The sky darkens as I walk through the silent woods. The trees, bathe in deceptive shadows, cast leering faces. A howl flows over the forest, followed by another, and another. My heart races as the chorus grows louder. I must leave this place. But I’m lost. I glance up at the blood-red moon; it’s only light penetrating the raven black sky. The beams shine on me like a spotlight. The wolves will find me soon.

My breath stops when I hear rustling from the bushes. Pair of eyes appears out of the darkness. Not amber, like those of a wolf, but bright green. A small, black figure leaps into the radiating moonlight. The cat mews as it rubs against my legs. My rushing blood calms. I bend over to pet the purring feline, but the creature jumps again. I flinch as it lands on my shoulder. But the sound of its idling engine and its soft fur brushes against the down of my cheek, my quivering heart is reassured.

A high-pitch giggle makes me gasp and whirl to face it. But the cat stands where the noise came from, and I’m suddenly aware of eyes on my back. A chill trickles up my spine.

I’d never thought it possible, but the feline is smiling, showing its long, white canines. I think it is a trick of the night, but the critter appears to be growing, stubby fingers sprouting from the paws, the tail sucking into the body captivity. It stands on its haunches as it towers over me.

It is her, the Queen of all things dark and twisted. She extends a hand, her fingers now long with three-inch claws.

“Come,” her siren voice calls to me, “you must join me.”

“No!” I scream as I sit up from my bed. What is playing on the television now is different from the movie that was on last night. I plop my head back onto the pillow. Something catches my eye. I turn my neck. A plastic jack-o’-lantern grins widely at me. Its belly had been ravaged from the night before. I sit up as I place my head in my hands.

“Horror movies and candy are a bad combination,” I mutter.

I glance at the alarm clock, six-thirty. The time I get up for school. But it is a Saturday. I turn my attention to my window. I crawl out of bed, feeling in a mood for a early morning jog, and, perhaps, hang out with a few friends.

Looking from my two-story window, I rub my eyes. No! my mind shrieks, It can’t be!

But there, the cat-lady, the Queen, she is standing exactly where I wait for the bus. Her face and body are protected by the hood of her long, jet hair, the only things I can see is her fangs and glowing eyes.

I blink. She is gone. But something, like a smudge, is in the cat-woman’s place. I get dress to check it out.

As I cross the street, I notice that the smudge becomes a dark lump. I know what it is, the neighbor’s black cat, the one who loved and waited with me.

I kneel next to the remains. A low growl is coming from behind me. I turn. Amber eyes and white, feral teeth. A wolf is about to pounce…