It was a bitterly cold winter day, during the middle of January when the temperature can hit below minus twenty degree Celsius. It was cold enough to freeze a person to death, cold enough to make a person's mind stop working. The sky was dark as always. It seems like the sun won't rise today as well. The town was as quiet and depressing as ever with its grayish hue and its freezing cold winds.

Serena Martin was busy shoveling the snow from her driveway. The snowstorm last night had covered her entire driveway from the entrance to the road with snow. It was like a sea of white and there was no hint of her cobblestone pathway. She hated waking up and shoveling every morning since she came to this secluded town. But she did not have any choice. She had been shoveling for two hours straight to clear her driveway. Finally, after hours of shoveling, she was ready to go to her workplace.

Serena Martin was an ordinary 24-year-old. She had completed her undergraduate studies and now she was working as a high school teacher. She was living her dream life, which was having a peaceful and quiet life with no drama or stress. Her peers and teachers all had advised her to go to research sectors or find a job at some important high-paying tech company as it will be the best use for her skills, but Serena never had the dedication for it.

As Serena was driving her car to the local high school she was wondering about what her life would be like in a busy city with deadlines and overly high expectations. Would she be able to be happy and live up to the expectations everyone had over her or would she disappoint everyone? She was tired of working constantly and having responsibilities for everything in the last four years of her undergraduate studies. Serena decided she would rather be in this quiet and secluded town her whole life instead of a life filled with competitions and expectations. Serena loved her peaceful and tranquil life in this cold town where winter felt like it lasted all year long. Deep down she knows she would not give up this life for anything in this world. Serena parked her car in the school parking lot. She took a deep breath and went inside the high school.

***

Serena was sitting at the table in the teacher's lounge eating a microwaved grilled cheese sandwich for her lunch. The teacher's lounge was a very simple room with only a few chairs and tables scattered around and with only one television which always plays the sports channel and a refrigerator. The walls were covered with a dull yellow wallpaper which made the room not only look but also feel more depressing instead of cheerful.

"Sitting alone like always, I see," said a voice.

Serena turned around to see Mrs. Rebecca Wilson, the biology teacher in her fifties.

 "Mrs. Wilson, how do you do?"

"In a town like this everyone does the same, my dear," said Mrs. Wilson with a little snort.

Mrs. Rebecca Wilson was a cheerful and motherly person who always asked Serena how she was doing and whether Serena needed any help with anything. In a small and isolated town like this, everyone knows who everyone is. Serena at first thought it would be nice to be in a small and close community like this. Serena was wrong.

Almost immediately Mrs. Wilson started drilling like she always does wherever she sees Serena, "I still don't understand what a young girl like you are doing in a boring town like this. People your age should be outdoors, partying and getting drunk and doing all those other gibberish that young people tend to do!"

"I know, but I never really liked loud and noisy crowds", said Serena with a nervous smile.

"Nonsense. Young lady, when I was your age, even I had my share of wild adventures. You should get out of this town, meet people your own age and have a good time with them. How else will you ever find a– "

"Oh no! Would you look at the time? It's time for my next class" said Serena, cutting Mrs. Wilson mid-sentence like always. She packed up her stuff and rushed outside the room.

***

It was almost nine o'clock when Serena returned home. She stayed up late in the high school computer lab working on her freelance project. Serena always loved teaching because it was a noble profession. Her personal opinion was that the more a person shares their knowledge and wisdom, the more enhanced their own knowledge will become. But besides teaching, Serena also enjoys the extra freelance jobs that she does sometimes. It was more to Serena's preferences, as she won't have to meet her clients face to face and it will be a good way to practice all that she has learned over the years.

Serena put her bag down on the small two-person couch and started heating the leftover pizza for her dinner. She changed into her comfortable home clothes and turned on the television as she started eating her pizza. The local weather channel was saying that there will be another snowstorm tonight. Serena changed the channel to see the news.

In the news, the reporter was talking about strange radiations picked up by a satellite but Serena wasn't paying very much attention to that. Serena muted the television, she was sure she heard some shuffling sound outside. Serena slowly walked towards her window and slightly shifted her curtains to look outside.

She kept looking at every visible corner but could not see anything clearly as it was very dark outside. She assumed it must be some fox or some other wild animal, but with a start, she finally saw a figure standing very far away, almost hidden by the trees and shadows.

It was a dark and ghostly figure. Serena was frightened when she saw the figure's eyes glowing dark red. She at once closed her curtains. Serena started to take some panicked breaths. She tried to calm herself saying that maybe it was some local resident or maybe it was just a hallucination. Maybe there was nothing there at all.

Serena fractionally opened her curtain and peeked outside. At once she gave a scream. The figure was not standing at a distance anymore, it was standing right in front of her window, staring at her with those menacing dark red eyes.