It was a quiet night in a small town located in a secluded part of the countryside.

All the members of the town were asleep in their houses, snuggled up in their beds.

Well, all except for one little boy who was out past midnight.

"Uh oh."

Oh yeah. It's you.

You were warned by the townsfolk to never to be out past midnight. It was law that if you were out past midnight, you were considered a lost cause.

That you wanted to see what the world was like after dark, you couldn't help but wonder.

You didn't realize how dangerous it was to be out this late.

"Maybe I should head back while I--"

Then you felt the fog rolling in. Not saw-- felt.

"Oh god! What is--"

You turned around, just in time, as you basically were about to be consumed by the ever-growing fog.

"Oh man! They weren't kidding around about that fog!"

You had no other choice but to run! You needed to get away from the creepy fog, or else you would be toast! Legend had it that if you were consumed by that fog, the creepy creatures would take you away and you were considered dead. In this case, you did NOT want to be the main course on a mysterious shadows' platter.

You dashed straight towards your hometown, knowing you would be safe and sound.

You were just about to make it out of the woods alive...

"I'm free!"

...And then your foot stepped on a branch, twisting it up.

"Ow! My foot! Agh!"

You fell to the grass, now consumed by the fog entirely. All you could make out from the fog was a singular shadow in the vast darkness.

"I shoulda listened to them better!"

You saw one singular shadow walking towards you.

"I'm a goner!"

The shadow stopped inches in front of you.

"I'M GONNA DIEEEEEAYYYYYAYYYYYYYY!"

Just as you screamed, the shadow stopped moving. 

"What are you gonna do to me?"

You noticed that the shadow had bent down to your level.

"Hi?"

The shadowy figure had picked you off the grass and held you in its arms.

"Are you lost?" the shadow asked.

"Y-y-yes", you responded.

"Come with me."

"It's not safe for me--"

"Not safe for you to what?"

"Go with a stranger..."

"You can't go back to your hometown", the figure answered. "It's the only way."

The shadow carried you on its back.

"W-w-where are you taking me?"

"Somewhere safe", the figure responded.

"I'm in trouble, aren't I?"

Author's Note:

Yeah, here's another book by yours truly. This time, I went with a different route in terms of how I wanted to do it. Yeah, I know, this "adopted mother" thing has been done to death, but I just wanted to do it.

Also, I give special thanks to ChrisReiniger and CRProductions for being the major inspirations (as in, the two major accounts that do these types of stories).