There are scarier things than the night things that make your skin crawl cause ice cold sweat to trickle down your spine, sending a chill throughout your body and soul. Everyone has seen it but everyone denies it exists. Save for the few insane people driven mad by the knowledge they contain years has it taken me to forget this tale but I will unearth it just for you, ignorant child so that, you won't make the same mistake I did...or perhaps, live to tell the tale.

It was exactly 3 years ago, to this very day.

I remember it all too well the sky was a dull, grey clouds hung low to the ground threatening to unleash a torrent of rain. It's been raining on and off for the past 3 weeks so the road my friends and I took home had flooded that day...

My friends...ahh, they were a bunch of cheery people who always liked to hear what kind of fantastic world I was building in my mind. I...kind of miss those days. I barely remember what makes me happy now-a-days, the pills they give me drown out all the voices in my head. All the memories... leaving nothing but an empty shell. My friends were from different year levels in my school, the oldest being Midnight and the youngest being Bella whist I was the middle child, just tagging along for fun.

I did know one other person but I rarely admitted I knew her. She was my neighbour...slightly off in the head... kept going on about Them. Them...ha... I wish now I listened to Sephy, that's what we used to call her; don't know why...the name stuck.

There was an abandoned farm just down from where I lived when the road floods, I have to trek through the mud and grass to reach there. I'm always scared some snake or equally deadly creature will kill me and you know, eat me. I was such a foolish child. Sephy told me the story about the farm down the road. She says They used it as a meeting place. Apparently, the time there hardly changes... I don't know what that meant.

I won't say the story... it's an old folk tale so I'm sure you've heard it before but...being the foolhardy children we decided to test it out. I stole my father's pocket watch, Midnight brought her mother's knives and Bella brought exactly 3 pieces of paper. Supposedly if you sit in the barn...and perform It

You will see Them out of all of us; Midnight was the most apprehensive, having lost that sense of childish curiosity. so she was the first to object when we sat down in the rundown, decaying barn
ready to begin...

It was I her pushed her into it...I won't cry... I promised myself I wouldn't

I was the first go.  I grabbed the nearest silver knife, its trenchant edge gleaming wickedly in the moonlight. I brought it to my left palm. gently laying the knife point on my palm, watching tiny beads of blood seeping from the small cut. it was a sharp knife. I give Midnight credit for getting them. With a grin, I drag the knife slowly through the palm of my hand till a few drops of blood, on the tip of the knife dropped onto the paper. I held out my bleeding palm to the person opposite me

Midnight cringed at the sight of the open gash, the blood slowly dribbling down my wrist now and I press my wound onto the paper drawing with my blood, 1. Bella followed, drawing a 2 instead. she shrieked a little when I first put the second knife into her right palm she, being left handed, it was hard to cut it in a perfect line.

I turned to Midnight, who shrunk away slightly as I picked up the third knife in my right hand, I remember...grinning like a madman. I didn't know then... I didn't know... I grabbed Midnight's hand and she recoiled, fighting me. we fought for a little, tumbling amongst the rotting hay but I managed to make the cut, haphazardly cut on the palm of her left palm before forcibly drawing on the remaining sheet of paper, a 3.


Midnight screamed and kicked me. I release her, stunned and the door slams shut behind us but over our screams we couldn't hear Them stalking...ever closer, drawn to the smell of fresh blood
in the shadows where our eyes cannot see. Bella was the first to see that the door had closed. that stops our bickering. I take out my pocket watch. the time had stopped or at least, the watch had
I grinned, showing Bella the watch. we giggled like school kids.
there's a smash, a tinkling sound like if you put metal in a maraca instead of beads and this slow...scraping noise like someone dragging their nails on a wooden floor

we all froze.

our senses, sharpening as we subconsciously crept closer together. nothing moved, there was no sound. I felt nothing...not even the blood dribbling from my hand down onto my knee. Then I felt something tightening around my neck as all three of us was jerked backwards, screaming into the darkness.

that was when I first saw Them. their mutilated flesh. Their breath smelling like festering meat left outside. Those hungry...black eyes that seem to drain the blood and hope from your body with a stare. I couldn't tell how many were there but I could hear their screams and spitting. it took me a while to overcome the shock of the sudden jerk so I lay...playing dead, hoping, whatever had grabbed me thought I was dead

oh... I should have just got up and ran. just been that much stronger... one of Them jumped up onto me. biting at my arms, screaming and thrashing in pain. I try to knock It off me. more of them pounce on me, digging their blood stained teeth into whatever they could grab. my struggles grew weaker...weaker. I tilt my head to the side, watching frayed bits of bloodstained fabric and bits of flesh fly into the air. I had gone numb by then but there was a persistent screaming in my head like 60 people were screaming in my ear all at once. I couldn't drown it out, even with my screams. Then they stopped
I was barely alive by then. I might as well just give up. go gladly into death, that pain was incredible but someone's voice... barely audible but recognisable seemed to pierce through the madness.

I fell unconscious.

I came around...sometime later with Midnight shaking me violently. I was covered with blood, the 'bite marks' were knife wounds and I held a very bloody knife in my right hand. I was tied down but my wounds seemed to be haphazardly bandaged with ripped up shirts. Was that all a delusion?

I try telling myself that it was... some days... I can manage it but not today.

Half the blood all over the floor was mine. the other... there was a bloody mess on the floor, near the rusted thing they used to keep animal feed. I... I...had stabbed and gutted my friend. I struggle against my bonds crying and laughing, crying for my friend, laughing... laughing because I had killed her.

Midnight backed away having seen her friend, me, turn into a manic murderer. she clutched a knife in her hand, pulling away the other knife and throwing it out of the barn. she didn't dare get close to me to get my knife from me. we stared at each other, the silence broken only by my manic laughing and crying. Midnight was the first to speak
"What happened to you?" it was clear she had been crying
"Oh nothing." I reply, struggling
"You killed her."
"No I didn't." I smile innocently
"Yes you did. You left for a few moments then returned...grabbed the knife and... started to cut yourself"
"Oh no, I didn't hurt myself. They did."
"Who's They?"
"The ones that were eating me. The ones that are hiding in the shadows...right now..."
"What are they!?"
"The shadows."
Midnight grew aggressive.

She approached me and smashed me into the wall, holding the knife to my neck
"What. Are. They?" she asks
I smile "...They...are..." the knife point dug a little into my neck
"Llamas." I say. Midnight stared at me in disbelief before laughing
"Llamas?"
"Yes. Llamas."
"I don't believe you."
"Oh but they are real. They are watching you... waiting." I cackle
"For?"
"That one moment. You drop your guard." she looked at me with a puzzled look before she too, was pulled back by an unseen force.

I fell, painfully, to the floor. I grip my knife and cut myself free. I get up, shaking with each step towards the ring of paper. the one Bella wrote had been torn apart as if some wild creature had grabbed it and shook it violently. I laugh at the sight of the mess. one more to go.

Midnight reappears, staggering, her shirt in tatters. I smile. she looks at me, her knife raised
"They want me to kill you." I smile harder. then... I start to sing, my voice eerily reverberates back to me.
"Tick tock, goes the clock. Take the key and the frock for when the hand strikes midnight the spirits shall fly away" I grin widely at Midnight who manages a lopsided grin. she had a cut along her lip.

I bring the knife up, pointing it at Midnight's chest. there is banging now in my head an urgent sound like someone was pounding on the door. I pause, trying to find the source that was enough time for Midnight to tackle me to the ground. my knife falls from my hand. she brings her knife, intending to stab me. I grabbed her wrist. she pushes down on it with all her strength bringing the blade inches closer to me. the pounding in my head was growing louder soon I couldn't hear anything but the pounding in my head. I shift all my strength to my side diverting the knife causing Midnight to nick my ear.

I punch her jaw she tears at my arm, ripping one of the bandages off blood oozes freely as I push her in the chest so violently that she topples. I grabbed the knife from the floor and jumped on top of Midnight. "The pounding make it stop!" I remember saying

Midnight grabbed the knife in my moment of weakness and turned it back on me this time, I didn't stop it. there is a crash but it sounds so distant to me as I fall that it might as well have been 3 miles away.
There is light now the light dances off the knife in my shoulder. Midnight was on top of me again; with the second knife she puts the blade to my lips as if trying to silence my pained whimpering
"Just...finish it..." I choke out
"Oh that wouldn't be much fun now would it?"

 
I could see madness behind those once friendly eyes. had those Llamas really... turned my gentle friend... into...such a... she screams. I scream too The papers tear themselves apart and three, jet black Llamas appeared. Midnight buried her face in my jacket as if that would protect her.

the pounding in my head won't stop

I remember pleading with the Llamas. I heard Midnight crying. something... I remembered something then, there in that pool of blood. a similar event only it was my brother crying into me as they pulled my parents from the wreck, bloodied...dead.

I swore I would protect him. I hid him away... but...that only made it worse. He left me, a long time ago. I haven't...seen him since then I remembered the day I first met Midnight. it was out on the oval and I was getting bullied. Pushed into the mud. Beaten. Punched. Defeated. no-one helped...they just stood as silent spectators. She was the first to act. she was beaten too. she kept shielding me though eventually, a teacher came and the bullies were expelled. it was there... I made a promise to her Midnight; we would protect each other.  that was all I needed.

I wouldn't fail this time.

I push Midnight lightly off me and take the knife from her hands and pull the other knife from my shoulder. "You wanted a monster." I say to them "Then a monster, you got!" That's when I attacked
I wasn't going to wait; I was going to finish this now they vanished into shadows. I couldn't hit things that weren't tangible! they bit into me when I had my back turned, the blood that oozed out was black, not red. I managed to stab one in the eye when it grabbed my shoulder and it fell, shrieking in agony before dissipating into the floor. the other two spat in rage and attacked more aggressively. I swang wildly, missing as they turned to shadow exposing my back
 
Pain.

I seemed to bleed more black than what would have been normal. finally, my body gave way and I fell, onto the circle of ripped paper covered, head to toe in sweat and black blood. it hurt even more so when they dragged me. soon, I was looking up to the moon that hadn't changed position, the Llamas stood over me, smirking before they... started to spit at my wounds. it burned. fur seemed to push itself from my wounds and where ever the spit landed. I swore aloud. they were going to turn me into a Llama to replace the one I killed. I screamed the pounding had stopped. everything was growing quiet...darker... soothing


"Hey, ugly." the voice cut through the air like a spear


I turned my head towards the source. Midnight was standing there, holding the pocket watch; the glass smashed her finger on the clock hand. "What happens when I turn the clock to midnight?" she asks boldly. the Llamas spit and I feel my body pull itself up on its own accord. no, no no! my hand reaches for the knife. I had no control. I was a puppet. I charge at Midnight, faster than humanly possible. knife raised. she turns the hand forcibly to midnight.
 

too late though just...too late...
 

I had managed to stab her belly before I regained control. the Llama's had disappeared, shrieking as the pocket watch resumed ticking. the door opened and Sephy and her sister Shield had ran in. I cradled Midnight in my hands "Hoot! You're drenched in blood!" Shield shouts but I don't hear her


I hum quietly to myself, the song Midnight and I used to sing before I ended it...out of mercy

I had killed two of my best friends and broke a promise I never wanted to break...ever

 
Sephy and Shield escort me to the ambulance. the police questioned me the next day in the hospital. I was charged with the murder. I admitted it but Shield stood up for me and managed to convince the jury to allow me to take a psyche test which proved I was insane. I saw them, the llamas...

I did not care trapped here or in prison they force fed me pills but even that didn't stop Them. I still see them, in the back of my mind I know They are waiting for the day I forget when I do. They can take me without a fight but what is worse?

Death or the never-ending regret of being unable to stop your friend's deaths?

So... dear child if there is something you can learn then please...do not venture into the farm just off the road. Lest you end up a saddened, empty hollow such as I.

 

The end