Night time. About nine. Walking home from my friend's house- her name's Sarah. She's my closest friend and I was supposed to sleep over at her house tonight. I had forgotten my toothbrush and had to run home to get it. If I could, I would've stayed home but it was my parents' idea to sleep over tonight. They didn't tell me why; they just said it would be best if I had some time away from home and more time to hang around my friends after what had happened last week. I had been dumped by my boyfriend that I'd been dating for half a year. He said he wanted to "take a break" but I knew what he meant. He just wanted the opportunity to date new girls and he got his wish even though I cried and begged him not to go.

I walk up the five front steps of my house and dig in my pocket for the key. We have a nice home in Ireland. Two stories high, three bedrooms, two bathrooms, no basement, no attic; just a crawlspace under the stairs with a window. We stored things in there and also had a desk, chair, and bookcase to serve as a quiet place to study. We don't have many games in my home; just chessboards- lotsof them. I grew up on it and my parents treated it as if it were a lifestyle all its own. My brother -Brian- was only four years old and was already being taught to play. I love my brother; he's smart and adorable and doesn't fuss over childish things like toys or sweets (don't get me wrong, he likes them but if he doesn't have any he won't throw a fit). He's a good kid…

I push my key into the lock and turn it. The lock clicks and I open the door. The house feels freezing; like a refrigerator. I look into the kitchen- maybe someone left the freezer door open? No, it's shut. I check the living room. The air conditioner is on low. The weirdest part is all the lights in the house are on; but nobody's home. Then I notice something even weirder: Папа's favorite chess set that's based on classic movie monsters is snapped in half. The pieces are missing… What in the hell is going on? I go up the stairs; still nothing, still freezing. All of the lights are on here, too. I check my room. It's warmer and the lights are on in here as well. My chess board is on the floor in about a million pieces.
"What in the hell...?" I ask aloud. I go to Brian's room. Empty. It's warmer than the rest of the house; just like mine. His lights are on and his toys are scattered on the floor along with his favorite blanket. I go and pick up the blanket (wherever he is, he'll want it). But once I pick it up, I feel a wet spot. I turn the soft, blue fabric in my hands to find a blood stain. I gasp and drop the blanket; hoping to God that it was just ketchup; but I knew in my very soul that it wasn't. "O bozhe…" I murmur in horror. Everyone gone, blood in my brother's room. Murder? Abduction? Injury and hospital trip? … Nosebleed? I fear for the worst; and the silence around me makes me even more terrified. I start to get out my cell phone so I can call one of my parents to see where they went. But then I realize something: I didn't check their room. I peek my head out of my brother's bedroom door and check left and right; and just for the hell of it... up! Nothing there; nothing anywhere. I walk out of Brian's room and step as silently as I can to the door at the end of the hallway and press my ear to the door only to quickly pull away. The door is hot! Not burning hot; I just didn't expect anything like it! It's as if there's a fire on the other side. But there's no smell of smoke and no sound of flames crackling. All I hear a very small boy crying to feel fear strike me.
BRIAN!
And then, breath quickening, heart pounding in fear; I brace myself and then slam my body into the door; breaking it open.

Hell is revealed.

The room is no longer a room. Instead of walls, there are thick spider webs as far out as my eyes can see. Blood...Everywhere! Streaks, splatters, pools all over the webs and floor. I look around in fear. I know something bad is waiting, but I don't know what. Then, I see what appears to be half of a torso on the floor. Though the face is bloodied and mangled, I recognize it by the tatters of what used to be clothing.
PAPA!
I want to scream but nothing comes. It's as if my lungs refuse to function for anything other than breathing. I notice movement to my left; a horrid looking creature is tearing at something bloody. Body of a large dog, head of a crocodile, women's hands. Bloody and writhing beneath it: MUM! Then, I see something worse. I look further left. A small child (monster?) with a large head, green, rotting skin, and its head covered in leeches is making its way towards my crying little brother. I want to get the creatures attentions to get them away from my family, but I can't find my voice and I'm paralyzed with fear. I watch in horror as the hell child is finally upon Brian. I finally find my voice. It's shaky and weak; it may as well be useless.
"OSTANOVITʹ! STOP!" I scream in the only two languages I know. But my shouts are futile as the creature ignores me as the other joins it; deciding that it was finished with my mother. The mouths in the monster's hands tear at my brother's stomach along with the help of the croc-dog's jaws; ripping him open. Brian screams and cries in pain. "BRIAN!" I scream trying to get my body to move. I want to save him. But I can't.
C'mon! Move…! PLEASE!I desperately try to will my body to move. But it's too late. Brian's cries stop. He's dead and now the demons are making their way to me. They're in no rush. They know I'm paralyzed.

"Hold, Vein; Artery."

The monsters stop in their tracks and I look past them. A man emerges from behind a curtain of webs. Only it's not a man, it's another monster. Bald head, red skin with bleeding cracks everywhere, dark red eyes, grey teeth and a hole through his chest filled with small live snakes. He has no legs; instead, he's hovering. He comes towards me and stops a foot away. I want to run but I still can't move; I'm too scared. I stare at his face. He looks sad; the most depressed looking thing I've ever seen.
"You are Una," He sighs, his voice filled with despair. "The last living Arsov? You should not be here… Your mother and father wished to spare you of this tragedy. Why are you here?"
"I-I…." I stutter; at loss of words. The monsters Artery and Vein try to come closer to me, wanting to kill me. But the red one stops them with a simple gesture.
"You don't know what is happening, do you?" He says, examining my face. All I'm able to do is shake my head. "Because your family chose to keep you away from the story of lonely Lord Loss… They wanted to protect you from all of the terrible things in the world. Good, loving parents. You'll miss them. But not for long… There will be great pain. But it will be over for you soon enough." He smiles thinly but he still looked otherworldly depressed. "Poor girl..." He continues, coming closer, raising a bloody, mangled "hand" and brushing it below my eye. The skin feels sticky and disgusting. A sudden surge of a different type of fear and I find myself able to move again. I shove the creature away, turn around and run for my life. I go out into the hallway and slam the door behind me; hoping it will slow down the demons just a little. I run into my bedroom and slam the door shut; locking it. I take my computer chair prop it against the door just as Vein and Artery slam against the door, trying to break it open. I know it won't hold very long so I grab a photo of my family off of my desk along with the jewelry box my grandmother gave me before she died. I place the photo inside, trying to calculate a way out as I brace the slowly breaking door with my body; desperately trying to buy myself some time. My eyes fix on the window across the room. I could jump out; but even if I do jump, I could get badly injured and the demons could catch up with me. But I have no other option. I make a break for the window and pry it open. But as soon as I do, Vein and Artery break the door open and come for me. I cradle the jewelry box against my chest and jump. I close my eyes waiting for impact but it doesn't come. I open my eyes and see that I've reached the ground but I'm not touching it. I'm floating! I wouldn't believe it if I wasn't doing it myself right now! There's no scientific explanation, but I'm freakin' floati-!
I drop on my knees. It hurts a bit but it's a lot better than what would've happened if I didn't jump. I look around; it's perfectly normal outside. No signs of any of the terrible things that had happened. I look back up at the window; nothing. I wonder if the demons are gone but I don't dare to check. I hear a quick rustling in the bushes next to the house. I scream; feeling dread in the pit of my heart that the monsters had followed me outside and I drop the jewelry box. It opens and everything spills out, the tune of the music box playing softly in the night air. My heart pounds in fear before I realize that it was only a rabbit running from me in the bushes. I sob miserably as I remember that my family was just murdered. Then my sobs turn into miserable screaming. I papа standing behind me, Brian in my lap, all of us smiling for the camera and Brian reaching for the cake in front of me. The picture only makes me scream more while tears flowed freely. My screams were heard by the neighbors and they come outside to see what's going on. Some call the police, others ask me what happened. I find myself at loss of words. I don't know how to describe what I've seen to them. I fade in and out of what happens later. Police, questions, accusations, crying, fear. Then screaming.