All Horror's Eve

The three watched in horror as the village burned. The screams became fewer and fewer and after what seemed like hours, finally stopped just as the sky began to brighten behind them with the coming dawn. As the sun rose the fires burned down. The three could see no movement there at all.

Feeling safe now that the sun was casting away the darkness, slowly, cautiously, Annie, Hamden and Garth made their way back down the ill toward the village. Nothing was left but smoldering buildings. Body parts were strewn about here and there. No one was left alive. Here was a piece of burned cotton fabric that Garth was sure was part of the dress Maggie had worn at the inn. Over there lay an arm with a bracelet still around the wrist. Garth looked at it in horror. That was the very bracelet that he'd given Biddy two years before. Everywhere he looked there were the signs of the horror and carnage death that took place here.

The three felt relief. It was over. They had survived. The village was lost but they would continue on. Garth would take dear Annie to wife and the three would move on to another village. But then he had a thought. "Do you remember the lines of the prophecy, Hamden?"

"Yes, of course. Everyone knows the prophecy. It says, And at the appointed time the dead shall rise from their graves and walk upon the earth. Woe to those they come upon," Hamden replied.

"But there is another line, Hamden. A line everyone forgets. There will be no escape. The dead will rise again and again until the last man has joined them in death.

The three stopped. Annie and Hamden looked at Garth. "Yes, 'tis true. I remember now," said Hamden. Warily the three looked around them at the carnage. A feeling of fear rose in their throats. "I have a bad feeling..."

From all around them came the distinct sound of scratching.