Within the woods of the ancient mountains of West Virginia, the old Ingram Estate returned to a familiar calm. A late spring storm approached from the west, bringing with it high winds and plenty of rain.
     Alex stood outside Sophie’s room. He needed to speak with Pax. Hearing the voices from inside the room, he glance at his watch. 12:49 a.m. Too late to talk, he decided.
     He began walking down the hall and stopped at another door. Placing a hand to the wooden surface, Alex took in a deep breath. Not since Evonne left did he once enter the room by himself. Why was he so afraid?
     Fishing the keys from his pocket, he unlocked the door.
     The darkened room seemed colder than the others. He closed the door and turned on the bedside lamp. Sitting on the bed, he opened the side table’s drawer. The small drawer held a notebook and a few odds and ends. Alex gently removed the notebook and flipped through its pages. A sad laugh left him as he saw the silly doodles and quirky poems. Shoved in the middle of the pages, several photos threatened to fall out. He caught them.
     The photos shown David dressed as a scarecrow. Alex remembered the day the photos were taken. It was first Halloween after David graduated from college. While anyone could dress however they wanted for the party, Evonne wanted to go with a Wizard of Oz theme.
     Alex looked at the next photo. The group shot shown a fourteen year old Evonne dressed as Dorothy. Jonathan reluctantly went as the Tin Man, while Pax happily chose to dress as a flying monkey. Beside them stood Marie, dressed as Glinda. Alex saw himself in the group picture. He remembered taking the easy way out of the costume mess, choosing to dress as the Wizard. The following photos shown more shots from party.
     Alex stopped at the last photo. The old photograph once sat inside his desk. He didn’t question how it ended up in her room.
     The photograph was one of the few taken of him, Sharon, and Evonne. Though Evonne was only five at the time, it was the last picture of them together. Alex traced his finger over the face of Sharon.
     “I’m sorry…”
     Fighting back tears, he returned the photos to the notebook and placed it in the drawer. He stood from the bed and went over to the window. Parting the curtains, he could see the black silhouettes of the trees bending under the growing wind.
     The piercing ring from his cell phone startled him.
     Alex answered it.
     The man on the other end began to explain the strange item they found by the front gate.
     “Bring it to my office,” ordered Alex. He hung up the phone.
     Thrust back into reality, he turned off the lamp and left the room. He entered his main office and picked up the hard-line phone. The guard in the security room answered.
     “We may have had a visitor tonight,” said Alex. “I need you to double check the footage at the gate… Within the past hour. Call me if you find anything.”
     The man complied.
     Alex placed the receiver on the base and waited.
     The office door finally opened as the guard entered carrying a letter in his hand. He handed it to Alex.
     “It was strange,” he said. “The letter seemed to drop from the sky.”
     Alex looked at him, skeptical. “It’s windy tonight. Someone could’ve been in the trees without you knowing.” His eyes dropped to the envelop in his hand.
     The guard shrugged. “Possibly.” He stopped to watch as Alex began looking over the heavy envelop. “Shouldn’t you be wearing gloves?”
     “I’ll be fine.”
     Flipping the envelop over, Alex found a red wax seal pressed into the paper. Popping it off, he removed the parchment letter from inside. As he unfurled it, elegant writing stared back at him, the familiar penmanship long forgotten.
     He began to read.

Dear Alexander,

I feel that my time in the shadows must come to an end. A troubling turn of events has forced my hand, much to my dismay. On the height of the next full moon, a monster, as old as humanity itself, will descend upon your sanctuary in the mountains. They come not for your knowledge or resources, but for you and the three children in your care. They will come for a war of blood, a war of complete control over your world and mine. You mustn’t fight. You must run. For the sake of all you have worked for and for those who have died for your cause, you must leave. If you stay, I fear your death will be certain. I know you, Alexander. I know these words will fall on deaf ears.

Prove me wrong. Run. Run and live.

Yours forever,
E.

     Alex’s body grew numb. He lifted the envelop and poured its remaining contents onto his desk. A simple, silver locket tumbled out. Alex stared at the old jewelry once belonging to him.
     “Leave me,” he said to the guard.
     The guard nodded and calmly left the office.
     Alex forced himself to breathe. He wasn’t seeing this. This couldn’t be real.
     His shaky hands picked up the locket. He popped it open. On one side sat a black and white photo of a young woman; on the opposite side sat a similar photo, this one of a man.
     Alex stared at the old photo of himself. There was no fire damage to the locket or the pictures, only the damage of age.
     He looked back at the letter. The writing was hers.
     Every part of him wanted to rip the evidence to shreds, to prove it all as fake. But there was no way to disprove it. The locket, the photos, and even the writing and words in the letter were things he only knew about. This wasn’t fake.
     His eyes returned to the locket and to the picture of the woman.
     Emily.