Prologue

"Jenna would you get the dog off the chain?! He's probably bothering the neighbors."

The young woman sighed and wistfully put her laptop down on the chair.

"Do you work tomorrow?"

"Yeah."
"When to when?"

"From two to eight."

She entered the laundry room and flicked on the light switch, wincing at the sudden change of light. She walked over to the outside door and opened it slowly. Her dog came bounding over, exuberant and joyful to see his mistress had not in fact abandoned him.

She squinted into her pitch black yard as she unhooked the animal from the chain. He ran inside, barreling over to eat the cat food. Normally Jenna would have scolded and shooed him out of the room, but for some unknown reason, the eerie darkness entranced her.

"Jenna? Shut the door; we have the air conditioning on for a reason."

She blinked and refocused her eyes, unaware she had unfocused them.

"Jenna?"

"I wanna check something out Dad. I'll be right back."
"Okay... Hey you! Stop eating the cat food..."

She stepped out from the house and into the small pool of light emitted from the laundry room. A soft breeze teased her ponytail and sent chills down her spine.

"Strange... it's near eighty and I'm cold." she murmured to herself, rubbing her bare arms.

The wind stopped and a soft hush filled the night air. As Jenna peered into the darkness, a childish fear of the dark gripped her and rooted her to the spot. Something was out there.

With glazed eyes she stepped out of the pool of light... and disappeared into the inky black night... forever.