My lungs burned with a fiery thirst I had not felt in years. Since the academy perhaps. Busting ****. Having to work harder than my peers simply because I was a woman.

Or maybe since the attack on Milton. Losing Lanny and Madison. I had never run so fast and so far before. In fact…I’m still running. Tonight is just an extension of all that. Even so, reflecting on my assignments since joining the agency, while always mildly dangerous, they rarely ever resulted in my having to use violence. I hoped the Mayor would be alright.

Or did I?

I closed my eyes and sucked in the deepest, quietest breath I could. I was wedged in-between an old dusty covered vehicle and some assorted yard tools that hung on pegs beside a workbench in the garage. In front of me was a riding mower. From my vantage point, hunched down behind the mower, I had a sliver of an opening that allowed me to see clean out into the driveway and into the middle of the street. I hoped if someone was out there they could not see me. I hoped I didn’t leave a bloody trail for them. It was now snowing hard enough that my tracks would be covered. 

I glanced down at my hand, wrapped in what was once a child’s white t-shirt. Now, a dark soggy bandage.

How many fingers had I lost? Actually, lost wasn’t the right word. More like, sacrificed.

The thought made me woozy and I closed my eyes to steady my equilibrium.

Under control once more I slowly lowered my weight down unto my knees, relieving the pressure on my calf muscles. They burned too, along with my lungs. I had run for miles. Out beyond the limits of what was familiar territory. This was a part of town I had not previously been to. A house I had not yet seen. Which was strange. This garage had children’s toys in it. Yet, I knew every child in this town. Made it my business to know them. It’s my job…both as an agent, and as a pretend teacher. So who lived here?

I checked my watch. It had been over an hour since the bus pulled up to the curb and…and…

It was difficult to think about it. The destruction. The brutality.

“Oh my god…those kids.”

Something wicked was taking place in this town, and I didn’t know if I would be able to stop it. I didn’t know if anyone could. How could I have not seen it before? I’ve been here for a year. How could I have not…

A sound from outside the garage crippled my thoughts.

Crunching snow. Footsteps.

I cowered down lower, my face inches from the ground as I peered out into the frigid night scene. Then I saw it…from around the corner of the garage. Little puffs of ghostly breath on the chilly night air. Someone was standing just around the corner. A child. I closed my eyes and silently prayed. Then the voice came: 

“Msssssss B. Are you in there? Mssssss Beeeeeeeee-eeeeeeeeeee. Come out and plaaaaaay-e-aaaa.”

It’s Lucy. My sweet Lucy. Now…possessed? Hypnotized? Brainwashed? Certainly under the control of something more sinister than just pre-teen peer pressure.

And now of course, she has the taste for blood.

I waited. Seemed like forever. So long I couldn’t imagine why the sun hadn’t come up yet.

And then the ghostly breaths were gone. And I sensed that I was once again alone.

The thudding pain in my hand was searing. I needed medical attention. But I was alive and I aimed to keep it that way.  

That thought almost made me laugh out loud. I hoped and prayed that I would live. And if I did, then a couple of missing fingers would be the least of my worries. What the hell was going on here?

As I went over and over again the details I could manage to piece together, I felt my eyelids growing weak. Weaker. I needed to close them for a few seconds. And then just a few seconds more. And then…

 "… I'm afraid I can't just let you leave town like that." He reached out and put a hand on my arm. The gesture had all the appearance of friendliness, but his fingers bit into my arm like a vice. "Not just yet."

Instinct takes over-

Using the icy ground to my advantage I spin on my heel and swipe kick the Mayors feet out from under him. He releases his grip on my arm instantly and hits the ground with a jarring thud. His head strikes the pavement causing the shallow layer of ice to splinter. I watch in horror as his eyes twitch uncontrollably and then roll back in his head exposing the bloodshot whites. Out cold. I hope…not dead.

I bend down on one knee to check his pulse when a sudden sensation of claustrophobia washes over me. I look up and find that the children have created a large circle around me. Their faces appear bloodless in the shimmering cold and haunting street light. The circle seems to be closing although it doesn’t appear that their feet are moving. I close my eyes and shake my head, trying to destroy the illusion. When I open them back up I see that Jake has stepped forward. His eyes have a yellow glow, like two fireflies.

“Jake, sweetheart…this is very important. You have to go get help, okay?”

He doesn’t move.

“JAKE! Listen to me…the Mayor needs medical attention or he is going to die. Do you understand?”

“I’m sorry Ms.B. We tried to warn you. We liked you. We wanted you to be okay.”

In unison the entire circle chants, “We wanted you to be okay.”

“Jake this isn’t funny anymore. Whatever this game is, ALL OF YOU…you have to stop it now. We need to get the Mayor to a hospital.”

In the distance, the faintest sounds of an approaching vehicle.

“The bus.” I say aloud.

I leap to my feet and see the lights come into view down the road.

“Okay, great. Help is on the way. Now why don’t you kids all go home. Your parents must be worried sick.”

I am worried sick. Something unnatural is going on here. Doesn’t take a horror movie critic to recognize that. These kids are possessed or something.

“DO YOU HEAR ME…GO! GO HOME NOW!”

A chorus of laughter erupts however none of the children’s lips move. Their mouths are closed. Some sort of magic trick?

The bus is almost upon us now. I can see the driver’s confused look through the windshield. What a sight we must be. A ring of children surrounding a frightened woman and a man lying passed out on the ice. Thank god I am FBI.

I note absently that it has started to flurry. The fat flakes cascade down around us creating an even more surreal scene.

As the bus pulls up to the curb the children’s circle breaks and they file around behind me, leaving nothing between me and my ride to salvation. I realize…I could just go. Leave this madness behind. But that’s not me anymore. After Milton I swore…I would never leave anyone behind again. NEVER!   

The door opens with a whooose. 

“All aboard.” The driver calls out with a cautious smile.

“There’s a man here. He needs medical attention fast. Can you help me get him up please.”

The driver steps down off the bus, looking past me toward the children with a nervous suspicion.

“You agent Berlin?”

I nod affirmative.

“Ahh, wha cha got goin’ on here Berlin?”

“Never mind, I’ll try and explain later. Right now…let’s just get this man to a hospital.”

I turn around to return to the Mayor, only there is a wall of children blocking my path.

A sinewy blond girl named Julie steps forward. I remember her from last year. Mild-mannered. Emotional issues. Alcoholic father.  

“We tried to warn you Ms. B. We really liked you. But now…”

“Julie…you listen to me. ALL OF YOU…LISTEN AND LISTEN GOOD. The Mayor is injured. I may have hurt him bad and I need to get him help. I don’t know what sort of game you are playing here but I know all of you…and your good kids. You wouldn’t want anything to happen to the Mayor.”

Blank stares.

“Ahh, look…this is sorta wierden me out Berlin. Let’s just get the hell out of here huh?”

“I will not leave a man behind. You hear me?” I shout into the dizzy night. Then…

“KIDS…GET OUT OF MY WAY.”

Julie turns and shrugs her shoulders toward the other kids. Then she looks back to me.

“Okay…we suppose you can go ahead and have whatever’s left.”

The words don’t have an immediate impact on me, not until Julie steps aside and the kids open up a path leading toward the Mayor. Or…what is left of him.

“Oh my…”

The sight that meets my eyes is like something right out of Texas Chainsaw Massacre. Macabre. Gore. Insanity.  

Tiny teeth gnawing at severed limbs.

Blood caked faces and wild maniac eyes.

Instead of a human body…multiple piles of flesh and bones and…

I stumble backwards.

“Let’s go...” I manage in a daze.

A chill inducing scream from behind me and I spin on my heels.

The bus driver, on his knees. A child, Melanie Kinsler, attached to the side of his face. Another, chewing into his arm.

My path to the bus is blocked. Not that it matters at this point. The tires have been flattened. I rush toward the driver and unsure what to do, slap Melanie in the back of the head. Her eyes open up and she glares at me as she continues to sink her teeth deeper into his cheek.

“STOP IT!” I bellow.

I reach back and with all my might, connect a solid blow directly to her temple. She drops to her knees squealing.

I kick her, square in the face and feel her nose split with the force of my professionally trained strike. She lands in a motionless heap.

“That does it Ms. B. No more warnings.”

I turn just in time to deflect Julie as she dives toward me, teeth gnashed and chomping. I assume a defensive position and prepare for her next attack. Only it comes from the other side and I feel a set of teeth bite into the back of my leg.

I karate chop down with as much force as I can muster and strike the child a blow to the neck. Their mouth grip releases.

A quick glance around revels that I have become the next target. The children move toward me with an eerie uniform symmetry.

“Why are you doing this?”

From all around me in mocking voices:

“Why are you doing this…Why are you doing this.”

I quickly survey the closing circle around me and spot the weakest area. Only two or three undersized kids deep…I know I have to act fast.

I dig my foot in for traction, the wound in the back of my leg pulsating, and vault forward. I make impact with the first child and send her wailing backwards. I use her stomach as a launching pad and leap into the air clearing the heads of the other two easily. However when I land my foot catches a patch of black ice and I wind up flat on my back. Momentarily stunned I shake my head from side to side to clear the clutter. ‘Could this be it for me?’

Then a hot, horrendous pain stabs up through my arm and into my brain. I look down the length of my arm and see Kyle Bradford there, on all fours like an animal…one of my fingers dangling from his gore covered mouth.

This is enough to drive me back to my feet. As I stand another child slams into me and I grasp the shirt on its back and yank ripping the fabric. The child screams and falls to the ground.

I wrap the t-shirt around my gushing hand as I start running. And running. And running.

Behind me, growing more and more distant, I can hear the echoes of mocking laughter.

I run through empty streets. Past dark houses and through vacant parking lots. I run until I reach the outskirts of the town I have lived in the past year. The town I thought I knew so well. I run into the dense woods at the end of a street and I run and run and run, through trees and fallen branches and over frozen ponds. I run until I come to a clearing and spot a house I have never seen before. The garage is open and I run into it. and…

“Ms. B.”

Was someone calling me?

“Ms. B. We know you’re in there.”

I opened my eyes and the stinging blast of daylight seeps into me. I must have fallen asleep. And they found me.

I craned my neck to peer out the small opening. I was able to see someone standing there. I could only see them from the ankles to the chest but that was enough to verify it wasn’t a child. It was a man. A grown man. A moment of relief washed over me.     

“Ms. B, come on out now. I think you’ve been hurt. You might need some help.”

That voice was familiar. The Janitor?

“Pete?”

“Yes dear. We need to talk.”

“How do I know I can trust you Pete?”

“Trust me? Why wouldn’t you? Besides…Your friend Wilkes contacted me this morning when you didn’t make your rendezvous. He asked me to look after you until we can straighten this mess out.”

I propped myself up on my elbows and took in my surroundings. Now that the daylight illuminated the garage I could see more clearly. Basically, I was trapped. Dead end. Either I went out and faced the music, or I sat and waited for them to come in and get me.

As I stood up I spotted a buck knife sitting on the workbench. Before maneuvering past the riding mower I quickly grabbed it and stuffed it into my pants.

As I made it tentatively out of the garage I found Pete there smiling at me. It was comforting to see a friendly face.

“My, my…what have you done to your hand dear.”

“It wasn’t my fault Pete. It was the…”

Before I could get it out of my mouth, I looked up the dirt road in front of the house and I saw them…the kids. Marching toward us like some miniature army from hell.   

I grabbed Pete’s hand and pulled him toward the house.

“Come on…we have to get out of here.”

“What are you doing Ms. B? You’re really starting to worry me?”

I yanked Pete up the porch steps and pulled the storm door hard enough to snap the makeshift cord holding it from swinging loose in the wind. I grasped the handle and was about to push the front door open when someone on the other side did it for me.

And there we were…face to face.

I couldn’t have been more surprised if it had been Satan himself.