The alarm wasn’t supposed to go off yet. Jake scrambled out of bed, his heart pounding. He fumbled for his glasses, knocking them off the nightstand. A cold breeze seeped through the open window, and the eerie silence of the pre-dawn hour made the shrill alarm even more jarring. As he finally found the clock, he realized it wasn’t his regular morning alarm; it was the emergency alert system. The display blinked with a code he'd never seen before.

Rushing to the window, Jake peered out into the inky darkness. His usually quiet street was anything but—the eerie red glow of emergency lights bounced off houses, painting the scene in a surreal, apocalyptic hue. Something was happening, something big, and he had no idea what it was. He grabbed his phone and dialed the one person who might have answers, praying they’d pick up.

“Dad, it’s Jake. What’s going on? The alarm’s going off, and it’s not supposed to yet.”

The other end of the line crackled, then fell silent. No answer. Jake's hand trembled as he hung up. He glanced at the clock again. The digits flickered, almost like they were mocking him. He noticed shadows moving rapidly outside, but in the dim light, he couldn’t make out what they were. It wasn’t until he heard the strange, guttural noises that he realized they weren’t human.

Gathering his courage, he grabbed his baseball bat and crept down the stairs, each step echoing like a distant drum. The front door creaked as he nudged it open, revealing a sight that twisted his gut. Figures moved unnaturally in the fog, their limbs jerking at odd angles. He recognized his neighbor, Mrs. Henderson, but her eyes were vacant and glassy.

Heart pounding, he tiptoed closer. The street was filled with these twisted figures, their eerie movements synchronized as if controlled by an unseen puppeteer. His breath caught as he spotted the source of the guttural noises—shadowy creatures crawling along the ground, their eyes glowing an unnatural red. They seemed to feed off the fog itself.

Just as he was about to retreat, a hand grabbed his shoulder. He spun around to face his father, pale and wide-eyed. "Jake, we have to go. Now." They both bolted inside, slamming the door shut behind them. The creatures outside began to wail, their cries echoing through the night.

Something had unleashed them, and time was running out.

The creatures outside began to wail, their cries echoing through the night. Jake and his father bolted into the living room, barring the door with furniture. "Dad, what are those things?" Jake's voice trembled.

"No time to explain," his father replied, frantically searching for something in his backpack. "We need to get to the basement. It's the only place fortified enough."

A loud bang against the door made them both jump. Shadows danced through the windows as the creatures outside grew more restless. They raced down the basement stairs, slamming the door shut behind them. The pounding on the main door grew louder, the walls vibrating with each hit.

In the dim light of the basement, Jake's father finally pulled out a dusty old book. He flipped through the pages with urgency. "These creatures... they’re not from this world. We might have a way to send them back."

As his father chanted in a language Jake didn’t understand, a cold wind swept through the basement. The air crackled with energy. Jake's heart pounded. Would they manage to seal the portal before it was too late?

Outside, the wailing grew louder, almost desperate. The walls shook, the lights flickered, and just when it seemed like they would be overrun, a bright light enveloped the basement, followed by an eerie silence.

The creatures were gone.

Jake and his father sat in the stillness, trying to catch their breath. “Dad, what just happened?”

“We survived the night. But we need to prepare for what comes next.”

Mariah

@Misfit

Mariah has not written a story.