Chapter 1
Drew hated waking up so early in the morning. He especially hated waking up so early on a Sunday morning. He felt after school and work all week one should be entitled to a day of rest. Saturdays was his day for family work, to mow the law and perform other forms of menial manual labor. This of course was to help pay for his debt to his dad. So Sunday was his only day to rest.
From the sound of it the weather wasnt going cooperating either. He could detect the rumbling of thunder as he tried to clear his head of the cobwebs that the nocturnal spiders had woven. He could see the outside through the window of his second floor room.
Usually the sunlight flooded through his windows leaving its warm glow upon his face. Today nothing but gray was visible. Beads of water were visible on the glass.
Slowly he lifted himself to a sitting position on his bed and tried to shake off the sleepy feeling. Looking across the room he could see his computer on the desk. The screen was on and there was a flashing coming from a web prompt. He could have sworn he had shut down the system before he went to sleep last night.
The window cast a reflection on the screen. He stopped and stared for a moment. Something was not as it should be. As he peered closer he realized it looked as if someone where watching over his shoulder, someone standing on the fire escape. He stood up and turned rather quickly around. Now he was facing the window. There was nothing there. After a few moments he shook off the scare an attributed it to no being fully awake yet. He waited a moment then closed the distance between himself and the computer. Slumping into the chair he looked at the computer screen before him. After the blinking cursor was typed "Welcome to Never land Drew" The note had come over his instant messenger. He stared blankly trying to figure out who sent the message. Normally the messengers name is next to the message; in this case the area was blank. His mind was still too deep in sleep to figure it out. He decided he would save it for later.
In the lower right hand corner of the screen there was a display of the time, as 6:45AM. He had almost forgotten why he was up early. He had a breakfast date this morning with Samantha. If he didnt put a rush into his movements he was going to be late for it. He showered and dressed. Picking up the bag he had packed the night before he was out of the house in fifteen minutes.
As his car raced along he had moments to relax and think about the life in which he found himself. Soon he would be at the mall and then off to meet the others in search of a place to live. One of his friends, Christine, had found what appeared to be a perfect house for lease. It was situated near the Quabbin Reservoir. They all hoped it would be a home for them.
Drew met Samantha or Sam, as she liked to be called, during the first week, of his first year of college. They had enrolled in a drama class. They have similar tastes and both had ended up enjoying each others company. They ended up hanging out a lot. Both were coffee fanatics. By the second semester they had begun to aligning classes together, and although nothing had ever been formally said, you could assume they were an item. Sometime no words need be said.
The exit was up ahead, and within moments he was in the mall parking lot. Looking at the clock on his dashboard he knew he was late, but not by much. Still Sam was always five minutes early to everything. And her pet peeve was tardiness. Sometimes he wished she wasnt so anal.
As he entered the mall he could see Sam standing near the Donut Shop. She had a large coffee in her hand and the newspaper. Drew thought this to be a good sign. If she had the paper to keep her occupied she might not have noticed he was late. When he reached her she looked up from the paper and he could tell how her face was bunched up over the eyes, that she had been watching the clock closely.
she said with a sarcastic tone in her voice.
"As Always...on time"
Black Eyes
The ride was mostly going to be back roads. They had stopped before the mall exit at the Dunwich Shop and Gas to fill up the tank. Sam had used the phone to call Jessica. Jessica's roommate Darlene answered the phone. Among the five of them, Jessica had been the most adjusted. Both her parents were alive, married and sane. She grew up in California. The Valley to be specific she would say. She was a bit ahead of the rest of them school wise. She had attended school out in California before transferring her credits to the northeast.
She had to change her major as not many schools in the Northeast have majors in Parapsychology. She once spoke about having visions and hearing voices. But that was after the group had consumed a few beers, so anything said is under suspicion.
She was introduced through Christine, who had a class with Jessica, who was best friends and room mates with Darlene.
After Drew had filled the tank and Sam had bought additional supplies for the journey they packed themselves into the car and prepared to drive away. Sam was about to say something to Drew when out of the corner of her right eye she noticed some thing. In the shadow of the building were two small children, huddling between the arch way of the unopened repair shop. The sun was still quite low in the sky and the overhead clouds gave the sky a dark foreboding feeling. The two just stood there glaring at her. She suddenly felt the hair on her neck rise. She couldnt pull her eyes from the boy and girl, then she noticed something strange. The two wore dark hooded sweatshirts and there faces were dark with smudges of dirt or something on the jaw line. But that wasnt what was disturbing about them. I was the two black voids that should have held young vibrant eyes. Unlike most children there eyes were not filled with the joy and wonders of the world. Their pupils were huge and black as coal, only to be contrasted with red where there should have been white. She felt almost compelled to reach for the door handle and open the door. If it were not for the body numbing fear she was experiencing she just might have. She closed her eyes and tried to calm her fear. Something was going off in her head that said to her, run, hide, and get away. But it was like she was not in complete control of herself. She opened her eyes and began to ask Drew to drive off, when she was struck with absolute horror. The young boy was peering through the closed car door at her. His eyes were like voids where eyes had been, but now only glassy black spheres resided. She felt a scraping at the door, like claws being brushed back and forth along the door handle. She finally found it in her to tell Drew to get the car moving when she noticed that he also had a lurker at his door. The little girl stood there glaring at Drew through the closed door window.
Drew knew something was wrong. He could feel his spine tighten up just as it did this morning when he thought someone was looking through his window.
He had been looking at the road map fairly intensely when suddenly he felt that there were eyes upon him. He felt Sam suddenly tighten up. He looked up to see what was causing Sam distress, and that is when he saw her. She couldnt have been more that 9 years old. Her hair was dark blonde braided on both sides, she was pale except for a small mole on her cheek. It was then that he noticed the vacuum where her eyes should have been. He suddenly felt the urge to open the car door. He was able to suppress the urge and sit tight, though unmoving in his seat. Suddenly he could hear a small voice speaking to him through the closed window.
"Excuse me sir, my Brother and I are in need of help. We have been waiting here for our mother to come pick us up, but she never came. We have been here for quite along time and we were hoping that you could drive us?"
Drew felt a wave of compassion for the child and turned his head towards the little boy on Sams side of the car. He could hear Sam voice, she was saying something but the sound was low and had a sense of dread to it.
"...my Sister and I are in need of help. We have been waiting here for our mother to come pick us up, but she never came. We have been here for quite along time and we were hoping that you could drive us."
She was saying word for word what the little girl had said to me. He could once again hear the little girl speak to him.
"Just open the door, please, I am cold and it seems so warm and dry in there. Just for a few minutes. I am sure my mother will be along any minute."
Sam could not hold back any longer, she was compelled to open the door, she placed her hand on the door handle and began to pull it back when she felt a scream in her head. She soon realizes it was not in her head, but was coming out of her mouth, she spun her head to look at Drew and saw the little girl vaporize before her eyes. Drew quickly engaged the car into drive and sped out of the filling station. They drove a few miles without even thought to where they were going. Drew finally pulled over and placed his head down on the steering column.
"What was that?" were the only words to come out of his mouth
"I dont know, and I dont want to find out." Sam replied "We should just get on to the diner, and fast."
Drew handed her the map and began driving, soon they were on the correct road heading to there morning meeting. Little did they know, if they had taken a moment to stare behind them, they would have seen the black mist following them in the distance.