Ruth was happy for the silence. Emma had already left for her house a few blocks before, leaving the small teen to herself and her own thoughts. Sighing, she slowly dragged herself down the street where she lived.

Soon a white two storied house came into view. It's faded paint still stuck out in the gray dreary weather. A warm light could be seen the the pouring droplets, which was almost welcoming.....almost. Taking a deep breath, the 12th grader ventured into the house.

Right away she regreted her decision. In the living room it seemed a war had started. One side was her sisters the other her parents. Both were arguing and screaming at the top of their lungs. Sighing, Ruth exited the chaos and tried to escape to the safety of her room. She almost made it but was unfortunately  stopped by her youngest brother Carson.

Carson was a slightly conceded 15 year-old blonde with glasses, and was the more athletic child in the family, his build showed that.

" Hey babe." He called teasingly. " Mom wanted you to get the dog when you got home. He ran off when the rain started."

Ruth crossed her arms gruffly and huffed at her youngest sibling.

" Why can't you get Bandit?" The girl groaned. " He's your dog too"

" Yeah, but this rain will ruin my hair." He replied. " So have fun." He smirked as he handed her the blue dog leash.

Not pleased with the turn of events, Ruth snatched the leash from her younger sibling and stormed into her room. Changing into a work outfit, the teen put on a baggy t-shirt and wrangler jeans, before heading out into the storm.

Just in a matter of ten minutes, the weather seemed to have gotten worse. The sky had darkened and the rain had gotten heavier. Shivering from the water on her skin, the burnett pulled out a flashlight and started calling for her runaway mutt.

" Bandit!!!" The girl shouted as she walked down the road. " OI! Bandit!!! Here boy!!!" Without any luck, she came to the end of her road, which was a dead end. Calling again and whistling, Ruth then shone her light into the brooding woods. A small shudder ran down her spin.

" I hate the woods at night." She hissed. Standing there in the rain, she pondered what to do. After awhile a faint howl could be heard in the distance.....coming from the woods.

" Well crap." She mumbled. Knowing what needed to be done, the teen cinched her jacket tighter around herself and ventured into the dank woods.

As the small teen headed down a familiar path, a sense of uneasiness boiled inside her. Something wasn't right, she couldn't put her finger on it exactly, but it was unsettling.

Ruth's gait went from a walk to a jog when the sound of a dog howling became louder, almost ear pricing. Praying that it was her dog the teen called out again.

" Here Bandit!!!" She shouted, cupping her hands around her mouth hoping it made it louder. For several seconds the howling stopped, and Ruth had to wipe the rain out of her eyes so she could look out for the mutt. Minutes passed and nothing happened, which The teen took as a sign to keep looking. Heading deeper and deeper into the woods, Ruth kept calling for her dog, but still had zero success.

" That dumb mutt." She complained. " Going to get himself...."

The sound of rustling leaves caused her to pause. Wiping more water from her eyes, Ruth shined the light to her left ans noticed a yellow fuzzy blur running in her direction.

" Bandit?" She called. The dog only whimpered when he passed her and headed for the direction of home. Confused and slightly unnerved, the teen started heading in the direction from which her pet came.

" What had him so scared?" She puzzled as she kept walking, but soon stopped in her tracks. About thirty yards off was a black puddle, and something seemed to be stuck in the center.

Never known to avoid something in need of help, the teen sprinted towards the mysterious animal and took off her jacket, just in case it was injured and needed to be carried.

Kneeling next to the puddle, the more she looked at it, the stranger it got. Instead of a puddle of water, it looked more like a dark thick puddle of oil, and odd enough it seemed to move on it's own.

Scooting closer to the....whatever it was, the curious teen grabbed a stick a carefully poked it. To her surprise, the thick substance began to crawl up the stick, inching slowly to her hand. Yelping, Ruth dropped her twig and tried to get away from the puddle.

" What the hay?!" She gasped as it started to follow her. Now terrified, the burnett tried to get to her feet but the substance was faster then she expected. It latched onto her ankle and the dark gooey liquid began to travel up her leg. Screaming, the freaked out teen tried to pull of off, but this only allowed it to travel up her arms.

Completely freaked out, Ruth got to her feet and started to blindly run off.

That.....that was a mistake.

Dashing into a random direction, Ruth failed to see the large tree root sticking out, and because the ground as already wet from the ongoing down-pour, her tennis shoes slipped on the leaves, and sent her tumbling to the ground, but of course she had to hit the root square in the temple. Groaning in pain, she felt the black goo travel up her neck and found her vision going black. For several seconds she fought hard to stay awake, but the struggle was too much and soon she slipped into a world of darkness.

And she could have been imaging this, but before she lost consciousness she was sure she heard a voice... low, dark voice. And it said only one word....

" Mine...."