SOMETHING ROAMS THE NIGHT...

FOUR

"You're late," my younger brother, Andy, pointed an accusing finger at me.

"Yeah, met a friend along the way," I said as I closed the door behind me. "Where's mum and dad?"

"They went out," Andy said. "They left not long after you did."

"Oh," I said, undoing the ribbon in my hair. "Did they say where they were going?"

"Nope," my fifteen-year-old brother said. "No idea."

"Well it's almost sundown," I glanced out the window. "They should be back by now."

"Yeah, well," Andy went back to his laptop, slipped on his headphones. "Nothing to worry about."

I took a long shower, washing off the alcohol smell from my hair.

Nothing to worry about.

Of course there was nothing to worry about.

But why did those stories bother me so much all of a sudden? Why was I suddenly feeling so paranoid? Why was I feeling so...unsafe?

"We're home!" I heard my mother call. I let out a sigh of relief. Thank goodness it wasn't dark outside yet.

Met your parents on the way home. Haha :p

I smiled when I read Ezra's text. Cute. But still not my type.

They got me so worried. And you were behind it. Jerk.

I typed a quick reply, and trudged into the kitchen, my hair dripping wet. "Hi Mum, hi Dad."

"We got you pizza," my father said, not looking at me. There was a grim expression on his face.

I turned to Mum-she didn't look happy herself. What had happened? My parents were never like this-they were the happiest people I knew.

"Is everything okay?" I asked them after a while.

"Yeah," I knew Dad was lying. "Everything is fine."

"Mum?" I raised a brow. "Something's not right here. What happened?"

"Your grandmother..." my mother finally said, biting her lip to stifle a sob. "She's..."

"No," I said when I saw a tear slipping down her cheek. "No..."

No. Nanna. The only grandparent I had left. No, this couldn't be happening.

"She was attacked," Dad said glumly.

"Attacked?" I cried. "What do you mean attacked?"

"She was attacked by something...something that only appears at night," Dad replied.

"No, it can't be..." my breath hitched. I could feel my eyes watering.

Oh God, no. This couldn't be happening.

"She was killed in cold blood," my mother was sobbing uncontrollably now.

"When did this happen?" I tried not to stir things up, but I had too many questions. There were too many things I had to know. "Why would someone do something like this?"

"It's not a someone, it's a something," Dad said solemnly. "It's something evil, something vicious."

He sighed in despair, and clenched his fists as he sat down slowly at the table.

"Something out there is killing people, and we don't know what to do about it."