None of us ever wanted this.
Four of the others screamed as it dove in for the attack. They were not the first to go.
There had been the small, scared boy who was not even supposed to be with us, but of course he had to follow his older sister. She had cried at his death, but crying only attracted it and led to her own death.
Then there was that smart girl, who had not deemed it necessary to run when she was attacked. All she had done was stand there, calling out about how it was all right. It was not even real, she had said, and the boy had just died because he hit his head wrong and his sister had killed herself out of shock. Perhaps she had hit her own head wrong, too, because she fell in the next moment. That would never explain why her organs were spilling out onto the carpeted floor.
The house itself was not very frightening. In fact, it was rather stunning. The previous owners had definitely been filthy rich, judging by the amount of gold trimming in the house. Nobody knew why they had simply disappeared ten years ago. I suppose we knew now.
We were missing more than the seven that we had watched die. None of us wanted to go look for them, however, because that would give away our position. Their lives were not worth nearly as much as our own.
Then it found us. I looked it straight in the eye, and it attacked, screeching. The sound had been terrible. That much I remember. I tried to dodge it by leaping to the side, and it snatched up the girl beside me. She died instantly.
I scrambled to the door, hoping it would be distracted by the others. Instead, my fumbling brought me to its attention. It shrieked with that terrifying noise and dove. I flattened myself on the ground, hoping for the best.
I was proud of being the first of its victims to survive so long, though I doubted that this would continue any longer. Perhaps I had a chance if I could just reach the door.
I was too slow. I felt something sharp closing around my stomach just before I reached the door knob. I wondered what death tasted and felt like because I had already heard, seen, and smelled it.
However, it never came.
I never caught a glimpse at our savior. I doubt any of us saw him because we had all bolted at the sound of his voice saying, “You can all go home now.”
I suppose I was very lucky.
ns 15.158.61.48da2
