The Monsters that Come in the Night

The New Village

When Jeremy, Millie, and Maximillian were old enough, they left the village in hopes of finding another one, because anything had to be better than where they were living. They travelled at night and slept in the day, worried about any other "patrons" finding their sleeping forms on the forest floor. They knew it would be a while until the next quarter moon but they couldn't risk being stumbled upon.

Soon they finally came out of the trees and saw a little village, quite similar to theirs but with more fresh rubble and debris. This village must've been recently destroyed, and the people must be still in the process of rebuilding. Entering the town, they walked around the market. The people smiled at them but with glints in their eyes. Some of them looked harrowed, wearing disheveled clothing.

"No, please, you have to help me!" someone suddenly shouted out in the market square.

"Get off me, you old hag," we rushed over to see what the commotion was all about. A small crowd had already begun to form. A gruff older man was shaking her off, he was bald and had a bristly beard with a scorned face. She stumbled back and fell on her knees, face already streaked in tears. She had long wispy silver hair trailing around her, dressed mostly in discolored rags. "Please!" she tried again. "It took everything from me! Please Gerald our family has helped you in your time of need so many times before. All I ask of you is some food and clothes," she finally saw the others standing around. "Will any of you help me?" she begged. I almost stepped forward when another villager stopped me and merely shook his head at me. I looked at him questioningly but didn't say anything. Nobody else said anything, just stared at the scene unfolding before us.

Guilt flashed across Gerald's face, but he regained his scowl. "Listen, I can't take you in, y'hear? What am I supposed to do if the thing follows you and kills my family as well? I'm sorry, but you're on your own," he sighed. "I'm surprised the thing didn't take you too,"

"At this point, it should've," her wrinkles deepened. "I can't live in the streets anymore," she whispered as people shuffled away, leaving her alone on cracked asphalt.

Jeremy and Millie tugged me away from the scene but I kept looking back at her. What was going to happen to her?

"My god, what's going on this town? Was leaving a mistake?" I rushed out. Seriously, what the fuck happened?

"Max, relax, it can't possibly be as bad as our old village," Jeremy shushed me. I looked at him in disbelief.

"Millie, what do you think? Shouldn't we help her?"

"I don't know," she murmured, "Nobody else was. Maybe there's a reason they're not. Maybe that guy, Gerald, was right," she stared down at her feet.

"Fuck, okay let's go talk to him and get our bearings," I threw my hands up in frustration. Running down the street we saw him walk down, we finally caught up to him.

"Hey, mister! Wait up! We have a couple of questions," I yelled out in a huff as we finally caught up to him. Turning around with a bushy eyebrow raised, his eyes pierced our skins. "What do you want," he flatted out.

I looked at Millie, prompting her. Guys were always more willing if it was a woman asking questions, and this guy seemed particularly old-fashioned. He glared at us a moment longer before finally saying, "I don't know what you kids are doing here, but you shouldn't be here. When the invader settled in, we thought he was just going to be taking one of us once a month. But it's grown hungrier, and has started taking more us." He looked worried. "I didn't mean to turn her away. She was right, y'know, she did help out my family back in the day, when the invaders first arrived. And now I can't even help her because I'm worried about protecting my family. I don't even know if I can protect them against that thing," he sighed rubbing his face with his thick calloused fingers. He looks up and studied us. "You children shouldn't be here. You need to leave this place. Now."