Headlights bathed the forest, and the crash, in white, blinding light. They moved closer with a silent purpose, but stopped before Annie could see anything between the trees. The light made everything seem pale and cold in the warm summer air. Maddie’s red air, sparkling with broken glass, and dampened by blood, looked strange, too bright, too colorful for this world. Perhaps, that was why she’d been taken from it. Annie tore her eyes from the broken body to look at Steven, his normally tan skin and dark hair pale with fear now. Hannah, always a lively blond, stood with an odd stillness. Cody looked small and weak in that light, nothing like the confident athleticism she was used to seeing. All of them were staring past Annie toward the light. A breeze drifted by, slowly shifting Annie’s brown hair and playing with leaves that moved like glaciers. Annie looked at the light. She nearly fell over as wind blasted at her and wet, dead leaves flew at her face.
“Someone saw the wreck!” Hannah ran toward the light, shouting for help. Chills ran down Annie’s spine, and her heart skipped a beat as Hannah disappeared into the light. There was no sound from the light, no voices, no hum of an engine, only the moaning wind. Cody started to follow Hannah when Annie grabbed his arm.
“Wait Cody, Something’s-”
The light switched off, dropping them back into darkness. Complete silence ruled the crawling seconds, then Hannah screamed. The light flashed back on, blinding them. They could hear leaves rustling. Heavy footsteps charging closer, closer.
Cody turned and ran, almost tripping over Maddie’s body in his panic. Annie backed away slowly as Steven pulled her back.
“Annie, Annie! We have to get out of here.”
“What- what about Maddie? We can’t just leave her!” She couldn’t bring herself to look away from the light. It called to her, whispering, reaching, reaching.
“We can’t do anything for her now. Annie!”
She yanked herself out of the spell holding her and ran after the others. She could still hear footsteps behind her, getting closer and closer. The light grew brighter. Annie could hear heavy breaths behind her, getting closer with every step. Closer, closer.
The light went out. The footsteps ceased. Silence ruled.
Annie nearly collided with Steven and Cody as she skidded to a stop. She spun, trying to see through the darkness. Her heart was pounding against her chest, trying again and again to jump away.
“It’s… It’s gone. We… outran it!” Cody said through gasps of breath. Relieved laughter rang through the silence. They were alive.
“It?” Asked Steven, “I don’t-“
“It wasn’t human.” Annie didn’t know how she knew that, only that she was more sure of that, than her own name. The others didn’t answer. Steven’s mouth was still moving, forming silent words. Cody was reaching for his phone.
The light switched on, this time in front of them. As quickly as it appeared, it went out again, leaving an image of Cody being dragged into the brush burned against Annie’s eyes.
“You’re obsessed.”
Annie turned away from the open window to shoot a glare at the room. It was full of people who thought they cared about her, gathered for an “intervention”. Her mother, an aunt and uncle, the rest of her family hadn’t come, because it was too far, or they were too young. A teacher she’d never liked in high school was here too. He had always felt the need to tell her single mother how to raise three kids. Even Steven was there, sitting on the arm of her cheap, worn out couch, and that bugged her the most. He should have been on her side.
“Wanting answers is not obsessed. People died! I almost died! I want to know why.”
Her mother left the crowd to rest her hands on Annie’s shoulders, “You dropped out of college, gave up everything you ever wanted, stopped talking to your friends, you won’t even do anything after sunset because you spend all night, every night, in those… woods!” She waved a hand toward the window. It framed the sun setting over ancient, peaceful woods perfectly. “It’s not healthy. We just want you to start living life again… you haven’t, ever since the accident.”
“I am living, Mom, just not the life you pictured, but it’s still my choice.”
“What kind of example are you setting for your younger brother, hm? Do you want him to throw his life away too?” Pipped in the teacher, Mr. Martin. His high, whiney voice annoyed her, his brown suit he thought was in style annoyed her. His glasses annoyed her, too. He’d arrived in the same car as her mother.
“Yes! If it was for something like this. This is important! Can’t you all see that?”
“Maddie, Cody, Hannah… they wouldn’t have wanted you to do this. They would have wanted you to move on, live, be happy. Maddie-“
“Don’t.” Annie cut her aunt off. “Don’t. You don’t get to say their names; you don’t get to use them.” Her voice had turned calm, too calm. A final silence before the storm. She looked over them, meeting each pair of eyes with fiery green ones before walking out of the room.
Steven’s footsteps echoed after her. She ignored them until she got outside. The sun had set now, leaving the grass before a narrow parking lot bathed in darkness. The forest, so enchanting in the light, had become a sinister shadow looming over the town. Some nights, Annie would have sworn it moved closer.
“You were supposed to be on my side.” Annie pulled away from Steven as he stepped up beside her.
“I am, Annie. That’s why I agree with them.”
“They died Steven! You were there, you saw everything I did… And they found us in a car, like nothing happened. How can you just let it go?”
“Because maybe the doctors were right and we just… imagined it. We were in a crash Annie, and we hit our heads pretty hard.”
“So now you think I’m crazy too?”
“No! no… Annie, look-“ He stepped forward, resting his hands on her shoulders and looking her in the eyes. “I’m worried about you, that’s all.”
“You don’t just... imagine a light murdering your friends.”
“Isn’t that all the more reason to stop chasing this, Annie? It’s dangerous.”
“I have to know what’s out there. I’m not stopping, and there’s nothing you, or... the rest of them can say to convince me to.”
Steven shook his head, watching her with concern for a moment before heading back inside, “I’ll let you cool off.”
Cool off. Annie shook her head, muttering, “Not likely.” She looked back to the forest and shivered. She could still see that night, every time she closed her eyes: the rain, the man in the street, the crash, the light. She hadn’t been able to find the man who had caused the crash, or any sign of him. That bothered her almost as much as the light. Even Steven didn’t remember him.
“You’re… the UFO girl, right?” the hesitant voice came from behind her.
“I never said anything about aliens.” Annie growled as she spun around. “So if you’re here to make jokes about probing, and going back to a mothership, find someone who actually thinks they saw aliens.”
“Hey, sorry, I didn’t mean to upset you.” The speaker, a man who looked a few years older than Annie, with dark hair just starting to cover his brown eyes, raised his hands. There was a camera hanging from his neck. “I’m Justin. And I… believe your story.”
Annie shook her head and marched past him, “Yeah, right, save it for-“ She stopped, “You what?”
“I believe you? I’m sorry, if I’m bothering you…”
“No, it’s fine.” She smiled, “Why do you believe me?”
“Because I saw-“ He looked down to his camera. He was holding it like it was precious, but was afraid of it. “It might be easier to show you.”
Annie hesitated , she didn’t know this guy, and she didn’t even know if he was being honest. She remembered the ‘intervention’ still gathered in her apartment, and how upset they would be with her for listening to a stranger about this. She smirked and nodded to Justin. “Alright, my apartment’s just this way.” She led him into the building and down a narrow hallway to her door. There were still voices coming from inside. She sighed, resting her head against the door for a moment before unlocking it.
“Annie- who is that?”
“This is Justin. He doesn’t think I’m crazy.” As she closed the door, Justin gave the gathering a small wave.
“Hey.”
“Annie, I know you’re an adult now, and I can’t tell you what to do, but I really must object to your hanging out with the kind of people who will encourage your… delusions.” The old teacher piped up again.
Annie rolled her eyes, “You’re right, you can’t tell me what to do. So there’s really no point to you being here. In here Justin.”
“Annie!” Her mother’s voice went unanswered as Annie and Justin went to her room. Annie motioned for him to take a seat at her desk and sat on the edge of her bed. The room was mostly bare, save a narrow bed covered in mismatched blankets, and a desk with a small swivel chair.
“What did you want to show me?”
“my friends and I were filming something when- well…” He pulled the camera’s strap over his head and turned the camera on. Justin pressed a few buttons before offering it to Annie. “Just press this to play.” He pointed to a button to the side of the screen.
The door opened and closed softly as Steven entered. “I sent everyone out to eat at that place down the street…” He sat next to Annie on the bed just as she started the video.
* * *
The room was silent. Rain beat against the one window like a dozen caffeinated tap-dancers. Outside, spectral trees danced in time with the rain.
“Play that last part again.” Said Annie.
Justin held the rewind button down for a second, and then pressed play.
A woman just a few years older than Annie, with blond hair and green eyes was running through a room, its pale blue paint peeling, and the floorboards moving strangely. She was shouting something, tripped, and fell. Something dragged her back, still screaming, until she disappeared into the darkness of the house. All the while, an old man was standing in the corner of the room, watching, and grinning.
“This is real?” Steven asked. He’d asked it each of the dozen times they’d watched the short clip, and looked over the pictures.
Justin sighed, “Yes… it’s real.”
“She looked just like me… except-“ Annie whispered.
“She dyed her hair blond. It was brown before.”
Annie shoved the camera into Justin’s hands, “I don’t know who she was, but it wasn’t a light that killed her, it was…” She shuddered, “Something else.”
“So you’ve seen something unnatural too… what did you come for?” Asked Steven.
“She’s- you’re both looking for answers, right? So am I. I thought we could work together.” Justin gave a small, hopeful smile.
“Why?”
“You’ve seen the movies, right? If things like this catch you alone, you end up dead.”
“Staying in a group didn’t help your friends.” Steven replied
Justin looked down at his hands, “No, I guess it didn’t.”
Annie got up and started rifling through a drawer in her desk. “Go back to that picture, the one with the old man. I need a better look than the video gave.”
Justin had only just gotten to it when Annie snatched the camera away. She stared between it and the crumpled sheet of paper she’d taken from her desk. Both showed an old man. In one, he stood in a rainy street, in the other, he was watching Annie’s double from the other side of a window. “They’re the same” She breathed.
“What?” Justin and Steven stood in unison and looked over her shoulders at the pictures.
“It’s the same guy, in both places… I was so stupid, just looking for other lights.” She darted to her desk and pulled her laptop out of a second drawer. She drummed her fingers impatiently against the fake wood as she waited for the laptop to start up.
“Annie, what are you doing?” Steven asked.
“I didn’t think he was important, I was so focused on the light. I’m looking for strange occurrences with him, now. If he’s killed twice… he’ll do it more.”
Justin pulled the other crumpled drawings out and smoothed them. “You drew him… dozens of times, and didn’t think he was important?”
Annie glanced at the drawings, “Half the time I wasn’t really thinking about it… A part of me didn’t want to.” She sighed, “I wish my dad was here… He knew so much about this kind of thing.”
“Why isn’t he? It looked like a lot of your family was.” Justin asked
“Annie’s dad died about ten years ago. A hunting accident in the woods…” Steven trailed off as he met Justin’s eyes.
Annie looked up at them, “You don’t think-“ a chill ran down her back. She looked at the window, the rain had stopped now. Across the parking lot, tucked under the branches of a young oak tree, was an old man.
He was dressed in a black trench coat, his hands thrust deep inside its pockets. Sharp cheekbones jutted out of a narrow face, and his eyes were sunk deep in his skull. From here, they looked completely black. He grinned. Several of his teeth were missing, but those that remained were fang-like. Ten seconds passed in an eternity before he turned and set off down the street.
Annie sprang to the window just as the old man disappeared. “You both saw that, right?”
They shook their heads, “Saw what?”
“He just walked away… down the street.” Her eyes widened and she bolted out of the door. It banged against the wall as it swung.
“Annie! What-“ Steven called after her, and started to follow, Justin close behind.
The streets were empty after the rain. Annie’s bare feet slapped against the pavement, but she barely noticed the rough ground scraping at her feet, or the chilly air nipping at her skin. She barreled into the restaurant, past an objecting hostess and servers, only stopping when she nearly ran into large, joined table her family was at.
“Annie! What’s the matter?” Her mother looked shocked.
“You… need to… get out of… here.” She gasped out between lungful’s of air.
“Refusing to listen to us is one thing, but this is really too far.”
“It’s not safe!” Annie spotted her younger brother in one of the chairs, and grabbed his hand. She started to drag him away from the table, to only minor objections from him.
“So I don’t have to eat the peas?”
Annie’s mother got up and pulled the boy away, “That’s enough Annie! Go home.”
“Mrs. Summers… I think Annie might be right...” Steven’s voice came from behind Annie. It sounded like he’d been running too. Others in the restaurant were staring at them.
“You’re supposed to be helping to bring her back to earth, Steven, not-“
Light blared through the windows, blinding everyone inside the restaurant. There were loud pops and the tinkling of glass raining to the floor. Screams echoed through the rest of the building. They were cut off as the light switched off.
The restaurant sat in complete darkness.
“We need to get out of here… Right. Now.” Annie whispered.
Someone turned on a phone, lighting the room just enough to make the shadows grow deeper. Bodies surrounded the group. They were contorted, and still, too still. Annie’s aunt screamed, and Steven clapped his hand over her mouth. Moving as quickly as they dared, Annie and Steven ushered the group toward the door.
Justin was waiting for them there, staring into the darkness in horror. “I brought my van.” His voice was like shouting against the silence.
Annie nodded, “Get them to it. I don’t think they’re in any shape to drive.”
“It just… it… All those people…” Her mother muttered
“We have to call the police.” came a grating voice Annie had secretly hoped died in the light. She turned to Mr. Martin as he started dialing.
“We don’t have time!” she hissed and tried to snatch the phone away, “We get out of here, and then we deal with it.”
He swatted her hand away as the light switched on again. He didn’t notice. “Now see here, I just have to press this button, and the police will-“ Mr. Martin’s voice stopped short as he marched into the light. “Oh my-“ the light shut off again.
“Teddy!” Annie’s mother shouted, but there was no sign of him, save his now cracked phone left where he’d been standing.
Justin’s large cargo van screeched to a halt by the door.
“Go, go go go!” Annie shouted, pushing her mother, and then everyone else into the waiting vehicle. She was about to step into the crammed van when the light turned on again.
“Johnathan!” her mother screamed.
Annie spun. Her little brother was heading for the light. The cold, white beams were already starting to fold around him.
Annie stared into the light. She could hear ringing, feel the light calling, whispering, reaching. Come. Behind her, voices were muffled and distant. Green eyes fell on her brother again, slapping her back into reality. She could feel a darkness pouring into her, making her angry, and pushing the light away. Standing by a corner of the restaurant, an old man grinned.
“Get away from him.” She growled at the darkness, and charged into the light after Johnathan.
The light swallowed her.
The light switched off.
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