Prologue

The fence was old and worn, small specks of white paint could still be seen on the otherwise uncolored wood. Jesse stared at the aged house that she grew up in. Memories of better days flooded her mind. A brisk wind raced about them, as a cold, uncomfortable feeling filled them. Kyle stood across the street and tears welled up in his eyes. Unable to control himself he began wailing. “Stop crying, you baby,” Will snapped at his little brother, angrily.

“Be nice to him, Will, he’s only nine,” Jesse said, walking back across the street, to the two brothers. Her hair was a fiery red and spanned to her mid-back. She was average height, for a freshman in high school, and very slender. “Besides, “she continued, “yelling won’t solve anything.” She paused and looked around. “I just wish we knew where we are.”

“I think it’s pretty obvious were we are,” Will retorted. “We’re home…”

“You don’t really believe that, do you?” Jesse shot back. “This can’t be our home, it’s so different.” There were few subtle differences between where they were and what they knew as home. The sky was darker, and slightly tinted a shade of red or orange. Even though it was mid-day it seemed as though it were dusk and the sun were setting. The sun itself also had a different look to it; it seemed much smaller, older, and dim. This could not have been home, deep down they all knew it.

“What’s that?” asked Kyle, pointing off in the distance after a long silence. Both Jesse and Will looked in the direction he pointed. At first they saw nothing, the horizon just faded into a black cloud, but soon they realized the cloud was moving. Jesse began to look around for cover in case they would need it. Will and Kyle stared into the approaching black cloud. As it got closer each bit of the cloud began to take shape. It was like a cloud of mosquitoes except they were the size of bats if not bigger.

The three quickly scrambled inside the house. The concrete path leading to the fine oak door of the small brick house was cracked and broken. Will examined the building. It seemed structurally sound, it was rather clean, no cobwebs or bugs, and yet, something about it still gave him the creeps. The house was exactly like his own. Not a picture out of place, yet in an eerie way everything appeared to be old, and worn.

Jesse watched out the window as the creatures moved closer and closer to them. Every second her heart raced faster. Every individual in the swarm began to take form. They continued to grow larger; each now seemed the size of a large dog. A feeling of helplessness consumed her; another minute passed and another distinct part of the creatures appeared. A long tail on the back seemed to have a scythe-like protrusion, much like a scorpion’s stinger, only it seemed to be composed of bone. She now realized the danger they were in, whatever had caused the skeleton in the yard was coming back. Now the feeling grew worse. The creatures were nearly right on top of them. There true size finally registered in their minds. Each of these things were as big as any one of them. They heard the sound of their wings beating on everything, the other creatures, the house, the windows… The children scrambled back into the closet. The sound of windows shattering echoed all around them. But they were safe, back home…