When I was 6, my parents died.
I was with them when it happened. Although I don't really remember that much about that night, I do know that it wasn't a normal car accident. No, it wasn’t even an accident at all, it was intentional. They were murdered. But nobody believed what I saw.
“You're just in shock,” they would say. Or, my absolute favorite, “It was an accident.”
They said it so much that I started believing them. Because who was I to say that they were wrong? They were adults after all.
I was just the traumatized little girl with stories of tall, skinny, pale men flipping the car and draining my parents of all their blood. Who would ever believe that? The answer: Me. Here’s how I remember it:
It was 9pm -or at least that's what time was last time I checked the dashboard of our car- and we were heading home after eating dinner from our favorite diner. I had gotten a giant cheeseburger, or at least it looked enormous compared to my tiny mouth. My mom had gotten a patty melt while my dad got steak and fried eggs. My 3-year-old brother had just had some of all of our dinners.
I remember that I only ate a little more than half of my burger before I was full. My father had noticed that I was trying to force the last few bites down and scooped it up in one quick swipe. I didn't notice what was happening until he shoved the rest of my burger into his mouth. It was like he had supernatural speed sometimes. I was a little angry but also a sliver of relief because I felt like if I ate one more bite than I would combust.
We left the diner with full bellies that night.
By the time we got buckled in and pulled out of the parking lot my baby brother was snoring in his car seat. Sometimes I wish I could fall asleep as fast as he could. But I couldn’t and even if I did only nightmares awaited. I don’t know what caused the nightmares but anytime I went to sleep on my own I woke up screaming even though I don’t ever remember what happened to cause those screams. That’s why I have to take sleeping medicine. I don’t exactly know what's in it but whatever it is eradicates all the night terrors. It also causes the pill to look a weird shimmery silver color.
At 9pm we were about half way from home. I knew this because I remembered the way we came. That's another weird thing about me, I remember almost everything even if I’ve only seen it once. My parents were talking about something in hushed tones while I was looking out the window, into the dark forest that lives on both sides of the road. The trees reach their long skinny branches towards the starry sky. They were like fingers and I was expecting them to reach down, snatch our little car up, and rip us to shreds.
Dark, I know. That’s another thing that's different about me, I don’t know why but while other kids think sunshines and rainbows, I think about the worst case scenarios. It was in those trees that I saw the first of the Pale Men. I didn’t know what it was at first because it was a quick white blur. I should have warned my parents about what was lurking outside, I know but something told me to keep quiet. I also thought it was just my imagination playing the worst of tricks on me. So I kept quiet.
God, if I knew what would happen next I would have warned them. Maybe, just maybe, they would have a fighting chance of surviving. But I didn’t. And that ultimately led to the death of my parents.
I watched wide eyed as the Pale Men -all dressed in black business suits- gathered around the car causing my dad to swerve and flip into a ditch. I squeezed my eyes shut just as the impact made the windows implode.
When I reopened my eyes the world was upside down. It took me a second to realize that my seat was now on the ceiling and the roof of the car was now the ground. There was a ringing in my ears that I couldn’t seem to shake and my head pounded, other than that I felt fine. I looked around and found that my brother was knocked out but was still breathing. The steady rise and fall of his chest assured that.
I looked to where my parents had been talking only seconds ago. Now the windshield and my father were missing. But my mother was still in her seat, hanging from the ceiling like me. I looked at her face and cringed back. Her face was cut and ribbons of red crist crossed her face. I almost screamed at all the blood but a sound from outside made me bite my cheek hard enough to draw blood. The sound that came from outside sounded like footsteps.
There was so much blood.
The footsteps stopped abruptly right next to my mom’s car door. Just as I was about to scream for help the door was yanked from its hinges, pale hands emerged from the darkness outside and grabbed my mom. And just like that my mom was gone.
Not caring anymore if they caught me, I slipped through the seat belt that trapped me in place. I hit the ground/roof with a thump and muffled the cry that emerged in my throat. I scrambled out of the car, onto the snow covered ground and looked around. I faced the pitch black forest that seemed to hold its breath waiting to see what would happen next. I turned in a slow circle until I faced the ice covered road…and wished I never left the car.
On the road I discovered something that seemed to shatter my entire childhood.
Something that would forever haunt my dreams for the rest of my life.
Something that was unnatural.
Something that was just wrong.
On the road I witnessed the death of my parents.
5 pale men were crowded around 2 still bodies. I recognized the 2 bodies on the ground instantly. One of them was my mother and the other was my father. Well I found my dad, I thought with a humorless laugh.
The Pale Men took turns diving on my parents. When they reached my parents’ bodies they bit them and sucked. I wanted to help my parents up and get them free but fear rocketed through me making me immoble. I just…stood there. Unable to help. Unable to do anything other than watch in horror as the Pale Men fed on them.
I don’t know how long I stood there. It seemed like an eternity. Finally a cry broke my trance and I turned around to see that my brother was conscious. And he was wailing. I snapped my head back around towards the Pale Men hoping to god that they didn't hear him.
But of course, they were staring right at me. They rose slowly, forgetting about my parents. I glanced at my parents and noticed that both of their tan skin was now sickly white and their lips were blue for the lack of blood. No hope for them anymore, a little voice in my head said, but you and Liam still have a chance.
Not thinking twice, I wiggled back inside the car and pulled at the buckles around little Liam’s body. They didn’t budge though. I chanced a glance outside the window and stifled a groan. The Pale Men were taking long strides towards me and my only family member left. They were quick, I’ll give them that. Deciding to forget the buckles I scrambled back out of the car, if only I could distract the Pale Men long enough for help to arrive then me and my brother would be safe-
And I stood face to face with one of the Pale Men.
His grin was slow and wide causing a pit of unease and fear to spread throughout my body. Not knowing what I was doing I ducked and crawled under his long bony legs. I could tell he was surprised or amused as he gave a menacing chuckle. I reached the other side of his legs as he whirled around and took hold of the back of my neck. I searched the ground blindly with pain shooting up and down my body. I hit something hard and sharp and grabbed on for dear life as the man dragged me up until my feet no longer touched the ground.
Dangling he turned me around until I faced his face. Up close I could see the blood dripping off his chin and a thin ragged scar on the left side of his face. The scar starts at the hairline and ends at the top of his lips, cutting through his eyebrow and eye. His eyes were as red as blood as he grinned again showing blood stained…fangs. Long, elegant, sharp fangs where the k-nines should be.
“Why looky here,” he said in a voice that slithered through my body causing me to shiver. “I found the old man’s offspring.” He chuckled, looking at his companions that had gathered in a half circle behind me. “Why little birdy, where do you think you're going? The fun’s just getting started. Don’t leave so soon.”
“When…you put…it…that…way…I…just might.” I said, gasping for air underneath his strong grip on my neck.
His gaze snapped back to me in surprise. I guess he never thought his prey would talk back to him. To be honest, I have no idea where that came from. His grip loosened just the slightest. I took that as an opportunity and swung my hand which held the sharp object into his neck. He dropped me as blood spurted from the wound that I caused. That fact alone made me…smile. He grunted and tried to reach for me. I easily dodged but bumped into another hard body.
Dang it!
Steal bands wrapped around me to hold me in place. I howled in response and bit one of the arms that trapped me against their body. A curse was whispered as the arms loosened just enough for me to slip through. I backed away from the group of men towards the forest. I lost sight of the one that I stabbed in the neck which was a big mistake because something pushed me from behind and I went down.
My head hit something hard and stars formed. Seconds later I felt a body on top of me. “That wasn’t very nice, little birdy,” a voice swooned from somewhere above me. I knew that slithering voice belonged to the guy I stabbed. How did he survive a wound like that? I didn’t know that much about death blows but that seemed like it would be considered as one.
“Now you’ve made me angry and nobody wants me to be angry.” The Pale Man continued only a few inches away from my face. His breath was hot and smelled of something rotting. “What will I do with you now? I was planning on killing you and your brother quickly but now that you’ve made me angry, I think I might just peel the skin off your bones,” he said as if he was really disappointed in me fighting back. But that's not what caught my attention. What caught my attention was the fact that he had just threatened my brother.
Hot fury bloomed and I struggled against him trying to get back on my feet. Somehow that seemed very important. During that struggle I felt a bone snap. Then another one. And another. But I didn’t feel it.
I didn’t fight against it.
I embraced it.
I smiled up at my capture, watching his smug face turn into pure disgust and loathing.
He jumped back as my spine curved and elongated. My fingernails turned into claws and silver hair grew everywhere. My mouth turned into a snout and my ears thinned and grew until they were like a wolf's ears. All of my senses were heightened. I had no idea what was happening but I didn’t fear it either. A sense of belonging and warmth grew inside of me as if I had just returned to a home I never knew existed. I knew that this other part of me would protect both me and Liam. And just like that I let go.
Everything went black after that but when I awoke next the Pale Men were gone and paramedics helped me up from where I lay on the snow covered ground. When I had asked what happened they said that there was a car accident and both of my parents were dead but me and my brother had miraculously survived. According to them, we had swerved on the icy road and flipped into the ditch. The crash supposedly threw both me and my parents out of the car on impact and my brother was the only one that stayed in the car.
Liam had only suffered a minor concussion. While I on the other hand had cuts and bruises everywhere. The major one that drew suspicion was the angry, big, red X mark on the left side of my hip that would never completely heal and would cause a scar for the rest of my life.
11 years later I find myself staring at it every morning while getting ready for school reliving that horrific night in vivid detail. Most of it I knew was most likely a result of my imagination but I do know that the Pale Men were real and if they ever threatened me or my brother again I would kill them.
For real this time. And that thought alone gets me up everyday with a smile on my face.
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