So it has been a very long while since I have written anything. I just kept looking at all the other OC stories and I finally decided to jump for it. I wanted to try again. There will probably be a lot of references to other shows and genres; also will be mature in some parts. I believe it is mentioned this is an AU. So besides the original characters and a few fractions of the plot I own nothing. I also wanted to give BIG BIG THANKS to my beta: Sable Supernova. You are incredible, not just in the fact that you're a good beta but also in that you're patient while I'm feeling my way around again in this. Thanks everyone and I hope you enjoy!

"It's a thief in the night, to come and grab you.
It can creep up inside you, and consume you.
A disease of the mind, it can control you.
It's too close for comfort." - Disturbia

They were just stairs, nothing particularly special. They were the exact same stairs she had been up and down for a good portion of her childhood. So why is she so stricken with fear? Maybe it was that her brother had woken her up screaming and shaking her like a ragdoll, maybe it was the fact her brother was taking her down them at a break-neck speed or it could have been the black smoke billowing behind them as each room began to set ablaze. But she knew those things weren't the true cause of her horror. A feeling was beginning to unwind and tighten simultaneously inside her. An old twisted feeling that went off in her head like a flare gun that told her something was waiting down those stairs; something that wanted them, something hurtful and evil and she didn't want to see it. But she was being pulled down the steps whether she wanted it or not. Her brother called out for their parents.

"Mom? Dad? Where are you?" Her brother called out.

Yes, where were they? There was no way they would have left the house without them. Not the doting parents she knew. Then a flash burst within her mind, reaching for her, hurting her eyes. Shaking her head she dug her heels into the floor as they approached the kitchen.

'No, not in there,' she began pleading silently with her brother, hoping he would seek an alternate route. 'That's where It is! That's exactly where It wants us to go.'

But what was It, and why was It after them? What could they have possibly done to gain such evil's attention? She couldn't fathom an answer, and dear Lord, she didn't want to at that moment. She just wanted to find a way out of the house that didn't involve going in that room.

But flames were beginning to surround them now, the house was starting to give under the weight of fire and ash, and no other exit seemed possible. And she knew that was Its intention all along, just to make them go in there. As she was being led she felt her chest tighten. The room was still dark, the fire not having reached it enough to illuminate it. As they went inside she felt something gooey dampen her socks. The liquid seeping in between her toes thick enough to make them stick together like glue. Everything would have been okay if it would just stay dark, keep her blind.

She could though, God, she could see! It was as if a spotlight had been turned on as the kitchen lights roared to level of brightness that reached far beyond their capacity nearly blinding her; but not enough to. There were huddled masses on the floor and blood dripping from the ceiling as she saw her father's blank eyes stared at her swinging to and from. She realized her brother was gone now, and she was more terrified by the second. As she was backing away she felt something brush against her. She turned and saw her once beautiful momma sprawled out all across the floor, her mother was reaching out for her mouthing something resembling, "Run!"

But she couldn't run, her gaze had slipped, looking just beyond her mother her eyes fell on a pair of crimson red eyes. So deeply dark the longer she stared felt an eternity of lost love, hope, or escape. She heard sirens approaching, but she still couldn't avert her eyes, she was frozen in a land of fire and smoke. Doing the only thing she could think of, she opened her mouth wide and screamed as darkness swallowed her whole.