"Eat lead, knucklehead!." My brother, Scott, shouted at me as he so shamefully beat me at the new game we bought for my friend for Christmas. Well... it was for my friend... oops.

"I did this morning, so, in your face you little stinker." I retorted.

"Whatever. I may stink, but at least I don't own butt ointment."

"Hey! I thought we agreed to never mention that again!"

"Sure..." I heard him mutter under his breath. I let the topic go, but only because I didn't want to keep talking about my butt ointment.

Scott suddenly got up and started shuffling around. He appeared to be in search of something. When I asked him what, he just shoved me away and continued muttering to himself.

"Dude, what's wrong? Why are you acting weird?" I questioned, not for the first time.

"Dylan! I thought I told you to leave me alone!" He roared at me. I was a bit taken aback by his harsh tone, but curiosity overcame me and I continued following him. He lead me outside, and I stepped out into the harsh, cold, winter air.

Scott walked into the middle of our driveway. He stood there and looked up. I would have thought he was looking for something in the sky, but his eyes looked dazed, as if he was looking at everything and nothing at the same time.

I suddenly saw something shining in the far end of my driveway. As I was about to walk to it, I heard a sudden scream. I turned around swiftly to see what was happening and was completely shocked at what I saw.

It was Scott, but not anything like I would have ever imagined him. It was as if something was trapped inside him and so desperately wanted out. I should have done something. I should have run to help. But when I saw how his limbs were slowly disconnecting and reattaching in his skin, I couldn't find the will to move. I stayed still and stared at him slipping out of our world. I stared at him until the mere sight of him was too much to bear.

I ran, hoping to run as far away from him as possible. I don't know why I ran, I just knew I had to. I ran as far as my legs could take me, trying to forget the grotesque image. I ran until my legs gave out and I was pulled down to the floor. My knees scraped against the dirt path so forcefully that blood started squirming out, but I didn't care. I stared at the ground, replaying the scene in my head. I couldn't escape it, no matter how hard I tried.

I dug my nails into my face, hoping that the pain would offer a distraction, but to no avail. It was as if the image was tattooed into my mind. I punched the floor and screamed out in agony. It all felt so real, as if memory of the incident was causing me physical pain.

"Are you alright?" I looked up and saw a girl. She was about my age, if not, a bit younger. Her bright orange red hair was twisted into two pigtails. She was wearing ripped jeans with a light blue short-sleeved shirt which made her green eyes stand out like stars in a dark sky. She appeared to be walking her dog, as it was wrapped around a leash in front of her.

All of a sudden, the sky turned dark. It seemed as if the sun had fallen out of the sky. I stopped staring at her and shot up from my spot.

"Oh my gosh, you're bleeding! You have to come inside so that I can treat that." she exclaimed as she pointed to a house not so far away at the sight of my scraped knees.

I ignored her and started to panic. All I could think about was the fact that the sky suddenly turned black. It was early afternoon, there was no reason for it to turn dark, but it did. And the girl didn't seem to notice. If she did, she most certainly didn't care. I turned around on the spot and rubbed my eyes furiously, hoping that I was just seeing things wrong, that the sky wasn't broken. But no matter what I did, it still appeared the same.

I suddenly remembered that I left my brother outside in his... condition. I turned to face the direction of my house and ran, leaving the girl screaming and her dog barking after me. Pretty soon, her screams grew softer and more distant. My legs started to burn, but the sight of the black sky encouraged me to run faster. I ran until my house appeared in sight.

I saw my brother. He was still spazzing- his face was read and his eyes turned the same color as the sky. I fell on my knees, growing weak at the sight of him.

"Hey boy, what the heck is your problem?"

I got up and turned to face the direction the voice came from. It was the girl. Her and her dog followed me. I opened my mouth to speak, but no words come out. She was heavily panting and looking at me in a way that showed only anger. Her eyes moved to where my brother was currently. The anger which had been previously expressed on her face turned into fear, and then worry.

"Oh my gosh!" She exclaimed. She let go of the leash of the dog as she ran over to my brother. She knelt beside him. "Come help me!" she motioned me over. I ran to her side. She placed her hand underneath his head and started to lift it when she suddenly screamed out in pain. Startled, the dog ran around, unsure of where the danger was.

"What's wrong?" I asked. At that exact moment, clouds started to gather above us. Wind ripped through the air, causing nearby trees to sway dangerously. Rain started to heavily pour down onto our backs. The rain coming into contact with my back was extremely painful.

"Help me get him inside!" the girl screamed over the loud sounds roaring around us.

I went on the other side of my brother and started to lift him. When my hands came into contact with his body, a wave of electricity shocked me. I let go immediately, so did the girl.

"Did you feel that?" I screamed to her. She nodded in response.

The storm was getting worse.
"We have to get him inside!" I screamed to her. I tried picking him up again, but the shock was too painful. I grabbed the back of his shirt and dragged him inside. After the girl got in, I locked the door. Despite the pouring rain that poured onto us, out clothes remained perfectly dry. I didn't have to voice my thoughts because the incredulous look the girl gave me was enough.

"Is that a..." I turned around to where the girl was looking out of a window and saw it. A tornado was forming.

I tried my best to bolt all of the nearby windows before the tornado got to us. Even with these barriers put in place between us and the tornado, I didn't quite feel safe in the front room. Where could we possibly go? The closet? No, it's too small. Scott would never fit in there. Upstairs? No, if the tornado runs into the house, we would come crashing down. Down... That's it!

"The basement!" I exclaimed, and the girl turned to face me.

"What?" She questioned. I didn't answer her, but instead attempted to pull Scott down the stairs leading to the basement. I tried to pull him by his shirt, to keep myself from getting shocked again.

"What are you doing?" She continued to question me. I continued to try to pull him down, but realized that by doing so, I'd be hitting him on every step. I tried to pick him up, kneeling next to him and putting my hands under him. The moment that my hands touched his body, electrical bolts attacked me. I was frustrated that the girl just stood there, watching me struggle to take my brother to safety.

"Why don't you shut up and help me drag him to the basement!" I roared at her. Startled, she followed my command. She tried to grab him by the legs, but let go in pain. We struggled to pick him up, trying out different places to hold on to him. But we couldn't hold on because he either would not stop moving or the pain was too much to bear.

The wind burst a window open. The wind rushed into the room, wrecking havoc as it went. Vases came flying, pictures broke, and furniture toppled over. I realized that there was no time to waste.

"We have to get him downstairs now." I exclaimed in fear.

"How?" She questioned. I looked down at my brother and tried to think of any other way to get him downstairs, but the pressure of being in this storm prevented me from thinking of any other solution. Another window busted open, allowing another entrance to the malicious wind.

Hastily, I place my hands under his twitching body and attempted to carry him. The pain immediately hit me. I grunted in pain as I came up to a full stance. Electricity was running through my veins. Along with it came immense pain.

"What the heck are you doing?" The girls asked in complete incredulousness.

I tried to answer, but pain was the only thing on my mind, preventing me from thinking of a coherent thought. "Down." I managed to get out, before a new wave of pain hit me. I pondered leaving Scott on the floor and making a run for it. However, realization drew on me; if Scott was in my shoes, and I was the one unconscious on the ground, he wouldn't have left me to fend for myself. He would have done everything he could to get me to safety, even if it resulted in his own death. I couldn't leave him, I finally decided. With this new found source of determination, I tightened my grip on Scott and hurried downstairs. With every step, the pain worsened and Scott moved even more, causing my grip on him to grow weaker. I knew I couldn't let go, but I couldn't do anything to help relieve myself from the pain. Seconds felt like days and there was always another step. When I had finally reached the bottom, it felt as if the journey down took me years instead of just ten seconds. I tried to gently set him on the floor, but my brain was temporarily dead and I ended up dropping him about a foot above the ground. I was relieved from the pain, but my head was still pounding.

"Are you alright?" I faintly heard the girl's voice. I tried looking for her, but my eyes failed me. Everything looked blurry and moved around a lot. A ringing noise took the place of her voice and any other sound which I could previously hear. I was deafened and blinded in a matter of seconds.

I was weak. I couldn't muster up the will to stay up. I laid down next to my spazzing brother who smacked me ever so often. I don't know how long I stayed like that- laying down, unable to hear or see anything. All I remember was faintly seeing the girl with her back to the door, struggling to keep it shut, and faintly hearing a sound that made the hairs on the back of my neck stick up.

I don't recall anything else from when I was out, but when I woke up, everything just felt wrong. I slowly opened my eyes. The first thing I saw was that Scott stopped moving and was laying on the floor next to me. Then, I noticed that the girl curled up into a ball in a corner.

"A-Are you alright?" I asked, sitting up. There was a slight pain in my head when I did so, but it was bearable. At the sound of my voice, the girl's head instantly shot up.

"You're alive?" she asked in complete confusion, then her face lit up as if she were to just realize the significance of her question. "You're alive!" She got up from her position on the floor and ran towards me. She didn't slow down when she got to me, instead, she knocked me over.

"Are you alright?" I asked her as I tried to gently push her off of me. To my surprise, instead of answering, she started laughing hysterically. "I'll take that as a no." I said awkwardly, still trying to break her off of me.

"No, I'm alright. I just- I thought you were dead." She let go of me and looked me straight in the eyes. "It was terrible." Her eyes turned dark and her face lost all of the happiness that was previously shown on it.

"What happened while I was out?" I asked in concern. She shook her head in response. "What? What happened?" I repeat.

"It came..." She zoned out, looking towards the basement door.

"What? What came?" I asked more urgently.

"There was something. I-I don't know how to explain it..." she started shaking. "It was, it was something, but it wasn't anything. What I'm trying to say is that..." she was having difficulty forming coherent thoughts. "It was something in the form of a shadow. A black shadow. It was trying to get inside. I don't know if I kept it all outside, but I tried."

I was confused. I convinced myself that she was just going through a tough time and that she was just imagining things.

"It's alright. I think you should lay down." I tried to coax her to take a nap.

"No!" she shook her head vigorously. "It'll be back. It'll come back! I Swear!" She screamed.

"I believe you, seriously. I just think you need to rest. That's all." I lied to her to calm her down.

At that moment, a noise came from the direction of the door.

"Oh no... It's here!" Her body started to shake violently.

I turned to the direction of the door and walked towards it, suddenly afraid. I was right next to it when something started pounding on it. It sounded like something was trying to get in. I reached my hand out and placed it on the handle.

"NO! Don't open it!" The girl screamed, muttering things to herself in panic.

"Why not?" I asked in disbelief. "Someone is out there and is trying to get in. We need to let them in."

"No boy, listen to me. It's not someone who's trying to get in, it's something." She said, this time with a more confident approach, making her bizarre idea seem realistic, but not completely. "Trust me." She said, as if reading my mind.

I tried to trust her, I really did, but I failed to do so. Not believing her crazy theory of an unknown evil, I twisted the doorknob. Big mistake.

The pounding stopped and was replaced by the sound of the door slowly creaking open. Everything went silent. And then I heard it. The same gruesome noise I heard when I was unconscious. I couldn't see where it was coming from, but I knew it was there, it was impossible not to hear it. I couldn't see anything after that. My body became paralyzed with fear- I couldn't feel anything except for a cold gooey substance running past me. I quickly snapped out of it and felt for the door. As soon as my fingers grabbed the door, I slammed it shut, preventing the thing from coming in any further. The moment the door closed, I was able to see again. I looked down to where I most felt the goo and saw a glimpse of it coming into my body. Terrified, I jumped back and tried to swat it off of me. It wasn't until later that I realized that the darkness didn't go into me, but instead went through me.

The girl screamed, the noise echoed around the room. I instantly turned around and ran to her side. The black goo which travelled through me was now attacking her body. She fell to the floor and rolled around, screaming in agony. I dropped to my knees and tried to scrape the goo off of her. No matter how much I scrubbed at it, it wouldn't budge. Slowly, however, it started to diffuse to who knows where. In about thirty seconds, it was almost gone. Once I couldn't see a single speck of it, I pulled the girl to her feet.

"Are you okay?" I asked her as she panted.

"Y-yeah, that was quite t-traumatizing." she said, and I wanted to comfort her. I wanted to be able to comfort her so bad. But that didn't happen to be one of my skills, so I just stood there. When I didn't say anything for a long time, the girl started speaking again.

"It was like my whole life flashed before my eyes. My parents, my friends, my goals in life. I had so much to accomplish, and I was overcome by fear that I would never be able to accomplish them. I saw my most treasured memories, like my blanket I used to carry around all of the time when I was little. I saw my eighth birthday, when I got-" She stopped talking abruptly and her eyes clouded over.

"What?" I questioned, curious as to what made her mood change.

"Max!" she exclaimed, covering her mouth with her hands.

"Huh?" I questioned, unsure of who this 'Max' is.

"Max! My dog!" She exclaimed again.

"What about him?" I asked, still not understanding the worried look on her face.

"He's not here."

"Oh no," I said softly under my breath as realization dawned on me. Her dog, Max, did not follow us into the basement. In fact, I don't even recall him following us into the house. I vaguely remember him running around outside, but that's about it. That could only mean one thing. The dog was outside during the tornado. I walk up to the girl and attempt to comfort her. The whole thing felt awkward, but I couldn't have just stood around.

"It's okay. Max will be alright. Think about it, the dog never dies." I tried to console her.

"NO! THE DOG ALWAYS DIES!" She screamed and bursted out in tears. I just stood there. I felt so pathetic, but I couldn't do anything. When her bawling got louder, I knew I had to stop it. This girl had been through so much since she followed me. I didn't know how she was keeping it together.

I closed the distance between us and wrapped my arms around her. Although I felt like it wasn't really doing much, I felt her crying slowly diminish into quiet sobbing. When I was sure she was under control, I unwrapped my arms from around her. I motioned for her to follow me as I picked up a blanket and headed to a corner of the basement. When I handed it to her, she looked at me questioningly through her tear filled green eyes.

"Take it, you should get some rest. I'll try and find a way out of here." I said, and she silently nodded. I had a feeling she needed to be alone for a while. Even if she didn't sleep, she would have some privacy to cry.

I walked to the door, trying to figure out a way to open it. Maybe I could try pushing it, I thought, and started pushing against the door. After about a minute of trying that, I came to the conclusion that it wouldn't work. Something was jammed against the door, making it impossible to open. I tried to see what the jammed object was, but all I could see was darkness. I continuously slammed myself into the door, but it was no use. All I did was add to the list of bruises I've gotten since the tornado.

Giving up on trying to open the door, my eyes scoured over the mess in front of me. Old boxes with who knows what lay everywhere, ancient cobwebs covered every corner, and the light, I could tell, was on the verge of breaking. One by one, I started opening the boxes and looking inside them. Most of the boxes contained old toys, or pictures from Scott's and my childhood. The ones that were useless I carried off to a side, piling them up against a wall. The ones that contained supplies for emergencies, however, I carried over under the light to inspect later. There were some boxes that contained Scott's prized possessions. I started collecting those, telling myself that when Jay woke up, he would be glad to have custody of them once again. However, a haunting voice in my head told me that the real reason was once Scott died, I would have something to remember him by.

I shook my head in an attempt to get rid of these horrid thoughts. When that didn't help, I focused on the boxes. For about half an hour, I sorted the boxes and collected materials. In one of the boxes, I found a lightbulb, which I replaced the old one with. It wasn't much better, but it was something. I then went to Scott's possessions that I started collecting and began setting them up near him. I don't quite know why, but it was relaxing to do so. As I was finishing, I heard a voice behind me.

"You know, I still don't know your name." Startled, I dropped the picture I was holding and turn around to face the girl.

"O-oh, you're up." I said. As I took in her appearance, I noticed a small black splotch below her eye. I didn't pay much attention to it, figuring it was makeup running from all of the crying she must have done.

"You still didn't answer my question; what's your name?" she repeated.

"Oh, um, Dylan. I'm Dylan." I said awkwardly. It was weird how we escaped a tornado, almost got electrocuted to death, and had been trapped in a basement for over a few hours probably and yet we still didn't know each other's names.

"I'm Scarlet." She said. I sat back and studied her. Scarlet. I should have guessed that was her name. She had bright orange hair and an overall fiery look, the name Scarlet was the only name that properly suited her.

"So, what are we going to do about..." she trailed off.

"About..." I repeated, waiting for her to go on.

"About, oh, I don't know." She tapped her chin exaggeratedly, emphasizing the fact that she was thinking. "How about your brother turning into a fracking vegetable, or the fact that we are trapped here with no food, or maybe even the weird thing that's trying to get locked in here with us?" she said, sarcasm dripping through every word.

"Well, I don't know about the rest, but I think I solved the food problem." I said, chuckling. I walked over to a can of cat food I found while organizing and show it to her. Her face wrinkled up in disgust.

"I am not eating that." she said, backing up away from the cat food.

"Well, you either eat this or you die of starvation, so, your choice." I said. Suddenly, my stomach grumbled. I opened the cat food and started eating it. She soon joined me and we ate in silence. An occasional gag was sometimes heard, but that was about it. We finished the can soon, and let me tell you, it was horrible. I honestly would rather starve than eat that again.

"So tell me about you." Scarlet said suddenly. I was taken a bit aback by her question. Mostly because I had no idea of how to answer. I didn't know if I should have answered her like I would to a friend, to a family member, or to a stranger.

I contemplated the question for a while. I finally came to the conclusion that I should open myself up to her. We had been through so much together, and I felt closer to her than I had with anyone else in a long time.

"Um, okay." I started off, trying to think of what to say next. "I'm eighteen. My parents died when I was thirteen. I took it pretty hard, you know. I had lost my parents when I was young, but Jay was worse. He was only about eight years old. He didn't understand the seriousness of the situation until he grew up. I remember he used to ask me where our parent were and the only response I could give them was that they were gone. But afterwards, he would ask when they would come back. I didn't know how to answer him. I couldn't say no, crushing his already fragile heart. I couldn't say yes, keeping his hopes up for something that is never going to happen. So I simply said that I didn't know. At first, he just questioned me more, but he came to realize the truth of the matter, and stopped. He's a brave little kiddo, he's got a big heart."

"Wow, that's tough." She said. I motioned for her to tell me about herself, so she starts. "Okay, well, um..." She seemed deep in thought. "Well, nothing really stands out in my life. I'm pretty average. I'm sixteen, have a B average in school, and have four good friend. I live in Atlanta, but my family and I came here for winter break. My parents went back home a few days ago, but I wanted to stay back a bit longer. So now, it's just me and my dog." she replied. I felt bad for her. She put her life in danger to try and help me, and there wasn't anyone here to help her get out. We smiled at each other in understanding. I realized then that we would be great friends.

I got up and walked over to Scott's body and noticed that he looked like he was peacefully sleeping. Looking at him made me feel hopeful. We will survive, I thought.

I looked through the collection I made for Scott. There were three picture frames: one was a family picture, including Mom, Dad, Scott, and I. One had Scott playing soccer, and one had me carrying Scott as a child. Then there were Christmas cards we used to send out to friends before Mom and Dad died. Lastly, there was Scott's diary from when he was little. All of these things were set up surrounding Scott in a semi-circle.

Suddenly, I heard the same horrible noise from before. It was coming from the direction of the door again. Scarlet and I instantly looked at each other, both of our faces covered in fear. I knew what happened next. Something started pounding on the door again. From our location, I clearly saw how each bang made the door bend forward. Scarlet and I both jumped from out spot and ran to the door. When I got there, I threw myself to the door, hoping to keep it from opening. The banging got louder and more fierce. Every bang forced my body forward a bit. It was extremely difficult keeping the door from springing open. Scarlet came to my side and helped to push the door shut. Both of us used all of our strenght to keep the door shut. One bang was so strong that it sent Scarlet flying backward, leaving me to keep the door shut by myself. I groaned in pain as I had to apply more force to the door to keep it closed. My back experienced extreme pain, my legs were sliding, and my arms were giving out. Scarlet got up quickly and ran over to help me.

After what seemed like an eternity, the banging stopped. The room fell silent again. I fell to the floor, too tired and in pain to stay up. Every inch of my body was aching. Scarlet laid down next to me, heavily panting like me.

"That was close." she said, filling the silence once she got her breath back.

"Yeah." I said, distracted. My mind was racing, and every time I tried to be hopeful, I came short. What if we can't get out of here? What if I can't save myself? Or Scarlet. It's my fault she's in this mess. Or what about Scott? I don't know how he is now. What if he never wakes up?

"Are you okay?" Scarlet asked, noticing my worried look.

"Honestly, no. What if we never make it out of here? What if you or Jay dies? I can't live with that! What if the-"

Scarlet cut me off, "Dylan!" She exclaimed, forcing me to look at her. "Everything will be fine. Don't worry. We will get out of here. We will all survive. Okay?"

I took a deep breath and tried to slow down my racing mind. When I was positive I was better, I replied, "Okay."

My hand reached for a picture frame so that I could keep my mind distracted, but all I could find was air. I looked down, and realized that the photo frames, all three of them, were gone. I couldn't even find the Christmas cards. My eyes travelled around the room, but I couldn't find them. I tried to remember if I took them and put them somewhere else, but I couldn't recall anything of that sorts.

Weird, I thought, but shook it off. Suddenly, the light flickered above me. I looked up, but couldn't understand what was wrong. The lightbulb was working fine a few minutes ago. I got up to inspect the light and Scarlet followed. It was as if someone was flicking the light switch from on, to off, to on, to off, over and over again.

"What's going on?" Scarlet asked. Suddenly, a gust of wind blew in from who knows where. The cold air felt nice on my skin at first, but then it started picking up speed rapidly. There wasn't a window in this basement, but the wind was blowing at an incredible speed. It was almost as if a mini tornado was forming inside.

"I don't know!" I shouted back at her, my hair whipped in my face and fell in my eyes. I looked at Scarlet through my squinted eyes and saw that her hair was doing the same. It became difficult to stay standing as the wind constantly pushed me down.

Then, as suddenly as the wind started, it stopped. The light stopped flickering, and nothing seemed to be affected. I heard a loud bang behind me, and I whipped around. Everything was intact, but something was on the floor. Something so gruesome, the hairs on my neck stood up. Next to me, Scarlet let out a shrill scream and ran over to the thing. To her dead dog.

"Max!" She screamed again. Tears were openly spilling out of her eyes now. However, she didn't dare getting too close to the dog. The reason being it was lying on the ground with a giant slash in the middle of its body, revealing its insides to us. I looked away in disgust, but Scarlet couldn't seem to look away. I walked up to her and shook her from her reverie. She looked up at me with a defeated expression in her eyes.

"Max..." She said softly, looking down. "How he end up like this? Surely a tornado isn't that powerful, especially not in that way. More importantly, how did he get in here? He just fell from the ceiling." She said, deep in thought.

"I don't know." I said, talking about everything at once. I didn't know how someone could be so cruel that they could do this. I didn't know how he got in. I didn't know how we were going to get out. I didn't know how I was going to protect Scott and Scarlet and myself from the evil goo. I didn't know anything.

We mutually agreed to rest. We both needed some time to reflect. I layed down and tried to sleep, but my mind kept on wandering. Frustrated, I attempted to empty out my mind, but it just didn't work. For what felt like years, I couldn't sleep, until finally the exhaustion wore me out and my brain shut down. I slept like a baby for a few good hours, until a scream woke me up.

I shot up from the ground and looked around to see what happened, but I wished I didn't. I would have done anything to stop the image I saw from entering my mind, but it was too late. Dangling from a rope in front of me was Scarlet, as the life slowly drained out of her. I jumped up and ran over to her. I tried to pull the rope from away from her neck, but it didn't work. It was as is the rope was glued to her neck. I felt hopeless and panic made its way into my mind. No, she can't die! I was supposed to save her! We were supposed to become friends! This wasn't how she was supposed to go!

"Dylan," Scarlet said with a raspy voice. My eyes shot up and I listened intently to every word she said. "Save yourself from him. Don't let him kill you."

"Let who? Who is it?" I questioned as the black splotch I noticed earlier started had expanded, covering her whole body. When she didn't reply, and the life was slowly draining out of her eyes, I shook her.

"Scarlet! Please, don't leave me!" I shouted at her, but was no use. She was dead, and I was left by myself to keep Scott alive.

Every inch of her once tan body was black. Her eyes, which once were the prettiest shade of green, were the same color as everything else on her body- black. I brought my hand up to her eyes and closed them. She looked nothing like the Scarlet I grew to depend on.
Driven by anger, I tried with all of my strenght to remove the rope from her neck, but that didn't work. I pulled on the rope to get it to come off the wall. That didn't work either. I looked around for something sharp to cut it, but I didn't find anything. Everything I did was not enough to set her loose.

I fell to my knees and placed my hands over my head. She died because of me. She died to help me.I fell to my knees. My heart wrenched with pain at the sight of her hanging body. She wasn't even supposed to be here. She wasn't supposed to follow me. She wasn't supposed to help me. She wasn't supposed to die. But she did. She was hung to death by who knows who, and I couldn't do anything to help. I couldn't get the rope off of her. I couldn't get her down. A warm tear fell from the corner of my eye. I didn't try to keep it back. I let all of my emotions out. I got up from my spot and ran to Scarlet. I don't know why, but I hugged her. I felt a desperate need to do so. I laid my head on her shoulder and sobbed.

The noise came back. The stupid noise that warned me that the monster was trying to get in. I didn't want to let go of Scarlet. I didn't want to try to keep the door shut. I didn't want to do this alone... but I had to. I had to stay strong, for Scott.

I let go of Scarlet and ran to the door. The tears made things hard to see, but I got there. I threw myself onto the door. The banging was strong. It was extremely difficult to keep it from bolting open, but I did. I kept it closed. When the blob left, I fell to the floor and cried for a good half hour. I cried until it got hard to breathe and my head started hurting. I wiped my tears off of my face.

As I was doing that, something caught my eye. Scott's diary started to levitate and glow. I stared at it in extreme confusion. Curious, I walked over to it . I cautiously picked it up and it started shaking in my hand. Startled, I dropped it and it opened to a certain page. I picked it up again and started reading it.

January, 2002: Today the blob came again. It started talking about how I'm useless and I caused Mommy and Daddy to die. That's not true, right...

October, 2004: Mommy and Daddy died because of me. It's all my fault. The blob said so. The blob said it will tell Dylan. I can't have that! He will be mad at me! What should I do...

April, 2006: I am going to kill Dylan. It is the only possible solution. Everyone must die...

December, 2006: I can't kill Dylan. I don't want that! But it's almost like I have to kill him. Like something is forcing me to. If I do, I'm sorry Dylan. Please forgive me, I didn't mean to.

I dropped the diary once again and backed away from it. No, it couldn't have been Scott! I thought, He couldn't have caused this! I refuse to believe it!

"Well you better." a deep voice said behind me. I whipped around, not knowing who it was. As I turned, I was greeted by the sight of Scott waking up. Under normal circumstances, I would have been grateful. However, I could sense that something was wrong. First of all, his voice was deep, deeper than it has ever been before. His pupils were dilated, and his blue irises were jet black. His skin was turning black with the same splotches Scarlet had. However, this was worse. As the splotches consumed his skin, he started disintegrating. His normal solid form started turning into black goo.

"That's right, I killed the dog and Scarlet. Your innocent brother was too easy to take over. All I had to do was make him believe your parents' death was his fault, and he was under my command. Over time, much to my delight, he became more evil, almost as much as me. He allowed me to do this, and he allows me to kill you." the evil creature I used to consider as my brother started making it's way towards me. I tried to back away, but my mind wasn't done processing the information. I couldn't move, no matter how hard I tried. The evil creature jumped on my body, and I attempted to pry it off. I couldn't focus clearly on it, my mind was racing.

It was Scott all this time. He killed his true self and let an evil take over him. Because of that, Scott trapped us in here. Scott tormented us. Scott killed Scarlet's dog... he killed Scarlet.

I wondered why I was still fighting. I wondered why I was still trying to survive. I wondered if this battle was all for nothing. That Scarlet died in vain.

So here I am now, laying down on the ground, being eaten away by the black goo. I have no reason to live. I was stuck here with Scarlet and Scott, and now they're both gone. Scarlet is dead and Scott allowed that to happen. I lost the only two people that I actually trusted. I don't have anything left. Lost in thought, I let the darkness consume me forever as I fell into a dark abyss.