“Scratch, scratch.”

I am still sleeping on the bed with the thick covers. I did not open my eyes until it scratched my right thigh. I woke up and flipped the covers over the creature, which stood there gazing at the wall like a statue.

I ran to open the door and turned around to see the creature with scars all over his right face. The dark red and wavy lines like Ruffles chips were his scars. I wondered if he could move and run after me. It did not.

I ran limping through the hallway and slowly stepped on the stairs as my right hand was on my right thigh, which still hurt from scratch. When I reached the first floor, the dining room was completely dark.

All of a sudden, I whipped my head around. The creature was right behind me. He looked so familiar to me. But how?

Without a second thought, I reached for the door and ran to jump over the fence. All this took me five minutes. The creature was already behind the fence, looking at me. The claws were on top of the fence.

Away from the claws, I ran through the roads. My right thigh bled, which I did not see. I kept on moving slowly. When I reached the next block, I stopped and grabbed a rake from the light pole. I looked back as the creature advanced. I hit his head, but the pair of claws catch it fast. I pushed down with all my might. He forced the rake at me. I fell in pain, but no scream came out of my mouth.

He jumped over to scratch my face. I moved away before the claws. I crawled out. He then scratched my back. I ignored the pain to grab the water hose and wrapped it around his neck to choke on his own. Well, it worked.

I stood quickly and ran into someone, a girl with the name Bubbles. She asked, almost crying, “Where are you going at night?”

“I was…” My finger pointed at the creature on the block, who struggled until the hose loosened around his neck. “That one is going to kill me.”

Her eyes found my right thigh bleeding. So she gave my thigh her cloth, and she tied my thigh hard. I did not feel the pain. She said, “You were bleeding right there.”

I looked down on my thigh. I said, “It scratched me while I slept on my bed.”

Surprisingly, Bubbles showed me her right thigh with the big band-aid. She explained that it was the creature, who scratched her for no reason. She wanted to tell me more.

I looked around quickly. He was not there with the hose. I looked back at the creature, who abducted Bubbles. It snarled at me or her. I shrugged carelessly.

Then, Bubbles punched him in the stomach and kicked his head. He fell on his belly. She screamed, “Run back to the house!”

I said before I left, “You should do the same.”

“Go!” she shouted.

I ran back to the house and jumped over the fence. I reached for the door, opened it, and shut it. I put the locks on the door and moved the heavy storage box. I looked at the window for signs of Bubbles or the creature. It was silent for another hour before the sun arrived.

Now, it was morning. I looked out the window for anyone to show up and banged on the door. But no. I yawned loudly. Then, Bubbles showed up at the window. I looked at her without judgment. She said, “The creature ran off when it was daylight.”

“So you are alive?” I asked.

“Yes, I did. Many times.”

After I moved the locks and the box, she entered tirelessly and sat on the chair. I gave her a glass of water from the kitchen. Then, she drank it. She told me her story. “About a month ago, the same creature with scars, scratched my right thigh on the bed. I kicked his nuts and grabbed a stick to knock him out. He stood and snarled to make me look weak by stabbing my right thigh again.

“Without a scream, I hit his head and back. Any weak spots? He fell on the carpet, bleeding. I wanted to make sure that the thing was dead. I put the stick over his nose. He woke up suddenly and scratched the end of the stick. Shockingly, a stick was half gone. I gave up quickly.

“Running from my house every night was tiring but good for my body’s health. What I did not know was Mint, my brother, who has claws outside stabbed some innocent girls walking in the street almost till morning. He did not look like the one who attacked me on night one. He acted like one. What made him do that? I wondered.

“I approached him from the back of the house. He sensed someone behind him, so he turned without the scars. He looked normal to me. Already, he has claws attached to his hands. I was horrified and escaped.

“When it was day, he came to the house and acted normal. I feared him. I sat far away from him and ate breakfast alone. He looked at me without question. He got near me. He asked, ‘What is wrong, sis?’

“I went outside to avoid his gaze. My mother ran after me. She whispered to my ears, ‘I feared him as well. He is not the only one. Your father is acting like one from the night. I was…’ My mother picked up her skirt to show me her right thigh was stabbed just like me.

“As we heard footsteps toward us, she put her skirt down. My father shouted at my mom, who was already distressed about the situation. She went inside to wash the dishes in the kitchen. Then, my father stared at me for a minute.

“I went inside without his command. My brother stopped me and said, ‘Sis, did you talk about something?’

“I walked away to the house. He made a fist and bled his hand. He grunted and shouted, ‘She is keeping things to herself, Dad!’

“The father agreed, ‘Man, I wish they talk easily and be normal like we always do.’

“Before my brother spoke, I knew they were not just people in the house. They were much more sinister than their looks. My mother called out to me for some time alone.

“We were looking at the old books written long ago in her room. She showed me some truths about the nightly creatures. ‘Nightly creatures,’ she reads, ‘were the transformation of the males, who were loved or cared for by most females.’

“I said bluntly, ‘Our father and brother.’

“‘That is correct, dear,’ my mother said. ‘However, the females irritated the males to be the worst at dark times. Males turned into creatures with claws and hurt the females. One that stood out was the main creature and the wavy scars on his face. That one would kill a youth instantly or leave a female alive just for his mark. His name was Hooker.’” Bubbles looked at me with worry.

I said, “You can continue the story, Bubbles.”

“It is not that, Buttercup. I encountered him on night one, but I still did not understand the mark he goes to a female?”

“We all encountered him on different nights,” I said.

Bubbles wanted another glass of water. I grabbed the glass and entered the kitchen. I thought I saw a hand with claws on the sink reaching for me. I squinted. Bubbles shouted at me. I dropped the glass on the floor. Immediately, she said, “Did you see something, Buttercup?”

I went down to pick up the pieces. Then, I got a scratch. My right hand was bleeding slowly. I looked for a nearby towel to wrap around it. Then, Bubbles saw me doing that and said, “You are bleeding. How?”

I stood, saying, “You scared me.”

“How I scare you?”

I looked for the broom and dustpan to remove the glass particles on the floor and put the debris in the trash can. After that, I looked at the sink, it was nothing. Bubbles said, “I will check on my mom. I will be back later.”

I heard the door open and shut. Bubbles was gone from the house. I looked around the kitchen for any weird signs. I hope unimagining things like the claws. My heart ached as I put away the broom and dustpan in the corner.

Meanwhile, Bubbles reached her house. Her mom was crouching like a ball and crying hard. Bubbles comforted her. Her mother said, “They are the nightly creatures. I am so afraid of them. They kicked me out. I cannot be inside with them.”

“Mom, are you alright? Any scratches? New ones?” Bubbles concerned.

“It is just getting scary and out of hand.”

“What about the books?”

“I have my bag with me, thank the heavens.”

Bubbles smiled, “At least this one saved.”

Her mother’s bag was thick and old, still covering the old books that she kept reading and remembered by heart. Bubbles picked her up.

Unexpectedly, Mint walked quickly toward them. Bubbles turned her mother around. Her mother hid her bag behind her. Her mother hoped that he was not looking for the books. Instead, he asked Bubbles to talk with him under a tree.

Bubbles refused, “Not going.”

“Sis, come on. Just a few minutes.”

Bubbles obliged. Both were sitting under a tree. Bubbles crossed her chest and pretended to be angry and fearful. Mint touched her right thigh with a purpose in mind. She said, “Stop touching there.”

“Does it hurt?” he asked.

She looked at the corner of her eye. She shook her head, pretending that was no pain.

“It is supposed to be hurt by now, sis. If not hurt, I will kill you tonight.”

Bubbles stood and ran to tell her mother about his intentions. Both females looked at him fearfully. He approached them with pace. He said, “The pain is supposed to be hurt. You are a liar, sis. I can tell.”

Her mother stopped him. “You do not want to know the truth that you were… You and your father are acting odd around the house. I cannot stand it. We cannot stand the stress from you, males.”

Before he could catch the mother’s hair with his hand, I came walking and distracted him by saying, “Mint, be nice.”

Then, he looked at me evenly. He dropped his hand and said cooly, “You are the one marked.”

“What?” I mouthed and was surprised at what he said. He turned around and went into the house. Bubbles and her mother were shocked at me. I looked down at the towel wrapped around my right hand, which had stopped bleeding. Also, my right thigh stopped hurting.

I turned back towards Bubbles and her mother, who still looked shocked. I said, “He is lying. He is playing around with outcomes. He does not even know the future about us living here on earth.”

Bubbles grabbed my hand. We all went to my house. She put me on the chair, and we talked with her mother about the books and the nightly creatures. I found it amusing that I was told once by Bubbles. But this time, there were many truths to discover about the sides of males and their strengths.

Before the night, we prepared the sharp tools around my house. I dug with the shovel while Bubbles installed the tools into the ground, and her mother just gave instructions from the book. The neighbors around my house found this suspicious. A lady with the baby approached the mother, who only said, “We protect ourselves from the invaders.”

The lady found this odd and shared a personal story about her male children. “They never came back at night until morning. They were tearing the wooden stuff in my house. I never knew why, and I was about to call the police. My children stared at me with dead eyes. So I did not call for help.”

“You can stay with us if you want,” the mother said.

“I want to, but my children need me now.”

“What do they need?” Bubbles asked after finishing the installation. “If they need your pain, they are the nightly creatures.”

“I heard about the term but never thought of this now. I should be afraid and form a team to fight back,” she said.

I was about to wash my hands with the hose. I felt my right thigh asking me quietly, “Do you want to feel the pain? Or being marked?”

Bubbles noticed I was holding the hose but did not switch it on. She found me strange and snapped her fingers behind me. I looked at the hose and her. I said, “What?”

“Are you going to wash your hands?”

I washed my hands with the water from the hose. I turned it off. I stood while Bubbles washed her hands next to me. I overheard that they would be forming a team in my house. I gasped, “You should not. I do not have that many spaces. I only lived and can only allow Bubbles and her mother.”

The lady with the baby glared at me. “So? That is your house. You should be gone from here. We are forming a team tonight.”

I went inside the house as Bubbles found this unnerving. I ran upstairs and tripped, and entered the room by crawling. I shut the door slowly. I cannot believe that she is acting like the owner of my house and doing whatever she wants. What if she is? Just go away and never come back!

Bubbles said, “If you knew my friend was a homeowner, why do you not care for your children now? That would be fair and square.”

The lady with the baby said, “Then, what are you two doing here and putting all the garbage around her house.”

“Just leave,” her mother said.

The lady and her baby left with muttering under her breath. Bubbles and her mother went inside the house before dark. I sat on the floor. I heard the door opened and closed. I moved as the claws underneath the blanket reached out for me. My hand was on the doorknob and twisted as the creature came fully. He snarled at me.

Before the door opened, I turned to see him. He was snarling at me once again. I looked at my right hand and my right thigh. I did not move until he lashed out his claws, and the door pushed me forward. I fell, and he stared at my body. Who opened the door was Bubbles, who glared at Hooker, who rushed to cut her throat. She fell on her back. She tried to grab a hangar from the floor and knocked the creature out.

I woke up thirty minutes later and was still on the floor. I got up and turned to see blood stained on the floor. I followed out in the hallway. Bubbles was half alive while Hooker breathed hard in the other room.

I paused when Bubbles’ mother screamed downstairs. I wanted to move but could not. Hooker crawled out of the room and went downstairs to kill her instantly. That would be a bad outcome for Bubbles, who was still hurt.

Hooker killed her mother downstairs with his claws. He moved the stuff from the door and noticed the sharp tools circling the house. He went upstairs to find me cleaning the blood on Bubbles’ neck. He grabbed my hand and pulled me away from her. Bubbles snatched my other hand and shouted weakly, “Let her go Hooker.”

He snarled and pulled me out of her hand. We both went downstairs and out of the house. Bubbles cannot move due to the tightness of the clothes I put on her neck. So she relaxed a bit.

Before the arrival of the sun, Hooker jumped many tools to reach for Mint, who stood waiting outside the block. He stared at Hooker and me. Hooker said, “You say to her that she is my mark.”

“She is your mark, Hooker.”

I blurted out, “You do not know the future, guys. How can you tell? I am stabbed in my right thigh and hurt by the glass piece on my right hand. Also, this has nothing to do with the mark you said to me.”

“Stop playing dumb,” Hooker said.

“And you guys hurt the females as the payback. I want a payback to hurt you, too.” Before I did that, Hooker’s claws stabbed my body, and I fell on the grass. I was asleep. He said, “Mint, go get your sister.”

“What if she refused?” Mint asked.

“Then, kill her.”

Mint reached the house, where the sharp tools crowded at its perimeter. He sighed deeply and entered to find his sister upstairs. Before he could do that, he found his mother’s blood trailing on the floor. He did not weep. Instead, he searched for her body in the hallway next to the kitchen. Her face distorted. He had never seen an adult that weak in his eyes.

He turned around and went upstairs. Bubbles immediately thought was Hooker, shouting at him, “Get away from me!”

Mint paused his hand over his heart, “Sis, I am your brother. Respect me.”

“Ah, sorry,” her voice sounded half-dazed. “I was tired.”

Mint approached her, his hand on her neck, and asked, “Who did it to you?”

Her eyes widened, alert. “Hooker came and hurt me.”

“I found our mother dead on the floor, bleeding in the hallway,” he said coldly.

“I want to kill Hooker!” she shouted.

Mint snatched her neck. “If you do that, you are unable to follow my lead. Sis, you ended up dead like our mother.”

“Stop hurting me,” she squeaked. His hand tightened the clothes around her neck. He wanted to choke her and let her body there. He released her as the rays of the sun brightened the sky.

He said, “I will come for you later, sis.”

She glanced at him before he ran off the stairs. He quickly open the door and went back to the house. Hooker said to me, “Do not be dumb. You can do whatever you want before the nightfall.”

I tug his arm wanting him to stay as the sun rose high in the 12’o clock noon. He snarled. I let go then, he rushed into the house to be with Mint. Probably, they would be talking. Who knows.

I went back to my house carefully with the sharp tools. I wanted them removed, but it was too much work. That would not be enough time. I went inside to follow the blood trail and found Bubbles’ mother dead. My heart sank, whispered, “But that does not make sense. She is a survivor, but why kill her?”

Without wasting any time, I rushed upstairs to see Bubbles asleep against the wall. I slowly removed the clothes around her neck. I said, “Sorry, Bubbles.”

She opened her eyes and thought about her mother. “She is gone now. But my brother has come, and he will be back later.”

“I saw him passed by Hooker and me earlier today.”

“Did he just go to the house? Man, he is one idiot!”

“I think so,” I said.

“I have to get the books from my mother before the nightly creatures know.”

“I can help you with that.”

I helped Bubbles stand on her feet. Bubbles’ back and legs are hurt from the fall last night. She walks slowly down the stairs. I led her to the kitchen and the hallway. I bent down to grab the bag that contained the books. I gave that to Bubbles, who searched the bag for one book. She said, “This has to be the solution to kill the nightly creatures once and for all.”

“What if Mint comes by tonight?” I asked with concern.

“I can make a poison for him so he drinks and dies quickly.”

“There is no solution against the males,” I began. “It could mean that the females must let them be out of control to follow them around and stay alive.”

“I do not want to be a slave to my brother.”

“I do not want to be marked by Hooker.”

“This is way too hard to live like this,” Bubbles said. “Females cannot do anything to hurt the males. The males ended up being the nightly creatures at night, and so on. I hated my brother so much more than my father. It was both.”

I hold hands with her. “Hooker said to me that I can do whatever I want. But I was confused by his words.”

“You are marked by him, so… that is boring for you.”

“I guess so.”

“What should I do, Buttercup? You have been marked so…?” Bubbles held the bag of books close to her chest.

“I do not know.”

“Did the mark makes you feel powerful or weaker?”

I shrugged.

“No effect?”

“I want to say yes. I still want to play dumber around Hooker to annoy him so he can unmark me.”

“There is no turning back, now.”

“He made a wrong choice.”

“I want water. I am thirsty.”

I went into the kitchen to grab a glass and filled it with water. A thought burst into my mind as the claws searched for me out of the sink. I blinked and turned around to give the glass to Bubbles. Then she said, “Thanks.”

I said, “I see things that I should have not.”

“What things?”

“Claws from the sink.”

Her face shocked me. She points her finger at the sink. I followed her finger and said, “Not just things, then, the claws were. But why do they? This is daylight!”

The claws shrunk back to the hole of the sink. We ran outside, and I helped Bubbles to get around the sharp tools. She complained once. “I hate this, and it is not helping to kill the nightly creatures.”

We were in the streets at 3 pm., a few hours before the nightfall. Bubbles said behind me, “Let’s avoid looking at the male children.”

I looked at the male children, who gazed at me with affection. They were shorter than my waists. One of them giggled next to him. I said, “You should be with your mother, kids.”

One kid laughed loudly, which made Bubbles uneasy. Bubbles got annoyed real quick. “Can you put them in the perimeter, Buttercup?”

I ignored her and led the children to their mother, who carried a baby at the corner of the block. She was looking at me. “I saw you before.”

I rushed to Bubbles. We walked away as the mother shouted at me, “You are someone I know!”

Her male children played with her skirt. She was embarrassed that one of them went inside to lick her leg. She said, “Eww, kids.”

The other child of hers slapped her face with his hand. He laughed so hard that the first one came out of her skirt and laughed. The baby in her arms did not follow their stupid laughs, and she remained silent. Their mother was hurt.

Meanwhile, we walked a few blocks from my house. Bubbles found it relaxing while limping. I helped her walk, but I felt a sting in my heart. I shook my head to forget the idea of claws from the sink, Hooker, and the nightly creatures. They were part of my imagination. “Look!” Bubbles said with her finger.

I stared at the front of her. What is that? A claw? Hooker? It cannot be either. They must be more pointed wooden stakes around the side of the neighborhood. “It may be for the females to be stabbed to death,” I suggested.

Bubbles looked and said, “Will you remove them for me?”

Without disappointing her, I tried to move the wooden stakes away from me. One stake hit my right hand. I threw one out, which was about to hit Bubbles in her head. Luckily, she dodged it. She ducked some more when I threw more stakes in her direction.

I shouted after the removal of stakes, “Done!”

Bubbles limbed towards me. I turned around to help. We walked some more blocks before the night. We ended up in the center of the town. Bubbles was nervous. I gave her a burger from the available restaurant in the entire town. She could eat it.

A few minutes later, Mint came to the center of the town. He looked at us with excitement. I went forward. I said, “Do not think anything, nightly creature.”

“Relax, the one who is already marked. I can take my sister back to me.”

I looked at Bubbles, who stopped eating the burger. Mint rushed to eat her burger. He said, “Tastes like chicken.”

I stopped him before he touched her. I said, “What will you do to her?”

He looked at me. “Go to your boyfriend, Buttercup.”

I blushed. “I do not even have a boyfriend. He is not my boyfriend. He is-- uh, erm….”

“Just go to him. He needs you, now.”

If I were gone, my friend would be dead like her mother. The same fate was already on the corner. So I made a deal with Mint not to touch her while I was gone.

Hooker was already behind me. His face touched my head. I said, “You are there, Hooker.”

“I see that you are in charge of your friend. Just let her go. Let Mint takes care of her.”

“I do not want to see him harming her.”

He sighed beside my hair. “You smell good, Buttercup.”

I looked at him. Mint took Bubbles away to the forest. I said to Hooker, “You smell dry and stinky.”

“Just follow to the house. We have things to do tonight.”

“Like what?”

He took my hand. We went away. I took a glance back to where Bubbles used to be with Mint. Both were gone. I was furious to pause, so he felt the tug. He knew that I was angry about my friend’s disappearance. He said, “Buttercup, we have important things to do tonight.”

“Then, my friend’s gone?”

He touched my face with his claws. I feared his nasty fingers would tear my skin apart. Finally, I am unmarked. But his hands were sweating from his body. He said, “I am not threatening you for your dumbness. I want to care about you, Buttercup.”

“What does it mean?”

“Remember, you are marked, and you are important tonight.”

I groaned. Here we are at the house, a block away from my house. I sat on the chair by the long table. I avoided the eyes of Bubbles’ father, Hooker, and some nightly creatures I did not recognize. I wanted this to get over within a second.

The meeting was boring to me. I talked the most about the nightly creatures and why they were at the table. Some of them dare to touch me with their claws. Hooker cut their claws with his claws. I feel a little trust in him.

While Mint and Bubbles were sitting at the edge of the fountain, the water ran normally. Mint looked at her sweetly. Bubbles found him scarier and stayed away from him. She kept on saying, “Just let me go.”

He saw the bag that she carried along with her. He said, “The books in that bag. Give me that, sis.”

“Never! I will never surrender to the nightly creatures.”

“I am your brother, sis. Respect me.”

“No!”

“Come on, sis. You can understand me better than other people in the house.”

“We are not equal! You are one terrifying creature, who killed my mother.”

“That’s it!” He jumped at her. Then, she fell to the ground. He scratched her face and got the bag of books. “Sweet!”

He got up and walked away to the house. Bubbles’ face was unrecognizable, and her body lay on the ground untouched. Blood drooled from her face.

I spoke for ten minutes. I used the restroom. Hopefully, the meeting ended well. I washed my hands in the sink. The claws came out to touch my wet hands. I smashed them into the sink. I rushed to get a towel and whip out the claws in the sink. The claws vanished, then the door opened. It was Hooker.

I lowered the towel. He looked at me with concern. “What did you see, Buttercup?”

I said. “Nothing.”

“What did you see?”

“Claws.”

“Like mine?” He showed me his claws. They were long and thin. The ones I saw from the sink were thicker than his.

“Slightly thicker.”

He touched my back and led me to the table. The nightly creatures looked at me. I saw Mint with the bag of books. I rushed to steal it from him. Mint said, “I got it first.”

“You kill my friend Bubbles.”

He looked away from me as Hooker said, “Who is bothering the marked one?”

Everyone looked at him so am I. He reworded it differently, “Who bothered Buttercup from the restroom?”

No one raised their hands. I approached and whispered to his ears. “Maybe, it is not the nightly creature. It can be something bigger than this.”

“Stop playing dumb,” he said.

My eyes returned to the opened door that led to the restroom. It cannot be that restroom only. It can be in my kitchen sink as well. It can be at the faucet or the hose at my house. It can be somewhere near the water or sewer. These are not the nightly creature’s claws, but thicker and bigger. Who was the next creature after me? Is it because I have been marked by Hooker?

Mint has a bag of books in the house. He gave that to Hooker. I snatched the bag before he could see it. His eyes were on me. I explained, “I can keep the bag and the books from Bubbles. She trusted me.”

Mint was about to say, “I already killed my sis. I deserve to earn a reward. You are just too much for him.”

I glared at him, his mouth shut with an x mark. I imagined the x mark in my head. He better be that way than to protest or whatever he can do. I said, “I would like to read the books and figure out who was chasing after me.”

“I chase after you,” Hooker began.

“I mean the big creature with thicker claws,” I said.

Mint was scared, “I might have seen it somewhere in my sis’s room while my father just--”

“Mint? Where is her room?” I demanded.

Hooker and I followed him to the back of the house. Her room was deserted, except for the big hole in the floor. Beneath the hole was a set of white pipes. My jaw opened without a sound. Mint was terrified when he said, “My father came during the day to find her room empty. It scared the crap out of him. It made me scared as well. So I thought to kill my sis to end her misery. But it was worse than I thought. The creature could have been hurting my sis all along.”

“But!” Hooker said. “The big creature was not after her. He was after the marked one, which was Buttercup.”

I crossed my chest and looked at Mint with anger. “You killed her because you were scared of the big creature, who chased after me. I mean, it can give me signals of its claws.”

I took the book from the bag and searched for that particular creature. I found one page only. You cannot be that serious, Bubbles’ mother. Is she a writer for the books? Heck, there was no name on the front cover or between the pages.

“Did you find any?” Hooker asked impatiently.

I explained from the reading, “The creature is big with thick claws. It can live both day and night through water and dirty water. But it did not harm the residents in the neighborhood years ago. What makes it eager to show up? It is still unknown to this day.”

Both Hooker and Mint gasped at the last phrase. I kept reading the next paragraph, “People in the neighborhood found this intrigue and explored its origins so deeply. As if watching a grudge from an old television that she-- I will skip that. So the creature still living in the depth of waters and still breathing underwater…”

Mint said, “And it is dangerous to come to the house. My house! This is modern, not some old urban legend to discover.”

I slammed the book and put it in the bag. I rushed to the restroom for the plastic cup of water. The claws reached for my wrist when I knew to throw water at it. Instead of sizzling in heat, it went away fast. The house rumbled afterward. Mint falls into the hole while Hooker tries to catch him but is afraid of the unknown.

I came back to the room. Hooker’s back bent over the hole as his hand reached for Mint. He said, “I lost one of my nightly creatures. I do not expect that he is gone.”

I found Mint’s father by the table to tell him that Mint disappeared. His father rushed to the room and jumped it. Hooker cannot take it anymore. “My nightly creatures! Why they, they can go down there!”

“If I were you, I go down there and save my nightly creatures.”

He sighed deeply, “Fine.”

“What about the rest of your nightly creatures? They should come to?”

He stood and walked to the table to tell them not to go through any water/sewer source. Any unknown will hurt Hooker’s reputation. The rest agreed not to go down there. He added quickly, “Do not go in at any time. Each of us has one heart. This can kill one nightly creature instantly.”

One nightly creature ran with a scream. Everybody else stayed silent and not being an idiot like him. Hooker came to the room. We jumped into the hole. It was pitch black.

Hooker’s claws catch something metal, remove it and swing to hit himself. A thud was next to me. I looked behind me. It was Hooker. I grabbed his shirt and moved to a place where the light hit. I quickly realized he cannot be in the daylight, so I shoved him into darkness. He woke up saying, “Ou!”

“It is morning.”

“I hate the sun!”

“You should stay in darkness. While I looked for Mint and his father.”

Hooker reached for my hand. His tears fell. Then, I got spooked. Can the tears make the creature appear? I put my body over Hooker’s face with my hands around his torso. The creature passed us quietly.

It seemed in a rush. I wanted to laugh, but I saw Hooker’s face was so small child's. He looked so innocent. He said, “Let’s find my nightly creatures quickly before that thing kills them.”

“It can kill yours?”

“It can kill one by one fast.”

With no time to waste, we moved forward through the dark tunnel. We did not step or touch the metal or pointed items. One of us can scream and die. I shook my head not to think even the possibility of death towards Mint and his father.

The duo was almost at the end of the tunnel. However, the metal grate prevented their path, and the sun was hot. It burned Mint’s skin. Mint did not weep. His father was breathing hard. He wanted to say something, but he was too thirsty.

Mint pushed his father closed to him and felt the whoosh in the tunnel. He moved to the side, so the creature crashed into the grate. The nightly creatures fell into the garbage. The claws stuck in the grate.

The entire tunnel rumbled, and we moved forward slowly. We were halfway in the tunnel. I sensed the creature at the end of the tunnel stuck by the grate. I looked at Hooker’s face, and he said, “No.”

I looked back at the creature’s big tail. It was almost like a reptile to me. It can live in the waters. It can live in the sewers. It can live in both day and night. It gets stuck by metal objects like a grate. It even reminded me of the sharp tools around my house. The trap was for the big creature that I was supposed to face.

I turned around. Hooker was gone. I looked back and walked towards the creature. I stepped on the metal rod with my shoe. The creature’s tail raised in my direction and slammed me down. Hooker was in the garbage looking for the nightly creatures. He found his father first. A few seconds later, he found Mint holding onto the metal wall. Hooker removed him from the wall. The sound pierced through the grate, so the reptile smashed it with its strength. It felt the human skin underneath its tail.

The nightly creatures went to hiding as the reptile circled back to see me flat on the ground like a thin paper. I did not move or make any sound. Its eyes locked on my face. Then, it looked at the bag of books, and it returned to my face. It thought that I was the one who wrote the books and searched for nonexistent creatures, so its tail raised over me.

I thought the reptile would see me as an item of affection. Well, no. Why are its claws thicker to reach for me? I am marked, you idiot!

Slam! My face and body were flat. My teeth broke under high pressure. Seriously, I had to get out of here before I die!

Hooker came out to scratch its back. The reptile noticed it and whipped around to catch his claws. Hooker shouted at me, “Run!”

I appeared out of the ground and moved to the light. I left the bag of books behind. The duo followed me out and rushed behind the bushes. Hooker was fighting off a giant reptile. Hooker said, “You are the one who scratched my face. I cannot forgive you, cold-blooded creature.”

I ran back to the tunnel to find Hooker. Hooker battled the reptile with all his claws and strengths. He was fast, but not fast that the big tail hit his belly. I rushed my arms out. He fell right into my arms. I looked up as the reptile was looking at me evenly.

I moved to the right. The creature smacked its head in the grate. I put Hooker behind the bushes, where the nightly creatures were cooling. I looked back at the head stuck in the grate. I said, “You are not scary. You look like a mere reptile. Nobody is afraid of you. But you afraid of me.”

One eye locked mine. It reads, “The reptile is a coward fearing her. She is the marked one instead.”

Its head disappeared from me. I rushed into the bushes just in case it chased after me. It did not. It was still in a tunnel looking for answers. I looked down, and no bag was attached to me.

Before I moved, Hooker’s claws were on my arm. He said, “Look at me, Buttercup.”

I found his face burned from the sun. I pushed his head down so he cooled down. He whimpered, “I hate the sun.”

I thought of a plan to grab a box. Put all three in the box to move it to the house and the air conditioner is in the house. At the same time, I worried about the books getting eaten by the reptile. Mint came out in the grass and said, “I can go in the sun and find something to cover Hooker.”

“Do that,” I said.

He said, “What about you, Buttercup?”

“I will stay here with Hooker.”

Mint was gone. His father stared at me weirdly. His hand was on my head. Then, Hooker scratched him. “Do not touch her!” He said.

His father let go of my head and turned to see the sun in his eyes. He said, “I missed the summer vacation. I missed my wife and daughter.”

I ignored him and my tears. Hooker embraced me. We moved to another location. He said, “That guy has already weirded me out.”

“He did the same at the meeting.”

“I should have eliminated him sooner.”

“I thought that you cared about your nightly creatures.”

“I can eliminate them if I want.”

“You are worse than the reptile.”

“Do not compare me to it, which was stronger than me. Stronger than the nightly creatures.”

Mint came back with the blankets. He only finds his father staring at the sun. He called out. His father looked back and ran to him, who received a blanket. He said, “They went that way.” His finger pointed to the area surrounded by fewer trees.

Mint followed that way. He found out that Hooker and I make out. Mint dropped the blanket over us. He rushed to his father. Both went to the house. I was out first while Hooker stayed inside the blanket.

He murmured something that I could not hear. I removed the blanket so he said, “Just like that, Mint.”

I said, “I did that to you as well.”

“May I be in your bed for the day?”

“Sure.”

After I led him to my house, he rushed upstairs and was in my room. He slept in my bed with the covers around him. I took one glance at him and went away as fast as I could to the tunnel. I wanted to find the bag before the creature did.

The door won’t bulge to Mint’s house. I sighed deeply and went out to find the trees we were making out of earlier. I rushed to the end of the tunnel. I went inside and stopped. What if I lose the bag of books to the creature and I never get those now? This defeats the purpose of me going inside and facing the monster of my entire life.

During the afternoon, I kept on searching for the bag. I found none for three hours straight. I was daydreaming of receiving from the reptile effectively. But that was short-lived. I went out of the tunnel through the same opening. I did not look back, I wanted to forget about the books, the bag, and Bubbles. I cannot find it.

I paused before the stop sign. The male children were walking with joy. I walked around the block to my house to avoid them. I even avoided their mother, the one who talked big. I made it to my house before dark. I locked the door and went into the restroom to wash my hands with soap and water. The claws reached for my hands. Once again, I smashed them into the sink. I ran out and told Hooker was at the door. He scratched his eyes at the side of his palm. He said sleepily, “Again, that creature.”

“How to make it stop?”

“Not sure.”

I looked back at the sink. There were no signs of claws or blood. It was the reptile from the tunnel still terrorizing me! I wanted it to stop reimagining such a thing. Hooker tapped my shoulder. He warned me, “Are you pulling your hair out?”

I looked in the mirror. My hair is a mess from pulling strands with my bare hands. “Heck, no.”

“I need to use the restroom,” he said.

I stepped out, and he closed the door. I did not wait for him. I went outside to look at the hose. I was not putting my hand on there and expected the claws to come forward and reap my hands off. I took a piece of grass from the yard and landed it on the faucet. The claws did not appear. The grass has water. Plus, I wanted to shout.

Hooker was in the hallway and moved the dead body to the yard. He put that in the mud, hoping the reptile ate it in the mud. Hooker came behind me, and one of his claws poke my thigh. I paused and heard his breathing beside me. My eyes were alarmed. Then, I turned around, “You should be inside, Hooker.”

“I am under the shade.”

I led him to my house and locked the door so he did not go out in the sun. Still hot and humid outside, I thought. Hooker was licking his claws. I sensed that he already moved Bubbles’ mother’s corpse outside. “What did you do with her body?”

He was silent. My heart panicked for Bubbles’ corpse. But the giant reptile came to the mud to grab a snack. It was gone. The next second, it got another snack by the fountain. I sweat so hard. Hooker wiped my face with the towel he got from the table. I should stop sweating. It lured the creature.

Almost to my house, the towel absorbed my stinky sweats. Hooker squeezed the water into the sink. One moment it was quiet. The next moment, the claws caught the towel. Hooker snatched it away. Then, the claws came forward to grab his face. I went to the kitchen and grabbed a knife from the drawer to poke one of the thicker claws. I said, “Stay back!”

The claw paused while I cut it without a doubt. The rest of the claws went back to the sinkhole and never returned for once. I looked like a killer trying to kill that thing out of my way. Hooker said, “Thanks for saving me.”

I said without looking at him, “I tried not to sweat again.”

In a room with yellow walls and carpeted floor, the reptile was the size of the height of the doorway. But still, it was bigger than that. It broke the lintel and support for the corridors. You can see a written book next to the bag on the floor. The same creature dropped those items that terrorized Buttercup, the marked one. Those items were in a room that no one found. The planks or voids surrounded the room.

Brittney was fascinated about the Backrooms that she admitted to her older brother Bryan. Bryan never drives there. He did not believe things like the Backrooms and thought his sister was insane.

They were in a town beside the one where Buttercup and the nightly creatures resided. It was a couple of minutes between these towns. The lady in Buttercup’s town wanted to relocate for safety. She lured her male children to the small cabin by the forest. She drove the car with her baby daughter Cream. Off she went while Mint noticed it before dark.

He told his father about the lady and her baby finding a way out. His father drove the truck and his son out of town and dropped him at the place. Mint said, “Thank you, dad.”

“I would not tell anyone about you. Have a fun vacation there.” Then the truck disappeared into the horizon. Mint turned around to the next town, Safe Haven. “That name sucks,” he said.

Mint was on the bridge towards the town. He felt too quiet and too safe to be there. But he had to look for the lady and her baby.

The car drove passed him as he stood still. He thought he had seen them. It was Bryan driving the car with his sister. It was completely dark. Mint searched the town. He bumped into a tree bark. He stopped and looked around and found a house was on. He went there and found a girl who was thin and healthy. She was happy with her hair down. But his thought stopped by the tall guy, her brother Bryan, who gave her a glass of tea. Mint was furious, “I want to be helping her out!”

Of course, he forgot to search for the lady and the baby in the town. He was distracted to see the girl Brittney in town. He went to the house and knocked on the door. Opening the door was Bryan. Mint least expected him.

Bryan asked, “Who are you? Are you around this town?”

Mint froze. “Uh, I want to talk to the girl for a minute.”

Bryan closed the door and called Brittney, who swung the door open to see Mint. She asked, “Who are you? Do I know you?”

Mint hid his two hands in the pockets, which ripped his pants open. He tried a straight face and said, “I want… to talk to you.”

She slammed the door, and he pulled his right hand to stop the door before he got angry. He said, “Let me finish talking.”

She said, “You are not from this town, and you--”

“Do not make me angry like my sis.”

“Bryan!” she called him.

Bryan appeared in the doorway and pushed the door, which hit Mint’s face. He was surprised that the claws were ruined the door. He said, “Get out of here.”

“You need to pay for this!” Mint went away.

Bryan slammed the door shut. He calmed his sister on the sofa. He said, “That is a stranger. Sorry, Brittney.”

“He looks weird.”

Bryan went in the back to get the toolbox to repair the door. He said it with anger when he did that. “he should not ruin the door. By the way, he has long fingernails. He comes just for you.”

“Creepy,” she hugged herself.

Mint paused to find the house, where the lady and the baby lived. He walked around the house to get in. He found the dog’s door. That was too small for him to fit in. He waits till daylight instead of pushing himself through the small door.

Mint slept on the porch, heard the door open, and rushed behind the bush. He discovered the lady was yawning in her pajamas. He wondered where the baby Cream was. The lady walked forward to water the plants. He felt to intervene and slapped her hands. She scolded him.

He said, “Remember me, lady. I can kill you tonight.”

“Yes, I did. And why are you here in Safe Haven?”

He laughed. “I got an advantage to kill you. That is my interest.”

“I ran away from home and away from my male children. They are growing recklessly around my house and destroying what I care about the most. They were very different than my daughter Cream.”

“But why runs away?” he was confused.

“You should go back and not ruin my second chance in the new town.”

“I doubt it,” he smiled. “I can ruin both of your lives with my claws.” His hands were human.

She laughed, “Haha. Get out of my way!” She turned on the faucet and put the hose on the flower beds. She sang with her whistle. He got annoyed and entered the house to look for the baby girl.

She was sleeping in the crib with her thumb in her mouth. Mint said, “Aww, cutie. Where are you? I want to ruin your cute life with my claws.”

The baby opened her eyes wide. She cried as the house rumbled. The lady frowned outside and entered the house. Mint hid behind the curtains by the window. She found her baby crying with tears out. She held her baby and sang a lullaby. Then, she put Cream into the crib and a blanket on her body.

Cream’s mother continued watering the plants outside. Mint appeared to be greedy. “You, cutie. I am not finishing you off.”

Brittney opened the door and said, “I want to see the Backrooms. I wonder if it is real.”

Bryan said, “We already went somewhere fun last night. But now, we have to walk around. Not meeting a stranger last night.”

“Let’s hope not,” Brittney said.

Mint came out and walked passed by Brittney and Bryan. He was about to interrupt their conversation, and the dog noticed him strangely and bit his leg. Mint did not wince. The owner found his dog. Then, he cuddles it. The owner said, “He is not like that. It is my first time seeing him that way. What is your name?”

Mint looked at him. “Not interest.”

The owner and his dog walked their morning routine. Mint has an idea to kill a dog. “Um, I am not sure about that. Nightly creatures do not kill animals. They only hunt the females at night. That means I kill the lady and the baby for sure. What about the male next to the female? They look like siblings.”

He followed right behind Brittney and Bryan. Bryan sensed to turn and protect his sister from Mint. Bryan cannot recall the one last night. Brittney said, “You--”

Mint said, “I want to talk, that is all.”

Bryan scratched his head while Brittney asked, “Do you believe in the Backrooms?”

Mint froze, “The Backrooms? That is too scary to talk about at first. I think I heard about something big lurking around there to scare us away.”

Brittney agreed, “Yes, I found someone who understands this.”

Bryan was in disbelief. “I am not taking you there, Brittney.”

“Come one, just for once. Once in a lifetime,” Brittney begged.

Mint turned around, and he could not stand the talking between these siblings. “It made me sick.”

After thirty minutes, Bryan said, “No, Brittney.”

Brittney looked at Mint’s back. She tapped his shoulder. “Can you take me to the Backrooms?”

Mint blushed. “Um, I can try.”

Bryan slapped his head with his hand. “That was not good,” He thought quietly.

Before the Backrooms, Brittney took Mint to a cafe. Bryan stayed on the watch. He sat near the window to look at how Mint treated his sister. Mint was not a hugger. Who was he? He was from out of town, Bryan thought.

Brittney gave Mint a minty coffee. She had her favorite coffee with cinnamon toast and whipped cream. She even got a second cup with vanilla cappuccino for Bryan. He does not like sugars much. She paid at the registration. They sat together drinking coffee except for Mint. He expected himself to drink water or juice, not caffeine. He drank it without looking at their faces.

He said forcefully, “I like the taste of it.” Still, remained the bitter taste after his talk. I do not like this stuff in my mouth. I want refreshments! He thought.

“Good,” Brittney smiled. He was dreaming of kissing her on the lips. She was so adorable. Bryan snapped his fingers. Mint was back in his seat. He said, “Do not mind my behavior.”

Bryan gave a tip of $5 on the table. The trio exited the cafe. It was about to rain. Mint pushed the siblings to the building with a roof. Bryan said, “Right, I do not bring an umbrella.”

“He saved us,” Brittney said.

“My name is Mint,” Mint recalled his name.

“Mint, are you from this town?” Bryan asked.

“No, I am from a couple of minutes away from here. My father lets me be here for a while.”

Brittney asked curiously, “So are you looking for a new life?”

“Maybe,” Mint shrugged.

“Does your father worries you a lot?” Bryan asked.

“Nah,” Mint answered.

Meanwhile, a big reptile underneath the town of Safe Haven, searching for rainwater. It pushed through the clean water of the lake. It breathed and tasted the water. It was located in the lake, very far from Mint. Mint sensed where it was going through his nostrils. “Man, this stinks,” he said quietly.

“I am bored,” Brittney said. “Plus, I want to go to the Backrooms just for a peek.”

Mint went in the rain to see if the rain affected him in any way. No claws, no blood, no sneezing. Nothing. His hands raised the dark clouds. Brittney came to grab him and put him under the same roof as Bryan. She said, “You will get sick.”

Mint said, “Nothing has affected just yet.”

Brittney rolled her eyes. “This has happened to me before. I get sick after it rains.”

Supposedly, the giant reptile will destroy Mint but did not come for him. Where is that big creature in Safe Haven? Or is the town safer enough that it did not come through here?

The giant reptile was bathing in the rain with its mouth open. It was chilling and soaking wet. It forgot to bother Buttercup. Plus, the creature did not hurt Mint or any nightly creature during the day. Free pass, everyone!

When the rainbow appeared overhead, Brittney got excited to take a picture on her cellphone. Mint was outside without a roof, waiting for the siblings to move. They went home first. Bryan took a shower while Brittney sneezed into her elbow. Mint found the box of Kleenex for her. She took the napkin and blew her nose. “I am getting sick,” she said.

Bryan came out and gave the cough drops to her. Mint thought was candy pops. He got one and tasted it. He threw it up into the trash can. Brittney got one and soaked it in her mouth. Bryan said, “You should not go to the Backrooms today.”

“I know.”

Mint went to the kitchen sink to wash his mouth. He grabbed a paper towel to wipe his mouth. He stared at the window and thought it was his father. Wait, it was not him. He looks like his father, but not so much.

Bryan entered the kitchen and found Mint staring at the window. He explained it was the gardener who tended their garden. Mint thought of something else. Bryan found his hands, one of his fingers had a long fingernail. He decided against saying it out loud. He went to the living to check on his sister. He said, “It was the same stranger last night.”

Brittney sneezed loudly. “Sorry, I did not mean to. What did you say?”

He whispered in her ear, “It was the same stranger last night.”

“Right now, he is a nice person. I liked him, though.”

Mint asked, “Where are the snacks?”

Bryan looked at him. “Ask permission first. I will get them for you. I do not want germs in my house.”

Mint sat next to Brittney. Bryan went to find the packets of snacks in the drawers. He picked some gummies, goldfish, and candies to serve in the living room. When he returned, Mint put an arm around Brittney, who stopped him not to touch her. Bryan dropped the snacks on the table in front of them. Mint was looking at him. Bryan said, “There are the snacks. Enjoy.”

He went away to his room to do his work inside. Mint wondered where he went, so he asked Brittney. She said, “He works virtually.”

“For money?”

“He makes lots of money. But not rich yet. He is learning to do digital business online and still works for clients. It is a stressful job for him.”

Mint was curious, “May I look at his work?”

“He expects to be alone all the time.”

It seemed like a long silence in the house. Brittney was asleep on Mint’s lap. Mint blushed and moved her head to the sofa carefully. He grabbed a blanket from another room and covered it on her body. She sounded asleep. The door opened. It was Bryan.

He came to check on his sister. He found that there was a cover on her body. He wondered who did it. “Mint,” Bryan said.

Mint looked at him. “What?”

“Thanks for taking care of my sister.”

“It is my first time seeing her like this.”

“Have you met any girl in your life?”

“Uh--” Mint’s jaw was left hanging open. He remembered he killed his sister. The fear in his mind was a nightly creature that ended her misery. If he killed Brittney, that would be heartbroken for Bryan, her brother. “No,” he said.

“I only cared for Brittney and nobody else. Not even the neighbors around here. They were too normal for me.”

“Normal, you say?” Mint said awkwardly. He did not mean to say, “Hello, nightly creatures welcome to the town.” His thought stopped quickly.

Bryan turned his feet to his room and continued working on the business. Mint took a peek into his room. Bryan was sitting on the chair by the desk. He looked stressed over the paperwork and laptop. He constantly checked for updates and talked to clients who were rude to him. Mint took a sign to kill whoever was on the phone or online chat.

Then, Bryan glanced at Mint by the doorway. Mint went away. He knew it was him. Later, he got yelled at by the client, who was still annoyed by his silence. He said, “I am listening.”

“You are not listening. I want a refund.”

Bryan sat there in shock. After the refund, he turned off the devices that he used for the work. Then, he stood and stretched. He went to see Mint, who was not in the living room with his sister. He wondered what did he go. He swiped the curtains. Outside was dark.

Mint sprints to the house wanting to kill the lady first. He was so excited that he bumped into the same tree. He stood quickly and found the house right away. He looked for an entrance. It took longer than ten minutes. He was about to give up when the dog snatched his leg. This time, the owner was not nearby. His claws stabbed the small mammal. He threw it in the flower beds. Mint said, “No nightly creature will kill one. I already did it to satisfy myself.”

Mint found the back door and opened it. He saw no one. Then he went to the room, where Cream slept in the crib. The lady was sleeping on the bed. He wanted to end both lives at once. So he did.

It was morning, he woke on the floor with blood all around him. He frantically washed them away in the sink and changed clothes into a toga and a golden wreath on his head. He felt better and fresh. He took the clothes to put them in the washing machine and turned the machine on. He went to the back of the house and hid before anyone suspected him. He went to another house where the siblings at. He knocked on the door with one hand. Bryan opened the door and found Mint in a toga. Mint said, “I came back.”

Bryan let him in. Mint sat on the chair in front of the window. Bryan closed the door and asked him why he was wearing that. Mint answered, “I feel like wearing that today.”

Brittney woke up and sat on the sofa. She removed the blanket to stand on the ground with the slippers. She looked at Mint first and blushed. Bryan said, “He wanted to wear it today.”

She embraced her brother, who was astonished. She said, “You dressed him up, right?”

Bryan looked at Mint, who nodded. Bryan lied, “I think so.”

“We are playing dress-up now,” Brittney was excited.

Bryan went to his room and continued his work. Brittney groaned, “He always did that to me. Plus, he was stressed.”

Mint said, “Let him be. I can take you to the--”

They heard the scream outside. It was the owner who found his dog dead near the house across from the block. Mint forced Brittney to tell Bryan to come with him to the Backrooms. Brittney obeyed, and Bryan drove the car while Brittney had the map and MInt was hiding in the back. He did not want to get exposed to the dog owner at any second.

The car drove off. The owner cried at the corpse. He did not try to report it to the police. Not many cars went to the highway or the quiet streets. Bryan got worried about the directions. Brittney said, “The map is leading us the way.”

Mint appeared in between the front seats. “I can see we are going the right way.”

“Have you been there?” Bryan asked.

“No, but I felt I was in a place like this one described in the books or some videos. But never actually went in there.”

“I wondered if this is real,” Brittney squealed.

Before the car parked in the parking lot, a yellow building was on the horizon. The building contained many floors and fewer windows to look inside the rooms. So it was a giant block against the ground and the sky. That made Bryan’s hairs on end and Mint’s teeth chatter.

The car is parked in front of a building. Bryan helped to open the door for Brittney. Mint was the last to come out of the vehicle. He sensed the building that contained a reptile and death for him. Brittney moved first with excitement. She was ahead of the guys on the sidewalk towards the first floor. Her hand was on the knob.

Mint shouted, “Do not go just yet.”

Brittney swung the door open and got swallowed inside. Bryan screamed her name and ran after her. Mint sighed deeply. “I knew it when I said do not go.” Without fear, he entered his feet first, then got swallowed, and the door closed immediately.

Silence fills in the corridors, something lurking in the shadows. The creature was not near the people. It was chilling in the tunnel for water and food.

Brittney was in room 1. Bryan was in room 2. Mint was in room 3. They were separate from the group earlier. Brittney took out the cell phone and took pictures of the yellow walls and floors. She wanted to keep the new record in history.

Bryan sat on the floor and cried for Brittney. He was next to her room but seemed more interested in crying out loud. Mint heard his cries and ran out of room 3. He was on the path leading to the darkness. He felt the chills climb his spine and thought to hold onto something like metal, but the walls had yellow patterns. “This place is sickening,” he said.

He heard the cries from the right. He knocked on the wall gently. Bryan stopped and asked, “Who is there?”

“Mint!” the familiar voice said.

“Get me out of here!”

“Stay calm.”

Bryan swallowed the stuff in his throat. He wanted to be calm and quiet like Mint. Mint grabbed his collar. Both were in the path. Bryan gasped. Two looked at the dark ahead of themselves. Bryan said, “I need to be in the lit area.”

“Same for me.”

“Oh, we had to find Brittney.”

They paused and heard the cell phone click many times as if taking photos in one place. Mint’s eyes squinted. He went for the room next to Bryan’s. It was solid rock. Mint looked at Bryan for help. Bryan took out a pocket knife and went for a cut in the wall, which sliced the patterns crookedly.

While Bryan did his best to cut the wall open, Mint’s teeth were chattering again. Mint felt so nervous that he looked into the darkness for the reptile. It was nothing for a while. He expected that to come out and time to run for his life.

Bryan called out to Brittney, who took the picture of him in the opening. She said, “You look funny, Bryan.”

“It is not the time to laugh at me,” he said.

Mint tapped his shoulder. “You should hide.”

Bryan was about to turn, and Mint pushed him, so Bryan landed on the floor beside Brittney’s shoes. Mint stood frozen in front of a giant reptile. Its snout sniffed MInt’s new smell. His eyes moved to the eyes of the creature. Their eyes locked for a short while.

The creature reads, “That one looks pretty, who wears a white robe around her torso and a crown on her head. She is the girl that I caught her hands before.”

The claws grabbed Mint’s torso. The creature put him in the room with the bag of books. Mint gasped at those items on the floor. The claws patted his head gently with a smile. Mint avoided its gaze. “He will know that I was a nightly creature at night. No kidding,” he thought.

Then, the creature moved away to the darkness. Mint turned to see where it was going. He found the void around the room. “How the creature moved swiftly without touching the walls? Do not say it was unimaginative!”

He waited till nightfall. With his claws, he can go out and find-- He turned to the bag of books. He put the book from the floor in the bag. “You know what, I will take this as well. I think Buttercup needs it soon.” He put the strap over his shoulder. He looked like a Greek goddess with a bag going to school.

Meanwhile, in room 1, Brittney sat with Bryan, whose hand still holding the pocket knife. He was calm, but he thought Mint was taken by the unknown. He wanted to find him in the Backrooms alone. Brittney reassured him to stay calm and waited for him.

Bryan said, “I doubt it this time.” With that in mind, he stood. His arm extended towards the opening. He was ready to kill who harmed Mint. There was a pause between his standing and the path. Bryan was supposed to lay with Brittney until the coast was clear. If he moved, he would be snatched away and alerted by his sister in seconds.

Brittney took the sign quietly as she pulled his shirt towards her body. He fell as the knife pointed toward her chin. He put it away in his pants. Both heard the rumble from the path. The reptile passed for the entrance, but it came in room 2. It was silent and smelled a guy, who was in there for a short time. “Guy?” it thought. “Who was the guy? Did the girl bring her significant other?”

Then, the creature turned towards room 1. It stared right into the opening and thought. “Do I go in and snatch the girl? The girl smells great. I already kept her. The guy was her significant other. I want to snatch him first.”

Bryan’s thoughts were screaming, “That one is ugly and black. So that one harms Mint. No way!”

The reptile snatched Bryan’s leg. Brittney screamed while Bryan used the knife to cut off the claws. It was hard to cut them in seconds. The reptile swung his body to room 2. It turned, and its tail broke the walls to hurt Bryan on the floor.

Brittney got up and ran to take a picture of the reptile. She was not afraid to send it to social media for help. Many clicks afterward, the tail pushed her cell phone away from her hand. The phone crashed into the floor. The screen is broken. She snatched it quickly and tried to work the phone on.

She looked up as the tail smashed her body flatly. Bryan moved to a safer spot to get the creature’s attention. It moved around, and its claws went straight for his torso. Bryan jumped over its limp and climbed towards its left eye. Without a breath, he put the knife into the eye socket of the creature, which rumbled the Backrooms. Bryan fell and stood to help his sister to get up. “We should find Mint, and we get out of here.”

Then, the creature was asleep for five minutes. They were in the path. Then, they moved toward the darkness. Then, they were in the lit hallways, one for each direction.

Bryan chose the north side. They went further now, two hallways on both left and the right. Bryan chose the right side. After a long puzzling walk, they stopped before the room where Mint was with the bag.

Mint turned to see them through the void. He waved at them. Bryan and Brittney waved. Mint stood and figured to get out of there. “But how?” he asked.

The siblings ran off in another direction and hid in the closest room. The reptile passed them by a hair. Bryan’s heart beat faster, and he was breathing hard. I could not believe I was terrified of this monster who captured Mint! He thought anxiously.

Mint searched for gaps to get out of the room. There was one gap that led to the void. “Death,” he said. He looked up at the reptile’s eyes.

“What did you say, girl?” it asked.

Mint cannot hear its thought process. He looked around and sat on the floor, head down to pretend to look miserable. He even adds his hand over his head. The creature looked away and chased the sound outside of the Backrooms.

Night falls by now. Mint looked at the ceiling for clues. No clues. He stood and teleported to the lit pathway. His hands transformed into claws to scratch the walls and floors to make them less sickening for him. He moved onto the rooms to look for Bryan and Brittney, both were in a small room. So tight they could not breathe well.

They were about to pass out when Mint found them in the room. He led them in the path. Brittney breathed first and stood. Bryan was having trouble breathing. Brittney gave the pill to his mouth. Mint was about to ask how she even got the medication out of nowhere.

Brittney gave her brother the bottled water. Bryan swallowed the pill and water together. Mint thought, “Perfect timing.”

Bryan breathed more, and Brittney embraced him on the floor. Mint heard the thuds behind him. He put the siblings in another room from the scent of the reptile. Mint was on the path that led to it. He said, “Come and get me!”

“What? Are you still a girl?” it asked curiously. “If you are a girl, why you sounded like a man?”

Mint rushed to scratch its snout. The creature was shocked. He then scratched its back deeply. Now, he landed right behind its tail. The creature was too astonished that a thought came to mind slowly, “I thought she was a girl in a dress.”

The creature faced him. Mint moved out of the way before the tail slammed him. Mint was at the other end of the path to scratch the scales. The tail pushed him and Mint’s back was on the wall. The creature sniffed his torso and found his claws attached to his arms. “Nightly creature! You did not look like a girl. Where is the girl?” its thought screamed.

Mint found its left eye had a knife in there. Despite this, he said, “You are dumber than you think. You scared so many nightly creatures at one time. You are… not me. You are still in darkness without the light. You seek something to catch and put it far away that I cannot reach. You better be smarter than this.” He showed the creature the bag of books. He jumped down and ran to the other side. The creature chased after him.

He found the nearest room and hid there. The creature passed quickly. Mint came out and ran to the other side. He found the room, where the siblings were. Mint said, “Run!”

Bryan turned and followed Brittney and Mint out of the room. Trio was in room 1. Mint took the hands of Bryan and Brittney to their house. He warned them before leaving, “Stay safe.”

Brittney looked at him. “You are leaving! You can stay here.”

Mint said, “I need to go now.”

They waved their goodbyes. Mint left without a trace. He paused at the block, the police were investigating the house where the lady and her baby Cream lived, and even the dog passed away. He quickly sprinted out of Safe Haven. He wondered where the truck went.

Without wasting time, he vanished with the bag of books to the trees. He jumped from tree to tree to avoid the people and the creature. He had to be in the house, where his father was.

In the Backrooms, the creature’s left eye was in pain with the knife, while the right eye was in good condition. It stood slowly and wondered where the nightly creature went. He was gone with the rest of the people. It went back to the room, where the bag and books disappeared. It rumbled the corridors and Safe Haven.

“Oh, no,” Bryan hugged Brittney. “It is still alive. I should have cut the meat.”

“Calm down, Bryan. We are fine,” Brittney said.

The dog owner wondered what is the noise, “It is maybe a killer,” he thought. The ground ripped open, so the reptile appeared to sniff and find its enemy. Before it could do that, it stopped at the house, where the dog owner spoke to the corpse of his dog.

The creature ate it as the owner looked suspicious. “Hey, you!”

Then, it turned to eat him as well. The town felt scared and ran off in different directions, except for Brittney and Bryan. The gardener knocked on their door and shouted, “The big one is coming. You should run!”

Bryan looked shocked, “We have to run.”

The gardener escaped while the siblings were astonished at the creature’s size across from the block. Bryan’s car was parked in front of the Backrooms, and he knew no time to get there. He held hands with Brittney to leave Safe Haven. Brittney said, “We should follow Mint.”

“We can try.”

Before Mint stepped on the town, he paused and sniffed. He turned to the siblings, who ran after him. Mint asked, “I say--”

Brittney explained, “The big is on the loose. People are scared of that.”

Mint led the siblings to the town and the house. He waited for the morning comes. His claws disappeared, and he knocked on the door. His father opened it for him. His face had so many band-aids. His father said, “Not wanting to talk about it for now. Son, you are back.”

“I am back with more people.”

“Oh?” His father glanced at them. “You can come in.”

The siblings sat by the dining table. His father gave them juice in the glasses. Mint stood by the door and said, “The big creature is on the loose, dad.”

“Not a good sign for Hooker.”

“Where is Hooker by any chance?”

The house was silent. Then, the electric lamp fell onto the floor. His father grunted, “The creature is scaring us all.”

Mint went to the back of the house to find Hooker and me talking about his father. Hooker said, “I must watch over him and get punished.”

“Mint will be angry once he gets home and hurts you.”

Mint stood there until I noticed him in the doorway. I looked daze, and Hooker turned his head. “Mint?”

Mint just looked at me in silence. Then, he looked at Hooker. He looked away as Hooker grabbed his arm, which made the boy turn and shout in his face, “You hurt my father.”

“The male children did to him due to their loss of their mother and daughter.”

“You did not prevent them.” Mint went away. Hooker walked after him to the table. I was behind him.

Hooker explained in more depth to MInt, who ignored him. I stopped Hooker so Mint has space. His father waited for his son by the door, and both went outside to talk. We stood by the wall in silence.

Mint said, “You should have stayed with me in Safe Haven.”

“I thought you would have a vacation there away from the boring life of being a nightly creature.”

“It did not stop there. It continued to grow in me at night, in the Backrooms. I was there to help Brittney and Bryan out of the trap.”

His father tapped his shoulder. “You did great. But I was hurt by the male children, who were told by Hooker to just hurt my face because I let you run away from our town. I tried to hide the truth. But male children just wanted me so badly injured or dead.”

Mint formed his fist, “That’s it. I am going in and kill them!”

His father said, “It is daylight, son.”

Mint realized this when he saw the grass shaded by trees around the yard. It was daytime. “I wish it is nighttime.”

At the table, Brittney and Bryan found us by the doorway. Bryan whispered about wanting to talk to me about what was going on between Mint and his father. Brittney said, “Sure, why not?”

Bryan approached me. He asked, “I cannot stop thinking about Mint and his father. Are they fine?”

I said, “Hopefully, they are fine.”

Hooker got a little discomfort from Bryan’s atmosphere. Hooker snarled at him to get away from me. Bryan looked at him and said, “Sorry to interrupt. We are not from here. We are from the town of Safe Haven. My sister Brittney and I were running from something big.”

I said, “The reptile?”

“Yes, ma’am,” he said.

I sighed, “I had to deal with it soon.”

“How soon?”

Hooker grabbed his collar and snarled, “Get away from my marked.”

Brittney saw it and prevented these men with her hands in between them. “Do not fight. We just got back from the town, and we want to rest.”

“She is right,” Bryan agreed.

Hooker said, “Get out of my sight!”

The siblings sat by the table and drank their juices quietly. It reminded me of Bubbles, Mint’s sister, and my friend. I wanted to talk to them about my friendship with Bubbles, but Hooker grabbed my hand. He said, “Do not go there. You have business with the reptile.”

“Let’s go outside.” Hooker opened the door for me. We both saw Mint and his father talking in the yard. I approached them and said, “Are you two right?”

Mint looked at me. “What are you doing here interrupting the sweetest moments with my father?”

His father said, “Let her be.”

“Dad, do not.”

I sighed, “At least you two are fine.”

“But, why not control your boyfriend’s actions towards my father? He is the one who started it all.”

Hooker was under a shade and ignored his blabbering. I looked at him, and he was silent. Then looked back at Mint’s toga and wreath. “How do you get this?”

Mint observed briefly. “I got them from the house in Safe Haven. I stole the clothes so I could wear this.”

My eyes went to the bag of books. “May I have these?”

Mint gave that to me. I searched through one book. It reads, “Soon, the creature will look for its love interest in a toga and wreath.” I gasped.

Mint gave the stolen clothes to my hands. I said, “That is quick.”

“It got me in the Backrooms, yesterday. I do not want to be the lost child in that particular room.”

“What room?” I said anxiously.

“The very last one surrounded by the voids.”

“Let’s finish this task.” I wore the toga and wreath. I looked a bit taller than the toga.

Mint smiled, “You look good in that dress.”

Hooker and I went to my house while Mint and his father entered their house. He was in the shade with arms crossed. I put my hands above the mud. The creature sensed it and grabbed my hands. Before it pulled me into the mud, I found something wrong with the creature. “Its left eye damage,” I said.

“I do not care!” Hooker said.

“Girl?” it said.

“Me?” I was confused.

“I saw her in the Backrooms earlier.”

“Huh?”

“The one in toga and wreath.”

“How?”

Hooker found me staying above the mud too long in the sun. He shouted, “What taking you so long?”

“The reptile is describing the girl in a toga and wreath. Is it talking about the goddess in Greek mythology?”

Hooker’s face was silent. Surprisingly, the claws released my hands. I was about to ask another question. The creature was gone from the mud. It appeared on the surface, its eyes locked on mine.

The tail pushed me away as Hooker was right behind me. He said, “I think you should move it to the tunnel.”

I sighed and led the creature to its home. The creature’s tongue stuck out like a dog's. I ignored that sign. I do not want to lick by the venom.

I said by the tunnel. “You stay here. Do not move around.”

“You are the girl from the Backrooms!” it said.

I blinked at it. “Girl? Do you mean the marked one? Or the goddess from the Greeks?”

“You!”

I just walked away and mind my own business. The creature followed me. It was looking for me the whole time. I stopped by the fountain, where Bubbles died. I turned around and the tongue licked my face. “I found you, girl! Can you stay with me for the night?”

I showed confusion on my face. “The- Oh, I was your girl. No kidding,” I giggled softly.

It was about to lick my face twice. I fell on the grass. I put my hand out. “Do not do this again. Please.”

“I cannot wait. You know what I mean.” It was slightly angered.

I thought of being flat like a pancake on a cooking pan. It can do that again. If it did, I am not your love interest or whatever it thinks of me. I can. I need help to get rid of this creature.

“What do you mean to get rid of me?” it asked.

I was shocked for a hot minute. My feet gave away. I escaped from the tongue. I ran around the town. So the creature would fall into the tunnel or mud. My thoughts said while I ran, “Come on, creature. You will get tired soon. Once you get tired, you need some sleep and forget about me until night.”

“I won’t!” it ran faster than my legs.

I found my house with sharp tools. I ran towards them as Hooker rushed to put me on the side. The creature paused before the installation of pointed items. It looked confused and returned to the tunnel. My heart beats faster. I do not want to think or say at the moment. Plus, I cannot sweat.

Hooker said, “It ran after you. What did you do to the creature?”

I looked at him, still in shock. “I-I-I. I do not know. It can read my mind.” I pointed my head with my finger.

“It goes against you if you are not careful.”

“I am scared to be marked! Can you unmark me, please?” I bent my knees down, and my head bent over my body. I looked defeated once.

Hooker knelt and caught my shoulders. “Buttercup, I marked you because you must lead the nightly creatures to kill it tonight.”

“Does it work for whoever you marked on?”

“I did it once on you. You carry out your saying.”

“Please, unmark me!”

Hooker stood and walked into my house and locked the door. Well, I was here in my lonely spot under a roof. I had to figure out myself.

I slept through the day until it was dark. The reptile came for me. My body was untouched on the grass. Its tongue licked my face. I did not feel anything. Then, I was snatched away and put in the Backrooms, back in the Safe Haven.

I felt the floor cold and hard. My eyes opened, and it was the yellow room. I sat up quickly, turning my head. There was no reptile on site. I was relieved, but I looked at the bag of books. I grabbed one for the solutions. But there were no solutions. “These books are not helping me at all. But why help only in the beginning when Bubbles and her mother are alive.”

Oh, I began to cry. The reptile sensed moisture at the back, so it came and licked my face. My hand pushed its tongue. “I am not crying.”

It stared at me. It said, “No crying allowed!”

“Because I am a girl.” I cleared my throat. “I am a young lady. I can cry whatever I want. I do not understand the books that were written long ago. You may like somebody else in the past.”

“I can tell you why I was here in the tunnel and the Backrooms. I am one scary reptile with thick claws. Who is trying to figure out the truth.”

“I am here,” I said.

“Listen carefully, I will say it once. Let’s begin before your town existed. The lady that looks like you, but in a more fashionable way. She was smart and very eager to find me. Her purpose was to extract DNA from me while I slept with a drug.

“I thought it was no problem after she got my DNA. But I realized I was in the yellow room like this one, but bigger and quieter. I was scared and fought my way out to find that culprit.

“It took a very long time since she disappeared. I have no idea where she went. She might have covered her tracks with trash smells, a floral perfume, or mixed chemicals to make me dizzy.

“I went back to the Backrooms, dug out to the tunnel, where your town existed. I finally found she worked on my DNA in her laboratory. By the way, I hate scientists or professionals, who stole information without consent.”

Its tongue clicked, and its tail slammed on the floor. Its left eye with a knife moved a bit. “My eyes used to work well and see well about the information she took from me. She was so excited to make into known for the town to expect of my existence. She even said about making more of me.”

I raised my hand, “This is horrible.”

“It is horrible. How could she make offspring of me? If I were the only one existed. I do not have parents or siblings as humans do. No genders as well.”

“How can you eat and live during those times?” I asked.

“Unexpectedly, I ran away from the town and ate the normal stuff which were fish and smaller reptiles. I lived in deep water, mud, and anywhere that contained moisture. But I did not threaten yet until she revisited me in the tunnel. How she got there? What a spy!

“She had her lab coat and nerdy glasses and high heels. She was not pretty, I assumed. Anyways, she carried a big syringe of sleeping drugs. I escaped to the Backrooms.

“I hoped she skipped the Backrooms and back to the lab with nothing. Instead, she brought a whole team of scientists to capture me in a big net. I was abducted by the drug she put into my side.

“It seemed like an eternity. I woke in the sunlight. One figure appeared and said, ‘Welcome to the lab.’

“I lashed my tongue and moved my tail to kill anyone close to me. I was in a cage with sharp tools ready to… Just like you put around the house, girl.

“Either way, they wanted me dead for sure. But why needed I to make more of myself? Funny, they laughed.

“I rattled the cage as my tongue found the light switch to turn it off. It was dark. The lady showed up and turned it on. I was in front of her. She said, ‘Calm down, guy.’

“I want to say ‘I am not a guy. I am a reptile without people.’

“She walked towards the computer to type out stuff I did not understand. I attached her with my tongue. She fell unconscious. The scientists ambushed me with fire or some chemicals into my lungs. I fell asleep again.

“If I did not sleep, I would have destroyed their data about me, and I am sending myself free. Reality took its turn for the worst. I was in the yellow room, back in the Backrooms.

“The lady ended up alive and continued experimenting on me for DNA and other information. As a result, she created a new creature that was similar to me, but smaller with thin claws, and they only came at night, known as the nightly creatures.”

I blinked. It said, “Since the creation, I was their archenemy. Hooker, who was the first to come forward in the room. I scratched his face with my claws to remember to get away from me at all costs.”

I swung the bag over my shoulder and threw it at the snout. I do not want to hear more stories from the creature. My back was to the creature. It said, “You see the truth. That is unchangeable, but I lived with that up to this point to share it with you.”

I crossed my chest and thought about how Hooker came to scratch my right thigh and even hurt Bubbles a month a week ago. Why did Hooker want to do that? All he wanted was to mark one female to lead his nightly creatures to hunt the creature down. But that is not all. He did not hear half of the truth from the creature or their creator. Is she still alive? I asked out loud.

“Sadly, she never appeared in the laboratory. Perhaps, dead. The town knew me and the nightly creatures coexist, but we never lived in harmony.”

“It is troublesome,” I said. “Have you met Bubbles and her mother?”

“I sensed that her mother had the books the author wrote about me and the nightly creatures’ existence. The books were old and not used. I would not believe every word of it. The books were outdated and chicken scratched by the townspeople. All gibberish.”

“I disagreed with you, reptile.” I turned to face it. “I saw some facts there. I read some to the nightly creatures and even about you.”

It stood taller than me. I thought I would run. It said, “You believe every word that the author wrote. You are no longer with me. You are not the girl I was looking for!”

I looked into the voids. I could not wait to be in the human world. I perched between the supports and fell into the abyss.

Did I see Bubbles in her usual outfit? The big band-aid on her right thigh lost adhesiveness on her skin when she ran toward me. I did not expect her appearance to glow and dream. Is she real? Do I hug her? Do I cry?

We were in a big hug. She touches my body with all the strength she has, and her heart beats normally. She has showered and shampoo usually. She is with the knowledge and kept me safe from the nightly creatures.

“Run, Buttercup!”

“To where?”

“Go to your house.”

I was in the pitch black hole. “Where do I go? Then, where is my house? Where is the door? Where is the window? Where is the ground? Is this real?”

“Just run!”

I looked at her. Then, the reptile, the same one I saw earlier ate her up. My mouth opened. I could not scream her name. The reptile ate her entire body. Her blood spilled over the darkness.

Then, her mother rushed to hide somewhere. I cannot move. I cannot say anything. Her mother came out with the books saying to expel the monster, which finished eating and turned to her. It stared at her awhile.

Her mother said to make it gone and never come to the town. As a result, the creature ate her up. I wanted to move.

“Poke! Buttercup.” The snarling voice called me.

I slept more and wanted to find out more about the alternative ending for Bubbles and her mother. The ending is supposed to be good, not sad. Bubbles and her mother would be alive and well. I smiled at the bed while my eyes shut. Hooker was feeling impatient.

He removed the blankets from the bed. My hand was searching for the blankets. It touched his leg by accident. He snarled and scratched my right hand. I woke suddenly and saw my right-hand bleeding. “Not again,” I said.

I sat on the bed, and he looked at me coldly. His teeth were sharp. I did not look at him. I looked at the door. I got up and twisted the knob. There was no body of Bubbles. I turned to the nightly creature, who froze.

I remembered the scratch marks on my right thigh, limping down the stairs, jumping out of the house, and looking for the hose to choke on his neck. He even hurts Bubbles across from the house. He- he should have…

Hooker was on the floor looking up. I followed his eyes wider than his scars. He seemed worried about me. Then, I saw the bed with blankets. I went to bed, and he caught me. He said, “Stop sleeping too much. You have slept the entire day!”

“I want to fix the ending for Bubbles and her mother,” I said sheepishly.

He kissed my head. “You are not dead. But the creature is on the loose. Buttercup, you need to do it now!”

I said, “That creature rejects me. I am not. Whatever.”

“Let’s get the others in your house.” Hooker left the house. I froze and moved downstairs to wash my hands. Instead of thick claws appearance, it was water streaming down on my hands as if the creature did not matter to hurt me anymore.

Hooker landed on the porch of Mint’s house. He heard stuff between Brittney, Bryan, Mint, and his father talking about how Hooker brought the kids to hurt his father. Hooker felt it was necessary to finish off. So he called the children to come over and kill Mint.

Then, there was a knock heard on the door. Mint’s father took notice of the savage children. He locked the door with a special lock. His eyes say it all, “Run, everyone!”

Bryan came to the door to remove the locks and found the children on the porch. He said, “They look innocent.”

Mint wore the usual clothes. He looked thinner than he wore the toga and wreath. He said, “Close the door!”

Bryan let them into the house just like his sister swallowed into the Backrooms without warning. Mint and his father ran to the back and opened the back door. His father closed the door carefully. Hooker was waiting for them. His arms crossed his chest. He said, “Running away from your punishment, you are supposed to fight them without cowardice.”

Mint said, “Let us go.”

“Never!”

“Where is your girlfriend, Buttercup?” Mint asked.

“Do not mind her.”

“She may be missing you out.”

“She passed out from meeting the creature. She needs time to rest.”

“Did she die?” Mint asked.

Hooker grabbed his throat while his father kicked him. The males struggled on the ground. Mint was choking while his father punched and kicked Hooker’s back. Hooker wanted Mint to die first.

Meanwhile, the children were in the house searching for Mint. Instead, they found Brittney sitting by the table. They went for a hug. One nightly creature put a broom in front of her so the kids touched the hay. He said, “A girl like you should run because these savages are ruining our lives here.”

“What do you mean ruining our lives? You mean they were not innocent.”

Then, the broom was half broken. “You better escape,” he said.

Brittney ran towards Bryan. Both went outside and figured out what happened inside the house. They were confused and ran another block to get away from misshapenness.

I was on the porch. I saw them running passed my house. I wondered what was going on. I checked on them. They were escaping from Mint’s house. I caught up to Brittney and Bryan, who almost got a heart attack. I said, “What happened at Mint’s house?”

Brittney said it first, “The children were breaking the broom--”

“We ran,” Bryan explained.

“I will go there and take care of the problem.” I was in front of Mint’s house. I went in slowly and found a nightly creature fighting against the male children. I put myself in between them and shouted, “Stop!”

The children bite the chair. One of them slapped his head, the piece of a chair thrown on the floor. The nightly creature on my left side, said, “They started the fight.”

“Children, just chill.”

They looked at me with wide eyes. They thought I was their mother. I said, “Leave or get eaten by the reptile.”

The children walked away with tears on their faces. I looked at the nightly creature on my left. He caught his breath and said, “First time seeing you protect the nightly creatures from hurting themselves.”

I heard the shouts from the back of the house. I rushed to open the door and found Mint beating Hooker with the flower pot while his father kicked him in the legs. I pushed Mint and his father out of the way. “You should not be doing this to Hooker!”

“Who comes to save the day?” Mint turned, frowning. “Is just Buttercup the marked on?”

“Why are you hurting Hooker?”

His father said bluntly, “Hooker is the one to blame for starting a fight against my son.”

I observed Hooker on the grass. His face was more scarier than his scars. He looked almost unrecognizable. I pulled him off the ground. He looked at me with sad eyes. Then, he walked away from me. “Hooker!” I called after him.

Mint almost said to himself, “He thought he lost you.”

“What? Are you playing dumb? You and your father should step out of the town or get eaten by the reptile.”

“Why did you do that to me?” Mint asked. “Plus, you are wearing the toga and wreath to look miserable.”

I looked down to my feet, then to my upper body. I removed the wreath from my head and put it down. Next to the wreath was the toga. I was in my used dress since everything happened a week ago. Plus, I had not showered. I said, “Leave or die.”

Mint and his father went away. His father drove the trunk, which contained a quarter of fuel. It took them a few minutes to leave the town and be in Safe Haven. What awaits them could be a reptile.

I sighed deeply and found Hooker on the porch of my house. His head down. I called after him. He looked up and then, he looked down. I approached him and touched his head. He snarled. “You are always hissing at me. Did I do wrong? Do you want to hurt me?”

His eyes locked on mine. “Mint says I will lose you.”

“I am here, Hooker.” I tapped on his head. He looked pissed, and I stopped before he could scratch my hand. “You are impatient at times. But I allowed the children, Mint, and his father to leave here or get eaten by a reptile.”

His eyes were on me. “Did you do what?”

“They leave or get eaten by a reptile,” I summarized.

There was silence between us until Brittney and Bryan showed up without warning. They spooked me. I fell as Hooker caught me. He said, “What is the yelling?”

They mumbled so quickly that we could not understand their words. We exchanged glances, and Hooker asked, “What seemed to be the trouble?”

Brittney said, “I saw the big one with scales and black skin roaming around the town.”

“It was chasing after someone,” Bryan explained.

“Chasing who?” I asked.

“Probably the small kid,” Brittney said.

We were silent while the children ran from the reptile. How are the children can get close to the creature? We never cared, except for Hooker.

Hooker showed up and scratched the giant reptile. Before he could do that, the children were moving toward him. Hooker moved out of the way, so they entered my house. I ran after them. Hooker turned, pushed by the tail. He went flying, and his torso hit the tree trunk. He shouted, “Come over here!”

The reptile ignored him, searching for the little kids to snack on. Hooker fell on the ground and caught after it. His claws stretched and sharpened to prepare for the battle.

Meanwhile, I found the kids grabbing whatever was sharp and went outside to continue the chase. I found this has to stop ruining the furniture. Brittney and Bryan moved out of the way as the kids looked like soldiers ready to battle the big one.

I went out and chased after them while the siblings were dumbfounded. Instead of waiting for me, they went inside to have a drink and relax.

The kids paused before the stop sign and wondered where the creature was. It was behind the trees gazing at them through the tiny holes of the trees. The kids moved as the creature’s mouth opened for one kid. They screamed as Hooker rushed to put a hose around its snout. The kids caught their breaths. Hooker landed on the ground and said, “You better not eat them alive!”

Its right eye glanced sharply, “I am hungry! I have not eaten a snack. I want snacks!”

I found the children next to Hooker. I abducted them with my arms. Then, I looked at Hooker’s back. It was firm. He stood at the creature, whose snout was closed by the same hose I used to choke Hooker. I released the children, who escaped to another block. I tapped his right arm and said, “Sorry, Hooker.”

“Now, it was not the time to chat, Buttercup.”

The creature then looked at me. My head was down. It reads carefully, “You are not what I think about. You are not…”

Hooker stabbed its right eye. “Stop giving her annoyance. I do not tolerate this type of trash talk.”

I looked up and shouted, “Be careful!”

Hooker was slammed to the ground by the tail. The hose unraveled the creature’s snout. The creature roared for the first time. It never sounded in centuries, I thought. The roar sounded like it was in pain and a dino or… a mixture of T-rex, crocodile, and snake for a big roar.

The giant fell on its side. It slept for approximately ten minutes. I moved Hooker to my house, and he lay on the sofa. He breathed calmly and gazed at the siblings. They were drinking refreshments. Hooker asked for a drink.

I moved first into the kitchen and grabbed a wine bottle for him. He said, “I do not drink wine.”

“Wine is cold, good for your health.”

“I want juice.”

I returned the bottle to the refrigerator. Brittney gave Hooker her glass of juice. “There you go, stranger.”

He grabbed it. She sat next to her brother, who finished drinking the juice. I came back to the table and found Hooker has a glass. Before I asked, I looked at Brittney’s empty hand. I rushed to the restroom and screamed. Hooker put the glass on the table and rush to find me. He knocked on the closed door. “Everything’s fine?” he asked, concerned.

I opened the door for him and pulled him into the restroom and did the unthinkable. I kissed him on his lips. He closed his eyes. I let go of him and said, “Just for a distraction, Hooker.”

“I thought the claws caught you off guard.”

“Hooker, have you marked me as your…” my voice trailed off. I expected him to finish my sentence.

He was silent. “I would have…” his tears fell on his face. “But I chose not to.”

“You would have what?” I raised my eyebrow.

“I would have stabbed you to death on your right thigh, but I did not fully grasp the idea of death while I was in bed. I looked too comfortable with the blankets around me. Cozy, it is. I did not feel warmth but cold outside in the dark. You sheltered me, and you have taken care of me.”

I was dazed. “Did I adopt him?” I thought quietly. “Did I adopt you by any chance?” I said the question out loud.

He kissed my cheek. “With love, it is.”

I realized the creature was awakened and moved blindly through the town in the dark. “We have to finish the giant!”

“Right.”

By the fountain, the giant reptile was drinking water. It expected more water to wash its face and snout. Also, it was expected the rain to wash its pains away. “Water is my element,” it says. “Nightly creatures are… faster than me. They are tiny. I can crush them all with my claws, tail, and body. I am bigger than their size. They cannot mess with the giant reptile for years. I lived longer!”

“I hear your doubts!” I said my thoughts out loud. I was beside its tail. The creature turned, its eyes closed with stuff. It cannot see me, but it can sense my presence.

“Where?” it was confused.

“Do you not see her?” Hooker asked.

“Where?” its claws touched my torso. “Breast?”

I was feeling uncomfortable. Hooker’s claws cut the creature’s claws. I was relieved, but that was short-lived. Hooker is thrown into the fountain’s water. The creature faced me. My mouth was crooked. “Do you know where I locate?”

“Here.” One of its claws pounded the ground a few feet away from me.

I shook my head, hoping it was wrong, and destroyed an area of ground. It did immediately. I moved to the left carefully, not to make any sound or smell toward it. I moved around to get to the fountain to reach for Hooker’s arms. I grabbed them. He was heavy, but I put him on the ground. He was lifeless.

I do CPR by pushing his core down like 30 compressions and two rescue breaths to force the water out of his mouth. He coughed water and sat up to look at me. “I thought I die.”

The creature was busy digging a hole, and the fountain tilted. Hooker grabbed me, and we moved out of the way. The fountain slides and hits the tail. The creature roared. We hid behind the bushes near the road.

The creature was roaring without patience. That was not cool. It should sit still and let the pain rush out like water or mud.

After a long time, the creature settled down and slept on the grass. I popped my head out and saw it slept. “Seriously!”

“Shhh. Do not wake the creature up.”

The creature slept forever until morning came. I brought an enormous crossbow from the tunnel. We have searched it an hour before. It was dusty but still workable to kill that thing. I was so excited to kill when Hooker was in front of me. He said, “Not yet.”

I wondered why he had to stop me from using the crossbow. He showed me the gigantic rubber bands to close the snout and legs. A giant staple gun pinned down the tail and limbs more. How was he going to pin the creature down?

“Stone slab,” he said.

“How can we move that creature out of here?” I asked, not sure.

“The kids will be the bait.”

“Okay.”

The male children arrived with ripped clothes. One of them put his butt towards the snout. The creature sneezed. So the children laughed and ran. The creature followed their scent into the stone slab several miles from the fountain. Hooker and I carried weapons and moved slowly. We took forever to get to the slab.

By noon, we made it to the slab, except for the blind creature, who was still chasing after the kids. The kids are supposed to be sitting on the slab and waiting for the reptile to come forth.

Hooker found the rotten meat somewhere and put it on the slab. The creature ate the meat and landed its tail on the slab. Hooker quickly put the rubber bands around its snout and legs. He shot the staple gun so the tail stayed on the slab. I moved the crossbow to the neck. One arrow shot through skin and flesh. The reptile struggled to be free.

The kids found it gruesome in my shooting ability. I shot one of them by his back. The other kid got angry and scratched my hands. Hooker got hold of that kid, and gunshot him. I moved to the front and shot another arrow into the chest. The heartbeats were louder and thunderous. Then, the slab cracked with the fallen creature into the metal trap below it.

Hooker and I got closer to the hole to see the devastated look on the creature’s death. “Done,” Hooker said.

“Now, Mint?” I asked, not forgetting about my revenge on this kid who killed my friend.

He looked at me. “Where do you send them to?”

“Either they leave or are eaten by the reptile.”

“They arrived at Safe Haven, a couple of minutes from here. We have to walk faster,” he said.

“Wait for me!” the male, deep voice called after us.

We turned around to find the one I took care of him in Mint’s house. He dragged the wooden wagon behind him, and the ropes tugged around his torso. His muscles pronounced from heavy exercise much more than Hooker's. Hooker do not seem to have a lot of muscles but can carry heavy objects.

I put the crossbow on the wagon. Then, Hooker put the staple gun facing the sky, away from the man. His name was Cobalt as the metallic blue paint color.

He did not look tired as we were tired. He was ready to help us to get to Safe Haven in just minutes. Hooker asked, “Are you just bored?”

“I am bored as heck. This town is too quiet for me.”

“Safe Haven is boring as this one,” he said.

“At least, give me some tasks. I can help, I can drag, I can…”

“Let’s move!” I shouted.

While we were on the way to Safe Haven, Mint and his father were in the truck searching for places to hide. They did not think the creature would be here, but they feared being eaten or chased by us.

The truck stopped by the lake. They got out and camped there at the edge. Mint was sunbathing while his father prepared drinks. He gave his son the Gatorade bottle. Mint drank with joy. “I love drinking this in the sun.”

“Same goes for me,” his father smiled next to him. He has sunglasses over his eyes. He looked over the lake for peace.

We made it to Safe Haven. We saw a big hole in the ground, and we knew it was the reptile from earlier. Cobalt moved forward, and he passed us far away. We ran after him. Hooker yelled, “Stop moving!”

Cobalt paused. Hooker slammed into the wagon. I paused. Hooker stood. He said, “We should find them in the lake.”

“Lake has too many things,” Cobalt warned. “Too many to hide from us.”

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“I did not mean the nightly creatures live in the lake or the reptile. I mean that the scientists dropped chemicals there like salt. If one nightly creature swims there, one dies instantly.”

We gasped. Cobalt continued nonetheless, “It could mean that Mint and the other one died swimming there. I doubt that. They may be camping on the edge.”

“That is what we thought,” I said. Hooker’s face was red from sunburn. I knew I had to do something to cover up. I ran to find the house that had blankets on the bed. I grabbed some and ran back to Hooker, who was under a tree waiting for me. Cobalt was standing next to him.

I dropped the blanket over Hooker’s head. Cobalt received a blanket. I said, “You both need to cool down.”

“We know,” Cobalt said. He wiped all his sweat off with the blanket and gave that to me.

“I did not need it. You are a nightly creature, who needed it.”

He put it on the grass while Hooker removed the blanket to say, “That is not your blanket, Buttercup.”

“Just use it to cover your skin.”

“I am ready to do a task,” Cobalt said.

Cobalt tugged the ropes around his torso and moved the wagon behind him. We followed him to the lake. The lake was clear and transparent. We were on the other side of Mint and his father. They were sunbathing and sleeping.

I sat on the grass with my knees bent sideways. I can put a crossbow here and one arrow shot of the males. But I have no extra arrow. It was not good. If Hooker used the staple gun, he had to be very close to them and shoot at their skin.

“Buttercup!” Hooker called me.

I looked up, and his palms were on my cheeks. He asked, “What are you thinking?”

I was about to laugh because the blanket was covering his face. He looked like a spirit. He stayed silent until I answered his question, “Strategy.”

“Wait till dark comes,” he said.

Cobalt threw a rock into the lake. Bloop. A second later, it was nothing until the particles appeared gray and opaque. He said, “Oops, we should hide.”

We looked at the lake and Cobalt, who hid behind the wagon. We hid in the same spot as him. Lake was turning gray all around. That did not wake Mint or his father.

Night fell as Mint and his father woke up. They both stretched. Mint drank another bottle to power him through the night. His father found the lake pitch black. “Weird,” he said.

We move out of the hiding spot. Hooker sensed they were awake. Cobalt said, “Nightly creatures arrive at night. Here we are at the lake, where the scientists dropped chemicals.”

“Cobalt, quiet,” I said.

Hooker snatched the staple gun and went behind their truck. I looked back to find only a crossbow in the wagon. I took it and moved slowly around the lake. I was dragging while Cobalt picked me up, and we were already behind the truck next to Hooker. Without Cobalt, I would have never finished the walking pace.

“Did you hear a sound?” his father asked.

“What sound?” Mint asked. “And why are we supposed to hear sounds at night? It was peaceful in the daytime.”

Hooker abducted the older man by covering a blanket and dragged him to the forest. Mint chased after them. I quickly put the crossbow over the truck’s hood. The arrow released from the crossbow shot his back. He collapsed.

A staple gun clicked on the man’s head. Mint’s father fell forward. “I am done with their punishments.”

I was looking over Mint’s back. I remembered that he kill my friend Bubbles. Cobalt said, “I sensed older ladies incoming for--” He snatched me. I left the crossbow behind. He caught Hooker, who left the staple gun behind. Both weapons do not have extra arrows or staples to use again.

Cobalt moved quickly into the highest canopy of the tree. Just in time, the young ladies in tight jumpsuits came into view. They saw the corpses by the lake and into the forest. They suspected murders by weaponry.

The one with green pigtails holding a ranger’s gun blasted in the air. “Come on out, murderers!”

“Hush!” The other one with a deep orange ponytail holding a device of soundtracking. “Stop making a noise!”

“We are running out of time, Vermillion,” Viridian said.

“We always waste time when you blast your gun, Viridian,” Vermillion shouted.

Then, the older ladies argued for a while. That made Cobalt bored. He said, “They are helping the scientists to guard the information about the nightly creatures. Hooker and I should avoid them. They can vaporize us with their special weapons.”

A crack was beneath our weight. Cobalt jumped, and we landed on the ground in the forest. The ladies kept on arguing for some time. We ran away to the town that I was from. I was the last to lock the door in my house and covered the windows and doors with wooden planks with the help of the nightly creatures. They should be safe here.

Viridian with green pigtails wore a tight matching jumpsuit as her twin Vermillion. Viridian carried a vapor gun by her side. She was not afraid to use it, but she made the mistake of making it appear obviously in Safe Haven. She was careless about using it at the right time and right place. This alerted Cobalt fast.

Vermillion with a long deep orange ponytail wore the tight jumpsuit. She carried a sound-tracking device. It was small like a tiny computer has a microchip to read signals of nightly creatures and anything that threatened Team V. She was relying upon location based on sounds.

Both older ladies worked for the protection of labs and scientists. They were fearsome that no one wanted to mess with them in the past while the giant reptile was famous in DNA. They meant its information was so popular that the lady created the nightly creatures. She wanted to make more giants but failed.

Who wanted more minis of reptiles? Who wants to pet them? Who wanted to make more money on them? Who wants a purpose for them to live? Who knows?

That does not seem natural if they were after the giant for smaller creatures. Are they dumb? Are they stupid? Oh, come on. Ladies were smarter, but making a mess of the upcoming generation of DNA and science ruined their free time!

Buttercup would not appreciate their efforts. Her right thigh was stabbed by Hooker’s claws. He marked her once. He stabbed Bubbles in her right thigh. He killed women before them and hid in the blankets of female beds. He loved Buttercup’s soft blankets wrapped around his body to sleep inside. So no one finds him during the day.

Cobalt did not kill as many as Hooker. He got bored and hid in the darkness. He does stuff that stronger men would do as if carrying heavy loads of rocks, coal, or metals in the construction or factory. He made a low income there. He has money and strength daily. But now, he does not, due to his nightly creature’s vibe, which sent him free to darkness.

Brittney and Bryan went back to Safe Haven, where everyone left their belongings and never came back. The pair went home and locked the door.

Team V did not use a spaceship or rocky science vehicle. The ladies used nothing but walking steps. But they used devices that worked in the modern sense. Brittney may found this very disappointing. She rather revisited another town than ask questions. Bryan would stay in the house and do his business and make money virtually. He lost days of work with clients who would not come back for his services.

Vermillion’s device beeped about the dead bodies of Mint and his father on the ground. She investigated the causes of death while Viridian found weapons to note that in her mind. They concluded, “Nightly creatures killed them.”

“Without question,” Viridian said. “They blasted their muscles and killed them fast like me.” Her long fingernail pointed to herself.

“Just like that,” Vermillion frowned.

Wrong! I thought. I smashed my fist into the sink bowl. “Wrong!” I repeated.

Both nightly creatures were at the dining table exchanging glances with one another. Hooker checked on me. I said, “You are wrong!” I repeated it many times now.

Hooker tapped my shoulders. I turned. “They thought the nightly creatures did the killing,” I said.

“Who?” Hooker asked.

“Team V.”

“Cobalt, come over here!”

Cobalt was standing next to him. He asked, “What is wrong with her?”

“Explain it to him,” Hooker demanded.

I said, “Team V assumed the nightly creatures killed Mint and his father in Safe Haven.”

“They rushed to the results and do not seem to care who is right or wrong. But if you were me, do not get near them,” Cobalt warned.

I realized the big creature was part of this problem, but Hooker and I killed it without empathy. I remember the metal trap caught the giant, and it died. Someone was behind the trap. It might be Team V was after the giant beside the nightly creatures. But why all those years since the creator died? What made them come back to Safe Haven? Soon, they would discover that I hid the nightly creatures in my house. Plus, I am the marked one, who knew more stuff about Team V and heard their thoughts by telepathy. I am cursed since meeting the giant reptile!

Hooker patted my head. “Relax, they will never bother us for at least a week.”

“It worked every time we hide,” Cobalt said with excitement. “It even restarted if they found other nightly creatures, so we get to hide more time.”

I frowned while Team V stood there till sunrise. The lake is viewed as dirty gray. The wooden wagon collapsed into pieces of wood and metal. The wagon was old, it collapsed. It triggered the device, which Vermillion held. The ladies walked around the lake and spotted the wood and metal debris. Viridian ended up blasting her gun into the waste. She thought it was a nightly creature.

Vermillion said, “You always get it wrong, twin!”

“I got scared, okay!”

“This is just debris!” Vermillion raised her arms. Her sound-tracking device stole by the mother bird, which flew overhead to the trees around the houses. Vermillion ran after the avian.

Viridian asked when she was not there, “So are we checking inside to look for nightly creatures?”

Silence. Viridian made a weird face. “Is my twin next to me?” She turned. “Oh, she is running away from me! Get to be faster than her speed shoes.”

Vermillion lept to a medium tree, trying to get the device off the nest. The mother bird cared for her baby birds. “Give back my device!”

The mother bird turned and threw a worm at her face. The lady was screaming. Viridian paused to take the worm off her face. Viridian said, “Worm attacks you.”

“My device was stolen by an avian up there.” Her finger pointed at the nest in the tree. “I want it back now.”

Viridian said, “That mother bird is no match for me!”

Vermillion sat cross-legged and played with the dirt. She was unhappy that she lost her sound-tracking device to a bird. Viridian looked at her once and jumped onto the branch. She climbed one more branch as her gun targeted the mother bird. The device was below the bird’s bottom. “What a nasty bird!”

The blast pushed the bird out of the nest, which fell on the ground next to Vermillion. The baby birds did not notice. Their peaks opened for worms. Viridian gave one worm to them. She jumped on the ground. The bird was only hurt, not dead. Viridian came forward, and Vermillion looked up for the device. She climbed the tree bark and grabbed the device. One of the birds pokes her fingers. “Viridian!”

The mother bird was shot once by the vapor gun. Viridian blew the air out of the gun. She turned around and found Vermillion in the tree with the device. Vermillion shouted in an inaudible language. Viridian came and shot the nest. Vermillion fell onto the ground.

“Got your device, twin?”

Vermillion stood and showed her a device. “Got it.”

Then, the nest fell behind them. The baby birds were dead without chirping.

“Oh, there is a dot on the map. It is coming from the house,” Vermillion said.

“What house?” Viridian asked.

“At least there are two people in the house.”

“Two people? You mean the nightly creatures?”

“Let’s check it out!”

Brittney watched a documentary about urban legends while eating buttered popcorn on the sofa. Her brother Bryan was damaging his laptop, calculator, and whatever he used for online business. He was not making money anymore. She heard a loud crack. So she came to his room with popcorn. She asked, “Are you okay?”

Bryan was on the floor in his socks, damaging the devices. He said, “I am okay.”

“You seemed not okay. We can talk in the living room.”

“People these days do not understand what we are going through. Since we did something, but they seemed uninterested, so I lost the business.”

Brittney showed him the container of popcorn. He grabbed one and said, “We can just watch a movie and forget our problems.”

“We can do that,” she smiled.

They were watching a friendly movie about caring for one another when the main characters were apart if they were apart. Lots of tears on Bryan’s face while Brittney ate popcorn. There was a knock on the door.

Brittney paused, and Bryan wiped his face with napkins. She observed the door. “Is that Mint?” she asked, confused.

Bryan took the door and found two older ladies by the doorstep. Both looked similar, but one had deep orange ponytail hair, and the other had green pigtails. They all looked at him with interest. He asked without embarrassing himself, “What are you looking for?”

Viridian lowered her vapor gun to her side. She answered, “You do not look like a nightly creature.”

Bryan was silent. Vermillion said, “He is…” she whispered to Viridian. “He is hot.”

The ladies giggled softly as Bryan slammed the door in front of them. Brittney was next to him. “Who are they? Are they spies?”

“They looked older than you. They were giggling about me.”

“They disrespect you. I--”

“Leave them alone.” Bryan took Brittney to the sofa and continued watching the movie. The knocks happen twice. Bryan took care of the door.

Vermillion said, “Can we come in, human?”

Bryan frowned. “No.”

“Why not?” She persisted.

He looked at her and Viridian. “You both looked like aliens from another planet. I am not interested.” With that, he slammed the door. Viridian vaporized the door.

Bryan’s face did not change. Brittney came and was astonished. “The door has a big hole.”

“Who is that girl?” Vermillion asked with jealousy.

Bryan put Brittney behind him as the popcorn fell out. He said, “My sister Brittney.”

“What yours?”

“Bryan.”

“Can we--”

“No,” he said quickly. “Out of my house.”

Viridian put her gun at his head. She said, “We are Team V. I am Viridian.”

“Her twin Vermillion.”

Bryan closed his eyes as Brittney said, “If you are going to shoot my brother, you must go through me. He has a lot of stress lately.”

“What stress?” Viridian mocked. “We are stressed that he did not let us in with a friendly gesture.”

“You are here without warrants. I can tell,” Brittney explained.

His eyes opened, stealing the gun from Viridian’s hands, and pointing at her face. “I can shoot and call the police.”

“Heh, no one is here,” Viridian said.

“The reptile already ruined the ground,” Vermillion added. “Plus, you two should not be here in this town.”

“We lived here!” Brittney shouted.

“Give back my gun, you little handsome guy. I am not hurting your body,” Viridian said.

“Why trespassing the town Safe Haven? What is your mission?” Bryan asked.

“We are not trespassing. We are looking for the nightly creatures, who are still alive in this town,” Viridian said.

“We are not fooling around!” Vermillion emphasized. “Plus, I want to…” She made a kissing sound toward Bryan, who found it uneasy. Brittney threw a container of popcorn at her face.

Viridian snatched her gun from Bryan’s hands and targeted Brittney. Bryan shielded his sister.

“Do not make a move,” Viridian said while Vermillion removed the container and complained, “My hair is sticky. I need to shampoo.”

“Not now, twin.”

The gun targeted Bryan’s chest. His face showed determination. He said, “We did not see what you looked for.”

Viridian exchanged glances with Vermillion. “Is he lying?” both thought.

The sky was dark. Unexpectedly, Bryan has thin claws at his hands. He scratched Viridian’s hands. The twins stared at him with surprise. Bryan attacked them while Brittney screamed, “Bryan, stop doing that!”

He ignored her. Vermillion dodged and stood, “I never thought a handsome guy turned into a nightly creature.”

“It feels weird,” Viridian said. “To see him like this.”

Brittney put her hands on her waist. “You two better leave or else done for!”

Bryan turned and ambushed them. They stepped out of the house. Vermillion shouted as her hand covered her bottom. “Stop playing around, Bryan!”

He closed the door. Viridian stood next to her. “If he is a nightly creature, you should date him first.”

“What?” No way!”

“We have to find the original nightly creatures from the past. They may be hiding here.”

“So I have to date him. But he knew my scent.”

Viridian said, “We should take a shower. Then, we wear costumes and hide our scents with sweetness. You should date him in the morning, so I tracked where he is going.”

“Twin, you should date him. I have the device to track sounds.”

They argued about who would date him in the morning while the other took care of the device. They fought on the ground. What a typical sister relationship.

Not a good sign to be discovered by Team V, I thought in the restroom. I wash my hands, thinking about this obstacle. If the team arrived at my house, what do I do? Will they know that I was the marked one?

While they took showers in the lake, their bodies were attracted to salts and chemicals. They lived longer than the average humans and nightly creatures. They were here to wipe all nightly creatures so they lived forever on earth, I preassumed.

I bit my lower lip. I would have to distract the scent and sounds. Plus, I must talk to Bryan about this situation. Will the siblings listen to me before morning? We do not have time before the team moved forward.

After drying my hands, I drank an energy drink. I looked at the wooden panel sitting on the window in the dining room. Hooker put his head on my shoulder and whispered, “Buttercup, what are you thinking?”

Must I let him know about my plan for the night? Can he speak through my mind? I shrugged.

Cobalt’s hand was on the table, slammed it hard. “Too quiet, just talk to anyone.”

I began to say, “You can stay here with Hooker. I had duties to care for in another town, which needed my help. They were in trouble.”

Cobalt’s eyes were on me. “Trouble? I can help.”

“Nightly creatures, stay here and stay put,” I demanded. I removed the wooden boards from the door and came out clean. I closed the door behind me. I cannot wait till morning. “Let’s move on,” I said to myself.

Hooker and Cobalt looked confused. Cobalt asked, “Is she like that all the time?”

“No,” Hooker answered. “She still has a duty as the marked one.”

“No wonder you were after so many women in your lifetime. I, on the other hand, worked for someone. I used to work with. I want to return there, but my scents say, ‘I cannot be in the daylight anymore. Just pure darkness or without the light.’”

“Let’s party?” Hooker suggested.

“Proteins?”

While they looked for food in the kitchen, I was going to Safe Haven. I stopped before the entrance; I felt the footsteps with salty flavor around the siblings’ house. I walked carefully. I noticed the nest of birds and a mother bird. They were dead a couple of hours ago. I gasped and smelled the air. I gagged and lifted my shirt to my nose to cover the smell. “Toxic gas lingered in the air,” I said sadly. “Bleh, women!”

I stopped by the window. The curtains moved instantly. It was Brittney looking at me. She said, “Hi!”

I waved. I mouthed, “May I come in?”

She opened the door for me. The door had a hole. She explained, “The ladies are weird.”

I found Bryan on the floor, crouching. His claws were visible. I pushed Brittney to reach him and said, “Bryan?”

He looked at me and said, “We met the aliens from another planet.”

“They are Team V!” I corrected him. “We should make a decoy in the house.”

“With what?” He was confused.

“Put expired food outside and salt in every room,” I said breathlessly.

“You know I hate salty foods,” Bryan said.

I went to grab the expired foods to throw around the house. Brittney said, “We should buy or steal salt from another house.”

Brittney left the house for a box of salt. She found the house empty without people. She carried the necessary item and put the salt in the house. Every room has a lot of salt. She did not like the smell. “Bleh!”

Bryan was in the yard smelling corpses and found the birds dead. “They killed them with their gun. Uh!” he said under his breath. “I do not want to see them again.”

After the mess, Brittney and I were in the yard with smiles. “Thank you, Brittney,” I said.

“So we lost the house,” Britney said. “So, where do we live in?”

Bryan approached us with his nose red with allergy. Brittney tore her shirt, so he breathed into the cloth. He said, “The smell is too strong. I do not like salty foods.”

I observed the first rays of the sun in the dark sky. I told them to follow me to my house. They followed me without objection. I was behind looking for traces of Team V. They were chilling in the lake. I wanted them to die.

I ran after the siblings to my house. They were waiting for me. I allowed them to enter first. I was the last to close the door and bolted the gap. I turned around to see the mess in the dining room. I sighed deeply. Brittney helped me clean the walls with wet towels. I broomed the floor to pick up the bones and spoons. I mopped the floor with soap and water.

Bryan went to the restroom to wash his hands and face. He thought there was an orange strand of hair in the sink. He said, “Get away from me!” It was only a plastic string that one of the nightly creatures left behind while I was gone. It would be Cobalt.

I went into the restroom to take the orange string from the sink. I put it in the trash bin. Bryan looked at me with seriousness. “I thought it was Vermillion’s hair.”

“Did she drug you?”

“No, she…” his face reddened. “She likes me.”

I was about to say something when Brittney showed up in the restroom. “I found you, Bryan!”

He yawned. They went to the room on the first floor. They slept on the bed. I went to close the door and thought about how Vermillion liked Bryan before he turned into a nightly creature. “In daylight, she… No, she… cannot possibly use him for…. ” I walked to the door and waited for Team V to arrive. If the team came, I slapped their faces.

“Waking!” Viridian’s high-pitched annoyed Vermillion in the lake. Vermillion was asleep for a while. She was dreaming of marrying Bryan on a platform--

“Wake up!”

Vermillion snapped her eyes open and said, “What?”

“Now, it is time to wear costumes.”

Vermillion has the worst one: the monochromatic orange dress with cat ears. “Does he even like this?” she thought with disgust.

Viridian wore the black tight from head to toe and a cat mask. She was meowing at Vermillion, who frowned. They made it to the house. Viridian sensed and jumped into the grass. Vermillion knocked on the door. She was so nervous that what if Bryan did not like her costume? There was no one in the house. She peeped through the hole. Her hand opened the door from inside. She explored the interior of the house. It smelled like salty food. “Is this a joke,” she said.

She went to every room to find Bryan. “More salt. Why salt? Why this? Why not human scent?” she said. “Oh, is he escaped from me? He is ahead of my time.”

Viridian found the expired can of corn. She used the gun to vaporize the container. She ate not-so-fresh corn. She eats it without tasting it.

Vermillion found Viridian eating corn. She said, “Bryan is not there.”

“Have you checked the room?”

“I checked the entire house for him. He was gone with his sister.”

“How? Why quick?”

The device beeped their location. Vermillion was puzzled by the look of dots in another town. She said, “I think they are in another town closed to here.”

“I want to eat food before we go there.”

Two ladies in cat costumes ate the expired foods. They do not look for taste. They earned energy by eating the food. Their bodies contain salts and other chemicals. They alienated from another planet, Bryan said. You can trust him that.

Team V sprinted to the town close to Safe Haven. They were not sweating or tired. They have so much energy to do for today. Viridian said, “You will have to find Bryan around here.”

“He is not even close. The device says we are far from the house.”

“Which house?”

“The one in the center of the town.”

“You go there. I will hide and find a way in.”

“Not fair.”

They fought on the ground with meows and hisses. So the device hit on the road. Vermillion paused and snatched it before the car came to her. She said, “Let’s get over with.”

They made it to the porch of my house. I sensed their salty and chemical smells. I cannot stand their presence. One stayed on the porch while the other leaped on the roof. I rushed to my room and woke Hooker and Cobalt in the bed. I said, “Team V has arrived.”

Both looked at me. Both were shirtless. Cobalt moved first and wore his shirt while Hooker stayed on the bed. I said, “Viridian is coming here. You should be with Bryan and Brittney downstairs.”

I heard the window crack in the hallway. I grabbed Cobalt’s hand and Hooker’s hand. They were in the first floor’s room. I said, “Do not come out just yet.”

The nightly creatures nodded at me. I closed the door and took care upstairs. Viridian was in the middle of breaking the window and the panel. I shouted, “What are you doing at the window?”

Her face looked at me. She looked hideous with makeup and dirt. She said, “Are you the homeowner?”

“Get out of my house!”

She returned to the ground. I went downstairs to deal with Vermillion after removing the boards. I said to her, “Get out of my house!”

“I am looking for Bryan.”

“I have never seen him.”

She showed me the device. Three green dots were in the first room of the house. I kept my cool and said, “You are in the wrong house.”

Viridian tapped her twin’s shoulder. “Let’s get out of here.”

Vermillion looked at her and showed her the information on the device. “See, three nightly creatures are here.”

“Oh?”

Team V stared at me with seriousness. I moved forward and closed the door. I kept my determined expression on my face. They do not scare me. They do not look like cats. They are Team V, Viridian with green hair, and Vermillion with orange hair. Viridian showed me her vapor gun at my face. “Who are you?” she asked.

“I will not tell my name to you. Does the lady in the past tell me who I am? If she did, you should be prepared and deal with me here on the porch. The lady has no idea who you are. She should not make the minis of the reptile.

“Her discovery is so menacing that the males turn into themselves, who must kill females. They should have killed you long ago. If they choose to, but you make them fear their lives.”

“Is she done talking to us?” Vermillion was nervous.

Viridian lowered her gun and grabbed my collar. “Who are you, by the way? Are you nice to the scientist that we praise her?”

“I did not live that long ago.”

“What is your name, cutie? Or I will shoot you so the nightly creature will save you from harm?”

“Not an inch,” I said. “The males would not come. Not even I was hurt. I have been slammed by the tail many times before you came here.”

“Did you kill the reptile?” Viridian raised her voice. “So… who are you?”

I smelled her salt and coughed, pretending to cough at her costume. She threw me to the ground, and my body passed the sharp tools. I landed on the grass safely. I got up quickly. Team V was looking at me from a distance. Vermillion said, “We should follow her around.”

“She looks useless to us,” Viridian said.

I shouted, “Go ahead! Get me. Get my body, blood, sweat. Anything that you can keep me. Although, my DNA sucks. I am not like you. I am human. And you have no idea who I was. That is great to hear!”

Viridian shot the gun at me. I dodged. Vermillion said, “She is very loud than us.”

“I want to kill her if she does not stop mocking our existence.”

I shouted, “Go ahead! You are scared of me. You are some minis of the reptile. If you were the reptile, you would have slammed me down, and you have won and disappeared!”

Viridian came to knock me down with her gun. I dodged it while Vermillion shook her head. “Unacceptable.”

“So stop mocking us! You are a little girl,” Viridian gritted through her teeth.

“‘Girl,’ the reptile reads,” I began telling a story. “Girl, I do not want you any longer. You are the girl I want, but you are nothing!”

Viridian’s temper got the better of her. “I am done with your mocking!”

I escaped as she did not move. Vermillion said, “We should get after her.”

“No, she is talking too much as a scientist.”