Delusional

Number 25

"What the fuck just happened!" Dani yelled in between breaths.

In the distance I heard the sound of the beasts coming closer, before we could accept what had just happened, I pulled Dani to his feet and we raced back up the tree, without hesitation. We climbed higher than before, trying to get as far as possible. Following the beast's growls, there was the faint sound of my father. The beasts sprinted to the tree, passing Eve, they began to jump and scratch the tree and growl louder than before. My father followed behind them, he was carrying a rifle. He stopped to look at Eve and then passed her, he seemed his normal size, and the dogs seemed to have gotten bigger. We hid behind branches and leaves, he began to shoot randomly missing us every time, but getting closer with each shot.

He fired a shot and it glazed Number 1's arm, she let out a whimper loud enough for me to hear but no one else. How were we gonna get out of this. All of my fears were pushed into one big nightmare, how should I react, should I take control, should I fight back, should I just sit here and let us all die. I took action. Getting a good grip on the large branch, I swung myself around the other side, so the only thing he could hit was my fingers, and that was a very small chance. Dani and Number 1 followed my lead, and eventually, the firing stopped, he must have realized just how bad of a shot he was.

Peaking my head around the side of the branch, I saw him throw the gun on the ground, he had finally ran out of bullets. He kicked the beasts aside and they scurried away, returning to their original size. He stomped his way over to the shed and started throwing things this way and that. He was searching for his box of bullets. We immediately started crawling down the tree. Jumping off we ran to the other side of the house unsure if we should go inside or try running away again. We stood still. He came back from the shed with the box, and picked up his rifle. Looking up into the tree, all the leaves had begun to fall. Small white snowflakes followed.

An indescribable odor came next. We were standing outside of my parents bedroom. "What is that smell!" Dani complained.

Number 1 and him were covering their noses. I recognized the smell almost immediately. My father turned away from the dead tree and walked around the other side of the house. "I get the feeling you're about to find out."

"You make it sound like you already know the answer to that question, why are you being so mysterious?" Dani asked.

"I'm not... it's just hard to talk about."

We peeked our heads around the corner. I looked over at where Eve had been and she was gone, he hadn't taken her and neither had the dogs. It was changing again. Running to the side of the back door, we stood against the wall. The snow fell harder, it was getting colder by the second, we had to go inside or we were going to freeze to death.

"We aren't going to go in are we?" Dani asked.

"It might be better to just get it over with." Number 1 stood behind me, she took a deep breath. I tried to get my legs moving but they wouldn't inch forward. I knew what awaited us and didn't want to go. She must have been able to tell because she put her hand on my back and nudged me forward, just enough to get me to twist the door knob. Pushing the creaky door forward, the odor poured out like water.

"It's smells like rotting flesh!" Dan exclaimed after wiping away the vomit from his mouth.

"I think that's more disgusting than anything." I point at the vomit.

"I'm surprised neither of you did!" He yelled.

"Stop yelling." I whisper.

He pulled his shirt up to his nose to try and cover the smell, but it had already attached itself to our clothes like a parasite. Stepping into the dark kitchen, a loud banging could be heard coming from the door leading to the basement.