Chapter 1

-Son of a Bench-

November 15, 11:59 PM.

I was working on a paper, alone in my home. It was eerily quiet but I had grown used to the feeling and paid no heed to it. After all, one does not become a veterinarian by procrastinating on assignments and being spooked by spine tingling silences. Plus, I had tried to fall asleep earlier but to no avail. That's a reasonable excuse to not sleep, right?

I was startled out of my thoughts when I heard the grandfather clock from downstairs chime out midnight. Bong… bong… bong… bong… bong… bong… bong… bong… bong… bong… bong… bong… Tickety, the grandfather clock, quieted down after that twelfth strike and I began to resume my work. A chill suddenly crept up my spine and I hesitated. The air around me suddenly felt tense. It didn't normally feel like this. I slowly closed the lid of my computer and placed it on the floor beside my bed. Tension crawled up my skin as I leaned over to the window beside my bed and parted the curtains.

My eyes scanned the scene, taking time adjust to the darkness. Trees rose up like the forest my backyard was. I could see the porch a few feet to the window's right and the hot tub about ten feet down. In the distance, tucked between two large oak trees, was a wooden bench on a brick platform. I sighed, scanning the area one more time. It appeared my nightly fears were getting the best of me. I started to pull away from the window when I saw something. A flicker of movement by the bench.

I leaned closer to the window and watched intently. It was several minutes before I saw it again. There, behind the right oak tree by the bench, I saw the shape of a man shift. Questions began to flood into my head. What was this man doing? Why was he here? I was so focused and confused that the sudden crack of sound nearly knocked me off the bed. I tumbled back a little and had to scrabble to sit back up. I barely was able to catch sight of the man duck behind my bench. There was another crack and I saw a flash of light from under the porch. There was no mistaking it. That was a gun shot!

My breathing started to come more quickly as the shots continued. This was crazy! Were they not worried someone would call the police? The idea dawned on me. The police! I slapped around on my nightstand for my cellphone. My fingers curled around the iPhone 5 and yanked it from its charger. My shaking fingers could barely type in my passcode and I missed the phone app twice before finally click it correctly. Once that was open, it was much less difficult to hit in the numbers and I could hear the ringing echoing through the speakers.

"911, what's your emergency?" the operator spoke up. I looked out my window at the scene and answered,

"Yes, this is Shayla Cortez, I'm at 105 Tesel Tree Court. There's a shooter at my house. He's under my porch and he's firing at someone in my backyard."

"And how are you able to see this, ma'am?"

"I'm in my bedroom on the second floor and I can see them both from my window."

"Okay, ma'am, I'm going to need you to stay close to the window but please try to stay out of sight. It was not be good for either party to see you. And-" I never heard what she said next. The window across the room from me suddenly burst open and I shrieked as a large bat-like creature crawled into my room through the shattered window. It growled and approached me faster than my eyes could catch, snatching my phone away from me and crushing it in its claws.

"Can't let you do that," it growled to me in a deep, gruff voice, "we tend to want to stay undetected." I shrieked again, causing the monster to frown. It sighed loudly and mumbled, "I was afraid of this." It took a step back then closed its eyes. Suddenly a low-pitched sound hit my ears and my eyelids felt very heavy. Everything slowly went dark as I felt my body hit the cushion of my bed. The last thing I heard was a male voice.

"Take her in."