PROLOGUE – PAST – 1950’S
The Haynes family farmhouse sits in the corner of the cornfield. On the other side of the house is sixty yards of field that leads to a thick wooded area. The sun is setting and the darkness of night is nearing.
It is a good-sized farmhouse. They have a big family. They have three daughters and three sons. The oldest boy is seventeen; the next two are girls, sixteen and fifteen. Traditionally they had sons to help with the land so when the next two were girls they kept trying for boys and they got them with the next two. They are thirteen and eleven. The youngest is a feisty nine-year-old daughter.
Inside the house, the Father is in the living room sleeping in his chair after a long day of work. Fats Domino plays on the radio in the background.
The Mother is in the back of the house in her bedroom. She just finished a bath. She has her robe on and her hair wrapped in a towel. She is walking to the bathroom when she stops. She looks to the window and sees that it is getting dark. She turns to the door and listens. She hears the sound of the radio from the living room but she doesn’t hear anything else. There are no sounds from her children. She knows that they were outside when she started her bath. They were told to come inside in five minutes. Why can’t she hear them? She gets the panicked thought that they may still be outside, in the dark. She exits the room and starts down the hall to the living room.
“The children, where are they?”
The Mother’s voice startles the Father awake as she enters the room. He instantly hears her tone and he knows the reason why there is fear. He knows the mistake he made by falling asleep without making sure the kids were inside before nighttime.
“They’re not here. They are still outside.”
He stands and looks around. He knows what the silence means. His wife is right. He walks to the closet and a few seconds later turns to his wife with his shotgun in his hand. “They are not alone. He will be with them.”
“Find them now.” She knows that she has to stay calm but the thought of what could happen terrifies her. She follows her husband out the front door and into the yard.
“God, please don’t let them be in the cornfield,” he says.
Screams startle him and his wife to turn towards the field on the other side. They start walking without hesitation and begin to run as more screams are heard. They know who is screaming. It is their daughters. They stare at the woods in panic as they run.
The youngest exits the woods running and her two youngest brothers are right behind her. A couple seconds later her older sisters exit the woods screaming and right behind them is the oldest brother.
“Run!” the oldest brother yells. He is only ten feet out of the woods when a faster shadowy Fearling rushes out of the woods and grabs him from behind.
The oldest sister stops running as her brother is dragged into the woods. She yells to her other brothers and sisters. “Run! Don’t stop!” She turns to start back to the woods to try and help her brother but it doesn’t matter.
Another Fearling rushes out of the woods and grabs her. She screams as it turns and tosses her backwards to land on the ground at the edge of the woods.
The other four stop running. They are crying, not knowing what to do. They hear their parents yelling for them but they are looking in the other direction as they helplessly watch the Fearling walk towards their sister.
The sixteen year old is on her back. She sees her brothers and sisters as the Fearling reaches down for her. She kicks at the Fearling’s shadowy legs but has no affect. She yells to them just as he grabs her. “Run!”
Her yell fades as she and the Fearling disappear into the woods. A second later four Fearlings rush out of the tree line straight towards the other children.
The Father runs with the Mother behind him. He
The Haynes family farmhouse sits in the corner of the cornfield. On the other side of the house is sixty yards of field that leads to a thick wooded area. The sun is setting and the darkness of night is nearing.
It is a good-sized farmhouse. They have a big family. They have three daughters and three sons. The oldest boy is seventeen; the next two are girls, sixteen and fifteen. Traditionally they had sons to help with the land so when the next two were girls they kept trying for boys and they got them with the next two. They are thirteen and eleven. The youngest is a feisty nine-year-old daughter.
Inside the house, the Father is in the living room sleeping in his chair after a long day of work. Fats Domino plays on the radio in the background.
The Mother is in the back of the house in her bedroom. She just finished a bath. She has her robe on and her hair wrapped in a towel. She is walking to the bathroom when she stops. She looks to the window and sees that it is getting dark. She turns to the door and listens. She hears the sound of the radio from the living room but she doesn’t hear anything else. There are no sounds from her children. She knows that they were outside when she started her bath. They were told to come inside in five minutes. Why can’t she hear them? She gets the panicked thought that they may still be outside, in the dark. She exits the room and starts down the hall to the living room.
“The children, where are they?”
The Mother’s voice startles the Father awake as she enters the room. He instantly hears her tone and he knows the reason why there is fear. He knows the mistake he made by falling asleep without making sure the kids were inside before nighttime.
“They’re not here. They are still outside.”
He stands and looks around. He knows what the silence means. His wife is right. He walks to the closet and a few seconds later turns to his wife with his shotgun in his hand. “They are not alone. He will be with them.”
“Find them now.” She knows that she has to stay calm but the thought of what could happen terrifies her. She follows her husband out the front door and into the yard.
“God, please don’t let them be in the cornfield,” he says.
Screams startle him and his wife to turn towards the field on the other side. They start walking without hesitation and begin to run as more screams are heard. They know who is screaming. It is their daughters. They stare at the woods in panic as they run.
The youngest exits the woods running and her two youngest brothers are right behind her. A couple seconds later her older sisters exit the woods screaming and right behind them is the oldest brother.
“Run!” the oldest brother yells. He is only ten feet out of the woods when a faster shadowy Fearling rushes out of the woods and grabs him from behind.
The oldest sister stops running as her brother is dragged into the woods. She yells to her other brothers and sisters. “Run! Don’t stop!” She turns to start back to the woods to try and help her brother but it doesn’t matter.
Another Fearling rushes out of the woods and grabs her. She screams as it turns and tosses her backwards to land on the ground at the edge of the woods.
The other four stop running. They are crying, not knowing what to do. They hear their parents yelling for them but they are looking in the other direction as they helplessly watch the Fearling walk towards their sister.
The sixteen year old is on her back. She sees her brothers and sisters as the Fearling reaches down for her. She kicks at the Fearling’s shadowy legs but has no affect. She yells to them just as he grabs her. “Run!”
Her yell fades as she and the Fearling disappear into the woods. A second later four Fearlings rush out of the tree line straight towards the other children.
The Father runs with the Mother behind him. He
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