zucchini bread for freezing.” Baking is both the girls’ favorite part of their canning party and neither can wait to get started. There were always vegetables that were too damaged to store, and those ones needed to get used up, and baking was their family’s way of using them.

​

“First we have to finish putting away the rest of the canning goods and Mom wants them nice and organized as usual.” Tamra and Jess both look at each other and smile about how much their mom likes everything to be organized. They know that she will come down later to make sure everything is where it’s supposed to be.

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“I can help with that.” With a cheerful smile Jess immediately starts to help Tamra put the canned goods unto the shelves making sure that each one goes where it needs to go. Jess loves being able to help her older sister as it gives her an excuse to hang out with her. Not that she needs an excuse since her 21-year-old sister is always spending time with her and taking her places.

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“Just be careful not to drop any.” Tamra then gives Jess a slight nudge to the side.

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Jess giggles at Tamra and bumps back. “I won’t.” The girls work together to get everything put away in their place so that once they’re done, they can help their mom and grandma make cakes and bread. While putting the rest of the canning goods away on the shelves lining the cool cellar, they hear the upstairs door open and some loud stomping of heavy work boots and male voices that are muffled through the flooring. “Sounds like Dad and Grandpa are done with the garden.” Jess pulls her sister’s green sweater tight around herself as she looks up at the ceiling where their parents and grandparents are walking around. There is no heating down in the cellar since it needs to stay cool and dry in order to store the root vegetables and canning goods. This means that the cellar gets colder as it gets later in the day. At least the cellar is clean and the air smells cool and crisp with the scent of earth. There is also a separate room their dad built under the steps where they keep the washer and dryer. The laundry room was built so that as little humidity as possible would get into the rest of the cellar which would cause the stored vegetables to mold. Once that process starts their entire crop will be lost.

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 “Are you cold?” Tamra pulls her sister in for a hug as an attempt to warm her, rubbing her hands up and down her back.

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“A lit – ,” The sudden slamming sound of the entry door hitting something startles both girls into clinging to each other. Even more so with the sounds of unrecognizable footsteps rushing into the house making both girls standing as still as statues trying to listen to what is happening above them.

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“You don’t belong here! Get out of my house! Now!” Their father’s voice is deep with anger and can be heard clear as day through the floorboards.

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“Make us little human.” The unrecognizable deep male voice holds a taunting laughter in it as there is no more response from the girls’ father. They then hear their mother’s lighter footsteps above them and then she starts screaming but is cut short before there is a loud thud on the floor.

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“Tamra?” Tamra quickly presses her hand to Jess’ mouth.

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“Sshh!” Tamra pulls Jess over towards the laundry room where they both hunker down in a dark corner hugging each other tight as a massive chill run over their bodies.

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They both curl into each other as they hear their grandma’s footsteps running towards their mother’s screams. “What the – “ is all their Grandma gets out before she too is quieted down. This time there is no sound of anything hitting the floor.

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“Ack, this one tastes terrible!” The girls hear a second man yell out as they hear him make spitting sounds.

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“Get your filthy hands off my wife!”

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“Shut it old man!” It’s the same voice of the second man to talk who complained about something tasting terrible. Then there is a thud as their grandpa hits the floor above them along with the sound of him moaning in pain.

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Tamra can feel her body shaking along with her sister’s and she notices tears leaving a cold streak down her cheeks as she realizes that the very people who raised and love her are up there with those monstrous men.

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“Evan, go look for the two sisters! They have to be here somewhere!” orders the first male voice as his footsteps shift above the girls.

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“I am, I am. Yeesh, hold your horses Dad.” The third man, Evan, sounds disinterested like he would rather be somewhere else than terrorizing the household residents. Evan’s footsteps become lighter and then there is a creaking sound that sounds like he is going up the steps to the second floor.

 

A breath of relief is let loose from Tamra as she realizes that Evan is going to check the bedrooms first instead of the cellar. She can tell by the way Jess’ shoulders drop that she realizes that too.

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“Hey Evan, remember they’re for feeding on not for playing or talking with.”

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“Shut up Kyle! I’ll do whatever I want with them!”

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“Knock it off boys!” The dad sounds louder than the first time Tamra heard his voice and she understands why when the door to the cellar opens causing Jess to hide her face into Tamra’s shoulder. Tamra can feel Jess’ fingers digging into her back as she shakes with fear. “Please don’t come downstairs. Please don’t come downstairs,” Tamra prays to herself as she wraps one of her arms around Jess’ shoulder and runs her hands soothingly through her hair while holding Jess close to her with her other arm around her back. She has never been so glad for the low lighting in the cellar as she was at this very moment. She just wishes she can tell Jess that “everything will be alright,” but she can’t because not even she knows if they will survive this encounter. These men sound dangerous and there hasn’t been a sound from either of their parents or grandparents for some time.

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Suddenly something heavy is tossed down the stairs tumbling all the way to the cemented floor with a heavy splat mix with a snapping sound, kind of like a big bag of meat being tossed to the bottom of the stairs, bones and all. The thick dark crimson liquid trailing into view is not helping with that image. Nor is the metallic scent mixing with the cool earthy air. “Blood. It has to be blood,” Tamra thinks to herself as she uses her hand on Jess’ head to keep her from seeing it.

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“Evan, did you find those girls yet?!” It’s the dad on top of the steps who threw something down. He then turns off the cellar lights and closes the door leaving the girls with a small corner lamp as their only light source. Jess had turned it on earlier because she’s scared of the dark and prefers extra light when possible.

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“Evan!”

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“What?!”

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“Did you find those sisters yet?!”

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“No, I didn’t!”

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Ignoring the strangers upstairs, Tamra pulls Jess away from her and looks into her wide tear-filled eyes and whispers to her, “I’m going to see what’s at the bottom of the steps.” Jess shakes her head back and forth not wanting to be left alone. Tamra looks straight into Jess’ eyes and uses a firm but quiet tone when she tells her, “Jess, I have to. You have to be brave, stay put and stay quiet. Okay?” Jess moves her head down to face her hands that are grabbing at the sleeves of her sweater, then looks back up at her sister and nods her head firmly before using those very sleeves to dry her eyes. “Okay. Good girl.” Satisfied, Tamra kisses the top of Jess’ head and then crawls away on her hands and knees towards the bottom of the steps trying to ignore the, now obvious, puddle of blood that is soaking into her blue jeans and covering the palms of her hands. Tamra swallows down a gag and keeps going until she rounds the corner and sees her “Grandma!” Tamra quickly covers her mouth and listens to make sure she wasn’t loud enough to draw the attention from the men upstairs.

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Looking over her injured Grandma, Tamra sees that she is ashen in color as she lays prone on her back with her left arm is twisted awkwardly under her. A bone is protruding out of her lower right leg allowing blood to flow freely from the wound. Tamra moves closer to her grandma noticing her eyes closed and blood flowing out of the back of her head where it meets with the concrete floor. Tamra’s hands shake as she places them gently on her grandma’s cheek, using her thumb to rub gently under her eye. It’s the same touch that she has always known from her grandma and mom. A touch she could never forget but is now using it on her grandma who lies injured at the bottom of the steps on the cold unforgiving concrete floor. “Grandma?” Tamra’s voice is shaky and cracking with sorrow as tears try to gather at the corners of her eyes.

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Slowly, her grandma’s beautifully aged brown eyes open to look at Tamra. There she can see that the light that once shown bright in her grandmother’s eyes is flickering in and out. Her grandma was always the cheerful sort. The light bright in her eyes with what life has given her. Always so full of love for her daughter and granddaughters. Tamra can still see that love in her grandma’s eyes as they finally focus on her, but the light keeps trying to flicker out. Tamra moves her hand to push her grandma’s snowy white hair out of her face as her heart feels like it’s being squeezed painfully by a vise. She was always close to her grandma, listening to her stories from her youth to when their mother was a baby and to when Tamra and Jess were born. It was always easy to see how much this woman who has meant so much to her loved her family and how proud she was of them all. Now she lays at the bottom of the steps broken, bleeding, and losing her light. Still she smiles at Tamra with all the love in the world.

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Tamra see her grandma’s fingers twitch as she tries to move her right hand, so she picks it up herself and presses it to her cheek that is soaked with tears that have finally escaped from her eyes. “Tamra – you’re such a good girl.” Her grandma manages a weak smile as she struggles to get her words out. “You take – good care – of your sister.” Each breath her grandma takes is shallow. Yet she still continues to talk. “Get Jess – out to – safety, sweets.” Not wanting to interrupt anything her grandma wishes to say, Tamra silently listens as her tears slide down her cheeks onto her grandma’s hand. “I – love – you – both.” Her hand then goes completely limp as the light finally dies out from her grandma’s eyes leaving them colorless as proof that life has left this elderly woman. The very woman that Tamra has loved so much.

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Tamra takes a moment holding her grandma’s hand before pressing her lips to her grandma’s knuckles. She then lays the hand she is holding across her grandma’s still chest. She then leans down to kiss her grandma’s brow before crawling away towards where her sister sits. She no longer notices the thick pool of blood on the concrete or the metallic scent in the air. None of that matters anymore. Not the blood covering the floor, not the cruel men upstairs and not even everything that has been taken. The only thing that matters is getting her sister to safety. She is the only family she has left, and she is unwilling to lose her to a bunch of heartless monsters. They can mourn their loss after they get to safety.

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Tamra looks into her sister’s eyes knowing that what her sister sees is nothing but emptiness that watching a loved one pass from cruelty can leave. There is also anger slowly building up from the injustice of what these men have done. Jess’ eyes turn red with stinging tears as Tamra pulls her in for a mournful hug. “Why?” Jess cries holding her older sister tight. “Why would they do that to Grandma?”

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“I don’t know.”

​

“They kept Mom and Dad. They even kept Grandpa. Why would they do that to Grandma?”

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“I really don’t know, Jess.” Tamra looks over at their grandma lying motionless on the floor. “It makes no sense. I don’t know why they came after our family and I don’t know why they would do what they did to Grandma.” Tamra’s heart is heavy with confusion, sadness, and outrage by the events that has taken place in their home. “We never did anything to anyone to deserve this.”

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“I know, but bullies never needed a reason to bully kids at school. Guess grown evil men are no different.”

They take a moment to mourn their beloved grandma who would spoil them with home-baked goods and special outings through the trails in their backyard forest. She taught them how to knit, to cook and to can. Now she will never get to do those things with them again. Whimpers begin to escape Jess as they mourn their loss and Tamra pulls her in for a tighter hug and kisses the top of her head several times while rubbing her back. Finally, Tamra pushes Jess a bit away from her and looks her in the eyes with determination, “we need to go.” Tamra is determined to keep her sister safe and out of the clutches of those butchers. The rest of her family may have already joined their grandma in passing but her sister will not. She will get her to safety. She has to keep her safe. All they have is each other. Jess shakes her head, fear clouding her eyes. “Jess! We have to.” Jess look down at her hands and takes a few deep breaths before looking back up into Tamra’s eyes with determination of her own and gives a firm nod.

​

Tamra helps Jess up off the floor and moves her quickly to the double wooden doors that lead from the cellar to the outside towards the woods. Carefully Tamra starts to remove one of the three metal rods that keeps the doors closed from the inside, but she stops as soon as the rusted metal screeches loudly in the deathly quiet room around them causing both girls to stop stock still and watch the stairway leading into the house with bated breath. Once they are sure that no one would be coming down to investigate the noise noise they both let their breath out in a big whoosh of relief. To Tamra’s surprise Jess takes off quickly towards the laundry room, opens the door and slips inside the dark cavernous room. “Jess?!” Tamra can’t believe that her sister actually went into a dark room alone and willingly. Jess has a fear of dark rooms and the situation they have found themselves in is scary enough. Just as Tamra starts to go after her sister, Jess runs out holding a can in her hand and sweat dampening her brow. “What…” Tamra stares at Jess who is pale from her little excursion.

​

“Here, use this.” Jess pushes a can of WD-40 into Tamra’s hands. Tamra notices her sister’s hands shaking and holds them along with the WD-40.

​

“Thank you.” Tamra looks at her sister with pride. It took her a great amount of courage to go into that dark room by herself like that. Jess has been scared of dark rooms ever since a couple years ago when there was a power outage and she got locked in the first-floor bathroom. There were no windows to offer her some light making the room completely dark. The entire family was outside enjoying the fire and roasting marshmallows under the dark clear star filled sky while Jess was panicking in the dark bathroom. Something in the doorknob broke making it impossible for her to use it to get out. It was 30 minutes before Dad decided to check on her to see what was taking her so long. We all thought she was looking for the graham crackers and chocolate bars like she said she would once she was done in the bathroom. Turns out that was not the case and Dad had to literally break down the door to get her out. She was so scared after that incident that she slept in my bed for an entire year. Now the house is lined with nightlights and Dad constantly checks to make sure all doorknobs are in working order. Or he did, until now.

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As soon as Jess’ hands stop shaking Tamra takes the WD-40 and sprays some onto each of the metal rods, waits a moment before twisting them a bit and then sprays them again. Finally, they move without making a sound and Tamra makes quick work removing the rods. Putting the can down the sisters work together to push on the heavy double doors that swing open only to bang loudly against the concrete outside that lines the ground entrance to the cellar. Immediately both girls whip their heads towards the sound of footsteps running down the stairway where their grandma lays still. Tamra’s wild scared eyes meet the eyes of a handsome man with blond hair that is pulled back into a ponytail. His face is slightly pale with sharp masculine features. His eyes are what she notices the most with their bright red irises glowing in the dark as he stares deep into her own brown almond shaped eyes. “How can such a handsome man be such a murderous monster?” Tamra thinks to herself.

​

His intense eyes then shift to Jess and stays on her for a moment as a slight smile makes its way onto his face before he looks back through the doorway and then, shockingly, walks down the stairs. First, he looks down and frowns at their deceased grandma, shakes his head, and glances at the sisters again. There’s a sad regretful look in his eyes which seem to be focused more on Jess. He then turns towards the storage room that holds all the root vegetables and makes himself look like he is searching the small storage room. Confused but not wanting to question his actions Tamra grabs her sister’s hand, runs up the steps and out of the cellar into the clean cool dark air. With only the bright moon and the stars to light their way Tamra runs with her sister towards the woods that surrounds their property. Behind her Tamra can hear an angry shout causing her to look over her shoulder. There she sees the stranger chasing after them and she pushes herself to run faster while pulling her sister along with her causing Jess to stumble in an attempt to keep up.

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Tamra puts more effort into helping Jess to stay upright while running but soon feels a sharp painful tug through her scalp from a hand grabbing her hair that’s up in a ponytail causing her head to whip backwards bringing her body down to a complete stop as her back collides into a hard chest. Immediately she feels a sharp pain where her shoulder and neck meet as she feels teeth bite down on her. “Run!” Tamra watches Jess as she wavers with wide terrified eyes caught between the need to help her older sister or run as Tamra told her too. Tamra is wrapped tightly in the stranger’s muscular arms with his face buried deep into her neck. The pain from the bite is unbearable but the fear for her sister and anger towards not just the manhandling jerk holding her back but at Jess for not running to safety. “Jess! Run! Now! Run!!” Finally, Jess gives Tamra one last tearful glance before running and disappearing into the woods.

​

Taking a few lessons from dealing with school bullies from her school days and from the self-defense classes she started to take, Tamra takes a deep breath and bites down on the stranger’s arm that is wrapped across her chest causing the stranger to release her neck as he yells out in pain. She then throws her head back hitting him in the face with the back of her head, sending vibrating pain though her skull. Still he manages to keep his hold on her until Tamra allows her body to go slack, just like a cat she once had who always managed to get away with such a technique. It works as her body slides through his arms and her butt hits the ground. She quickly lays down and rolls herself so that she knocks the stranger’s legs out from under him causing him to fall almost on top of her. Tamra then quickly starts to get up while the stranger growls in anger sounding like a pissed off dog. “Bitch, get back here!”

​

He manages to quickly get back to his feet and grabs Tamra again turning her to face him. She notices that he is not the same stranger who she originally saw in the cellar. This man has short greasy blond hair and his eyes are a deep blood red versus the bright glowing red the other man has. They have the same strong jaw and pale masculine futures, but this man seems more feral and filthier than the other one. With the smell to match that filth from both his breath and major BO. Tamra wrinkles her nose at the smell coming at her from this man and she turns her head away as if it would help keep his smell away from her. With fear and disgust driving her thoughts away, Tamra swings out her leg and down goes the grungy man as he clutches is family jewels. Mentally high fiving herself, Tamra turns to run only to run into the arms of the stranger she saw in the cellar. He takes a moment to steady her and then looks past her at the other man before drawing her close to whisper in her ear, “Get your sister and get out of here.” He then lets her go and Tamra stares after him with confusion. “Go.” He then gives her a push towards the woods and walks past her. Tamra looks over her shoulder and sees him kneel down to the other man’s side. “Kyle, we need to go. Get up.” Kyle’s head is still down as he clutches himself but, with the other man’s help, he manages to stand back up.

​

Tamra takes advantage of this opportunity and runs into the woods. She then hears another voice, their dad. “Boys! Let’s go! The hunters are coming!”

​

If Kyle was the one who attacked her, and the dad is calling for the boys then that means it was Evan who helped her and her sister to escape. Tamra mentally thanks Evan for the opening as she keeps running.

“What about the bitch and her sister?!”

​

“We’ll track them down later. Move it or die at the hands of the hunters.”

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Tamra ignores the rest of what they say as she looks for her sister. “Jess. Jess!” No answer. Tamra keeps looking but then feels someone grab at the back of her shirt causing her to turn around only to find Jess throwing her arms around her waist shaking.

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“I thought I lost you.”

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Not caring in the least about the pain radiating through her body curtesy of Kyle, Tamra hugs her sister back. “It’s okay, I’m here. I’m here.” Tamra works to calm Jess has she glides her fingers through Jess’ long brown hair. For a moment she thought she was done for. That Jess would end up alone with no one to protect her. With no family to love her. It’s bad enough that they had lost everyone they held dear to their hearts but to lose each other when they would need each other the most is unthinkable.

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“How? How did you get away?” Jess is not only confused but relieved that Tamra made it to her safe.

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“One of them, Evan, actually let me escape. He was the same man who saw us in the cellar but pretended not to.” Tamra looks in the direction of their home where their family was attacked and more than likely murdered. She then looks around at their surroundings where the tall trees tower over them blocking the majority of the sky with their wide expanse of branches and leaves. Still, they allow enough moonlight to get through that Tamra can see the forest floor. The forest floor is covered with branches, fallen trees and roots protruding out of the ground. There are green plants growing everywhere, mostly ferns, some poison ivy and oak. They will also have to watch out for the night predators that can be just as deadly, or more so, than the men who were chasing them. Tamra closes her eyes and takes a deep breath of the fresh cool forest air that smells of lush plant life. She can hear the breeze blowing through the leaves of the trees playing a soft calming song of the forest. The crickets are playing the nighttime lullaby, along with the frogs that live in a stream not far from where they are standing. There is an owl hooting from a distance and in the open canopy of the trees, bats are flying about with high pitch screeching sounds as they hunt for their food.

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Tamra doesn’t know why Evan let them go. He is with the men who attacked and killed her family, yet he let her go when he could’ve grabbed her and taken her with them. He could’ve just killed her right there, but he just let her go. “Why would he do that?” Then again, he really wasn’t involved in the actual killing of her family since he was busy searching the upstairs. “If he was actually searching.” Plus, he wasn’t covered in blood like his brother Kyle was. In fact, he seemed completely clean of any blood or filth. “He also saw us in the cellar, but then just let us go pretending he didn’t see us.” Tamra closes her eyes trying to figure out if Evan is a bad guy like his dad and brother or if he just follows them around but helps victims whenever he can.

​

“Tamra?” The panicked voice from Jess and the tugging on her arm causes Tamra to open her eyes and look in the direction that Jess pointing and sees the shape of a man searching the woods. She then notices two more men coming into the woods behind him. They are spread out looking through the woods. Tamra grabs her sister’s hand and they move away from the three men, doing their best to avoid the debris covering the forest floor.

Tamra moves faster as she looks over her shoulder and notices the men are right behind chasing after them. “Why can’t they just leave us alone?” It’s bad enough they had to listen to their parents as they were killed, and she had to watch her grandma die right in front of her. There was nothing she could do to help anyone. She then had to escape her own house with her little sister in tow only to be caught and nearly killed by one of the deadly strangers. Her neck is hurting from Kyle biting into it, her lungs hurt from all the running and her heart is beating painfully against her chest as she, once again, runs from the strangers chasing them. The only light source lighting their way through the woods is the moon which isn’t enough to avoid all the roots jutting through the ground. Tamra ends up catching one of them with her right foot causing her to grunt in pain, but she manages to regain her footing and keeps going despite the pain radiating through her ankle.

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Tamra takes another look over her shoulder as her lungs fight to keep oxygen flowing through her lungs from all the running. The men are still chasing them. While her head is turned, she runs into something hard and falls hard on her butt taking Jess with her who trips and lands with her stomach across Tamra’s lap. Looking up to what she ran into she sees standing in front of her is a larger than possible dark-brown wolf. A dark snarling wolf with yellow-orangish eyes and thick drool dripping from its large mouth full of big sharp teeth. After everything that has happened and everything that she has witnessed this was the last thing she would’ve expected to encounter. The wolves in the zoo that she visited once weren’t nearly this big. Not only does her lungs and throat feel like they are on fire, but it appears that, once again, they are in trouble. Only this time they won’t get through this as more wolves come into view flanking the larger wolf. There’s no way she can get away from both the men chasing her and the wolves. Tamra is sure they are going to die and there is nothing she can do about it. Tamra holds her sister in a tight hug as the lead wolf stalks towards them staring with its predatory eyes. Tamra is having trouble keeping her focus on the pack of wolves as her breathing continues to be labored. Her head is pounding like a beating of drums as her body starts to feel like its swaying as she sits there with Jess in her lap. She’s scared and in a state of shock with everything that has happened. Everything hurts, especially her neck and ankle. Yet, she feels a sense of calm and false acceptance that this is their end. She can’t think with her head pounding and her vision keeps going fuzzy. “Oh sister, what big wolves we have in our forest.” Maybe not the best thing to say out loud but it’s the only thing she manages to get out under the circumstances.

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The wolf keeps staring at her as the other wolves shift their heads to look behind her where she can sense someone is standing, but she doesn’t have the energy to care anymore. If she is going to die at least it will be with her sister and not alone. They will still be together but she just wishes they could’ve done more.

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Tamra’s eyes scrunch in pain as another wave of painful drumming runs through her head. She sees the large wolf is close enough that she can see her own reflection in its big predatory eyes. The forest seems too bright with the moon glaring down at them like a spotlight pointing out the big scene that is taking place. All that’s left is for someone to yell action and the final death scene will be performed. Despite being prepared to die at the powerful jaws of the beast in front of her or by the man standing behind her, Tamra’s heart pounds hard and fast against her chest. She still can’t get her labored breathing under control and she is lightheaded as the wolf goes in and out of focus. The wolf then moves forward and opens its large mouth breathing its rancid breath over Tamra who finally falls in the vast darkness of unconsciousness with the last thing she hears is her sister exclaiming in disgusts, “eeew!”

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