A high-pitched, blood-curdling shriek pierced the silent darkness that had been Aya Becker's world for the past minute or so.  It was impossible to see even two inches in front of her face through the shroud of darkness.  The full moon, which shone brightly outside, did nothing to reveal her current location in the room, and the fact that there were no manmade lights inside added further frustration.  As a result, she had no idea of the size of the main room of the old warehouse she found herself in.  The only thing that Aya did know was that she had entered about two minutes ago, and inching steadily forward, she had not yet reached a wall or door.   Aya walked carefully but warily with one hand out in front of her and the other resting on the DP7 handgun held by the holster strapped around her waist.    
   While patrolling the area, she had heard about screams coming from inside the warehouse on her car radio.  Usually, she wouldn't stop for such occasions since it really wasn't her job, but it had been nearby. Nine people were standing outside the building talking excitedly amongst themselves when she pulled up.  According to them, the screaming had been going on for about five minutes but they initially passed it off as some kind of prank.       
   The holster she was wearing also held a flashlight, which of course she had considered using upon first stepping inside the warehouse, but she decided against it.  If someone was in danger, Aya did not want whoever had been causing the screams to be aware of her presence, so for the time being she would just have to deal with the darkness.
   Aya's outstretched hand hit something solid, and after a little more searching she found a doorknob.  She slowly turned it then very cautiously pulled the door open, and slightly blinded by the dim lighting on the other side, she started into the room.  Suddenly, a loud screech sounded as a blurred figure came flying at her and instinctively Aya jumped back and slammed the door shut.  She quickly drew her pistol, swung the door open and stepped back into the room.
   Inside, she saw a teenaged girl sitting on the floor with her hand cupping her nose.  Tears were streaming down her cheeks and her clothes were covered with blood.  She stared up at Aya in terror.  Taking a step closer, Aya aimed the pistol straight at the girl's head before asking, "Who are you and what's going on in here?"
   For a moment, the girl only stared up at her with wide eyes.  Then, she cast a long look around the room as Aya followed her eyes.  This room had dim white lights running along the ceiling and was not nearly as big as the other.  It was filled almost floor to ceiling with piles of boxes and all kinds of junk.  When the girl turned back to Aya, she spoke in a voice that was almost a whisper, "I'm Lauren.  We were just taking care of the trash in the basement...and the lights went out...Bobby started screaming." The girl swallowed hard as her eyes stared straight ahead, appearing to be off in space.  She managed to continue, "I felt his blood all over me...andhe kept screaming.  It wouldn't stop.  He just..."
   "Where's the basement?" Aya demanded. 
   The panic-stricken girl did not answer.  Lauren continued to stare off into space as Aya shook her head, walking past her and moving deeper into the room.  Her eyes quickly scanned the area before she spotted a ladder towards the back of the room, leading to a hole in the floor.  Glancing back to see Lauren still sitting, seemingly petrified, Aya stepped over to the manhole and looked down inside.  Her gaze was met with darkness that startled her and made her stop abruptly.  She wasn't anticipating having to go down there, especially not knowing what was going on.  That wasn't anything new, but this wasn't her job.
    Reluctantly, she decided to go for it. Pulling her flashlight out, she turned it on, attached it to her belt and turned around to lower herself onto the ladder.  A foul stench nearly overwhelmed her as she started her descent.  The putrid odor was a disgusting combination of rotting garbage and raw meat.  Resisting the urge to put on her gas mask or possibly puke, Aya continued down until she reached the floor and immediately retrieved her flashlight.  She turned and shone its bright beam all around.  A wall surrounded her on three sides and straight ahead of her was a long hallway. Looking closer, Aya could see the hallway was actually a waterway with a narrow ledge on either side side of it.  She walked into the hallway with her gun drawn and ready while shining the beam of light ahead of her.
   For some reason, she felt the impulse to shine the beam on the water and did.  Instead of the usual murkiness that she had expected, Aya found a dark red fluid mixed in with the water.  Narrowing her eyes, she disregarded this and followed the stream ahead.  She edged along slowly and silently, not wanting to attract any attention in the event she wasn't alone.  The only thing she knew was that there had been screams, and the girl upstairs had been covered with what appeared to have been someone else's blood, her fear and panic all too real for her to have been the one responsible for it. That meant that whoever attacked her friend could have still been down here.  Well, if they are still down here this beam's probably already given me away. 
   As the stench grew stronger, Aya slowed her pace down even more.  A squeaking sound came from somewhere up ahead and she pointed the flashlight beam in that direction.  She gasped and came to an immediate halt.  In the light, she saw huge gray rats clambering all over each other, and she realized there was something larger lying on the ground beneath them.  These were raccoon sized rats she was looking at and the sight of them alone was disgusting.  Then, she saw a dark red fluid dripping from one of their mouths.  Another looked up in her direction with its dark beady eyes and took one small step towards her. 
   "Don't even think about it," Aya raised her pistol and fired straight ahead.
   The rats went scurrying in all directions in a rush to get away.  One of them ran towards her, not realizing where the threat had come from.  Aya lowered the weapon and this time she shot the rodent in the back.  Its body jerked with the impact of the round before it slowly dragged away with dying squeals.   Without sympathy for the injured rodent, Aya turned the flashlight's beam onto the spot where all the rats had been.
   There was a human body lying there on its back in a pool of blood.  The crimson liquid covered the wall and the floor around the corpse.  From the remaining facial features and the build of the body, Aya could tell that it was a male.  Most likely the guy Bobby, whom the girl upstairs had been ranting about.  He had to have been dead long before the rats had gotten to him.  There was no way they could have left the gaping hole she saw in the man's chest.  Gore and blood obstructed a lot of her view, but she could see that his heart was out of place.  Whether or not it was hidden somewhere in the sea of red surrounding him wasn't something she planned to find out.
   Suddenly, a sound from ahead caught her attention and her head snapped up instinctively.  Her hand tensed up on the gun once again as she aimed the flashlight's beam ahead and started forward.  Aya had to force herself to resist covering her nose as she continued deeper into the sewers.  The stench of the mutilated body as well as the sewage combined to create an odor that turned her stomach.  Subduing the sensation to heave, she moved forward until she caught something in the light.
   Another giant rat was perched atop a small silver pedestal with a bloody object dangling from its mouth.  Hoping to scare it, Aya fired once straight ahead.  The rat leapt down, but it managed to hang on to whatever it had in its mouth.  The rodent turned and started to scurry off when Aya brought the gun around and fired again.  This time the rat squealed in pain and dropped to the ground, its jaws releasing the object in its mouth.  Quickly walking over, Aya kicked the body aside and looked down at the object.
   Lying at her feet was a bloody, fist-sized organ that she easily recognized as a heart.  The sick feeling in her stomach became overwhelming as she turned and gave in to it.  She stared down at the heart for another moment before turning and heading back towards the ladder.  One of her feet slid out from under her on the blood-covered ground, but she caught herself, using the wall to support herself as she continued.  As she passed the body, Aya only glanced down at it as she continued back towards the entrance.  She slowly scaled the ladder and once she was back up in the warehouse she was surprised to see Lauren standing only a few feet away from the manhole.
    "What..what happened?"
   "Your friend is dead," Aya told her flatly.  Lauren dropped to her knees and began to wail. Aya walked over, placed a hand on the girl's shoulder and squeezed, shaking her head.  "The police will be here soon," she said gently.  "Wait outside for them. I'm not sure if it's safe for you to be in here alone."
   Still sobbing into her hands, Lauren climbed to her feet and ran towards the door.  She staggered to the entrance door and pushed out into the night air.  Her legs suddenly felt as though they could no longer support her and she fell back against the wall.  A few people from a crowd waiting outside immediately rushed towards her, and helped steady her while she waited for the police to arrive.
   A moment later, Aya stepped out into the night and looked around.  Police sirens could be heard in the distance and she nodded acknowledgement upon hearing them.  The townspeople who were there when she arrived were talking to LaurenAya didn't care to interact with any of them so she silently crept away, heading towards a small blue car.  She looked in the girl's direction once more before climbing inside.  Then Aya started up the vehicle and sped off down the street.

                                           ......
Little Park residents had been trying for two weeks to regain some sense of normalcy in their lives.  Very few had been able to accomplish this.  Nearly everyone felt that there was still some other higher force at work behind the cult.  Even with them behind bars the feeling of safety the town had formerly enjoyed wasn't completely back.  No one was seen walking the streets after dark and parents drove their children to and from school.  It would be quite some time before things did get back to normal.
   For Ray and Kerri Riggs, things had never really changed to begin with.  They lived almost a mile from anyone else on property they had bought years ago.  Most of the town depended on them for the best quality farm products.  Even when there were killers on the loose they had refused to let this slow their business down.  Other farmers had gone through extra lengths to protect their animals and consequently cost themselves money.  Ray and Kerri made sure to do business even more with less competition.  And the profits had increased in the past two months.
   Kerri was sitting in the living room of their home watching television.  There was an interview on with the former Chief of Little Park, Skip Washington.  The cult case had been in the paper and on different stations for the past two days.  Not once had Kerri sat down to watch it.  Several minutes ago Ray had yelled at her from his bedroom door to turn the damn thing off.  She instead turned the TV down but continued to watch.  It wasn't that she was really interested but there wasn't anything else worth watching.
   A sound came from somewhere in the distance and Kerri immediately reached for her remote.  She muted the volume and listened intently.  A second later she heard something crashing to the ground outside.  Then there was a loud commotion and she could hear the cows shuffling around and mooing as usual, only they sounded agitated.  "I think someone's out back messing with our animals," she yelled out to Ray.
   There was no reply from the bedroom and Kerri glanced at the door.  It was still halfway open and she could see him lying on their bed, watching television himself.  Frowning, Kerri got up and turned off the TV in front of her before walking around to the back of the couch.  She stared down the long hallway that led out into the backyard where the animals were.  Glancing back in Ray's direction, she called to him, "Ray, get off your lazy rear and go get the shotgun!"  He didn't budge.
   Seeing that her husband wouldn't be any help, Kerri walked down the hallway towards the door.  The cows had stopped moving but she could hear them calling out.  There was definitely a disturbing sound in their voices.  Probably someone who was jealous of how well the Riggs were doing was trying to screw them over.  Not happening.  Kerri muttered unintelligible words to herself as she reached the door.  Her hand was on the knob but instead of opening it and walking out, she paused and listened again. 
   The mooing had stopped now and there seemed to be complete silence on the other side of the door.  More than likely, whoever was back there bothering the animals had run off.  Having been raised in a competitive farming community, Kerri knew well what lengths people would go to in order to give their businesses the upper hand.  The last time anyone had stepped foot into the Riggs' backyard it had been a young boy sent by his father.  Ray had gone out and chased him back home with his shotgun and everyone had heard about it, which made Kerri wonder why anyone would even want to be near the house again.  Deciding to find out, she pushed the door open and stepped into the backyard. 
   The barn that housed most of the animals was off to the left.  The door was closed and it seemed undisturbed so Kerri looked away to survey the rest of the area.  The gate to the corral where the cows were kept was lying on the ground.  The animals were all standing off in a far corner of the corral huddled closely together.  Most of them had their heads down as if they were trying to avoid seeing anything.  Only a few were looking up, and they were staring at one particular spot inside their fenced domain.  As her eyes roamed, Kerri saw another cow lying on the ground towards the middle of the yard.  She walked closer but wasn't able to see well until she stepped into the vacant space where the gate once was.  She stopped dead in her tracks.
   A dark shadow seemingly covered most of the cow's torso, leaving only the hind legs and the head in view.  The eyes were blankly staring up towards the sky but the head was still moving.  It rose up every few seconds before lowering back down to the dirt.  Pulling her eyes  away from the animal's face, Kerri turned her attention to the shadow over it.  As she did so she realized that the shadow was actually a person crouching there, his back to her, clothed in all black.  He was wearing a big hood that was pulled back to reveal short, dark, hair.  His head was down and moving slightly from side to side.
   Alarmed and not sure of what to say, Kerri took a step back and tripped over the gate.  She jumped up and stood rigid as she looked to the back of the man's head.  He was sitting still now, with his head raised.  A terrible feeling - a mixture of dread and nausea - swept over Kerri.  As she stared down at this strange man she felt that there was something deeper to him - something dark.  Without even seeing his face she was horrified of it.  If he was there to destroy her business then she wasn't going to try and stop him.  She didn't want to even think about what would happen if she did.  Get away.
   Before she could even turn to head back inside the man's head slowly began to rotate towards her.  As it did, Kerri wanted badly to turn and run back inside her house where she would be safe, but her legs wouldn't allow her to move.  She felt almost paralyzed as his face began to come into view.  Once his gaze met hers, Kerri's eyes widened in fear and her mouth fell open.
   The man's face was long and thick, accentuated by a devil's stubble goatee.  His eyes quickly diverted Kerri's attention away from any other features.  Instead of round pupils, there were narrow red strips going down the center of his eyes.  They stared blankly at her, sending an almost painful chill through her entire body.  Like cat's eyes.  They were horrifying, but for some reason she couldn't take her eyes off of them.  And she couldn't move.  It was as if his eyes were controlling her body.  She wanted to run but her legs just wouldn't cooperate.  Then, she looked down to his mouth and felt her heart skip a beat.
   There was blood all over the front of the man's shirt and neck.  He held a bloody mass inside his jaws that hung down close to the ground.  Kerri looked past him to the cow. There she saw where the gore had come from.  There was a gaping hole inside the poor animal's belly where she saw its insides hanging out.  At least the insides that weren't in the man's mouth.  She looked back up into his eyes and saw that he was still staring at her, his eyes piercing.  Then he opened his mouth a little wider and made a loud slurping sound as he sucked the entrails in.  They disappeared leaving a bloody trail on his chin.
   He stared at her for a moment longer before turning back to the still jerking cow and leaning over it.  With his eyes finally off of her, Kerri screamed at the top of her lungs and ran back towards the house.  She swung the door open and ran into the living room where she saw her husband standing by the couch.  She ran over to him and grabbed him by his shirt while screaming, "Ray, there's someone back there eating our animals!  You've got to do something!  He's eating them, Ray!"
   "What?!" Ray's eyes went wide.  He ran into his room and emerged a second later with his shotgun in his hands.  Kerri grabbed at him but he pushed her to the side as he ran down the hallway.  He called over his shoulder, "Call the damn police!"
   As soon as he disappeared out the door Kerri ran over to the phone which sat on a small table beside the couch.  She picked the receiver up and dialed the number for the Little Park Police Station.  As she waited for an answer she found tears running down her cheeks and something strong in her throat.  She fought back her urges to sob so that the police didn't hang up on her when they answered.  A second later someone picked up and she screamed into the phone, "You've got to help us!  There's someone in our backyard-"
   A loud, tortured scream cut her off, permeating the entire house.  It sounded like the shrieking of an animal in pain and it continued for several seconds.  When it stopped, a second, louder and more inhumane scream pierced the air.  Then it suddenly stopped and a silence that was louder than anything Kerri had ever heard before followed.  The scream had been twisted but she still knew that the voice belonged to Ray.  Or what was left of him.  She held the phone away from her ear, listening out for the sound as an officer on the other line called.  "Ma'am?  Ma'am, are you still there?"  She didn't answer.

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