Flashback

I vividly remember that day, the day everything fell apart. Crumbled. I can distinctly recall the screams and cries of loved ones as they were taken away into the hopeless night. From what I know and what I've heard since, the majority of the people that were taken were slaughtered viciously without a second thought. The lone light of the glistening moon would prove to be the only light at the end of the tunnel that they would ever see.

When everything went haywire, three of the four of us were playing Scrabble, little Melissa had wandered off into the realm of dreams where possibilities were endless and mostly everyone was happy. It seemed to be a Friday ritual. Melissa always seemed tired on Fridays. It was either that or she just really didn't like us once a week for a few hours. Maybe it was the game we played? She must have lied about being fond of spelling, because it was irrefutable that she was never there during family time. Always sleeping. I found it rather peculiar, but never bothered to state my opinion on the matter, because I figured it was just a phase she was going through. But really, the explanations were endless.

Around the 90-minute mark of our game, there was a knock on the door. Not a demanding knock, not a threatening one, not even a worrying one. It was simple, subtle, and raised little suspicion if any. But as I, being the man of the house, got up to represent my family at my doorstep, I began to feel increasingly uneasy. There was a second knock as I was just a few inches from becoming face to face with whom I'd presumed to be a stranger. I could be wrong though, I wasn't sure.

I slowly turned the knob, swallowing my spit out of spontaneous worry that had begun to grow inside me like a virus. Finally, I swung the door open, but, to my surprise, there was nobody there. Not thinking much of it I turned around to return to my family game. But there was one problem. When I got within sight of the table, they were gone. All of them. And as I came face to face with my new reality, chants and mobs could be heard on my street. A panic approached. I remember thinking to myself, what am I going to do?