In Honor of Halloween

I heard the scream again and this time I was sure it wasn't a dream. I looked over to my wife whose black silhouette lay motionless and undisturbed. Confused, I thought about the scream and wondered if maybe it wasn't real. Maybe I was stuck in some quasi dream state where the images and noises were a mix match of reality and fiction from an exhausted mind on a desperate search for sleep. I blinked my eyes several times trying to bring clarity to my vision and head.

I heard a noise again. Not a scream this time but a low, painful groan. The sound was muffled and distorted, as if its source didn't want the sound to escape. But it did, I heard it and instantly wished I hadn't. Someone, or something, had entered my home.

The soft sounds of footsteps falling against the carpet broke into the silence and grabbed sharply at my attention. The air grew thick and heavy as the feeling like I was being watched crept silently into the room. I could sense a pair of eyes staring at me through the blackness as I searched in vain into void. The shadows seemed to enjoy my discomfort and confusion as they toyed with my mind hiding the evil that was before me.

Without warning a voice scraped forth from the darkness and called to me. The voice pierced my soul with an icy finger sending a wave of chills up my spine. My blood pounded as my heart raced at an unnatural pace. Again the voice called through the icy darkness beckoning me. How does it know me? I thought. What is this evil that befalls me? I pulled the comforter up to my eyes, not daring to look away. Then, through the darkness a shadow moved. At first it seemed to shift slightly from right to left. I soon realized it was not shifting at all but instead moving right toward me. I could hear the footsteps growing closer. The shadow grew in the blackness and my heart pounded through my flesh. And as I stood on the doorstep of a terrifying and violent death, the voice called to me again. But this time its clarity rose above the pounding in my ears. This time I clearly understood. And this time I knew it was no dream. "Dad, I'm thirsty!"