“ I brought you flowers.”

Of all the people I expected to see framed in my doorway, Roman Davis definitely was the last person I thought I’d see there. Least of all on Valentine’s Day.

“ What are you doing here? ”

He shifted on his feet. For a baseball jock, math enthusiast, and all-around fairly popular guy at our high school, he seemed very nervous.

“ It’s Valentine’s Day.” He said

“ So?” I replied.

He rubbed his neck and sighed, seeming to try to stand a little straighter. Although it didn't matter to me. I had always found his dark turquoise eyes his best feature. Although that wasn’t all he had going for him. He had dark brown hair, which often fell in waves around a square jaw that led up to those gorgeous blue-green eyes.

Not that I noticed.

Or cared.

He took another deep breath, closed his eyes, and seemingly all at once, blurted out a string of words:

“ WillyoubemyvalentineJeanette?”

I gaped at him. He, however, seemed to have relaxed after saying what he wanted to say, and now stared at me expectantly.

“ Did you—”

“ I heard what you said.” I said, still gaping at him, “ I just don't understand why you said it.” And I meant it. I was the bookish girl who always kept her head down and did her work. I was also pretty plain, with auburn brown wavy hair, pale skin, amber eyes, and a light smattering of freckles.

Now he was gaping at me, seemingly perplexed

“ What do you mean you don't understand?”

“ I mean..” I said, feeling suddenly flustered. Words, I mentally screamed Why are words so hard for you now?! You're usually good with words.

I took a deep breath and finally settled on something. “ Aren't you with Lina?”

He grinned at that, and my shoulders instantly relaxed, relieved I hadn't said something stupid.

“ I broke up with her three weeks ago. Didn't you know?”

No, I wanted to say, No, I didn't know that. But instead, I, like the fool I was, blurted out something else. “ Why me? Why now?”

I was even surprised that he was awake and dressed for school at this ungodly hour. I, however, was dressed for my morning run in black sweats, Adidas sneakers, and my favorite deep yellow hoodie.

He grinned again, that familiar devilish smile setting my heart racing, before his face settled back into a soft gentleness, as if he needed to assure me.

“ I want you to go out with me, Jeanette Thornfield, because you are lovely and smart and pretty dang sharp-witted. I really like you, and I’ve liked you for a while now, actually.”

I gasped like a fish, opening and shutting my mouth, unsure of what to say. He laughed when he saw my face, and then smiled broadly, and at that, I couldn’t help but blush. His gaze immediately quieted, and his face softened around the edges.

“You can decide whether or not you want to go out with me. But I, for one, am sincerely hoping you’ll say yes.”

Say something!, my brain shouted at me: Say anything. Say yes!

“Yes!” I stuttered, my mouth finally catching up with my brain. “Yes, Roman, I would love to go out with you!” I smiled, and he smiled back, his giddy grin stretching the broad planes of his face.

“Perfect! I’ll pick you up at six.”He winked, and then strode back to his car, a red Toyota, whistling as he walked. I looked until his car swerved out of view, and then ran up to my room, screaming into my pillow. I couldn’t believe it. I, Jeanette Elizabeth Thornfield, a silly sixteen-year-old sophomore, was going to go on a date with Roman Davis, the cool senior baseball jock and insanely smart math fanatic. It seemed almost too good to be true.

I stared out the window, a blithe smile on my lips. In the corner of my eye, I thought I saw a shadow cross the lawn and head toward the neighbor’s house. Probably Mr. Eckman, I thought: Taking Billy out for a walk. Or maybe Mr. Jensen, chasing Billy away from his roses.

I smiled, not really caring who or what, still reveling in my happiness.

Only later did I find out I was mistaken.

I made good time, I thought to myself as I run back up the drive way. I had an hour until that silly boy would come to pick me up. I ran inside, heading straight to the bathroom to take the quickest shower of my life. Once I was done, I walked, wrapped in a towel to my bedroom. The parents never got home this early so it's fine. I passed the window near my bedroom; I did a double take. Billy—Mr. Eckman's dog—was loitering in our yard, but Mr. Eckman was nowhere to be seen. Damn it, I need to get ready for the date, but I can't let billy run around on his own; what if he gets hit by a car? I threw on a t-shirt, hoodie, and jeans, racing outside before Billy could run off. I found him defecating on the lawn. The parents are going to be thrilled about that, and I don't have time to clean it up. "Come here you naughty boy." I cooed to Billy. "Let's get you back home. How did you escape anyway?" I grabbed him by the collar, leading him toward Mr. Eckman's house. When we got to the front door it was ajar. That's how, I supposed. Now a new question had formed: why was Mr. Eckman's door open? Billy started whining, resisting me as I pulled him toward the door. His collar slipped off and he bolted. "Billy!" But he was gone. I turned back to the door. A shiver ran down my spine. I had to find out if something had happened to Mr. Eckman.

I nudged the door open with cautious intention. I don't know what I expected to see. "Mr. Eckman?" I called. "I tried to bring Billy back." My gut was screaming to turn around, flee, get as far away as possible. I pushed the feeling down. What if Mr. Eckman was hurt? I had to find out. I crossed the threshold. The house was dark, the lights were off, the curtains drawn. Someone had taped the curtains to the window frames to prevent excess light spillage. It was freezing in here. The air conditioning hummed. The temperature did not reflect the seventy degrees outside. I took a step forward—crunch. My foot landed on something small and firm. I looked down. What I saw shocked me. I had tread on a mangled and bloody rabbit carcass. It looked like something had been gnawing on its bones. Light spilled from the entryway into the kitchen, revealing more small corpses. I shuddered. What could have done this? a scuffling sound came from the living room, just beyond the kitchen. I was seconds away from dashing outside, when I heard it. A most unnatural voice.
It sounded like it belonged to a vocalist on one of the deathcore songs I like—a deep, resonant, guttural sound.
"Is somebody there?" The voice growled. "I need help, I fell down.
I backed up slowly, now standing in the doorway.
"Please. I'm hurt!"
"Mr. Eckman." I asked, unable to keep the fear from my voice.
"Jean, is that you? Please help me."
I could now hear Mr. Eckman's voice underneath—almost as if it was an undertone, encased by the inhuman gutturals.
"I tried to bring Billy back, but he got free again—"
"I'm bleeding–so hungry–please help me."
"I'm coming to help." I moved toward the living room with extreme paranoia. The light spilling into the kitchen from the open door seemed to stop at the entrance to the living room, as if the darkness was swallowing it. Closer. Closer. I could hear Mr. Eckman rumbling and groaning. One more step. The living room was much too dark to see. I just stood in the doorway, blinking. My eyes started to adjust, I quickly wished they hadn't. The living room floor was scatter with more carcasses and bones. Blankets had been nailed over the windows—eliminating any potential light pollution. The corner opposite me was so dark I didn't realize at first, a humanoid shape—no longer Mr. Eckman—was standing there. Its body was black as a shadow. It seemed to be absorbing light, or producing darkness. Its limbs were disproportionately long for its body. It regarded me with black, malicious eyes. It roared, lunging forward with inhuman speed. I, a runner hopped up on adrenaline, was faster. Sprinting. Through the kitchen. Out the door. Grass. Keep running. The golden evening sun blinded me, but It didn't matter. I kept running. A red Toyota was pulling into our driveway just as I got back. I flung the car's door open, practically diving inside. Roman's grin melted when he saw me.
"W–what's wrong?"
"DRIVE, NOW!"