Too quiet.
The station wagon pulls into the driveway.
Irina steps out.
She reaches for the back door—
---
IMPACT.
The car SLAMS sideways.
Metal shrieks.
The entire vehicle SHUDDERS like something massive hit it at full speed.
It sounds like Onya SCREAMS in a pitch high enough to shatter glass.
Irina is thrown against the door.
The air fills with a low, distorted HOWL — loud.
The porch light flickers.
For a split second, in the wash of light—
A SHAPE pulses into view.
Solid.
Monstrous.
Then—
It’s gone.
But the sound of it isn’t.
Short howl barks, and shrieks.
Hungry, vicious.
—
Onya screams– again! She crouches down in the back seat, covering her ears.
The windows vibrate.
Irina pounds on the glass from outside—
Then—
Silence.
Too sudden.
The weight lifts.
The night exhales.
Onya raises up on her knees to look out of the rear window.
She watches as the creature drifts away slowly.
She heard it, so she knows it was a monster.
It looks like smoke. She spins quickly, and flops back down on the back seat.
She balls her tiny fists, squeezing her eyes shut.