While baby-sitting the new neighbors’ children for the first time, Katie answered the phone, the line was dead. Not thinking anything of it, she headed back into the living room where she had left the kids. They were gone. She was sure that they had just gone into another room or were trying to play hide and seek.

Katie started to look around; the cracked basement door caught her eye. She opened the door and started to walk to down the wooden steps. The basement was dark and cold, causing Katie to get chills up her spine, as she felt her stomach rise up into her throat from nervousness. She got to the lights and pulled the string to turn it on, the light didn’t work.

She heard a shuffling sound to her right and when she turned to look she saw a figure making its way toward her. She stumbled backward, turned around and clambered up the stairs. She flung the door shut behind her and turned the lock. She was trying to regain her composure when she heard a voice from behind the door, “Katie, let us out, there’s something down here.” It was Megan, the girl she was baby-sitting.

Katie opened the door again but, on the other side was definitely now Megan, it was a tall hooded creature. Katie backed away, tripping over the coffee table. The creature spoke, it was in Katie’s voice, “Katie, don’t run, you’re trapped now, you can’t get out.”

At that moment the front door opened and her neighbors walked in. Katie ran over to them in relief that someone was there who could save her. The creature stopped and spoke to them, “Hi mommy, hi daddy.”

Katie looked back at the parents to see there reaction but screamed when she saw that they had also suddenly turned into one of these horrible creatures. “Hi sweetie, looks like you found us a good meal tonight!” They all looked at Katie, who bolted for the upstairs, hoping that she could find an exit there. She made it into a bedroom and could hear them coming up the stairs after her, there voices getting angrier, “Don’t run from us, Katie. You can’t escape!”

She headed over to the window, breaking it right as they entered the room behind her. Katie crawled out on to the roof and made her way to the edge. She looked down and hesitated. It was a long drop; she looked back at the window and saw the creatures starting to come out after her. She jumped, and hit the ground with her legs already moving. She sprinted around the house, to the front yard.

Just then, two police cars turned onto the street and flew toward her coming to a halt right in front of the house. She ran to them yelling, “You have to save me, there’s these monsters,” but before she could even finish the two officers also turned into the creatures.

At this point Katie turned on a dime and ran straight for her house, raced up the front steps and pounded on the door. Her brother answered, “Scott, let me inside quick.” She looked over her shoulder to see if they had followed her and when she looked back to her brother there was another one of the creatures, inches away from her, right where her brother was moments before.

She screamed again. Running back down her front steps she hurdled her rose bushes. The next thing she knew the creatures were coming from every direction. She had no where to go, they had surrounded her and were closing in. Then she heard her mother’s voice, “Katie, honey, wake up. Wake up honey, you’re going to be late.”

“Late for what? I need to get away from the monsters!”

“No, you need to go baby-sit the new neighbor’s children.”

“What?”

“You’re OK. You were just dreaming; now get up so that I can feed you before you go over there.”

— Weller Ross is a junior at Free State High School.