They were breaching the boundaries of Riverside Common. They had flittered about the edges of the Common for the past several days, finally venturing close to the heart of the tiny township. A few of the more courageous had gone to explore the far edges of Riverside, never returning. The rest held up in their homes while listening to the faint echoing howls and screeching exclamations near town�s edge.

The twilight presented the bloated pumpkin sun setting slowly into the frayed forest edge and a great glaring moon, full, wan, and amber hued, haloed by harvest seasons and a cloudless indigo fringe.

Star Friday, Cadence Cross, and Glenn Costa stood near the double glass doors of Sunder Feed and Farm Supply. They had bolted the doors and turned the bright sodium lights off in the parking lot. The expanse of cement stretched to the edge of the road and the woods behind the feed. Star�s Camaro was parked out front near the body of Paul Shirker. He had volunteered to get help and now he lay cold, bloody with his car keys still in hand near the front sidewalk next to the topsoil display.

A barking howl filled the dampened spaces between the aisles of feed, filtering in from outside in easy currents of terrifying utterance. Star looked at Cadence and whispered, �They�re gonna try to get in at some point, Cadence.�

Cadence ran her fingers through the braided corn silk tresses that framed her face and said in shaking fear, �They probably killed everyone in town jus� like Paul.�

�They couldn�t have gotten everyone Cadence, we got away, some of the others had to escape as well,� Star said in her bravest voice. Glenn walked to the back of the feed. There was a tall pole barn shaped in a half circle attached to the back of the store. The corrugated metal ran from floor to ceiling like a tunnel and bales of hay, cat food, dog food, sow and pig feed, and horse feed lined the walls in the barn. A set of plastic swinging doors separated the front of the store where the shelves were lined with hardware and insecticides of all types, from the tin can that formed the feed area.

Glenn looked through the feed aisles, hoping for a weapon of some sort. Star stepped into the back of the store and said, �How about these Glenn?� she held up the long blade of a machete for Glenn to inspect.

�I�d prefer my Winchester but that�ll do us jus� fine.� Star handed Glenn one of the three machetes she had found in the hardware and tool isle.

Cadence took her machete reluctantly. �I hate weapons Star, but I guess I don�t have any choice,� she said looking at the silver blade.

�Not really,� Glenn said matter-of-factly. �You can wait until those things break in and end up like Paul!�

�No thanks,� she said. �I prefer the machete.�

Outside it became darker, the sun finally disappearing into the edge of the earth�s shadow. A maelstrom of silhouettes, tall, wolf like, and fast flittered near Paul�s body. They tore and ate and feasted. When Star looked out of the double glass doors, she saw the sharp deadly maw of one of the creatures. Covered in scarlet, raving human flesh, the creature was part wolf, long snout and pointed incisors, part human with perfectly formed fingers. She watched as the creature slid its delicate hands across the glass smearing Paul�s lifeblood in great red smears. The creatures head tilted back and it screamed as if in pain, it was then that Star noticed the black painted fingernails and the shredded remnants of bobby socks on the wolf-thing.

Cadence stepped up behind Star and asked, �What the hell is it?� Glenn moved between Star and the glass doors with a large sheet of neon colored poster board.

�If they see us they�ll try to get in,� he said as he blocked their view with the cardboard sheet. �Hand me that roll of tape!� he pointed to the roll of clear packing tape next to the cash register. Cadence handed the roll of tape to Glenn and stepped back as he fixed several pieces of the colored cardboard across the windows. When he finished he said, �Help me move this desk in front of the door!� They all got behind the heavy oaken desk that served as the front counter and slid it to the front of the door. Outside something brushed up against the glass. They moved further into the store as screams and wild piercing howls filled the parking lot, the space between them and the door and the nocturnal terror. Cadence looked at Glenn and asked again, �What are they?�

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