Anne rose as a crushing and suffocating sensation woke her from her sleep. Her heart was pounding in her chest and she was drenched in sweat. Dazed and confused she tried looking around to let her eyes adjust and focus, but the darkness made it difficult.

“Tom?” she groaned through gritted teeth.

There was no reply.

Tom was on his back, staring into the sky above. His breathing was fast and irregular. It was only after the ringing in her ears subsided a few moments later that she could hear the sounds surrounding her.

Loud rabid barks were echoing from all around them. The branches above them shook violently as large shadowy shapes rushed through them.

Hide. Hide. Hide. She repeated in her mind, trying to get her limbs to move. She squirmed and rolled her body, sliding into the pile of leaves she was sleeping on. Within seconds she had covered herself with a thin layer of crushed leaves.

Tom, move! You must hide. Do something!

Tom stayed frozen in shock.

Two of the dark shapes overhead came falling from the hanging branches. They hit the ground next to them with a crash of twigs and dust. The entities were fighting, yet the fight was short-lived when one of them barked and cried in pain, darting off into the distance to join their passing hoard. The victor stood still. It lifted its head, sniffed the air, then snapped its glare toward Tom and Anne. Its movements were unnatural, and with arms and legs bending at irregular angles and limbs much longer than its body, it imitated the movement of a giant spider.

The creature’s hairy body was suspended two feet off the ground as it dangled from between its limbs, and in mere moments it was standing over Tom, teeth bared and bloodthirsty.

Its body resembled that of a large baboon, but with three eyes on each side of its face that glared down at Tom. Large fangs protruded from its opened jaw and a smaller mouth appeared to sprout from the one side of its neck, with a dark black tongue dangling from it as it breathed. The baboon let out dangerous growls from both its mouths as it lowered its face right down to Tom’s.

Tom's breathing stopped, and his eyes darkened into a pitch-black mass. The baboon creature drew back and opened its jaws wide. With one swift and deadly motion, it struck.

Tom! No! No...

A torrent of dread ripped through every corner of Anne’s body, leaving her devoid of all thought. The assault of fear between herself and Tom overwhelmed her in an instant. Her fingers dug into the sand as her small body twisted and spasmed. Blood gushed from her nose and mouth, drenching her face.

Her senses left her.

Quiet darkness enveloped her mind.

***

Daddy!

Daddy! Look, daddy.

I drew a picture for you. The doctor said we must draw a picture of our family for our nineth birthday. Look, it’s us! That there is you daddy. And there, that is mommy, in the ground, and she is holding her favorite flower that we always take to her. Aaaaand this is me and there is Tom and over there...

Anne slowly opened her eyes.

“Tom?”

Tom innocently nodded as he tenderly washed Anne's face with his shirt. His eyes were baggy, but his face was set with a slight smile. It was early morning and the sun was hanging low on the horizon.

Marks in the sand lead from where they had slept.

“You dragged me all the way here?” she said looking up at him.

“What happened? I thought I lost you.”

Tom just shrugged, wiping more blood from her face.

“Thank you” she whispered, still confused.

What happened? I can still taste the blood in my mouth.

Tom got up and helped Anne get on her feet. They stood there for a moment, both getting their thoughts together after all that happened.

“We can think about what happened here later. We need to get out of here.”

Tom nodded and pointed off into the distance.

“Smoke?” Anne said as she looked where he is pointing.

Off in the distance, a thin pillar of smoke can be seen drifting sideways as it was taken by the wind.

“Tom, you genius! We have to go check it out.”

Tom shouldered Anne as they started walking. Her legs were too numb to walk more than a few steps without him.

Anne looked around at their sleeping spot as they passed it. The sand surrounding their makeshift beds was red with blood and dry to a crisp. Tom ignored the scene and pressed on while Anne looked over her shoulder, trying to make sense of what she is seeing.

That can’t be my blood. That is too much, even for both of us. Tom seems fine. His clothes aren’t even dirty.

They made their way toward the distant smoke.

As they reached the top of a small hill, they could see over a big valley wherein a small farm was sitting on the bank of another glittering stream, surrounded by a few fields of crops. A big red and brown barn had a large bonfire in front of it, sending out big clouds of smoke.

What happened last night? What happened to Tom… his eyes? And me… I can’t remember. But I remember, screaming.

“Thank you, Tom, but I think my legs are ok now. I can walk.” Anne was about to ruffle his hair when he moved a curl out of her face instead, tucking it behind her ear.

“Stop looking so worried. I’m ok,” she smiled and grabbed his hand before he could take it away. “C’mon, let’s go see if we can find someone down there.”

The sun was already high when they approached the farm. Anne unknowingly rubbed the small cracks on her lips as they now walked through knee-high grass. They climbed over a creaky wooden fence and slowly neared the side of the barn. They found a few bushes clustered against a second fence a few feet from the fire, and hid, looking for anyone or anything.

“We can do this. The people here should be nice, right?”

She said, breathing faster.

They waited and waited, but nothing happened.

Anne grabbed Tom by the arm and without a word, they sneaked over to the barn door.

Anne peered inside.

“It’s empty.”

Arf-arf, arf!

Anne and Tom flinched, then dove inside the barn. The sounds were coming from outside.

Arf! … Arf. The sound came closer, then from around the corner, a plump orange-brown dog came wobbling with a little girl in tow. She was small and had red ribbons in her hair with a fairly dirty pink dress. The dog had reached the middle of the clearing when the girl caught up, throwing her tiny arms around it. The dog, barely feeling the girl's weight on him decided to concede his capture anyway, and promptly plopped down onto its belly and rolled onto its side.

Giggles erupted from the little girl as she clutched the dog’s fur.

“Brwoof woof woof.” The girl added as she imitated a dog’s barking. It replied with a big “Wrroooof!”, then dropped his head onto the grass.

“Pumpkin no, no you n-not tired now. We just started playing.” The girl cried as she tried to shake the big dog into action. The dog barely moved. It was clear it was half asleep already.

“Pumpkin you are fat!” the girl laughed as she poked his belly from the side.

“Wiggle wiggle wiggle” she mumbled; the dog’s tummy wobbled with her persistent poking and shaking.

“Hiiihihihihi hahaha” She continued and rolled over onto her back next to the dog, kicking her bare feet and flailing her arms up into the air.

Tom and Anne stared unblinking from inside the barn and peeked out through the half-open door. They leaned against the door too much and it budged, sending a loud creak echoing through the barn.

Pumpkin leaped up at the noise and barked.

The little girl also jumped up and was standing behind the dog, staring wide-eyed into the dark barn. Pumpkin paused and sniffed the air.

“Yaff!” the dog yelped. As if on instinct both Pumpkin and the girl swung around and darted straight for the house. Her pink dress fluttered as she ran and pointed one stiff hand up in the air. Before she reached the house, the door burst open and a big burly man stepped out with a large gun held across his chest. The girl only stopped to indicate at the barn, then disappeared inside.

“He is coming for us!” Anne squealed. They ran deeper into the barn, looking for a place to hide.

“I can’t see! It’s too dark.” Panicked, they dashed around a big tractor in the middle of the barn.

“Here!” Anne called Tom. She found a big wooden crate. The crate was only a quarter full, filled with some smelly dog pellets. They jumped in and closed the lid. Their heartbeats were almost audible inside the dark quiet crate. Moments later the sound of big boots passed them. Anne's temples throbbed as she stayed as quiet as possible.

A door at the back of the barn slammed shut.

Is he gone? Did he leave?

They stayed still. Minutes go by in silence.

He must be gone. Ouch, my legs are cramping.

She slowly lifted the lid so she could look outside, but it was too dark to see much.

“I think we are -” The lid swung open with a shatter. A big silhouette was standing over them. The barrel of a gun was inches from Tom’s face. They both shut their eyes, shaking… waiting.

“Well hello there” a deep gritty voice broke the silence.

“Where d’you come from? Come now, don’t be shy”

They slowly opened their eyes. The darkness was gone. A few lights hanging from the roof were turned on, lighting up the barn in a yellowy hue.

He was a broad-shouldered man with a big wild beard. His pale blue eyes poked out from under his bushy eyebrows.

He rested his gun over his shoulder and then held out his hand. Neither Tom nor Anne moved a muscle.

The man gestured with his head, and the little girl came running in, ducking behind the man’s leg. Even when standing on her toes, the girl was too short to see into the crate.

“It’s ok, we won’t hurt you.” The man reassured them.

Anne finally rose. She was staring intently at the man’s outstretched hand. Mustering her courage, she grabbed onto his hand, barely grasping two of his large fingers.

“You ready?” the man asked. Before Anne could think, he lifted her out of the crate and down onto her feet. Shaken, she looked at the man, then at Tom, and then back to the man. Tom seemed content with the situation, holding out both his arms for his turn to be helped out.

“Why, aren’t you an eager one?” The man grumbled with a grin and lifted Tom out the same way. The man quickly tried to break the unease.

“This here is Tiffany” the man gestured at the small person clutching his leg.

“Say hello Tiff.”

Shy, the girl pressed her face against his jeans.

“Hewwloww,” she mumbled with her face still covered.

“Now now Tiff, greet them properly.”

She slowly revealed her face, blushing. “Hi. Mm-my name is Tiffany. What’s your name?”

Anne wanted to answer, but no sound came when she tried to speak.

“Harr harr harr” the man chuckled. “Let’s go inside you two. You look hungry if I ever saw.” To that, they had no defense. They were starving.

They made their way to the farmhouse. Tiffany skipped after her father, and Tom and Anne held hands and followed at a distance.

It’s going to be ok. Ok? Ok. I’m scared. I can’t let Tom know. I’m so scared. Why am I so worried? What if it’s dangerous?

What if… they get hurt?