Jim and I have been friends since we were 11. I met him at school during a kickball tournament. We were the only two kids on the field that didn’t want to play. My competitive streak was showing and I was not good at kickball. I took a hit to my ego that day but Jim helped me overcome what I thought was going to be one of the worst days of my life but it turned into one of the best. Two years later Jim was there for me on the actual worst day of my life. That day had started of gloomy and cold. I went to school like normal. Straight after school I walked home with Jim. As we approached my house we saw a vast number of cars pilled on my street and more in my driveway. 

Jim asked, “What is going on, are your family coming in for a party or something?”

 “I’m not sure,” I replied. We stood at the end of the street waiting for my younger brother, Miles’ bus to unload as it pulled up. Miles walked down the stairs of the bus and ran towards us as a ambulance raced past the bus with flashing lights on to my house. We all looked at each other and ran as fast as we could to my house. When we got to the front door it was left ajar as the paramedics ran around the house past us. My aunts, uncles, and grandparents sat somberly in the living room. They sat in a circle and appeared to be praying. My dad ran out of my parents room after the paramedics wheeled my mom out on a stretcher. She was pale and one of the paramedics sat on top of her pushing on her chest attempting to revive her. My dad looked augsusted in his work clothes. His hair was messed up from what appeared to be him runing his fingers through it one to many times. His tie was hanging around his neck undone and the top two buttons of his work shirt where undone. His eyes were red and swollen. He looked at us with a look of hopelessness. He then looked at the rest of the family with a blank look on his face. The darkness soon took over his face as he ran after the ambulance as it drove down the street. My grandparents, aunts, and uncles, hoped into cars along with my dad and drove off after the ambulance. I rode in the car with my dad’s parents. The car was silent the entire ride to the hospital and Miles clutched onto my arm with tears in his eyes. Jim held my hand and gave it a squeeze as we arrived at the hospital. When we got inside one of the nurses was muttering quick words to my dad. 

I heard her mutter the words, “Brain dead” and I knew my life would never be the same. 

Every year on the anniversary of her death, Miles, Jim, and I go to our favorite spot in the woods and reflect over our lives while talking to mom as if she is with us. This year something seemed off about the woods but we chose to ignore it. We sat quietly in our small circle crying laughing and silently reflecting. Suddenly their was a movement in the bushes at the edge of the clearing. We remained seated and waited for what may occur next. Miles and Jim scooted closer to me as we heard the sound again but this time from a bush on the other side of the clearing. We heard loud footsteps next, as if their was a group surrounding us. Miles threw a hand over his mouth to muffle the scream of terror that escaped his mouth. He tucked his head into my arm to muffle it more and help him avoid seeing what would happen next. Jim attempted to stand but his knees buckled in fear, causing him to fall face first to the muddy ground. He slowly stood up covered in mud and we locked eyes as the creature step out from the bushes. I squeezed my eyes closed to avoid seeing whatever was going to attack me. Miles grabbed hold of me tighter and Jim stood infront of us trying to protect us. He attempted to appear fearless but his posture showed his fear. I reopened my eyes and decided to be brave turning my back to Jim keeping Miles in the middle to protect him. Miles stood up next and turned his back to both Jim and I allowing us to be protected on all sides. The creature stepted out of the woods and the army of them surrounded us. The creatures were taller than us. They had sharp claws, black scaled skin, and huge teeth. The fight was like David and Goliath. We were out matched but began to fight knowing we would most likely lose. Miles was able to escape through a hole in the creatures after he took one of them down. Jim took another down and began running in the direction Miles had previously ran. 

“Sammy come on!” he yelled sounding out of breath and winded. I followed after with one of the creatures on my trail. I ran in a zigzag pattern which confused the creature, giving me more time to escape. We ran up the street and into my house. Miles, being the first inside began to run around the house locking all of the doors except the one we ran through. We sat in the living room in silence attempting to catch our breath. 

“What were those things? Miles asked referring to the creatures.

“ Yeah, where did they come from?” I asked.

Jim responded, “Who knows but we don’t have to worry about them anymore because we had already killed them all.” We all took a relieved breath knowing the crazy events of that day were finally over and that we could spend the rest of the day mourning my mom. We came to the unanimous decision to not go back to that spot for a few weeks. 

After those couple of weeks, we went back to the spot and there was no sign of the creatures anywhere. The bodies had been removed and it looked like they had never been there. 

“This is weird,” Miles stated. We decided to continue to go back to the spot and attempt to find evidence of what could have happened and where they could have come from but, there was none. 

“It’s like they never even existed,” Jim said. Miles and I remained silent continuing to look over the area for any signs. 

A year had passed since the attack and my mom’s death anniversary. Today marked another year without her. We went back to our spot and sat in a circle on the all too familiar logs. We soon began to hear the crunching of leaves and the movement of the bushes around us. Jim brought out the GoPro he decided to bring in case the creatures were to come back. He strapped it to his chest and secured it just in time for the huge, ugly creatures to step out into the clearing. They circled us similar to last time. We began fighting them and again were able to escape. We ran back to my house this time however, we were chased by the creatures. The creatures followed us up the driveway but, as soon as we got through the front door they stopped as if there was a barrier around the house, keeping us safe. 

“What is happening?” Miles asked. Neither Jim nor I responded. We instead sat in silence wondering the very same thing. 

The next year on the anniversary we did not go to the clearing but instead to the strip mall near home. We were shopping and around noon the creatures showed up at the mall. People everywhere were screaming and running but they only came after us. We quickly ran home and they again were unable to get into the house. 

The next year on mom’s anniversary we decided to not go to the clearing and instead spend the entire day at home. The creatures showed up around noon and stood outside of the house looking in. But they were unable to actually enter the house. From then on we knew every year on that day we would need to remain inside the house because the creatures were not able to get in and we would be safe.