1 Cold Night

"When I close my eyes all I can see is blood flowing from our towns well, intestines and bones wrapped around our houses, and the smell of death so overpowering that it makes you want to join the ever growing army of the damned just to feel something other than despair. This became known as the reaping hour."

I was walking with my best friend Michael back to his families home in Havenstead, PA when the sun was begining to set and the crickets began chirping their favorite tune. As we kept walking it grew increasingly colder and the fiery embers of the sun were falling below the horizon as if the darkness of the night sky were extinguishing them. "What time is it Gabriel?" Michael ask me. I look up at the ever expanding darkness of the night sky and look down at my watch and then I reply with little confidence in my response "My watch says it's 3:21pm but that can't be right, it has to be atleast 8 or 9 now." He looks at me in disbelief and stops in his tracks. "Let me see your watch real quick." I loosen the leather strap and hand over my watch. He looks at it very closely then hands it back. "This can't be right, we just left our school house only 20 minutes ago, there's no way it is dark already." Michael says. "Well I don't know what could be going on Michael, maybe an eclipse?" I gasp as the temperature suddenly feels as if it just plummeted. I can tell Michael felt the sharp drop in temperature just as I had. "Why the hell is it so cold now? It's June and we were just sweating bullets not even 20 minuted ago." Michael manages to gasp out as our breath is now visible. I look up to see if there is anything to explain this sudden darkness only to realize, there isn't any moon out tonight let alone a single star and the only thing that is illuminating this area is a street lamp right beside us. I look at Michael, his golden locks of hair a bright sillohuete against the darkness that surrounds us. "Michael, look up into the sky and tell me what you see." I quitely ask him. He looks to me as if I have lost my mind but then gives in and looks up. His eyes scan the dark and ominous sky then widen with understanding and fear. "Gabriel what the hell is going on?" He says as he starts to panic. "I don't know but we had better get in doors before it gets any colder." I manage to whisper out as I start to panic from the the loss of feeling in my fingers and toes. "I remember seeing the blacksmiths shop just a little ways back, if we can find it maybe we can find out what's going on and warm ourselves up." I stammer out as I start to panic even more from the bite of the wicked frost that has cost me all feeling in both hands. We start walking back while only able to use the street lights to find our way. "I see the store's lights!" Michael exclaims as he start accelerating towards the store front door. He beats me there and is already knocking on the door when I arrive and not just 1 second later a beastly man answers it.