Payslynn wasn't certain how long she had remained under bed, but she knew it had been long enough for her to cry herself into a headache and for the sky to once more fade into black. An eerie silence drifted through the house, setting her nerves ablaze and raising the anxiety already clutching onto her tightly She knew she had to get out from under the bed, but the trick was finding a way to make her body move from the fear induced petrification her body seemed to be in. 

Fighting that very fear within her, Payslynn slowly and shakily crawled from underneath her hiding spot. She probably looked like something out of a horror film, lord knew she felt as if she was living in one. 

Her eyes were red and puffy from crying so hard, her glasses sitting slightly askew upon her nose. Her short, ash white hair was tousled from a mixture of sleeping and curling under her bed to hide. She wouldn't have been surprised if her tears had matted her hair on one side as well, not with the way she had been laying under there for so long. She didn't care though, she would put herself together after she managed to collect her raging emotions and make some sort of sense out of all that had happened. 

Forcing herself onto her feet despite her legs feeling like jello, Payslynn steadied herself with the edge of her disarrayed bed before finally deciding to head downstairs. Each step she took felt like an eternity to take, having to focus on not letting her knees give out and just sit on the floor like she wanted to. The front door seemed as if it were across the entire world despite being at the bottom of the stairs. 

In her mind, everything was still in chaos even though it had already passed within a few short minutes leaving everything around her in a mess. 

Managing to make it out of her room, Payslynn felt another wave of sadness take hold of her heart. She felt the fresh tears of heartache burning her ember eyes. Nothing had prepared her for the state the house was going to be in when she did manage to crawl out of her hidey hole. 

Doors on each of the rooms had been kicked in, splintered and broken in two as if they were nothing more than a toothpick being snapped in half. Claw marks created deep holes in both the walls and floor while any belongings that had been left out or hanging were now haphazardly lying on the ground. Only a few pictures remained upon the walls, but they were hanging terribly askew or had been torn by the claws that once tried to grab them. 

Though Payslynn did have the urge to reach out and fix the family photos that still hung on the wall, she kept her arms wrapped around herself for some sort of comfort instead. 

Payslynn worked her way to the lower floor, careful of the splintered wood that stuck out in all directions on the stairs. All she could imagine were those sharp talon-like claws aiding those monsters in their ascent up the stairs. Pointed blades on each of their fingers, digging into the flooring wherever they seemed to walk. The damage their claws had done alone, it sent an icy chill straight down her spine and knotted her stomach at the thought of those claws being what would have ended her seconds ago if not for her pursuer being called away. 

Payslynn's heart sank even more as she reached the lower floor. She didn't know what to expect when she got there, but it hadn't fared much better than the second floor had. In fact, it appeared far worse than what the second floor had looked like. Nothing seemed to have been spared by these beasts, not even that of human life. 

Stumbling out of what remained of the front door, the chill of the stone walkway upon her bare feet didn't seem phase her in the least. Payslynn seemed numb to all things around, even the darkness that plagued the small suburban residence hadn't bothered her. Not even when it appeared she was the only left on her street did she show any form of emotion that it was getting to her. Emotions for her right now were nothing more than a short memory, unable to really conjure them up and show them as she once had. 

Every light had gone out in the neighborhood. Street lights, house lights, even the stars seemed to refuse to shine anymore. Whatever had swarmed their homes that evening did more than rob them of their loved ones, they took the very light that comforted each person within its warmth. The peace they had so easily coveted, it had been taken for granite. Now all they knew was gone and there seemed to be no way to ever get it back again. All Payslynn was left with was the fear and uncertainty of the pursuers returning, terrified they would come back for her or anything they might have missed. 

"Payslynn!?" 

Still unable to comprehend what she was now seeing, it took the young male calling out to her to gently rest his hands upon her shoulders in order to catch her full attention. 

Ember eyes stared into gorgeous ocean blue orbs. They were the very eyes that any teenage girl at Riverton High would have given to gain a single glance from. Pair that with the soft halo of golden hair and an athletic body to die for, it had Payslynn's heart skipping a couple of beats. Whether out of excitement or pure relief, she didn't care in that moment. 

"R-Rydge?" 

The question slipped from her quivering lips, fresh tears stinging her eyes despite the relief that was was washing over her to see a familiar face. 

Before the attack that night, Rydge had been your typical teenage heartthrob. He had the looks and could make any teenage girl swoon over him with a single glance. He could walk into a room and immediately gain the attention and whispers of his nearby peers. His grades had been no joke either, always one of the top students in the school, but that was more than likely due to him being captain of the football team. He had to keep his grades up in order to continue playing or be sidelined until said grades went back up. So, it was no surprise to Payslynn that he had found a way to escape their unearthly invaders. 

"Thank goodness you're alright. For a second I thought you were turned to stone." 

While he spoke, Rydge reached up and began to carefully straighten Payslynn's unkempt hair. All the while, he was looking her over for any visible injuries. 

"Alright? Alright doesn't even come close to how I'm feeling. It's the exact opposite actually. Would have been better if I were stone." 

Payslynn hadn't meant to be snappy in any way, she was scared and wanted answers to all that was going on. She wanted her parents back home, to never let them leave her side for any reason. Even so, she couldn't have been more thankful for how understanding Rydge was of the tone she had spoken in. Even through her snappy remark, he was attempting to keep things light to calm both of them enough to talk. 

"I know, but at least we have each other right now. You're not hurt though, are you?" 

Shaking her head, ash white strands of hair once against falling into her face, she gave Rydge the response he sought from her. 

"No, I'm not hurt. I'm more or less shaken and confused, a bit scared, but not hurt." 

She hated admitting she was scared, but even to deny the emotion, Rydge would have seen right through her lie. 

"What about you?" 

Payslynn gave a stiff nudge of her chin towards Rydge, reversing the question right back on him. 

With a small shrug of his shoulders, Rydge stopped fussing over Payslynn and glanced towards somewhere down the street. She had to wonder if he was searching the exterior of his nearby home for the parents he was missing as well. His arms crossed in front of him and he let out a slow breath before his ocean blue eyes landed back on her once more. 

"About the same, I guess. I just want to know what's going on here and what those things were." 

One couldn't deny her own curiosity towards the creatures that invaded their homes. It was obvious they weren't human and definitely not of this world. Everything had been so chaotic, happening so quickly, she didn't even have a chance to comprehend the going ons around them until it was completely over. . . then again, was it over?

"I-" 

Payslynn never got the chance to respond back to Rydge, letting him know she had the same tickling curiosity poking her in the back of her brain. Instead, she was cut off by a blood curdling scream from the next street over, which meant it was right behind her home somewhere. She could have swore it came from her backyard it was so close. 

Both teenagers stared on in absolute horror, their blood running cold while goosebumps rose upon their skin in quick succession. The intruders hadn't left the neighborhood, not fully as of yet. They were waiting for those they missed to come out of hiding and catch them while shock and the false sense of safety washed over them. It was the only reason the two teenagers could think of as to why they would be sticking around still. 

Payslynn's attention was only pulled away from the nightmarish screams when a hand tightly took hold of hers. Her ember eyes, though filled with a new found terror, locked with Rydge's ocean blues. Panicked curiosity began to mingle with the terror, her own hand closing around his to hold while she waited to see what he wanted or where he wanted them to go. Standing there didn't seem like a good option anymore, not when the hunter was still out there hunting them. 

"Come on, let's get out of here and find somewhere to hid, at least until it's lighter out." 

With that as his only warning, Payslynn was forced to move from her spot on the front lawn of her home. Rydge was pulling her in the opposite direction of the screams, the search for safe hiding now their number one priority. 

Her feet moved almost mechanically, like she wasn't even in control of her own body. However, as Payslynn managed to keep up with Rydge by some miracle, she dared a final look back at the place she called home. Now it was nothing more than a dark reminder of what was and would probably never be again. A reminder that things could so easily be taken from you and that their lives were changing quickly. 

Payslynn turned her terrified gaze back ahead of her just as Rydge pulled her around the corner of another house. A devilish roar rose into the air from somewhere behind them, shaking both teenagers to their core. However, they didn't let the sound get to them knowing the second they slowed down or stopped could be their very last second. Instead, they focused upon their main priority: 

Get somewhere safe, if somewhere safe still existed.