New life in Raynerbrook - 5. The Beginning - Part two (end)

Theo stood at the sink in the bathroom, cleaning his cut on his finger. He wondered how he had even done it, he hadn't noticed anything sharp in or around the box. Perhaps he had done it when crawling into that space in the attic and had only noticed it later? he decided it didn't really matter, all he knew was that his finger hurt like a bitch.

He put a plaster on his finger to stop the cut from getting too exposed and then walked out of the bathroom, turning off the light as he went.

On the way down the stairs Theo heard a scratching sound coming from the attic, he turned and noticed he had left the door open. He closed the door and continued going downstairs.

Theo and Megan watched some TV for a while as it began to get dark outside, it was around 6pm now, and their mother was still out, Theo began to wonder why it was taking her so long when Megan suddenly stood up and walked out of the room.

Theo followed her and found her in the hallway, putting on her shoes and coat.

''Are you going out somewhere?" asked Theo, his mother had asked him to keep an eye on her, he wasn't sure it was a good idea for her to go out alone.

Megan looked at Theo, or looked through Theo, she seemed occupied, like she was listening to something, he noticed that she didn't have earphones in, and he couldn't hear anything other than the wind outside and the sound of some adverts on the TV they had left on.

''I'm going out meeting a friend'' she replied, her voice seemed devoid of emotion, like she was talking to a wall rather than her brother
''A friend? we only moved here yesterday, how could you have a friend already?''

At those words Megan suddenly seemed to regain focus, her eyes settled on Theo, he looked worried.

''Why am i wearing my coat?'' she asked, grabbing at her coat with her hands and looking up at Theo
''I don't know, you said you were going out to meet a friend''
''A friend? i don't have any friends here yet, we haven't started school''
''That's what i said, how could you not remember what just happened?''
''...I don't know, i was sitting on the couch watching TV and now i'm here''

Her eyes showed that she was scared, Theo walked forward and pulled her into a hug.

''Don't worry about it, i'm sure you just had a lapse of memory, you get them a lot when you start growing up, especially when it comes to homework'' said Theo, laughing gently. Megan laughed back and then broke the hug, looked at Theo for a second and then took off her coat, hanging it up by the door and taking off her shoes.

''I'm going to go back up to my room and have a nap or something, i'm probably just still tired''
''Alright'' said Theo smiling, ''take it easy''
''Will do!''

Megan laughed and walked up the stairs and out of Theo's sight.

Theo began to wonder what had just happened. He had tried to stop Megan being scared, but to be honest he was scared himself. Her eyes had been blank, like they were seeing nothing in particular and she was moving based on instruction rather than sight.

''That was just weir--'' Theo began to mutter before he was interrupted by Megan's voice from upstairs.

''Hey Theo, do these stairs lead to the attic? why is the door open?''

Theo was still processing what she had said when he began to run up the stairs after her, he reached the top of the stairs and looked at the door to the attic, it was open.

''Did you open it?'' asked Theo, he was sure he had closed it properly
''No, it was open when i came upstairs'' said Megan, looking confused.
''I closed this door earlier when i came down the stairs'' said Theo, he was starting to get a bad feeling
''Well a door wouldn't open on it's ow--''

Megan was cut off by a blur of red hitting her on the shoulder and pushing her back, Theo only saw it out of the corner of his eye.

She began to scream, Theo turned and saw why.

A dark red creature had latched onto her arm, it had long arms ending in short sharp claws, short legs and 2 pointy ears, it's eyes were a crimson light and it's mouth was twisted in a large grin, Theo could see teeth. they were long, sharp and incredibly white and shiny.
It looked exactly like the puppet he had seen upstairs.

Megan had the hand of her other arm on the creatures forehead and was trying to push it back, it was the only thing stopping the creature from burying it's teeth into her arm.

Theo rushed forward without thinking, he grabbed the puppets arms and pulled with all his strength, it's skin was dry and coarse and strangely warm, it pulsed with a heartbeat like rhythm, but Theo didn't believe it had one. The puppet was pulled off Megan but quickly turned and began to attack Theo, scratching with the claws on it's fingers, cutting into Theo's shirt but not catching his skin thankfully.

He turned the creature around so it couldn't reach him and ran down the stairs, Megan was crying behind him at the top of the stairs.

Theo ran through the house and reached the back door, he pushed the creature against the wall with one hand, and opened the door with the other before quickly grabbing hold of it with both hands again and holding it at a distance, one it's claws caught his arm as he did so, it didn't cut too deeply, just a small cut.

He ran out into the dark garden, panting and scared. The creatures crimson eyes shone brightly in the dark, making Theo see double whenever it tried to turn around.

Theo planned to throw it over the fence or into the bushes and then run inside and lock the door, but that plan failed when he tripped over a thick branch which had fallen from the tree. The creature quickly jumped onto him and sunk it's teeth into his shoulder, Theo cried out in pain as the puppet jumped away from him, making a sound which sounded unnervingly like giggling.

Theo picked himself up off the ground, his shoulder was bleeding and it hurt like hell. The puppet stopped in front of the bushes and looked at them, it looked curious, like there was something in there.

At that moment for Theo, time seemed to stop, there were no sounds, the wind was blowing the leaves in the trees in the bushes, but Theo could hear nothing.

It all happened so fast Theo thought he had imagined it, but he knew he hadn't.

He had noticed something in the bushes.

Eyes. Grey eyes. they shone like beacons in the darkness, in any other situation, Theo probably would have thought they looked beautiful, but today at this very moment, they looked deadly, they looked ready to kill.

Arms shot out from the bushes and grabbed hold of the puppet. it began to struggle but couldn't escape from their grasp. Theo couldn't see the person fully, it had gotten too dark, and Theo couldn't take his gaze of the grey eyes.

The puppet was pulled into the bushes panicking. at that moment the silence was broken, and Theo heard a high pitched shriek of pain, he looked up and saw the eyes in the bushes, they were now staring directly at him, Theo understand the look in those eyes, it was hunger.

Up until that point, Theo had been paralysed with shock, but at that moment he rushed into the house and locked the door.

What had happened, Theo didn't know, Megan didn't know. Theo was hurt and Megan was terrified. They decided not to talk about it... at least not yet.

They would be starting school soon, and they both felt that it wasn't over. It was just beginning.