The thin brown paper fluttered as the cool air from the car’s vent hit it. Christopher sat quietly on the plastic seats cheaply made to resemble leather as his parents frantically whispered to each other from the front of the car. They were trying to be silent to avoid scaring the young boy, but Christopher couldn’t help but overhear their conversation. He knew they were scared. When they had anxiously covered the car windows with paper and secured it with layers of duct tape before leaving the dingy motel he knew something was horribly wrong.
The small car sped down the lonely road at a rate much faster than the speed limit allowed, but it felt like it was inching along at a snail’s pace. The lack of any living creature made the family feel as if they were completely alone in the world. No one else would dare to travel on the road, especially not this late at night. People were terrified of them. The creatures with skin so pale it seemed transparent as it wrapped around their tall, bony, barely human bodies. Their dark and sickening eyes constantly scanning the small highway waiting for some brave or dumb soul to drive past.
It had become common for people in this area to cover their car windows when driving anywhere at night due to the fear that the strange beings had traveled closer to the town. Constant paranoia occupied the minds of locals. Some called it a curse. Scientists, paranormal investigators, conspiracy theorists, detectives, and many more had tried to come and explain the phenomena but to no avail. It became a dark shadow that constantly loomed over the town, one the people were always too frightened to talk about.
Christopher didn’t know why his parents had covered the windows. He didn’t know why they had panicked at the motel and rushed him out of the room and into their car. All he knew was something bad was happening and, like any other child, Christopher wanted to know what. By this point his parents had stopped their murmuring. The only sounds to be heard were the quiet buzz of the barely-connected radio, the dull engine, and the harmonious rhythm of the cicadas.
Suddenly Christopher noticed something he had not seen before. A small, almost the size of an ant, tear in the paper. The boy so desperately wanted to tear the paper open and know what the adults weren’t telling him. But he couldn’t. The last thing Christopher wanted was to get in trouble. But a young boy’s curiosity could not be stopped. He told himself he needed to see what was being hidden from him. He couldn’t be kept in the dark any longer. So he slowly grasped the side of the small tear. He froze, looking up at his parents to check if they were still oblivious to his actions. After being positive that neither of them were paying any attention to him, Christopher slowly tore the paper away from the window. Time seemed to slow down as his parents both sat up in their seats and begged their son not to look through the glass, but it was too late. Outside the window was a creature straight from a nightmare. Its glistening skin was paler than the moon as its soullessly dark eyes met Christopher’s and its long arms swung slowly by its sides.
Then, it began to run. The creature had caught up to the speeding car almost instantly as the boy could do nothing but watch. His parents were panicking, his mother yelling at his father to drive faster although they knew there was nothing they could do. They had heard the stories, once you saw it, there was no saving you.
The glass to the back windshield of the car shattered as Christopher started to scream. He knew he shouldn’t have looked through the paper. As his wails increased he felt something slowly begin to wrap itself around his neck. Turning around slowly he saw that it connected to a long arm that was reaching through the space once occupied by the pane of  glass. Next to the arm was the most terrifying face a person could imagine. The creature stared at Christopher with its sinister eyes as a smile shaped its way onto its face. By now he could see its teeth. They were a sickeningly dark shade of brown with a dark red stained onto them and caked into the corners. As Christopher stared at the creature, frozen in fear, he was violently ripped from the car and pulled into the darkness.
His parents sat in the front seats of the car as they heard their son’s cries for help slowly fade away. Complete silence had taken over now. It was as if all signs of life had stopped. Without speaking a single word the two kept their path steady. They knew there was nothing they could do. They knew not to look at the side of the road.