Serena was terrified. She had never faced such a frightening situation in her entire life and had no idea what she should do now. She at once closed her curtains and ran towards her phone. She had to call for help. Serena lived in a small and isolated two-storied house surrounded by forest and trees on all three sides of the house. The houses in this town were very widely distributed, so there wasn't any house nearby for a few kilometers.

When she first moved into this house, Serena thought this house will be peaceful for her and that she would not have to worry about socializing with the neighbors. Serena was blaming herself now. Back then she thought she would not have to worry about any incidents in a small town like this, but little did she know that one day there would be some red-eyed guy in front of her window. Serena was dialing the emergency numbers but the phone was not working.

All of a sudden, Serena could hear a loud rhythmic thudding sound from her window. It seems like the red-eyed man was knocking on the window, or trying to break it down. Serena at once ran towards her front door. She figured if she could not call for help, she can at least quickly leave the house and drive towards someplace safe, like the local sheriff's office. She grabbed her car keys and dashed outside towards her car.

Unexpectedly she ran into some type of wall and fell back inside her house. Serena looked up to see that the red-eyed man was now standing at her doorway, staring down at her. Serena was petrified and could not move because of her fear. The man in front of her looked terrifying and scary in the dark night. He was almost six feet and five inches tall and unrealistically thin. His skin was pale white, even whiter than the snow. His skin looked devoid of blood or life, almost like a ghost. He had pitch-black hair. And then he had dark red eyes with specks of silver which seemed to be glowing in the dark. Her attention was stuck on his ears - his very pointy ears. Whoever this man was, he did not seem human.

"Serena Martin, I have important things to discuss with you. May I come inside?" said the man in an expressionless and monotonic voice. Even his voice felt like a soft toneless and lifeless whisper.

"NO!" said Serena at once. "Stay away!"

The man slightly narrowed his eyes. "I see. Am I scaring you?" asked the man.

Serena slammed the door shut and ran upstairs to her room. She locked her bedroom door and tried to think what she should do. She was so scared that her mind was not working clearly.

"There is no need to be afraid"

Serena looked at her bedroom window and saw that the man was standing or this time he was floating in front of her room window. The glowing red eyes were the last thing Serena saw before she lost consciousness.

* * *

Serena slowly opened her eyes. She looked around her surroundings and wondered what she was doing on the floor. Suddenly she started to vaguely remember some of the events from last night. She thought maybe it was just a terrifying nightmare and nothing more.

Serena went to the mirror in her room and saw her reflection. She was five feet nine inches tall with dark brown hair and eyes. There was nothing very remarkable about her appearance. She looked at her mirror and kept saying to herself, "It was just a nightmare."

Serena took a deep breath of relief and started to get ready for the day. She washed up and changed her clothes and went downstairs to eat her breakfast. She was surprised to see her television turned on. Serena thought she must have forgotten to turn off the television before she went upstairs. Maybe she was very tired from working late last night.

When she went outside, Serena was shocked beyond belief. Her driveway was completely clear. It looked like there was no snowstorm last night. 'Everything is just fine. I should take things easy and just relax' Serena thought peacefully. Maybe last night's nightmare was just a warning that she should not work late and undertake any stress.

But all of Serena's positive thoughts came to a sudden stop when she reached the school. The school building was completely empty. Serena was starting to feel very scared. She at once called Mrs. Wilson and asked why the school building was completely empty.

"What do you mean, why the school building is completely empty" came the reply from the other side of the call, "Why I bet there is not a single institution or office in town that's going to open today."

"Why not?" asked Serena. 

She could not understand or think of any reason why today would be a holiday. Was today some special day in this town? Serena could not come up with an answer.

"Because of the snowstorm, of course! The entire town is covered with a thick layer of snow. Going to work in this situation is impossible. Didn't you see the local weather report last night?"

"But I don't understand!"

"What's not to understand? You have been living in this town for almost a year now, my dear. You should know how common this is in a town like this. This is why I keep telling you to go outside more and -"

"Ok, thanks Mrs. Wilson," said Serena and cut the call.

This was very odd to Serena. She could not understand how only her house and the routes she takes to reach the school were the only places that were not affected at all by the snowstorm. She was in deep thought as she was walking back to her car in the school parking lot.

As Serena reached her car, she gave a loud gasp. The mysterious pale red-eyed man from her nightmare was leaning against her car and smirking at her.