It was around three in the morning when I finally closed my laptop.

  My eyelids drooped, and my eyes burned from staring at the bright white screen. I was half lying, half falling off the couch, upside down, and my elbows stung from the rough carpet. It dug into my skin, leaving a couple carpet burn marks. I sighed.

  My back ached, and I didn't feel nearly as confident about my essay as I wanted to. Wow, how I suck at essays. I had probably earned a C. Honestly higher than my overall grade anyway, but it meant my GPA would probably come to rest at a 1.2 for the quarter. That's lower than what I got last quarter.

  Dad was gonna be pissed…

  I set the black laptop beside the couch and slid down until my back and head rested on the rug while my legs rested on the cushion.

  It was a couple hours past my usual bedtime, which meant tomorrow I'd be a zombie. Coach tried to make us go to bed at least 11. And I was his utter least favorite anyway. We also didn't have another game till next week. A game where I sat on the bench. The whole time. That's probably why The Crows were so good. Because I didn’t ever play. I was the only junior who never left the bench.

  Groaning, I set the laptop on the floor next to a bunch of crinkled energy drinks, (that didn't help), and some chip bags. Then, I slowly closed my eyes.

  As if on cue, my stomach growled at me.

  Oh yea…food.

  I hadn’t eaten anything for a couple hours, besides a giant bag of stale Doritos, and a cucumber I stole from the fridge. It was the only one left. Dad had left me a bit of cash, but hardly enough to buy decent groceries.

  I wandered to the fridge, and grabbed the chocolate milk carton. It was one of the only things I bought with the money. Lots of chocolate milk. It was an easy breakfast, with cereal, and it was pretty cheap. I lifted the plastic, gallon container to my lips, and as the cold liquid hit my throat, it gave me chills. It woke me up a little too, which was nice, because I still think I have something else to do. But I don't remember…

  Huh. Whatever.

  I screwed the lid back on and shoved the carton onto a random shelf until it fit. With a sigh, I struggled to shut the fridge, then stumbled back to the couch. Maybe I'd just sleep here tonight after…what was I gonna do again? Uh…It could probably wait till morning.

  And just like that I laid back on the couch for the third time…or was it more? I was a fast snoozer, and it took about a minute, before I melted into the cushions and drifted away.

  It felt like I had barely closed my eyes when a loud honk jolted me awake.

  I twisted my neck away from (where I knew the freeway was closest) and grabbed a pillow to shove against my head. It took all of about three seconds before I heard another honk, and then another. I groggily rose and weakly squinted at the window that was visible by the front door. My house had the privilege of facing one of the old and hardly used highways. But that's all it was…hardly used.

  All I could see was a bright red glow—like a car's taillight shining in through the glass. You got to be kidding me. Traffic? Now? At four AM? Were people aware I had school to go to tomorrow?

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  We never had traffic on this street.

  I got up and my heart began to come alive from the movement. It pounded against my chest as I opened the front door with an annoyed grunt. I froze.

  I was expecting at most ten cars, but there were hundreds. So many, they jammed the road, and continued infinitely onwards. I gawked at the site. People were shouting, leaning out of windows, and cursing. There were even people running down the roads in the chaos.

  What the…in this town, they probably had a population of roughly 2000. But that's it. People didn’t come and go. No one really left, but my dad.

  I stepped onto the porch staring at the lines of vehicles in a crappy pair of basketball shorts, and my hoodie.

  What was this, the zombie apocalypse?

  I laughed uneasily and turned back inside. Probably just an accident on the freeway, right? And at four AM, people were probably really eager to get to work and stuff. Maybe they were all headed to the gym. After all, it was the middle of January. You know new goals and stuff?

  I laid back on the couch, trying to ignore the noises, but before I could drift off, a sound cut through everything else, high-pitched and raw.

  A scream. A child's scream.

  My stomach dropped. Kids didn't go to work, and kids definitely didn’t go to the gym.

  I hopped up and grabbed my vest. While zipping it, I grabbed for my cap, and slid the hat on my head, covering up my tousled and curly brown hair. It had the picture of a pizza on it, but I don't think that matters right now.

  When I opened the door again, this time I saw more people running. Not just a couple stragglers but a crowd. There were hundreds of people. Men, women, children, they were running as fast as they could. But…from what?

  I stared at the direction of the most commotion, and a couple hundred feet away, in the middle of it all, I saw a little girl. She looked 3 feet tall, but it was hard to tell from here. It looked like she was in a red nightgown, and I think she was clutching a brown wolf teddy. She reminded me of Little Red Riding Hood, as she spun in circles. It was as if she was lost and panicking. I felt a sharp pain in my chest. She also looked like someone who had been important to me a long time ago.

  A long time ago.

  I scanned the distance, pretending not to see her. There was no smoke. No fire. Nothing was chasing them. Nothing explained it. The sky was dark, but that's what you would expect at four AM, no?

  I watched as the small girl looked up towards the sky. People surrounded her, but no one made a move to help her. She was just lost. Just alone. It looked like she had small blond pigtails. Someone had to know she was gone…right? Someone had to miss her? I took a step in that direction, and then another, until I was running.

  Then, before I could blink, she collapsed. Just...fell. I froze. I was a bit closer, and could see her more vividly. But I also saw that no one had touched her. Nothing had hit her either. There was no one there. I felt the fear seeping in. And my heart began to grow louder and louder on my ribcage.

  Only a faint mist just rolled across the ground where she'd been. Just…mist, black and white swirls...swirls from...from my dream.

  My breath hitched.

  The girl's red nightgown turned black, and so did her skin. Her entire body darkened like ink soaking into paper, until she was just a shape. A black, blurry shape, that shivered in the distance.

  I blinked hard, again and again, but she didn't move. She didn't get up. She couldn’t…

  She wasn't there anymore. There was only a black liquid…one with a white reflection.

  Shivers crawled up my arms as I stared in terror. The car lights in the distance flickered, and one by one, every red glow faded to gray, and more screams joined the air. It was like a chorus, singing together as they were swallowed up by death.

  The girl, the one who had looked just like…just like…

  She had been replaced, by a MONSTER.