Spooky

MARK'S POV

I ran relentlessly through the woods, scared that the attacker would catch up with me, my legs were worn out and my chest felt like it was going through a compressor. I turned back in a split second to look, tripping and hitting my head on a tree stump in the process. I looked around for my assailant, but all my eyes could see was the billowing smoke. A bile rose in my throat, as the fear of death ran thick in my chest‒

"Mark! Hey Mark!" A tiny, ringing voice infiltrated my head, interrupting my thoughts. With a slight groan, I opened my eyes just in time to see my little sister raise a pail of water directly above my face.

"Hold it!" I jolted upward, banging my leg on something hard in the process. I craned my neck a bit to check what had stubbed my toe, it was her shoe.

"What's up with you, Jessie?" I half yelled, my eyes fixed in a glare.

"Morning bro. Arise and Shine!" She called out cheerfully, removing the window blinds.

"You just woke me from my sound sleep. Congratulations," I mumbled. "Now leave me alone."

"Come on, don't be like that. You were snoring so loud, that I just had to wake you up, for the peace of the house". She grinned, clearly enjoying how she was getting on my nerves.

"Alright that's enough; leave my room," I said, getting up from the bed. "One of these days, I am going to put a proper lock on my door." I kept mumbling, pushing her to the door.

"One of these days? We are moving today dude!" She said, pulling a half-smirk.

Oh yeah! I totally forgot we were leaving Minnesota to New Jersey!!

The smirk left her face the instant she saw the look of surprise on my face. "I'm- I'm sorry. Breakfast is in five minutes." She spoke hurriedly and ran downstairs.

Actually, I have slight amnesia. When I was twelve, I and Jessie got into a fight, and she hit my head-not intended though-with her shoe.

Strange enough, my memory got wiped! I had to go see a therapist for two years. Jessie had not been able to forgive herself ever since.

"Mark, downstairs now!" I heard Mom's tiny voice calling as I groped the door for support, the room was beginning to spin a little. I blinked a little and took a quick look around my room, every part of the room was scattered. Apparently, I'd had one of my night encounters again.

Since I turned 15, I'd been having these weird encounters where I walk in realms unknown, and I wake up to see traces of my night's activities in my room. Just Jessie knows of this, and that's why she is always the one running up to call me down for breakfast, just so Mom or Dad doesn't find out of my escapades at night. Weird? Yes. Could I help it? No.

In five minutes, I bundled up the mess to my bedroom-bad habit-and went down for breakfast.

"Mar-"

"I'm here!" I called, ending my mother's tiny scream. My mom has always had this tiny, loud voice she always has reserved for moments when she needs either my sister or I. Guess Jessie takes after her, though she uses hers all the time.

I couldn't recognize the scene I met downstairs. There were moving boxes everywhere and the living room looked empty and unoccupied, just like when we moved here some six years ago. Jessie did say we were moving, she wasn't joking at all.

"Hey chap! What's up?" My dad called in a cheerful manner I had become accustomed to. He was one of what kids liked to call modern parents, never wanting to be disagreeable with his offspring.

"Fine I guess." I said, getting one of the few chairs the moving agents had not taken already. The guys apparently were here very early.

"Alright, this is our last meal in this house!" My mom announced in her usual dramatic manner. Dad once joked that she should have considered a career in being a circus host-hostess?-or something in that direction.

"Mmm, scrambled eggs. My favorite!" My sis cried, clapping her hands like a two year old. I and Dad exchanged glances, trust him to be the cool guy at all times. Mom served all of us, and then took us on a long breakfast prayer. Mom's parents migrated from Nigeria to the U.S in 1947, some years before they had her.

After the prayers we had our meal, in silence. Another of mom's rules she made us keep since forever. Make a noise, and you'll have her to deal with for the rest of that day. I noticed mom looking at my head strangely. I was quiet, and so was she.

"Honey are you okay?" She asked, putting her fork down. One of the downsides to Mom's rules was that she considered herself above them.

"Sure, why?" I asked, uncertain as to why she was asking.

"Why is there a bruise on your head, and why am I just seeing it now?" She queried.

"Huh?" I gasped; I must have gotten that during the encounter last night! Jessie looked at me, not knowing what to say

"Yeah, uhm, I had it yesterday evening. I uhm... went to play soccer." I stuttered.

"Really? We ate dinner together last night and I didn't notice." Mom continued, narrowing her eyes while she kept staring at me.

"I wore a bandana yesterday!" I said quickly.

"Oh, okay. Though I don't recall seeing you on a bandana yesterday evening." mom said, clearing the dishes.

"That doesn't matter does it honey? The point is that he's better now, right son?" Dad asked, clapping me on the back before proceeding to remove some crumbs from his shirt.

"Um yeah, sure."

"Very well then, we'll hit the road by 10am," Dad stood with his empty plate, he was also the quickest eater in our family. "The agents would be here to tow most of our belongings for us. Just grab the necessary stuff, the rest would come later."

I sighed, grateful for Dad's cool and optimistic approach to things, today added to number of times he'd saved me from Mom's interrogations by being just himself. I wondered if he knew what was going on, even if he didn't find out by himself, it wasn't a far-fetched idea to assume Jessie had ratted me out.

I finished eating and went back upstairs to begin packing, looking around the room every time I felt a mix of nostalgia and joy. Inasmuch as there were a lot of memories in this house, there was more good than bad. I didn't feel sad about moving at all, maybe the nightmares would stop.

I couldn't fathom why they happened, or why they seemed to happen to only me. Maybe whoever lived here before me was into the dark arts or something! Or maybe they had the same trouble with me and hired an exorcist to bind the demon to‒

"Mark! What on Earth are you still doing up there?" My sister yelled, climbing the stairs that led to my room. I had gone into one of my imaginary sessions again.

"Great, you are not done packing yet." Jessie said as she entered, her face wrapped in a scowl.

I gave a sigh, deciding not to respond to her whining. She stood there tapping her foot until she realised I needed a hand; we managed to finish early once she joined.

We trudged down the stairs with the basic luggage we could carry. The living room was already bare as hell! The moving people were filing in and out, grunting as they lifted boxes either by themselves or in pairs. We were on our way out of the house when Jessie ran back.

"Jessie? What are you going back into the house for?" Mom called in her tiny voice. We got no answer, so I went back in.

"Jessie?" My voice echoed as I called, the house was empty after all. I went to the kitchen, she wasn't there. Maybe she went for a last minute pee in the restroom, so I went there. She wasn't there too.

"Jessie?" My mom called out, entering into the room. "Where's Jessie?" She asked when she met me, her voice moving from its default impatience to anxiety.

"I dunno," I replied with a shrug. Suddenly, an idea came into my head. "Let's check the garden."

Jessie owned a garden at the back of our house. She may have been there.

We ambled our way through the house to the back of the house and there she was, kneeling by a hedge of rosebushes with her back turned to us.

"Jessie?"

She gave no answer, and did not stir.

"Jessie??" I called, louder this time. Still no response. I walked closer to her and gave her a tap, withdrawing my hands immediately. Her skin was cold to the touch, an icy, stinging cold, even though it was mid-summer.

"Jessie?"

I turned back, Mom had vanished.

"Jess‒"

"F**k off!" She gave a furious yell as she turned swiftly, her face was smeared with blood.

"Jesus Christ! Jessie!" I shouted in horror, my eyes darted downwards a bit and I caught sight of her fingernails, they were longer than they usually were.

"I'm gonna kill you as my last devotion to this goddamn house!" She screamed in a cold voice, pushing me to the floor with such strength she had never possessed, she screamed again as she dug her nails into my chest.

"Jessie? Cut this shit out! What do you think you're doing?" I said in between gasps.

She gave a little snort, licking her bloodied lips. "I will kill you and feed your soul to the sanctuary of this house!"

I raised an eyebrow, wondering if this was real or just an act. However, a certain fear had begun to creep into my chest.

"Stop this shit right now!" I said, uncertain if my words had any effect on her.

"First, the garden," She said, ignoring me. "She craves your eyes, and she must have them." She tore her nails out from my chest and stabbed them in my eyes. I screamed in pain and horror as I witnessed firsthand the excruciating feeling of my eyes being pulled away from their sockets

"Arghhh!"

MARK'S POV

"Arrgh!"

"What? What is it Mark?" I heard Mom's yells faintly, my eyes fluttered openly to meet the mid-afternoon sky and Mom shaking me frenziedly in the backseat, one more look around and I discovered we were all in the car. It had only been a dream.

"Are you okay Mark?" Jessie's concerned voice flooded my ears, I turned around to find her without any long fingernails or a bloodied face4, she looked quite normal.

"Mark?" She probed further.

"Yeah I'm fine," I called out wearily, adjusting my position so I could sit up, I let out a soft giggle when I noticed Mom and Jessie moving frantically in their attempts to help me up. "I'm fine, guys," I chuckled again. "It was just a bad dream."

Dad patted my knee and gave a small wave before going back to restart the car, I shuddered at the thought that we all had to pull over just because I screamed from a bad dream-or at least now I knew it was a bad dream. Before I woke up, I literally thought my own sister had grown claws and plucked my eyes out.

I looked out the window, hoping to calm myself with nature a bit, at least I was breathing normally now and my heartbeat was regular. "Mom, where are we?" I asked, not recognizing the landscape.

"We're in Tennessee now, I guess." She replied, getting into the other front seat, everyone had returned to their original positions.

"Hey did you know that in the 1800s, the pioneers used to travel in trains and caravans for two to five months?" Jessie asked-or rather just reminded everyone that she was the nerd type-as far as I knew, no one else gave it a second thought about what people did in the past.

"No, I didn't know actually." Mom said, clearly interested. Okay maybe she was the nerd type too.

"There used to be dangers on the road of course. The Red Indians and other native American tribes hated the white men from Britain, they had taken over their land at the time and labelled them as animals and savages who were not fit for civilization."

"So their immediate response was to attack the travelers while they were on the road huh?" Mom asked without looking back.

"Exactly!" Jessie cried, making me roll my eyes; the topic was making me weary already. "The ancestors, the first owners of the land also rose from their graves to avenge their land." She continued, looking around like she was a high school teacher called to take on elementary kids.

"Oooh, ghosts." Mom said in a fake terrified voice.

"Yes, you see, they waylaid travelers on their way to their various promised lands. They caused storms, upset the horses, and dug their hands into the riders' eyes..."

What the hell?

"That's enough Jessie," I cleared my throat to interrupt her. "I'm pretty sure you made that part up!"

"No it's true!" She turned to look back at me. "The Red Indian ancestors dug their fingernails into the eye sockets of the riders' eyes to-"

Instantly the dream replayed itself in flashes. Me standing over Jessie as she knelt by a rosebush, her fingernails growing and launching themselves into my chest and then right at my eyes. I blinked and stared at the real Jessie as she kept on talking about how the pioneers were unjustly robbed of their eyes. Suddenly her image flickered twice from the teen girl in a pink shirt and jeans to the bloody-faced one from my dream.

"Shut the hell up, Jessie!" I shut my eyes and yelled, grabbing my head and forcing myself to believe Jessie had no connection with the thing from my dream whatsoever.

"Mark Tyndale Wordsworth, you will use no such tone on your sister!" Mom yelled from the front seat.

Dad turned his head back, his expression far from cheerful. Mom took a second to remind to focus on driving before turning back to resume her scolding.

"Now will you apologise or do we have to pull over?"

"I'm sorry Mom," I swallowed.

"Not to me, Mark, to Jessie." She said, motioning to my sister.

"I'm sorry for yelling, Jess." And I was, even though Jessie probably didn't believe me and just kept staring, unable to utter a word.

"I'm sorry sis," I reached forward and touched her shoulder, eager to let this whole scene behind us, she just nodded and turned, leaving me to wonder if that was a good or bad thing. I was about to ask Mom for help before seeing her giving a resigned shrug and turning back to the road.

Jessie would come round. I thought as I sank back into my chair. She could never stay mad at me forever.

We continued driving, time passing slowly as none of us cared to break the uncomfortable silence. I'd grabbed my phone and earplugs to listen to a bit of music before deciding to see if Jessie was still mad. We had arrived at South Carolina now.

"Jess, do you think the red Indians could have passed through this route?" I pointed at some abandoned pre-modern era train tracks.

"No, I don't think so, the train tracks were not like this. I didn't mean literal trains; they were just band wagons with horses to pull them." She said.

"How can you be sure?" I smiled, a little bit happy at the outcome.

"I'm the historian here!" She turned to me with a smirk on her face.

"Isn't 'Historian' an old word?" Mom asked. "I thought the new term was historiographer."

"That's too long for anyone to pronounce." I replied.

"Hey speak for yourself." Jess batted an eyelid at me as I relaxed in my seat again. There was no arguing with those two women, especially not on a car ride, Dad had discovered the secret years ago, it was probably why he didn't talk much with the unbelievable excuse that it would distract him.

But he finally did speak. "Let's stop for the night shall we?" He said as he pulled into a parking lot.

"Whatever happened to your silence on the wheels, Dad?" I teased.

"Technically, I am not on the wheels right now because I'm pulling up on a driveway where there are less than three cars and there cannot be a risk of an accident because-"

"Right Dad; right!" I raised my hands in a mock surrender, seems I was the only one who wasn't good at avoiding car fights, even after years of enough prep time.

"Today isn't just your day is it?" Jessie nudged my arm as we filed out of the car with a few belongings we would need for the night.

"Tell me about it." I sighed.

WELCOME TO WORDSWORTH'S. The sign at the entrance of the hotel read.

"Can you all see that? That's our name right there!" Dad exclaimed and threw his arms up the way he did when he managed to make eighteen holes at the local Saturday golf club.

"What a coincidence darling!" Mom remarked sarcastically.

"No, I say it isn't, this is our hotel! Feel free to take as much as you can because we own the place! And if any of you pick more than we can pay for, you're on your own."

"Very funny, Dad." Jessie laughed, slowing down and letting us get ahead of her, when I passed her she pinched my elbow and drew me back.

"Ow!" I yelled. "Why did you-"

"Shhh," She interrupted. "Whatever did you have to yell for back in the car?"

"Oh! Uhmm did you go back inside when we were all out?" I asked.

"No. We all entered the car and the agents locked the house. Why?"

"Oh... never mind." I turned away.

"You haven't answered my question yet?" She pinched my elbow again.

"Ow, quit it!"

"Well then answer the‒"

"Whatever are you two hanging back there for?" Mom hollered.

"Right, let's go in." Jess grunted, making a pathetic effort to drag me inside along with her. Dad was already at the counter by the time we got in.

"Your rooms are 51 and 52." I heard the receptionist say as I approached, handing the keys to Dad, she didn't seem like the person anyone would use as a first impressions officer; she looked too cold and unapproachable. No, scary was the right word.

And so was the thought of having to share a room with Jess for the night, she would nag me to death about the scene in the car or really turn into one of those Red Indian things. Either way, there was no getting out of it, Mom and Dad already had the other room and under no circumstances was I about to share it.

"Gosh, look how beautiful this room is!" Jessie exclaimed as we entered the room.

I said nothing, though I admired the room as much as she did. I was more concerned with staying away from her for a bit, at least until she forgot about her interrogation.

"It really is very beautiful," She continued, touching everything from the beds to the curtains and even the walls.

"Yeah, um... I gotta use the bathroom." I dumped my bag on one of the beds and hurried into the bathroom.

I'd expected the bathroom lights to be on, so I was stunned when I walked into pitch blackness, I groped around my pockets for my phone, exasperated to find out I'd left it in the room. I decided to pee anyway instead of going back for it.

The bathroom got darker with each forward step I took; I gritted my teeth as I unexpectedly began to remember the dream and I began to imagine Jessie coming out of the shower with blood on her face and her nails stretching towards my eyes. I bit my lip and felt around the walls for a light switch, hoping my vivid imagination would think of something more helpful at this point.

Then I heard something slither along the floor, I gasped as I heard a hiss. Luckily I'd found the light switch, I slammed my finger on it and screamed at the sight on the ground.

"What is it?" I heard Jessie banging on the door.

"There's a fucking python in there!" I yelled hysterically as I tumbled out of the bathroom.

"What python?" Dad yelled as he ran into the room with Mom behind him, he brushed me aside after I pointed to the bathroom, coming out again just after a few seconds.

"There's really a snake in there!!" He yelled, motioning for us all to leave the room, we almost collided with the security guards at the door as a result.

"What's the matter?" One of them asked.

"There's a snake in there!" We all yelled at the same time, the men exchanged glances, then moved past us and towards the bathroom, two of them going in while one remained outside.

"Why there's nothing there, come in and have a look." One of the men exclaimed as he walked out, they both appeared very calm.

"We ain't going in there!" Mom said. I looked out the lobby, heads were poking through various doors now; we had probably ruined sleep for a lot of people. I turned back to see Mom grabbing me and Jessie's suitcases out the room. Shame, I hadn't even unpacked.

"We're leaving this hotel now!" Dad said, going into the other room, he emerged with his and Mom's bags and we filed out to the ground floor leaving the security men behind. The receptionist sat poised like she was expecting us when we got to her desk.

"Leaving so soon? Why the rush?" She asked in a rather smooth voice.

"This freaking hotel is a breeding ground for snakes and my family is leaving this minute!" Dad yelled.

"I'm afraid that will not be possible." All heads turned to see a woman dressed in a suit and heels walking in.

"I am afraid that will not be possible." Said the manager, coming out of her office.

"What? What's not possible?" Mom countered, sizing the woman up with her eyes.

"You see, there's no other hotel around here. In fact you won't see another hotel for another 100 miles, and oh! It's 9: 30 already."

"And we have the no-refund policy! That's how this place is run Mr WoodsWorth."

"And how did you know my name? I don't recall seeing you when we checked in" said dad, heaving his chest.

"That wouldn't be necessary. We have the best room service you can find around. So, go on in! And enjoy the rest of your night."

Taking a proper look at the manager, I discovered she looked more scary than the receptionist and had a wart on her nose. Perfect description of a witch.

"No, we are leaving this place. Now." My dad said, making his final decision.

"Very well, then." The manager said, showing us the doorway.

"Let's go pals", dad said.

We all made a March to the car.

We all got talking as soon as we got to the car.

"That hotel is an evil place! "

"Did you see the faces of the staff in there, they all looked scary".

"Yeah right?"

"It's fine. Thank God we are out of that place." Dad said, revving the engine to life.

I and Jessie looked at each other. The whole thing seemed to have upset her so much. I squeezed her Hands gently.

Dad drove for half an hour, with no building in sight. I checked my wristwatch, it was some minutes pass 10 O'clock.

"Do you think we would see another hotel?" Mom asked.

"There's only one way to find out honey." Dad said.

"You broke your no-talking-on-the-wheel rule twice today dad!" Jessie teased dad.

"Yes, on purpose that is." Dad began.

"You see we are the only ones on the road right now! And as the manager of that evil hotel rightly stated, there is no chance of us getting to any building for 100 miles+. So the risk of running into an acci-"

"Right dad!!" Jessie and I chorused. Earning a laugh from dad. I looked sideways at mom. The poor woman had slept off.

"Dad, don't you feel sleepy?" Jess queried.

"No! I mean yes, a Little." Dad said, stifling a yawn.

"What????" Jess and I shouted.

"Come on kids! Just joking! How could I ever go asleep on the wheels??" Dad said, laughing out loud.

"Dad... Just pull the car up" I said.

"What why?" Dad said as he moved to the side.

"Let's call it a ride for tonight dad. Pull up on one side of the road and let's pass the night." Jess suggested.

"Like that evil worker said, we won't see another building for another 100 miles." I said, concurring with my sis.

"Well technically, we have moved for about 69 miles. So, we are having just 31 miles to go and we would see another--"

"That's not the point dad!" I interrupted.

"You see, a lot of things could go wrong in that distance." I said.

Dad looked at the two of us briefly.

"Okay, I would have done that but just take a look around. Where are we? We are on a road that is in the middle of the woods! Let's drive further for.. let's say 10 miles for our own safety." Dad said

I and Jessie exchanged glances.

"Okay then." Jess said, giving me a shrug.

"Let's hit the roads." Dad said, starting the engine of the car.

"Jess, why don't you tell us some tales to warm the place up. We could do with some of your history stuff right now". I said, taking a sip out of my soda.

"I would do that. But first, you know it's unhealthy to take soda right?" Jess asked.

"Unhealthy? Why?"

"10:28 pm, and you're taking a Coke. That's wrong." Jess preached.

"Oh cut that crap, jess." I said, taking a long sip.

"Suit yourself, then. I'll be talking about the lizard men of xenor". I and dad burst out laughing.

"What? What's so funny? " Jess asked.

"The lizard-men? What's that?" Dad said, in between hiccups.

"When I'm done, you would understand. This is Medo-persian mythology though."

"Okay then, holler!" Dad said, accelerating the car.

"Well, it was in the ninety-ninth year of what was to be later known as the hundred years war or the xenoroan wars simply put.

The planet Xenor which was located in another dimension of space, was populated by a super-duper intelligent but super-cruel race of beings called the lizard men, which wasn't what they called themselves though." Jessie said, allowing what she said to sink into our head. Typical jess.

"In appearance they were seven feet tall, scaly, and grey. Their eyes had Virtual slits, like the eyes of cats and snakes. So tough was their hides that ordinarily they didn't have to wear clothing, except for short pants which were Made of carchineal, a flexible red metal unknown to the earth." She continued.

"I don't know, but why is this sounding like a made up story?" Dad asked, the sound of the car engine making the only noise on the road

"I was about to ask the same thing too!"

"No it isn't! It's in Medo-persian mytholo-"

"Right! Continue." I said, enjoying the story myself. Jess gave an eyeroll before continuing.

"Yeah, so in the Ninety ninth year, the xenoroans got into a special project to capture a large number of earth's women and reed a super-race, half-human, half-xenoroan lizard man; which would be better equipped for life on the various other habitable planets of the universe than they were-- able to adjust to strange atmospheres, eat a variety of foods, resist unknown diseases -- but which would also have the strength and the extraterrestrial intelligence of the xenoroan race."

Jess said, completely exhausted from the long talk. A light just entered my head.

"Jess, isn't this story from the blind assassin by Victoria Atwood?" I had caught her red-handed and she knew it.

"Dad, remember that book you bought for me at the school bookshop?"

The car started veering In the wrong direction suddenly. We turned to dad and got the shock of our lives. Dad was asleep on the wheels!!

"Dad!!" We yelled.

"Yeah, you were saying??" Replied dad, waking abruptly from his sleep. The car veered into the woods.

"Dad!!" I yelled, my chest heaving in fear.

"I can't control the car!!" Dad cried as the brake of the car failed.

"Jesus! Dad control the fu**ing car!!"

Jess yelled in fright. The car was headed to a tree. Events of today rolled very fast in my head. This is the end, I thought. This is it.

Suddenly, the car came to a very slow end, just near the base of the tree.

"Thank you Lord!!" Dad said, leading the car in a slow reverse out of the woods.

Jess was breathing so heavily, I quickly brought out an inhaler from her bag.

"I'm fine, I'm fine." She said, trying to figure wave my hands off.

"No you're not, Jess. Here, take this."

She gave a sigh, took the Inhaler from my hands.

Dad's hands were shaking badly.

"Dad, just stop the car." Jess said.

"Yeah, sure I'll do that. Let's just get to the-- "

"No, dad. Just park the car now", Jess argued, sitting up.

Just then mom stirred from her sleep. She had been asleep all through the incident.

"What Happened darling? Why are we in the woods and not on the road?" Mom inquired, looking around sleepily.

"Err, we almost had an accident. But we're fine now" said dad, switching Off the car ignition.

"Wait, what accident?" Mom half yelled. She looked at us.

"Christ, mark and jess! Are you kids okay."

I gave an eyeroll. Mom could be such a worrywart at times.

"We're fine, mom!" Jess said.

"Tyson, what on Earth happened?" Mom queried.

"Okay, we we're driving and due to fatigue, I drifted." Dad said, trying to explain.

"You slept off?" Mom said, her mouth hanging open.

"Kinda" dad replied.

"Christ! We would have all died!" Mom shouted.

"Ehm, mom? Aren't you using the name of God in vain right now?"

Jess asked, catching mom in her own bait.

"Yeah, right." Mom said, trailing off.

"I think we've had too much drama for one night. don't you agree people?" Dad said, emphasizing the word 'people' like the coolest guy on Earth. Trust him to be the cool guy always.

"Yeah, sure we agree." Mom said, rolling her eyes.

"So I say we sleep here." Dad proposed.

"In this car?" Mom asked, with an incredulous expression on her face.

"Yeah" I said, speaking up.

"If not for this incident, I doubt if you would have woken up. And it's not like we have any other place to sleep. Like the hotel staff said, there's no place to stay. So I think we should camp here for the night."

I argued further.

"Yeah, you're right" mom replied in a subdued tone.

I turned to Jessie. She was sleeping already. Great.

"And we could turn on the Car air conditioning so we can get fresh air, without getting mosquito bites." Dad suggested.

"No problems. But damn, I'm hungry!" Said mom.

"Yeah, I'm hungry too."

I agreed, taking a sneek peek at the lunchpack; it was empty. Great.

"There's nothing we can to st this point. Let's just sleep. 5am tomorrow and we move." Said dad.

"Make that 6am, you'll need a good night's sleep so you'll not sleep on the wheels again." Mom remarked drily.

"Yeah, sure. Whenever we set out, we'll find food tomorrow." Dad said, turning the Air conditioning on. The car suddenly became cold!

"Dad, remember Jessie" I said, as goosebumps filled my skin.

"Yeah Right," dad replied, turning the air conditioning down by a few degrees. Jess has mild asthma, that's why she had that attack earlier.

"Night Mark, night darling." Mom said, drifting off into sleep.

I looked at dad, he was surveying the environment.

"Dad, aren't you sleeping? You have a long ride tomorrow, and mom doesn't drive on the highway, and I can't drive at all, and Jess-"

"Right, right! Must you be so dramatic? I'll get a rest okay ? After you sleep, that is." Dad said, Patting me fondly.

I stayed awake for a long time, that by the time I turned, dad was asleep already. I snorted to myself. So much for wanting to sleep after me.

I turned to the window to look outside properly.

Bright lights shone outside. On a closer look, I found out there was a house at the edge of the woods. Hmm. Why didn't we notice before, I wondered.

A thought came to my head. It wouldn't hurt to check the house out. Would it?

So cautiously, I opened the door of the SUV. I closed it, careful not to wake my family.

There were lights on in the House. I edged on, eager to take a peek inside. For some odd reason, my heart started beating loudly.

My senses heightened. I became more conscious of the environment.

I stepped on a piece of dried grass, and goosebumps filled my neck. This time, it was of fear, not the cold.

Something still urged me to go on.

I got to the door of the house.

Ring the bell, something told me.

I rung the bell, unsure why.

"Come in!" A sweet voice called from inside. The doors opened on their own accord, and I walked inside.

Every where was bright!, I noticed.

The room looked beautiful. A man was sitting at the living room with his back turned to me.

"Hello, welcome home! I'm the son of Lindbergh." He said, with the most creepy smile I had ever seen.

Suddenly the lights went off. They came back in a split second.

A lady entered the room in a bloody gown.

"I'm Florence! Welcome home." She said, as blood came out from her mouth. The room went dark again.

"Arrgh!!!" I yelled, waking from my nightmare.

I was back in the car. The confusing thing was that Everybody was yelling! Everybody seemed to have woken from a nightmare too.