern Jukebox started playing, the distorted voice piercing through the silence in an eerily and dreadful way.

I shivered as lightning struck, providing light for a split second but that was all we needed to see that we were not alone.

There was a shadow blocking the windows and I knew that it belonged to that thing that has terrorized me for the past year.

I gasped, stepping back and bumping into Tristian's chest. He tensed up and I felt his chest heaving up and down.

There was sickening crack like bones crunching and my blood ran cold when I felt a breeze next to my ear. I cringed away from the source and my foot stepped on to a loose board and gave out under my weight. I shrieked as the floor beneath me collapsed and I fell through.

"Varia!" Tristian shouted, panic laced in his voice as he reached out to grab my arm but the floorboards gave out under him too. I painfully fell on my side, hissing through clenched teeth as pain exploded on my shoulder.

I moaned and gripped my upper arm as Tristian fell next to me on a pile of broken wood and sand bags. I pushed myself up on my hands and knees and shook my head as dust and ash clouded my vision. Tristian coughed then groaned as he sat up, hands rubbing his side.

"Are you okay?" Tristian asked, pausing to harshly cough.

I pushed my hair back from my face and winced as the movement caused another wave of pain on my shoulder. "Define okay." I muttered.

Tristian slowly stood up and helped me up to my feet. He looked up at the gaping hole in the ceiling then made a gagging sound. It took me a moment to realize the pungent odor.

I gagged as I could almost taste it. The smell of a rotting dead animal mixed with feces and urine. I covered my nose and mouth, eyes watering.

"Ugh, what is that smell?" I asked in a nasal voice, scanning the dark room.

"Smells like a dead rat." Tristian said, his voice tight.

I frowned and tried to make out what else was here but there was barely any light and no windows as we fell through the first floor and into the basement.

I reached into my pocket and took out my cell phone. I brightened the screen and flashed the light around the room. It was dead rats. And there were multiple of them with a cloud of flies hovering over them. There was some that were torn in half, its guts out in the open, and others lying there, rotting away.

There was also tons of graffiti on the walls and floor. A wall shelf was littered with empty bottles and crushed cans. There was a thin mat on the floor that had a couple of garbage bags on top.

"Judging from what I see, I think there's a back door to this place." Tristian spoke.

I nodded in argument and shined the light to an opening that led to another room. Tristian stepped forward and my phone shut off.

"Shoot. Hang on." I mumbled and doubled tapped touched the screen.

I shined the light towards the opening and froze. The shadow was in the way and this time, I felt my heart leap into my throat, making it hard to breathe as my eyes widen with fear.

The shadow blocked off the way with its new hulking form. Its arms seemed to be longer than its body as it crouched, looking like its ready to pounce on us. The white dots on its face shifted from me and Tristian and it growled, a sound that made the hair on the back of my neck rise. There was that cracking sound again as its jaw suddenly moved and there it was. That smile. Its white pointed teeth cracked into a big smile.

Tristian sucked in a sharp breath, stepping back. My hand shook as I held my phone at it and I whimpered low in my throat.

That caught the shadow's attention and there was another crackling sound. Its jaw moved again and suddenly it opened its mouth so wide that the chin fell to its chest. It screeched before it sharply turned its head towards Tristian.

His body was suddenly thrown to the side by an unseen force and he collided into the shelves.

I gasped and called out to him before my cell phone was knocked out of my hands, plunging the room into darkness again.

I screamed as I felt something wrap around my waist and lift me up through the hole. I called out for Tristian again, but it was useless as I was thrown to the bar. I was expecting to hit the wall, but I went through it and smashed against the floor. I rolled a bit and stopped on my stomach.

I groaned and rolled over to my side, kicking off a piece of wood on my legs. I roughly coughed as I inhaled a deep breath. My throat felt dry and my lungs on fire as I was assaulted by dust and ashes.

I weakly pushed myself up when there was a muffled shout. I jerked my head up, my eyes instantly burning with tears. I choked on a sob as Drakon muffled something, swinging his tied legs to grab my attention.

I crawled towards him, ignoring the aching pain of my body. I hastily untied the bandana around his mouth and he breathed a sigh of relief.

"Mom." He croaked out and I cried out as I cupped his face, my eyes roaming his face.

I tried to say something, but I couldn't form any words. I couldn't feel the pain of having been thrown around. I couldn't feel anything except relief and happiness as my eyes locked on Drakon's.

I sobbed and quickly undid the tape that held him in place. He leaped into my arms, his arms tightening around me as he cried into my shoulder.

I ignored his body odor and hugged him back, one hand cupping the back of his head. I could feel a weight lift off my shoulders as well as all those nightmares, doubts, and visions for I had my baby back where he belonged—in my arms.

I cried harder and kissed his temple. "I'm so sorry, baby. I won't ever let you go." I whispered.

Drakon pulled back to peer at me through his hair. There was dirt all over his face and his tears and snots washed it away as his chin quivered. I ran my thumb under his eye and he sniffled.

His chapped lips parted, but there was another crash. I hugged Drakon close to me and looked over my shoulder. I gasped as the shadow thing crawled through the opening, its head turning around until it spotted me.

I stood up and quickly moved Drakon behind me. Drakon whimpered, his hands clutching onto the ends of my raincoat.

The shadow screeched again and crawled towards me. Adrenaline rushed through me and I picked up a broken piece of iron rod. I swung it as the shadow came closer and it made the shadow swirl into a cloud of darkness.

I blinked as it disappeared and lowered my arms. I wanted to look around, but when Drakon whimpered, I quickly grabbed him up in my arms. I wasn't going to wait for it to come back. He wrapped his arms around my neck and his legs around my waist as I climbed out of the makeshift hole on the wall.

I went around the bar and spotted Tristian climbing out of the hole on the floor, grunting as he almost fell back in. I put Drakon down and ran to him. I grabbed his arm and he jerked his head up at me.

"You should've just used the stairs." I grumbled, pulling him up until he threw his legs over and rolled out, breathing hard as he laid there.

"I couldn't find it." He said breathlessly.

I held out my hands for him and helped him to his feet. He dusted himself off and sighed, turning to me.

"Are you alright? I thought I heard you—" Tristian began to say when a piece of wood whacked him on the head, causing him to stumble and almost fall back down.

My eyes widen and I grabbed him, pulling him away from the hole. I looked over my shoulder at Drakon, who dropped the wood as he stared at me with wide eyes.

"That's the masked man, mom! Why are you helping him? Don't you know he's going to eat you?" He asked, grabbing my sleeve to pull me away.

Oh... right.

I winced and Tristian leaned on the table, gripping his head from where Drakon struck him. I opened my mouth to explain when there was a loud bang.

Drakon instantly came behind me and Tristian stood up as the shadow appeared in front of the doors, blocking the only exit we knew. We took a step back as the shadow cracked open its jaw again and screeched.

I covered my ears as the screech pierced my eardrums like nails scratching on a chalkboard.

"C'mon!" Tristian shouted and jumped down in the hole gracefully.

He turned and held his hands out. I grabbed Drakon's arm and he jerked his arm from my grip. He wanted to say something, but the shadow started crawling towards us, its head turning thirty-sixty as its hand stomped on the floors.

I grabbed Drakon by the arms and dropped him towards Tristian, who caught him under his arms. I jumped in quickly, almost landing on my side if Tristian hadn't caught me. The shadow crawled past me, hitting the wall and causing the wall to collapse.

I spotted my phone and snatched it up, sighing in relief that it turned on.

"Let's go find that exit before it comes back." I said.

Drakon and Tristian nodded and we ran towards the opening. I gave Tristian the phone as I gripped Drakon's hand in mine. We looked at what appeared to be a large gaming room. Tables of pool neatly sat in rows, some knocked down and a couple of arcade games were pushed against the walls, some tipped over.

We didn't have time as something fell behind us. Tristian cursed as the shadow dropped from the hole, its white dots that resembled its eyes locked on us.

I grabbed Drakon and ran behind a vending machine in the corner as Tristian ran the opposite way, hiding in behind a fallen arcade game.

I covered Drakon's mouth and held a finger to my lips to indicate that he be quiet. He solemnly nodded, his eyes glinting with unshed tears. I held my breath as the shadow appeared on the archway, its head moving as it tried to find us. It crawled in further, its hands stomping on the ground causing the floor to rumble with every step it took.

I squeezed my eyes shut, covering my mouth as I tried to stifle a whimper.