Cassandra’s feet are sticking out from under the covers. They are a temptation too great to resist and Mark has the perfect weapon in his pocket. A nice long feather. One quick flick later, Mark is running down the hall as fast as his short legs will go. With a shriek Cassandra sits up in bed just in time to see her younger brother disappear around a corner. The chase is on. Jumping out of bed, she runs after him out the door and down the stairs, her feet pounding on the wooden planks. Alex, as always right there at her heels. She chases Mark through the kitchen. At her passing, her mother turns from the stove with a smile on her face and shouts “Cassandra get dressed”, but Cassandra is already out the door. Ignoring her mother, she chases Mark across the yard towards the corn field. As Mark disappears into the field, Cassandra yells, “When I get my hands on you, you are eating, shit!”. Her father and brothers look up from hitching the team to exchange fond smiles as Cassandra disappears after Mark into the field. Alex is still right on Cassandra’s heels.

Cassandra runs through the field following the sound of Mark’s movements. She follows, shouting about all the things she is going to do to him once she gets her hands on him. Laughing, Mark yells back that she is never going to catch him. He dashes out the other side of the field and into the forest with Cassandra just behind him. Birds take flight and animals scatter as Cassandra chases Mark through the forest, shouting and yelling as they go. Several times, Cassandra almost catches him but Mark is nimble. He jumps, weaves and clambers his way through the forest, always one step ahead of her.

Time passes as they play their game. The forest has gone completely silent except for their shouts. Suddenly Alex stops, his clawed feet digging into the rotten bark of a fallen tree. His leathery ears twitch as he listens to something outside the range of human hearing. Noticing, Cassandra stops her pursuit of Mark. As he dashes off, she walks over to Alex only to be brought up short as he jumps and scrambles up the side of a nearby tree. Sitting on a limb out of Cassandra’s reach, he stares off into the distance, ears twitching and rotating on top of his head. Wondering what has gotten into him, Cassandra intertwines her arms across her chest. She looks up at Alex and says, “what’s gotten into you?” Alex ignores her as he continues to stare off into the distance. Cassandra, tired from chasing her brother and annoyed at  being ignored, turns and starts to walk away, saying as she does, “I’m going home. Have fun sitting in a tree.” Alex’s pitch-black eyes focus on Cassandra’s back. He hisses, raising his tail in the air and prepares to jump. Cassandra, hearing the familiar hiss of Alex’s warning turns around, her brown eyes searching for the threat, only to find Alex poised, ready to strike, and looking straight at her.

Staring into the face of her longtime friend as he opens his jaws to hiss once more, thereby showing off his sharp fangs, Cassandra takes a step back and nervously asks, “Alex, what’s wrong?” Alex launches himself into the air straight at Cassandra, his mouth open, glistening fangs dripping with saliva. Cassandra stumbles backwards and trips over a log landing on the moss-covered ground. Alex lands on top of her and sinks his sharp teeth into her wrist. Cassandra screams in pain and stares in disbelief at Alex. He lets go of her wrist and looks at her, a single tear forming in the corner of his eye. Cassandra can feel his poison affecting her; the pain is fading, her body is starting to feel numb, and her eyes are starting to droop. Through half closed eyes she sees Alex disappear into the forest. All alone in the middle of a forest, Cassandra falls into a deep dream-filled sleep.

Hours later She awakes alone. The only sound, a rustling from the trees as the wind passes through their branches. Clouds cover the sun, turning the forest into a gray shadowy place. Dread grips her, a knowing that something terrible has happened. Without thought or intent, she gets up off the ground and starts walking back through the forest and the field.

Cassandra does not want to go home. She wants to hide in the forest and pretend that nothing has happened but her body does not listen. She can see the smoke rising and wants to run but her legs keep moving in a slow but steady pace. 

Her nose fills with the stench of burning flesh.

Once she reaches the edge of the field, Cassandra sees a large smoldering pile of ash in the middle of the yard. Beside it, impaled on a stick is her father’s head.