The Keepers

I sit alone in this dark closet, hoping that my silence is enough to save my life. I've been stuck in here for the past few hours. I shift around in my closet, but I'm afraid to make a sound. I don't want them to hear me. I don't want them to kill me like they killed everyone else.

Earlier today they attacked us. There had to be hundreds of them. Crawling from the forest, they wrecked everything in their path. I heard the screams of terror coming from the homes nearby. I looked at my parents, hoping they would have an answer. My father raced through the house searching for weapons, while my mother held me.

"Faith, you should go upstairs and hide in your room. Your mother and I will be back for you when it's safe." That was the last thing that my father said to me. I went to my room and hid in the closet. Moments later, a window shattered.

There was a lot of commotion downstairs. Shuffling and yelling for a while, and then there was silence. I left my room, tip-toeing down the stairs. I heard chewing. Growing louder

and more obnoxious with every step I took. I leaned my head forward and saw one of those grey monsters. Bones protruding from its back, it was hunched over sitting on top of my mother. Digging its claws into her and then shoving whatever it found into its mouth. My hand clutched my mouth, as not to make any noise. Tears began cascading down the side of my face.

My front door was wide open. Could I make it? If I did make it, would I survive out there? Just as I tried to run, that tear fell from my cheek and onto the hardwood floor below me. Almost immediately, that thing turned its head. I pulled my head back behind the wall just in time. I stopped moving, paralyzed in fear that I would end up like my parents. I backed up the stairs and watched the short and skinny shadow.

While atop the stairs, I hit my foot against the wall. The monster screeched and bolted up the stairs after me. I ran into my room and slammed the door. I locked it and scurried back to my closet. My heart raced as I heard scratching on the door. I slumped down in my closet and cried.

When I pulled my head up out of my arms my room was coated in the moonlight. Hours must've passed from just sitting here. I mustered up the strength to go, but as I opened the closet I heard the blood-curdling screams of my neighbors. I didn't want to go out there, but I knew I couldn't stay here. Sweat dripped from my forehead and onto the beige carpet below. I walked up to my window and saw that the street was empty.

I opened it and tried to escape but they were waiting for me. One hidden in the trees let out a howl. I closed the window quick and ran back to my haven. I thought maybe if I stayed quiet forever, that I'd be okay. At that moment, two more of those things crashed in through my window. Glass scattering as the monsters flopped onto the floor. My room smelled of ash, it was hard to breathe.

It was at that moment that I saw my first glimpse of one of their faces. They had beady little green eyes that were filled with hate. There was a dent with small holes where the nose should be. A very thin mouth with no teeth. Their skin resembled plastic and had a cheap glow because of the outside light. One of them stood up. The claws nearly reached the floor. The other one crawled around, shifting its body to move. They had the form of a human but had very disturbing movement. Jittering and sliding their bodies searching for me.

The standing one broke through my bedroom door and started to hobble through the house. The one that crawled found my closet. Sniffing all around, its claw reached for the door before it was sliced off by something. It whined and got stabbed by a shadow behind it. I watched it slam into the floor as something got on top of it and stab it again and again. I opened the door and there he was. My father had rescued me.

"Dad, how are you alive?" I whispered. He didn't respond, his head hung on his shoulders. "Dad," I said again. He raised his head and revealed himself. His skin was a greyish color and his hair was patchy. He reached for me, but I backed away. Was he one of those things now?

That's when the other one came back. It wandered back upstairs and saw my dad and me. It ran towards us with foam dripping from its disfigured face. My father lunged to shield me from the attack. But, it was costly. He had been scratched and was now very injured. He was tossed to the floor across the room. I couldn't watch my father get killed again. I looked away hoping to avoid that sight and noticed the severed claw of the dead creature.

I grabbed it and lunged towards the monster with everything I had left. It turned around and knocked me away. The tongue wrapped around my leg and dragged me closer to it. My leg

burned as the tongue was coated with what felt like acid. My father must have noticed this and cut the creature's tongue off.

The monster squealed and pushed my father away. He bumped into me and I fell through the window onto our lawn below. My father looked out from the window. I saw the look in his eyes. It didn't see hate, I saw love and hope. Then he was pulled back in by the monster. I turned my head and saw police lights before blacking out.

I woke up inside of a police station filled with survivors. My head was pounding and my leg was bandaged. I looked around and saw soldiers running through the halls. I took a closer look and saw a few teens smoking in a room nearby. I remembered what was said on the news earlier. I tried to sit up, but I collapsed back into my bed. There was something jabbing me in the side, so I reached into my jacket and pulled it out. I still had the severed claw.

I'm alive right now thanks to my father. He had given up his life twice to save mine. I just hope he didn’t die in vain. I thought today would be just another ordinary day. But, everything changed. I have hope that one day, I will avenge my parents. And kill all those things that came from the forest. That they'll feel the same pain that my parents felt. I hope that we will cross paths again. And when we do, I will be stronger.