The Group (pt.2)

She went back downstairs and grabbed the house keys, putting them in the left pocket of the jacket before she put her mask on. Some people said that the creatures left a toxic gas that got into people’s lungs and killed them with pneumonia or with its own toxins. Some even had heart attacks, and no one knew how long the gas stayed in the air. However, there was no way of running away from the place. The closest city was miles away, crossing a desert, and it was too dangerous to go out there, given that the creatures chased whoever moved at night, and there was no way of crossing the dessert in one day. Those that got the free treatment were victims that had been attacked and not killed, and even then, there was not a single soul that had survived to explain what the creatures looked like. A lot of artists had made illustrations, representing their own ideas on how the monsters would look like. Some drew them as outer space visitors: aliens. Others drew them as faceless monsters that resembled the creepypasta of Slenderman, and others simply drew them as a group of lunatics from a gang that wore masks and used weapons to kill. But no one had seen one and survived, plus the police didn’t allow anyone to go try and search, knowing it would be a lost battle.

Eleanor headed outside with a deep breath, getting chilled by the cold breeze. The sky was dark but there were no clouds, which indicated that there was no storm coming through, which could make things worse if electricity got affected. She looked at Anbur, lying on the grass in front of his little dog house. They allowed the dog to be outside until the time came, then they took him inside from the time reports came that the monsters didn’t feel remorse killing animals, cats, dogs, and whatever horse they could find. That alone was scary enough, to think that one single creature could take down such a big animal, it allowed the mind to imagine what horrors could do to fragile bodies. 

All they knew was they didn’t eat the bodies, they didn't always collect it, but they were gruesome. It was thanks to Carrison’s husband, Nick, that they figured the first patterns: They grabbed the victim, dragged it away from any light, and then they ripped their limbs off. They teared their faces, without any remorse they opened the bodies and took the organs out. The only organ they did take was the liver, but it was still unknown if they ate it or if it was a gift for a superior individual. 

She leashed Anbur and scratched behind his ear before she proceeded to walk down the street. The lights were on so it wasn’t dark, but the idea of walking away from the house still made Eleanor terrified. She put her hand in her pocket and watched as Anbur sniffed around and did his things, without a worry in the world about what was going on. She sometimes wished she was a dog, so she didn’t have to be worried about everything. People these days ended one of three ways: the first way was dead, either they got killed or they commited suicide to avoid dying in such a way or if they had los a family member; the second way was just scared, some people, like Eleanor and her family were terrified but tried to keep going as much as they could; the third and worst way was crazy, some people claimed they had seen the creatures and said that they wre told to kill if they didn’t want their families to die, and they were forced to do it, but it was soon showed that some people used that as an excuse to commit crimes and get away wth it, so cops locked people p until they got a checkup by a professional and they figured if the people were lying or not.

Eleanor lightly pulled the leash when Anbur was taking too long, and as she turned around the corner, Anbur began whining and walking back, not wanting to go that way. Eleanor was getting annoyed, wondering what was going on with the dog and pulling the leash. “Anbur stop it, come on, there is nothing there, hurry up” she scolded, the only answer she got was whines and leash pulls. She looked towards the place, and the only thing she could see was darkness. She wondered what could Anbur see that she didn’t, but whatever it was, was scarier enough to scare the primal predator. The thought of something being there that she couldn’t see brought a lot of thoughts. The first one was that if the creatures were there they became invisible to the naked eye, or to the human eye at all, which could mean that the creatures were around the city at all times but they couldn’t see it. That thought alone was enough to scare her, but there was more.

Another thought was that maybe they had changed their patterns, maybe they had realized that they knew how to avoid them and had decided to make a change, that meant that they had evolved enough brain capacities to make such decisions and evaluations of the situation. The third thought was that she was in front of something. And that something was big and scary, and she could have sworn that it was her own brain reacting to the thoughts, but she could see a par of flashy white dots in the air, and then another pair, and then another. And soon there were almost a whole dozen of lights that seemed eyes, staring at her and taunting her, daring her to turn her back to them. 

That made her heart beat faster and her legs shake, so she took the leash and began to run, Anbur ran with her, wanting to go home and almost dragging her. The environment seemed to get darke and the lights were dim, Eleanor thought she was going to pass out, and she tripped, and fell. She figured that Anbur would wait for her, but the animal was so scared it kept running. She called for him but he didn’t turn and soon got away from her field of vision. 

She cursed under her breath and stood, ignoring the pain on her knee and beginning to run again, she got home, but didn’t see Anbur, not in the garden, and not in his house. She looked behind her and didn’t see the white sparks, so she just headed inside. As always, Michelle ran downstairs to get Anbur, but she stopped on the stasis and looked at her mother. “Where is Anbur?” she asked. “Darling…” Eleanor looked at her own mother, who nodded, indicating to say the truth. “Michelle, Anbur saw something and began chasing it, he made me trip and ran away…” she said as she crouched and gently brought her daughter close to her. “We will find him, but we will look tomorrow, is too dangerous to go outside now, go with Peter, tell him to read you the ugly duckling story, okay? Mama had to speak to granny” she said and kissed her head. Michelle was a really brave girl, and she just nodded and wiped her eyes before she rushed back inside. 

Eleanor stood again and looked at Carrigan, “what happened to you? You are bleeding.” She said, Eleanor looked at her knee and indeed, there was a cut there that was bleeding. She just gulped and cleaned the wound in the kitchen while she thought what to say. “I...Anbur got scared when we turned the corner, there was something there, I don’t know what, but he could see it and it looked scary.” she said in a quiet voice, not wanting nor Peter nor Eleanor to hear her.She sat down. “I think it was my brain, but..I saw white eyes, they were staring t me, there were dozens of them, mom.” she said. “Did they chase you?” she asked, Eleanor shook her head and exhaled. “I’m going to begin to lock the doors, just in case.” She said.

Thirty minutes later she had locked all the windows with the wood planks, hadn’t heard Anbur and she had to lock the door, but she decided to wait for a bit. “You need to close the door, he is an animal, he will be fine” Carrigan said. Michelle walked down and looked at her mom. “Please don’t, we need to wait for him,” she said as she rushed with her little feet to her mom. “Please” she begged. 

Eleanor looked at the clock ,it would start in thirty minutes. “Ten minutes, then I will close the door.” She kissed her daughters head before she sat her on the couch. “Let’s get you in bed, mom,” she said. “Peter, keep an eye on your sister” she called, and she waited until Peter headed down to help her mother to her room downstairs. She helped her on the bed and then kissed her head, she made sure that the planks were positioned properly and then smiled. “Tomorrow will be another day and we will find Anbur” she said before she kissed her head again.

Meanwhile, Peter was watching TV, and Michelle was looking at the door. She glanced at her brother and then slowly opened the front door, wanting to see if Anbur had come back. Peter looked at her, “don’t go out” he said, to which she just shook her head no, so Peter went back to look at the TV. After a couple minutes Peter heard Michelle going upstairs, so he didn’t worry too much and kept looking at the TV. 

Eleanor walked out and gasped, rushing “Peter! Why is the door open?” she asked quickly. “Michelle opened to see if Anbur was there, but she went upstairs and probably forgot to close it.” he said. The female sighed heavily in relief and closed the door, beginning to lock it. “Did she say anything?” she asked. “She just mumbled Anbur’s name, but that’s it, she is probably upset.” Peter replied and then shrugged. Eleanor nodded in understanding and then finished blocking the door, then she sat down next to Peter and watched TV with him, her arm around him in a soothing way. The time was coming close, and the nervousness was increasing. Eleanor decided to go get Michelle so they were all together, so she stood. However, she heard the sound of steps, and then a whine, so she figured that Anbur had come back, but it was too risky, she couldn’t open the door now.  She looked at Peter and shushed him, “don’t say anything, let’s pray she doesn’t hear him, we will get him tomorrow. She began to walk upstairs, calling for Michelle, and then Peter heard it. 

“Anbur, you are here!” her voice exclaimed from outside. Peter stared at the door with wide eyes, and proceeded to walk closer, the whines began getting louder. Then the rushed steps of her mother, “Peter, Michelle is not here” she said.