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The fire was almost out.

One could tell by the way the five vixens huddled just a bit closer together and a few drew a heavy

blanket around themselves against the chill of Halloween night. One stared at the flames in thought,

contemplating, as they licked and lapped glowing embers, becoming a mixture of deep blues and reds.

"Karen?" asked another vixen and her name was Susan. "You've been so quiet. Is something wrong?"

She didn't answer at first. Her deep blue eyes, almost steely in the campfire glow, focused on the other

vixen and her companions. "I was just thinking of something," she said, and her attention went back to

the fire.

Susan grinned. "Something or someone?"

Another vixen, Vivian, giggled from under the blanket.

Karen rolled her eyes. "I suppose someone...or something..." She kicked at an errant branch with her

sandaled foot and watched the flames greedily surround it. "We should tell scary stories, if the fire

behaves..."

Roberta, next to Vivian, smiled and nodded. "Oh, great idea! I mean...we're not supposed to be picked

up for another hour or so. It's only 11. Then we have a sleepover."

Vivian replied, "Well, I have cheerleading practice so I might have to leave earlier."

Susan snickered. "If Robert picks you up, you mean..."

A chorus of ooohs! flooded around the fire and Vivian looked deflated. "We'll see."

"I'd love to tell stories!" Brenda clapped and uncurled herself from under the blanket to sit closer to the

fire. "We used to do it at junior high camp every night. Of course, it was summer camp and not so cold."

Susan nodded. "Yeah, I didn't expect it to be so chilly today. Sorry, girls. Karen, I'm sorry too. Your first

time meeting us, and you get to experience a typical Canadian prelude to winter unfortunately." She

shivered again and grabbed an end of the long blanket for herself. "Well, if we're going to tell stories, be

quick, before my Dad comes and finds five frozen vixens." She tossed a few more branches onto the fire,

watching the flames attack.

"Well, who wants to go first?" Vivian asked.

"Karen, since you're the newcomer, you want to? I mean, I know we don't know you too well, so this

would be a good chance to learn more about you."

Karen smiled faintly and shook her head. "Maybe I should go last. If I hear from the rest of you, that

might open me up a bit more..."

"What were you doing out on the beach anyway this time of night?" Vivian wanted to know.

Karen looked around them before replying. "Well, to be honest...I-I was trying to get away from

someone. She, um...she's been causing me a lot of problems lately..."

Susan looked concerned. "Someone at school?"

Karen sighed. "Yeah. Well, she lives with me too, so it's like I really can't just get away from her. I see her

every day, almost every minute." Her paws clenched a bit and she sighed. "I wish I could be rid of her..."

Then she brightened, flashing the kind smile the girls had liked right away. "But anyway, someone else

tell a story."

Vivian grinned. "Oh, I have one! I actually read this in a Vixen Life magazine but it's still fun to tell." She

scooted closer cross-legged to the fire. "There was a fox named Jason, and he was happily married to his

beloved wife, Michelle. They'd had a very beautiful baby todd six months earlier, and it was Jason's idea

they should have a baby monitor close to their bed, you know, to keep an ear out for when he cried or

wanted fed. So...one morning, Jason overslept rather late on a Saturday and, oh, the baby's name was

Brian, I just remembered. So, he wakes up and hears a sound from the baby monitor, a female voice

saying to Brian, 'Go to sleep...and they will take you...go to sleep... and they will take you...' He smiles as

he hears his wife's voice and gets up, showers, dresses and shaves, and heads downstairs to make

himself something to eat. As he's eating, he hears a soft commotion upstairs, a few thumps, and then

silence. He thinks nothing of it and continues eating. As he's putting his dishes away in the sink, the

kitchen door opens, and he is shocked to see his wife coming in with an armload of groceries..."

The vixens all gasped softly.

"Jason, in a panic, runs upstairs as fast as he can, throws open the child's bedroom door and stands

there stunned, eyes wide opened, seeing an empty bassinet..."

"Oh my GOD, Viv!" Susan shuddered all over and tightened the blanket around her. "Geeeez! Stop!"

Vivian laughed heartily and shrugged. "I thought it was neat!"

"Poor baby. I wonder where he was taken..." Karen looked thoughtful.

Vivian replied, "There's really nothing to wonder about. It's pretty much left to the reader's

imagination."

Karen nodded and stared at the flames again.

"Roberta, you always tell good ones! Come on, your turn!" Brenda prodded.

Roberta giggled and stood up by the fire. "Alright, alright." She looked down at the huddled vixens and

smiled, and her teeth shone wickedly. "Did I tell you about the hotel room my family stayed in once

while on a trip to Alberta?" When everyone shook their heads, she continued. "So, we were coming

home and Dad had been driving quite a bit. Mom worried about him so we stopped at a hotel, the three

of us, and checked in for the night. I couldn't sleep just yet so I went out to the hallway to get a candy

bar from the vending machine..."

Susan laughed. "Oh man, Berta, no wonder you don't make the cheerleading squad!"

Roberta huffed. "I will someday! Anyway, I crept quietly out to the hall and past several doors on either

side. At the last door on the right, number 1002, I stopped because I heard something weird. It sounded

like whimpering, like someone was really upset. I-I didn't really know what to think but the good fox in

me wanted to, you know, be caring, so I knocked gently on the door. The whimpering stopped and I

heard these weird, slow-moving footsteps come to the door - and I thought it would open and, I don't

know, someone would come out and tell me to mind my business. But...no one did...the door never

opened. Now I was a little unnerved and decided it wasn't my call to be nosy, so I went to get my candy

bar. Shut UP, Susan!"

The other three friends giggled and Karen managed a smile.

"Anyway...I walked past the door again, and I heard that same whimpering sound. Now I was really

thinking, okay, maybe I should check this out so I knocked on the door again. And again, I heard slow-

moving footsteps heading to the door and stop. The door never opened. Now I was really curious, so

finally I got up on tiptoe and tried to peek into the door window, you know, these really tiny things? I

don't know what they're called."

Karen said gently, "Peepholes?"

"Yeah! Thanks, Karen. So, I looked into the peephole but all I could see was red, I mean, just plain red. I

couldn't see anything else at all. So, I finally walked past the room and the whimpering started again and

I just kept walking down the hall and back to the room, and the whimpering stopped. I slept a little

poorly that night and the next morning, when we were checking out, I remembered Room 1002 and

asked the front desk clerk if anything was the matter last night. He frowned at me and said, 'Ohh, Room

1002? No ma'am, that door is locked and stays locked. We don't give out that room at all.' Then he

leaned down to talk to me so my parents couldn't hear. 'See, there was some bad business up in that

room, little girl. A man was murdered by his wife, and then she slit her own throat. It was terrible. There

was blood everywhere.' I was really in shock after that but then he said something else. He said, 'I'll

never forget her eyes...just seeing those awful, hideous eyes...the REDDEST eyes you ever saw...'"

As she ended her story and looked at them, Vivian said, "Um...I'm not quite sure I get it..."

Brenda snorted and elbowed her. "You silly vix! RED eyes? She looked through the peephole and saw

red, right? She sawwwww her eyyyyyye...muahahahaaa..."

"Oh!" Vivian laughed, "So the wife was looking through the peephole too!"

"Because she knocked on the door! Duh!"

Roberta spoke up, "Right, her ghost was still in that room...Maybe I didn't quite tell it right, I'm sorry."

Susan chuckled and nodded. "You did fiiiine, Berta. We loved it. Hmmm. Mine's kinda short really.

So...this couple is driving cross-country and they're hopelessly lost in the back part of some rural small

town, not many houses, a lot of fields and opens spaces. And they're driving, listening to the radio while

the wife is playing with her smartphone to find directions. All of a sudden, they come across what looks

like an accident in the middle of the road. Two cars parked close together and blocking the whole road.

So, the husband stops the car and goes out to see what he can do. But both cars are empty. It's nearly

nightfall now, so the full moon is out and shining down on the cars. The fox looks around for any sign of

passengers and the moonlight shines on something else he sees suddenly in the field, surrounding them

• the glittering of several staring eyes..."

Brenda shivered and grabbed the blanket again.

"The husband cries out and runs back to the car where he left his wife...but she's gone... He starts to

look around desperately, calling out for her, and then screams in horror as the gang of tribal foxes grab

him..."

"Eeeeeek!" Vivian cried out and laughed, hugging Brenda. "Okay, okay, enough, enough!"

"That was a good one!" Roberta clapped. "Oh, Susan, you don't tell much of a story but just enough.

Wow..."

"Thanks..." Susan looked down, embarrassed. "I got my Dad's storytelling gene."

"Well, he IS a famous novelist." Vivian pointed out. "Oooh, maybe he can tell us some stories on the ride

home..."

"Lord, no!" Brenda cried out. "You want to give me nightmares tonight? This story already is one I'm

hesitant to tell you guys because it's just so creepy..."

"Oh, it can't be THAT creepy!" Roberta countered. "Come on, tell us!"

Brenda took a deep breath and sighed slowly. "Fine. There was a little girl vixen, about 10 years old,

lying awake in bed. She couldn't sleep, you see. She had heard something thump loudly from under her

bed and it had awoken her. She laid there in the dark, trying to get back to sleep. Suddenly, her

bedroom door creeeeeeaked slowly open. She couldn't see anything in the dark, not a thing, but she

could just barely see her mother's head peek through the door. The little girl started to ask why her

mother was up and about at this hour, but then her mother's whole body slid through the open door. It

moved very strangely. Her head wobbled on its neck. Her arms and legs didn't seem to work, and it

seemed like she was more of a puppet, you know, arms and legs flopping, not working right, and she

was led through the open door. A dark shape appeared behind the mother, and the little girl now

watched her being dragged slowly across the bedroom floor. The shape lowered the mother's body to

the floor...and the little girl saw all the blood. She wanted to scream but instead tried to convince herself

she was dreaming, so she closed her eyes tightly..."

All the vixens were looking at her in absolute horror, except Karen who continued smiling faintly, listening.

"The mother's body was rolled slowwwwly across the bedroom door and...UNDER the girl's bed. The

little girl opened her eyes again and saw the shape rise up...and walk slowwwwly out the door. A

moment later, her father's body was dragged through the door, and he too was dead, covered in blood.

She closed her eyes again tightly, still thinking she's in her dream, and listened to her father's body

dragged, lowered to the floor, and rolled under the bed.

"The vixen opened her eyes again, shaking, terrified, thinking maybe her dream was over. Then the

shape rose again and walked over to a wall near the girl's bed. She saw the shape lift what looked like a

talon onto the wall, and then it wrote something in deep, red, chaotic script. Then...it shambled back

towards her bed and lowered down to roll back under it and disappear.

"The vixen finally opened her eyes, shivering all over, and her eyes glanced over at the wall. She couldn't

quite see what it said, as she wasn't used to the dark yet. As she was finally ready to drift off to sleep

again...she managed to read what was on the wall this time..."

All the vixens were listening raptly now.

"It read... I KNOW YOU'RE AWAKE"...and before the vixen could cry out, she felt a cold paw around her

mouth and then she knew nothing more..."

"BRENDA! GEEEEZ!!!" Vivian cried out and smacked her.

Roberta giggled, "Well, so much for Vivian sleeping tonight."

Everyone laughed, Karen included. When the laughter faded, Susan turned to Karen. "We have about 10

minutes 'til midnight. I'm afraid you're going to lose our company then. My Dad is coming soon."

"Unless you want to stay overnight with us, Karen..." Vivian offered.

"Well, I'd have to ask Dad but yeah maybe!" Susan moved over close to Karen. "I mean, if you want to..."

Karen's blue eyes flickered. "Well...maybe I should tell my story first. You might not want me."

"Oh come on, that's silly, you're awesome, Karen."

"Yeah, come on!" the other girls chimed in.

Karen sighed and looked at the fire again. "Well...I was out here tonight on the beach because I was

trying to get away from someone. I told you. I-I see her quite often and she's always around, never

leaves my side, never gives me any time alone. Ever since she came into our home, she's been a little

terror."

Vivian rolled her eyes. "Preach. I have three sisters."

Susan laughed. "Two brothers. Go on, Karen."

Karen bit her bottom lip. "She's my age actually. Same blue eyes, same black hair. She, um...she came

into our house and the family just...accepted her, I guess. They never asked me my feelings at all

though." Her paws clenched. "I hate her though...I hate her so much I wish she was dead..."

"Aw, now, Karen..."

"No," Karen barked back, "It's the truth. She's...different. She's always, well, she likes to play with me.

She-she likes to do things to me..." her voice got colder, almost ice. "She gives me dreams sometimes.

Dreams so horrible that they wake me up screaming. She...likes to challenge me. Dare me. She dared me

once to do something to another girl at school. She had an armful of books and she was trying to chat on

her phone at the same time she was walking down a long set of stairs, and it made her so mad, so she

dared me to shove her down the stairs...but I couldn't. Another time, she tried to get me to drown a fox

at the community pool. I managed to pin him down on the bottom...and...I-I saw his eyes and he was so

scared...I let him back up and he was fine, but she yelled at me...she always yells at me when I don't do

what she wants me to..."

"K-Karen..." Susan gasped softly.

"Please let me finish. She wants me to do other things too. She doesn't like my parents at all. Or my

friends. I-I worry sometimes she just wants...just us. The two of us, and no one else. She whispered in

my ear once how easy it could be to go into the kitchen...take a knife out of the drawer...and then it

would just be us. Or...I-I could be with my friends...and... well... do something to them too, and then it

would just be us..."

As the vixens listened in horror, their mouths open, Karen continued. "Lately, she's been wanting me to

listen to her more. And-and... I have...her voice seems different now, kinder, gentler. She keeps telling

me over and over, 'You should let me out, Karen...and then we can play...' But...I-I'm scared to let her

out." She glanced at the vixens one more time and her head tilted slowly to the right. Her blue eyes took

on the blankest stare as the flames reflected them. "But...I think she likes all of you. I-I think she wants

to get out...and play with all of you..."

**

"Better get Doc Martin up here fast as you can..." The kneeling officer shone a flashlight inside the tent

again and swallowed hard. "Did you speak to the father?"

Another officer next to him shook his head, still looking pale, holding a cellphone. "Not yet. They had to

sedate him. They're moving him to the ICU though, because he might have had a heart attack. They'll

hold him for observation but..." He sighed sadly. "I-I really can't blame him, finding all this...and his

daughter just...God..."

"What about the other girl?"

"She's a wreck. She keeps trying to tell me what happened and just bursts into tears. She keeps saying,

"she did it, she did it", but can't tell me who."

The officer shut off his flashlight and stood up. "Well, let's get her checked into the hospital as well and

let her rest for now. Then maybe she can provide some answers in the morning."

"Yes, sir."

"Did she have any I.D. at all?"

"Nothing."

"What about the triple-homicide on Lewiston earlier tonight?"

"We're still getting details. Two parents, a little girl, dead. One older daughter still missing. Karen

Simmons. We don't have a description on her yet. Waiting on calls."

"Alright, keep me informed and let me know as soon as you have I.D."

The two officers parted ways as more sirens and flashing red lights descended onto the beach. A chill

wind blew from the lakeshore, scattering a few glowing embers still left in the dying fire.

END