I was on the couch watching a movie with her next to me. My arm was around her and she was leaning against my side with both of her arms wrapped around me and I felt completely at ease. There was a quiet static noise from the baby monitor next to us that had a black and white picture of the baby's room and the baby sleeping quietly in his bed. I sunk back further back into the couch getting even more comfortable before she moved her head to look at me. Her beautiful brown eyes looked deep into mine as she smiled shyly and asked, "Babe could you please get me some water from the kitchen." Her eyes sparkled in the dark from the reflection of the light and my heart filled with love.
I sat up and said, "Of course." as I walked towards the kitchen.
"Thank you." She cooed from the other room.
I grabbed a cup of water out of the cabinet and started to fill it in the sink. My mind wandered as I looked out the window that looked towards the backyard and I saw them standing there. Illuminated in the moonlight those creatures were there again, standing in a line at the back of the yard towards the fence with their white eyes looking directly into me. The water filled the cup and poured over my hand as I stared at them. A loud static noise and her screaming my name shook me out of my stupor and I ran to the living room. "The baby!" She shouted at me.
I looked towards the monitor and the static crackled loudly but I couldn't see a clear image of what was going on because I was too far away and the monitor was too bright.
The baby started crying from the other room and I ran up the stairs and down the hall as fast as I could towards his room. As I ran the cries turned into screams which made me run even faster. I was sweating profusely and I could feel the adrenaline coursing through my body as I kicked the door open and ran into the baby's room. One of those monsters was leaning over my baby's crib, lowering his hand toward my child. The baby's screams turned into ear-piercing shrieks that made my ears pulse in extreme pain which made me stop and put my hands over my ears instinctively. I fell to my knees facing the ground then the screaming suddenly cut off. "No no no," I mumbled as I crawled to the crib and looked in.
The baby was gone and I collapsed onto the floor in complete defeat.
"What did you do?" She screamed as she appeared in the doorway.
"I tried to help, I really did." I stammered out.
"Now he's gone! Now you're never going to be happy because you couldn't save us! This is all your fault and you deserve everything that you've experienced because you couldn't even save the people you love!"
"I DID WHAT I COULD!" I screamed back.
She flinched and a hurt look overcame her face and I immediately felt bad. "No, please, I'm sorry."
"It's too late."
A creature appeared behind her and put its hand on her shoulder. Her face filled with shock as she collapsed to her knees right in front of me. "Help me please." She whispered as she started to tremble.
"NO PLEASE!" I screamed as she started seizing in front of me and twisting into the position I imagined she must've been in after the car crash.
"SOMEBODY HELP!" I screamed but no one was there, there was nobody there to help me or her and she soon ceased moving in my arms.

I woke up with tears running down my face and my body trembling all over. I stumbled out of my bed and into the bathroom and soaked my face in cold water. I looked in the mirror and was barely shocked at the awful condition I was in. My hair was a matted mess and dark circles under my eyes had large wrinkles now making them baggy and not nice to look at. My face was pale and the light in my eyes that had once been there was gone; I could've been mistaken as a dead body if I wasn't moving. I tried my best to wash my face and make myself look okay but even with all the effort I was willing to put in I still didn't look at all okay. What did it even matter if I didn't look okay? I wasn't.
I left my house and kept my head down, ignoring the creatures walking behind people as I walked to the park. I was defeated and just wanted to enjoy something little even if it wasn't important in the end. The grass was green and the birds chirped their morning song, the sun was out and it was warm and the trees swayed in the breeze. The smell of fresh-cut grass permeated my nostrils and all of the sounds of the trees and birds made me feel slightly relaxed and forget about all of my problems if only for a moment. I walked over to a bench and sat down looking up at the trees above me. They swayed in an almost hypnotic motion and I found myself getting lost in the beauty and even forgetting about the creatures.
I was so lost in the mesmerizing beauty of the trees that I didn't even notice the woman who sat next to me before she tapped my shoulder. I jumped a little and looked down at her, she was a beautiful woman that seemed to be around my age, she wore a black beanie that matched her black hair and had a nose ring. Her brown eyes looked into mine and she reminded me so much of her and my thoughts started to wander but I brought them back down to earth as this woman seemed to be trying to ask me something. "Uh, sorry, I zoned out for a while. What is it?" I asked.
"I just saw you sitting alone, are you waiting for someone?"
"No, I just went out here to try and get some fresh air."
"That's a shame, I'm here alone too."
From there, a long conversation ensued between us that lasted for the better part of an hour as we got to know each other and opened up about our lives. I didn't mention what happened in the past and tried to keep the conversation on a lighter topic. The entire conversation felt fluid and after the previous nightmarish days, I was finally able to relax and enjoy myself with this stranger. I started to hope that I could get her number and we could hang out more and maybe even date and I could finally get my life together.
"I have a deep question I want to ask." She said, scooting a little closer to me.
"Sure what is it?" I asked her while looking into her eyes.
She looked into my eyes and asked, "If you had the chance to save someone would you take it?"
The wind died down and the birds stopped chirping. The entire world was quiet, seemingly waiting for my answer. I started to get a feeling of impending doom in my chest and my hands started to tremble as the anxiety came back. "Of course I would." I faltered.
The woman's voice took on a new sinister tone as she said, "Then why didn't you? You could've saved her but you didn't, you're the reason she's dead and it's all your fault."
I stood up and started walking backward and she stood up too. I tried to stammer out a reply but I blinked and she wasn't there anymore, in her place was one of those creatures looking down at me with its evil eyes. I stood there, frozen as it walked towards me and fear filled my body as it got closer. I closed my eyes and braced myself for what was to come next but when I opened them I saw it now following behind a person that was walking by with his dog.
I was finally given hope for some kind of reprieve from this living nightmare and it was all a facade for those things to torture me more than they had already. I walked home defeated as I had no more hope anymore. It was only the afternoon but I walked into my room and got into my bed. I felt drained and I just needed some rest and maybe I would feel a little bit better afterwards.