Terry rose slowly from his amber colored bedsheets. Rubbing his eyes, he turned to look at his clock. The faint green digits barely read 2:34 am. Shaking his head, Terry sauntered towards the kitchen. It was mostly dark but was lit up by the stove light. Faintly, Terry could hear crickets and night birds outside. Grabbing a red cup from his wooden cabinet, Terry proceeded to drink some water from the tap. When he finished, he sat at the kitchen table and let out a deep sigh. It'd been a few weeks since Terry moved into a new neighborhood for a fresh start to his life. No longer did he wish to partake in his family's business or be a part of their affairs. I don't want to kill anybody, Terry thought. The last time I did- Terry pushed the thought of his mind and decided to go back to bed.

When he woke again, it was to the sound of his new alarm clock. Stretching, Terry took a quick shower and ate his breakfast. Today, his new job was starting, and Terry was very excited. He practically ran out the door to get there as fast as possible, almost tripping over his feet as he did so. The day started out quickly, with Terry eagerly writing papers at the office to be copied for clients. Being a copy-writer for business papers would be quite a dull job for most people, but this was the best job he ever found for Terry. However, his family's occasional thoughts arose in his mind from time to time, souring his mood slightly every time it came up. The bloody bodies. The transformations. The full moon. But no matter what he did, it stayed on his mind all day.

When Terry returned home that evening, the sun was beginning to set. At some time at 7 pm, he got a knock at the door. When he opened it, a young woman was standing on his porch.

"Hello, may I help you?" Terry asked curiously.

"Oh, hello, I'm your new neighbor," the woman said. "I brought you some delicious treats." Seeing her smile, Terry took a minute to judge where it was genuine or misleading. The woman saw his concern, and her smile merged into a look of curiosity. She handed an ornate box to Terry but did not move from the door. However, Terry closed the door and set it down. A few minutes later, he heard strange sounds coming from outside. Quickly, Terry checked the peephole of the door. The woman was gone, so he opened the door. He stepped back in confusion and utter shock. For the woman was gone, yes.

But in her place sat a beautiful fire red bird staring at him with ornate curiosity. Feeling fear slowly creep into his senses, Terry quickly shut the door. It's not real, he thought. It's not what I think it is. After a few moments, Terry returned to look outside. The bird was gone. Breathing a sigh of relief, Terry went into his kitchen to make dinner. As he was, however, his sensitive ears picked up on some movement outside. Setting down the spatula, Terry looked outside the window a moment. There was nothing there.

Shrugging, Terry continued on with his cooking until he heard people shouting and loud music playing. Rolling his eyes, Terry searched for his headphones to block out the obnoxious sound. But as he listened to what was going on, he suddenly became more interested. The urge to go outside began to increase, as Terry continued to ignore it. Eventually, the sounds were happening right outside his window. Fighting the urge, Terry decided to look outside after he ate dinner. The shouting morphed into a casual conversation, and their voices became more distinct and clear.

"The new ball game's coming out in a few week," a man said.

"My kid's going to his basketball shoot next Friday," another voice said.

"Hey, what about the new kid that moved in?"

"I tried to talk to him today, but he looked worried for some reason," a woman's voice said. It sounded like the woman who came earlier.

"I left him my bird to play a joke on him." There was a burst of laughter from everyone outside, and Terry felt stupid for feeling scared of a simple bird.

But as he reached the front door, the voices tersely stopped. There was a moment of silence before Terry slowly and carefully opened the door. The door creaked on its hinges as the warm night air swelled into the house. When Terry peered over to his front lawn, he found evidence of streamers and trash leftovers by the loud party people. As he stepped outside again with a trash bag, planning to call city officials about the mess, he stopped in his driveway. It was strangely quiet out. There were no crickets, birds, or anything he could hear. The houses down the block were cold and empty, with cars sitting in their driveways.

A smell that was strongly distinct in the air was the stench of something horrifically familiar. Backing up, Terry gauged how far he could run back into his house before it was too late. The sounds drew rapidly faster and faster from a far distance. The moment Terry rushed into his house and slammed the door, he could smell and hear them walking around in the neighborhood. Terry could only pray his town's quiet neighborhood's residents stayed safe from his worst enemies, bloodthirsty vampires.

They incidentally followed him from his homeworld, wanting to explore outside of what they would usually eat. Terry knew that they had to be stopped and felt an immense amount of sadness for what he had to do. I just moved here, wanting to get away from my family, Terry thought. Steeling his breath, he opened the door and stepped outside to face them, knowing what would happen. I must save the town, I must- Terry woke up on his lawn, surrounded by bright red stains. No one was around still, but Terry found that he was too exhausted to move. Slowly, he closed his eyes, awaiting the fate that was to come for him.