The Long Man

Act 1

Ethan was there, at the last Nightmare Circus. Once everything died down, Ethan found himself under a half eaten truck on Halloween morning. The sunlight was blinding, his headache was unbearable. He got to his feet, struggling. 

He looked around, taking note of the massive clearing. He walked past trash and destroyed vehicles. No signs of the Circus from the previous night. Ethan made his way to his car. Disgusted with it, he made his way to the road.

As he stood there, he got a strange feeling. He called out, “Hello?” There was no response. He called out again. His voice echoed into his empty surroundings. He heard thunder and assumed that was it. He walked the road, hoping that someone would drive by. 

Not far from his last resting point, he saw the storm clouds getting close. He muttered to himself about dying alone and wishing he had tried harder to be a good person. He kept walking until he heard pained groaning. It wasn’t out of fear but something else made him feel compelled to investigate. He called out. The groaning got louder. He followed the sound down the road. There he found an elderly man wrapped in a white tarp. Ethan jogged over to the elderly man and helped him to the tree.

“Sir, are you okay?! What’s your name?”

“I don’t feel too well, sonny.”

“Were you at the Nightmare Circus, too?”

The elderly man stared at Ethan, “Nightmare… Circus…”

“Fuck… Okay. We gotta get you help. Somewhere safe.”

“Nowhere is safe.” the elderly man muttered.

“Don’t say that…” Ethan stood up and looked both ways of the road, “There’s gotta be somewhere nearby.”

The elderly man looked at Ethan, “Home.”

Act 2

An announcement played from every police car as they patrolled around town. 

“The curfew has been updated. Due to the increase of recent kidnappings, All businesses and buildings of every kind are to be closed, no later than 6pm. All residents are to be indoors, no later than 630pm. There are no exceptions. Anyone caught outside by law enforcement will be detained, no questions asked. We are doing this for the good of everyone. Please abide by the rules. We must support each other in these trying times.”

Maria was sitting in detention, mocking the announcement as the police rode by. She went back to drawing as she became increasingly frustrated with the ticking of the clock in the library. Another student sat with her. “Carlos, move.” The young man seemed amused with her request and pretended to take an elevator down as he snuck from beside her, to be in front of her.

She rolled her eyes and continued drawing. He continued to do all kinds of goofy things to get her attention. She chuckled at a few. He smiled. He sat on the table and struck a pose.

“Is that supposed to be me, Carlos?”

Carlos smiled as he fluttered his eyelashes at her.

“Not bad, not bad. Can you do Mr. Hannagin?”

Carlos stood upright like a soldier but with his bottom lip sticking out before adjusting his imaginary glasses.

“Woooow, I can almost smell his gross perfume.” She chuckled.

Carlos raised an eyebrow.

“Yes, perfume. Men’s cologne doesn’t smell so flowery.”

Carlos stood more feminine before adjusting his imagining glasses. 

“He could be gay. But I don’t think so. He could just be dumb or doing it as a way to get women.”

Carlos sat on the table in a suggestive manner before adjusting his imaginary breasts and flipping his hair.

“Yeah, like Miss Maygal. I’ve seen him try hitting on her. It's hilarious.”

Carlos acted out a scene of Mr. Hannagin trying to flex for Miss Maygal and failing. Maria struggled to hold her laughter. Carlos continued on. Maria burst out into laughter. The school’s librarian shushed her. She laughed even harder. The librarian marched over to her, “Miss Marianna Lopez-Harris. This is a library. You are in detention. You and Mister Carlos Wilson should know to be silent. This isn’t your first time in trouble.”

Maria laughed harder, “You hear that Carlos, you’re too loud.” Carlos gestured to himself in disbelief and dramatically put his hand to his forehead as he slowly laid on the floor, pretending to faint. Maria laughed even harder, “Carlos! Nooo! See what you did? You killed him with your immoral accusations! Carlos, come back to me!” She grabbed her composition book and pretended to revive him by beating him with it. The librarian continued to tell them they were being too loud and causing a scene. The school bell rang. Maria and Carlos jolted up, thanking the librarian for being such a great audience and ran off. The librarian chased after them. Maria kicked open the fire exit and ran out pulling Carlos along.

Carlos and Maria ran into town. Maria laughing as they both tried to catch their breath. Carlos wiped his forehead, then put the back of his palm against her forehead. She told him that she was fine. He smiled. Maria called him soft before pulling him by his hoodie to guide him. Carlos smiled as he watched her talk. From time to time, tugging to give her a hard time as she was pulling him along from store to store. Even getting him involved in more and more shenanigans around town. While in the alleyway of a candy store, Maria was eating a chocolate bar when Carlos tugged at her sleeve. He directed her to a large older woman with curly hair making her way down the alley. Maria sighed in annoyance. The woman approached and folded her arms, “The back of the candy store again? When you ditch detention can you at least not come to the same spot every time?”

“Come on Aunt Toni, it’s a great spot. No one bothers me here but you.”

“Girl. Come on, let’s get home. I still have some shopping to do. You’ll apologize to your principal in the morning.”

“Why should I?”

“The Harris family don’t run from accountability. And that goes for you too. Hyphenated or not. You’re still family.”

“Auntie, he’s a tool.”

“And tools can be useful. Especially when you want to apply yourself. Let’s go or no cake is being baked tonight.”

Carlos rubbed his belly. MIss Toni chuckled and greeted Carlos. Carlos waved. Miss Toni began to walk away. Carlos mocked Miss Toni’s slight limp. Maria smacked him upside the head. “Not my Auntie. Never, my Auntie Toni.” The two followed after her. Both Maria and Carlos joined Miss Toni as she did some shopping. Carlos being silly and fun loving. Maria being goofy but tough to others around them. Miss Toni apologizing for their teenage behavior while still in on the laughs.

Once home, Carlos and Maria brought in the groceries while Miss Toni called Carlos’ family to let them know that he was with her and joining them for the night. Maria called out to Miss Toni, letting her know everything was brought in. Miss Toni thanked her but reminded her that she was on the phone. Carlos waved and used sign language to ask her if he could help cook. Miss Toni signed back that she would appreciate that and to start with washing the vegetables. Carlos smiled and rushed to the kitchen. Maria scoffed as she watched but still joined Carlos in preparing the food. They goofed around every so often but still got the work down before Miss Toni walked into the kitchen.

Miss Toni shooed them away as she began cooking. The two ran upstairs to Maria’s room. Carlos rolled over her bed and jumped into her window. “Come on, I actually have pride in making my bed.” Carlos signed to her. Maria rolled her eyes, “Carlos. I don’t understand that fancy finger work.” Carlos smiled and started looking through her telescope. “I don’t even know how my Auntie knows the stuff. Are y'all in some kind of secret club or something?” Carlos continued looking through the telescope. “Hey… Can you… Can you teach me some stuff?” Carlos looked at her. “Something like… ‘Hey’, ‘What’s up?’... maybe even… ‘I’m sorry’?” Carlos walked over to her. Sitting in front of her, held her hands, and he gave her a big goofy smile. Maria laughed to herself and smacked her cheeks, “Alright, lets do this. Just be patient with me, I’m not the fastest learner.”

By sunset, Miss Toni called out to them. She let them know that dinner was ready. Maria looked out her window and marveled at the colors stretching across the sky. 

Maria and Carlos raced downstairs to the table. Miss Toni fussed with them about running in the house. Carlos helped her bring the food out. Maria set the plates. Miss Toni said a prayer. They began to eat. 

“Hey Auntie… I. I’m sorry that I keep getting in trouble.”

“Words without action are meaningless, baby girl. You’re smarter than you give yourself credit for.” Maria smiled and put down her utensils. Carlos looked at her while he chewed. Maria started to move her hands as if to sign, Miss Toni continued, “I just don’t understand why you won’t apply yourself.”

Maria put her hands on the table, “I do apply myself. These teachers have it out for me.”

“Every teacher, Marianna?”

“Yes! Why do you always take their side?!”

“Marianna, stop yelling. I’m not taking their side. I just don’t like you getting in trouble. How are you gonna get into college with a troubled record?”

“Who says I’m going to college?”

“Marianna, please don’t tell me that you’re giving up on going to college now.”

“No one believes I’ll make it anyway. So why should I?”

“To prove them wrong. To show them that you are more than your parents' child. That you are you.”

“And who I am is a disappointment! I can’t learn Spanish! I can’t learn that fancy finger language! I can’t drive! I’m nothing with you and even you don’t want me around!!”

“Maria… Of course I want you around. You're my favorite niece.”

“I’m your only niece! It’s not the same!” Maria yelled as she stood up, slamming her fists on the table. “When were you gonna tell me that you’re moving?”

Carlos stopped eating and looked at Miss Toni. Miss Toni sighed but before she could respond, Maria snapped at her, “Didn’t think I would find out? You were going to leave me. You were just gonna up and go and what? Send me away? Force me to stay in this shithole alone?!” Carlos dramatically put his hand to his chest as if he was offended. “Shut it Carlos! This doesn’t concern you!” Carlos’ face and body language slowly dropped. Miss Toni signed an apology to him. “Don’t apologize to him for me! Look at me!” Miss Toni looked at Maria with a stern expression as she stood up. “Marianna.”

“No! You don’t get to abandon me first!”

Maria flipped the dinner table and ran out the house. She blocked out Miss Toni calling out to her. Maria ran into the darkness of the night.

Act 3

Carlos was still sitting in the chair. Looking at the mess of the tossed table and ruined dinner. Hearing Miss Toni crying as she calls for Maria to come back. Carlos looked at his hands then Miss Toni. He took a deep breath and started cleaning up. By the time he finished, Miss Toni was in her front room praying through tears. Praying that Maria would just come back through the door.

Carlos thought to pray with her but seeing her, the closest thing to a mother he had, crying that hard convinced him to find Maria first. Slowly and carefully, Carlos opened a window. He was halfway through the window when he thought to hug Miss Toni. But he decided against it and used that motivation of her feeling better to jump out the window and run full speed. 

Carlos thought to check many of their hideouts but knew that, beside the police would be near them, there was only one place she would actually try to go to. Carlos managed to make it from the residential area he was in, to the downtown area where he knew Maria would be hiding out.

He made his way to the old firehouse by the lake. The side ladder was still on the side of the building so he figured she hadn’t been there. He remembered her showing him the ladder during an elementary school trip. They scared the adults for some time and go up there to mess with the firefighters from time to time

He went into the arcade. Getting in through the bathroom window with the broken latch. Walking around he remembered all the games they got competitive over. His first fist fight defending her against a bully. Just for her to take over the fight all together. Carlos smiled as he replayed her beating him and the bully up, without effort but lots of rage. He ducked behind a game when he noticed a flashlight going past the front door. He snuck back out and thought of only one other place that she would be.

Carlos found his way to the alleyway of the candy store they love. He relived numerous memories of them hanging out in the area. He went all the way to the end. There were the remains of what was once an extension of the candy store from years ago. He thought he saw her sitting on their makeshift couch. He smiled as he snuck up on the figure. Until he felt a very unease chill up his spine. He backed up and knocked over an empty box. The figure stood up and its silhouette adjusted in a way that made it appear that its skin was rubbery. Carlos cowered as it looked like they let out snakes. The snakes were slowly moving toward Carlos. But they were moving all wrong. Sharp zigzag, rolling, twitching, slithering, then freeze. Carlos thought he was hallucinating when he saw the snake heads raise up and open up like hands. He tried to turn around but he wasn’t hallucinating. He was grabbed by blocky hands with incorrectly distanced rectangular fingers. One hand grabbing his wrist, the other covering his mouth. The extending arms lassoed around Carlos like fleshy rope. Carlos struggled to get loose. The more he moved, the more arm there was tangling and twisting to cover him.

Maria was sitting on the roof of the high school when she got bored. She stood up, looking at the moon in the sky. She remembered when Miss Toni first brought her home.

Maria was 8 years old holding her pink rabbit as she entered Miss Toni’s house. She looked unsure as Miss Toni carried in a box of her things. Miss Toni told her she could look around. Maria clutched her stuffed animal tightly. MIss Toni noticed and asked the movers to be gentle with the boxes. Taking her by the hand Miss Toni told her it’s okay to feel all kinds of emotions but what she does with those emotions is what really makes the difference. 

“Even being scared?”

“Of course. Tell me, what do you feel like you want to do.”

“Run, hide… cry…”

“We can do all three if you really want to.”

“Is that okay?”

“Yeah. Let's run to your new room, make it the way you want, including a personal place to hide, snuggle up in there and cry together.”

“You want to cry too?”

“You lost your mother. I lost my favorite sister.”

“You have other sisters?”

“Nope. That’s why she’s my favorite. She’s the only one I had and she was amazing.”

“So I’m your favorite niece… just because you don’t have any others?” Maria squeezed the stuffed animal tighter.

Miss Toni hugged her tight, “You're my favorite niece because you’re my only Marianna. So smart, so squishy, so brave. You just so happen to be my niece. And I’m so lucky to have you.”

Maria groaned as she recalled all the times Miss Toni argued with adults on her behalf and comforted her when kids were mean to her. She remembered telling herself, many times, how she would never become a person that would hurt someone like Miss Toni. As she thought about when she met Carlos, she promised that she would never make him feel alone again. The expression of concern on Miss Toni’s face and the fear on Carlos’ when she ran out popped in her head. She punched herself in the face and told herself to go make it right.

After hearing the police drive by, Maria jumped off the roof to the fire escape and made her way down. As she snuck around she saw a boat heading towards the old port behind the businesses she liked. She knew something was up since the ports have been closed for the past 5 years. She made her way over to the docks, convinced that whoever has been driving the boat is most definitely the kidnapper. Sneaking over through the alleyway behind her favorite candy store, she peaked over the destroyed wall and saw a tall, bald dark skinned male in an all white suit with a sun on the back of the blazer waving as the boat left. She sat on the wall and kicked her feet, watching him.

“Great night for kidnapping huh?”

The man turned and looked at her with a blank expression. “Shouldn’t you be home little girl?”

“I’ll go home as soon as you return all the people you took.”

“Or you could join them.”

Maria got nervous as it hit her that he wasn’t denouncing it but actively telling her to her face. Which meant not only was he guilty but he had no plans of letting her get away.

“You really plan to kidnap me?”

“I have no choice, you’re only going to make things far more difficult than they already are.”

“What if I make it easier for you?”

The man raised his eyebrow, “How so?”

“I know this place like the back of my hand and you’re obviously very sneaky but not from around here. Let’s play a little game. You set the destination. We both head there. Whoever gets there without getting caught by the police gets to make one request of the other, that they can’t disagree with me.”

“Any request?”

Maria crossed her legs. “Any request.”

The man jumped up and landed behind her. Before she could turn around, his very large hands grabbed the entirety of the back of her head. Terror began to set in for her. She struggled to move but couldn’t budge her body, nonetheless her head. His grip tightened. A light green mist began to form around her. He tightened his grip tighter, she began to feel like she was in a vice grip. The mist gained hints of deep blue. The man’s eyebrow raised as his eyes flashed light green for a moment. His grip tightened. The pain was unbearable. It immediately brought Maria to tears but she bit her lip, refusing to let him hear her scream. The mist became a thick red fog with green accents, deep blue sparkles, and sharp black gleams. The man was so shocked that he let go. She looked toward the water, composing herself. She didn’t notice the unnaturally big smile on his face that seemed to not only stretch up to his eyes but also kiss his chin. His teeth, somehow more white than his suit, almost glowing behind her. But she could feel the giddy stare from his now glowing light green eyes burning through her skin.

“Hope you make it to the old milk farm two miles past the high school in one piece, Marianna.”

She swiftly jumped down, landing awkwardly on the wood plants of the port’s walking path. She looked up to see he was gone but her heart was pounding so loud in her ears, she couldn’t focus on anything but the imprint of his large hand on the back of her head.

Act 4

It took her almost 2 hours but Maria made it. She made it to the milk farm that had been abandoned for years on the outskirts of town. She had never been inside. It had been closed down since the owner and his entire family mysteriously died one night. Well before Maria was born. The locals had decided to never reopen or sell the place. Almost like the entire town knew what had really happened but wanted to pretend that it never existed in the first place. But it didn’t keep the whispers of what could have really happened from echoing in schools and bars.

As she approached the front of the farm house, she slowly started to understand why it was avoided. Being on the vacant property, it felt alive and void of lifeforms at the same time. It gave her the feeling that she was being watched despite not seeing anything that could remotely be confused with an animal anywhere. No birds. No deer. Not even insects. She could shake the idea that no animal had been there in years, but even with her limited knowledge of insects, it was still eerie to her that the plantlife was thriving as well as it was. 

She stood on the porch, thinking that would be an easy spot for the man to see her when he arrived. But she couldn’t escape the feeling that something in the nearby barn, that was connected to a silo, was watching her. Part of her told her to hide inside the house. Part of her wanted to see what was staring at her. Part of her felt she should run. She took a deep breath and began to count down from 15 to calm herself. By the time she got to 6, she heard the barn door slam. She jumped from shock and looked in that direction. The door was swinging open and shut. Which made no sense to her since there was no wind blowing. She thought that it could be the man trying to get her attention. She said outloud, “That. Would be really dumb." 

She turned away from it and looked down the road for the man. She rubbed her shoulders to fight off the cold as she waited. She thought she could see a man walking up to the farm in the distance. She squinted. She inhaled to yell for the person’s attention. A large hand came from above her head, grabbed her entire face and dragged her towards the barn. 

Maria struggled to scream and breathe. She did her best to grab onto anything but she just could not overpower the pulling strength. After bumping into the barn door, she gave it her all and latched onto it. Just as it felt like her neck was going to give way, the hand let go. Maria dropped to the floor gasping and gagging. She made the mistake of looking back. Her heart sank. Seeing the hand that once had her by the face, waving. The arm it was connected to was stretched out all over the barn. Along the floor in some places, around beams, on and under machinery and the structural supports. All leading to a figure in the darkness. A figure that was at one point misshapen, almost like a poorly constructed clay person made by a child with malformed sockets painted a glowing white. The figure blinked and slowly approached from the far end of the barn. It was boldly wearing a red short sleeved button up plain shirt, a white t-shirt underneath, blue jean shorts held up by a black belt with a gold buckle, and yellow beach sandals. Maria strained to get to her feet. Leaning against the barn door, she weakly got out a ‘hello?’

The figure flinched as if it was surprised that she talked. It appeared to try to talk, “H… H.. Heeeee….” Its face twitched, melted a bit before reforming as it shook its head, “Hi!” Maria looked at it confused and clearly uncomfortable. Its other hand came from behind her and slithered around her, she tried to fight it off. The hand out maneuvered her and pulled her bottom lip. She opened her mouth to bite the hand. Its thumb and index finger quickly stretched to hold her mouth open. Its pinky went into her mouth and poked her tongue. Its hand let go and retreated from her mouth. Maria took this moment to bite the hand. She watched as the shock from the pain traveled from the fingers down the elongated arm and to its body like a long fuse on a bomb. Once the shiver made it to the body it rippled to the head, it blinked very slowly, then screamed so loud that the barn shook a bit.

A while earlier, Carlos woke up on a table in a basement. The strange rubber-like rope unraveling around him. Carlos held his head as he sat up. The figure that captured him was at the other end of the table, smiling at him. Carlos fell off the table. The figure crawled onto the table and stretched its neck to follow Carlos as he tried to crawl away. Everywhere that Carlos tried to hide, a stretched limb would find him. Carlos began to cry as he tucked himself in a corner. The figure found him again. Carlos struggled to sign. The figure pulled back in confusion. Coming into full view, Carlos could see the figure trying to remodel itself to have the same proportions as him. The figure stretched out its hand and poked Carlos. Carlos cowered. The figure smiled. Seeing Carlos’ face, the figure brought his index and middle from one hand and the ring and pinky of the other to opposite sides of his face and pulled its cheeks down. Forming an elongated frown. Carlos began to cry and think to himself, “I wish Maria was here.”

The figure flipped its arms upward to show a stretched out smile. Carlos’ crying slowed. The figure did stretchy backflips until it hit an examination table with dried blood on it. It rubbed its back before slipping under the table tailbone first. Carlos slowly stood up, wiping his face. Its hand tapped his shoulder. Carlos jumped, the hand waved and slowly slinked back towards a broken tank. The hand tapped on the tank. Carlos walked over to the tank. The figure’s hands repeatedly pointed at the tank. Carlos found an old, worn-out label near the base that read “The Long Man (success)”. Carlos looked up to see the figure inside the tank, stretched and coiled and twisted about inside pointing to itself. Carlos put up a nervous smile.

The Long Man slithered out, head first, and gestured to Carlos. Carlos began to sign his name. The Long Man looked at him confused and mimicked the mouthing for “My name is.” then gestured to Carlos. Carlos began to sign. The Long Man elongated, its arms swirling around Carlos like a helix. The Long Man’s face frowning as its hands pulled at Carlos’ face to force a smile. The Long Man smiled as it moved Carlos’ mouth with its fingers. Carlos began to cry as The Long Man forced his mouth open. The Long Man began to cry as light blue sparkles started to form around Carlos. The Long Man quickly let him go and hid behind the nearby examination table. Carlos fell to the ground and covered his mouth. He cried as the sparkles started to turn dark blue. The Long Man peaked from the examination table, Carlos looked to it. A light green mist  started to form around Carlos. The Long Man began to reach out to Carlos.

Footsteps could be heard coming down steps, The Long Man panicked and dragged Carlos back to the table he was originally on. Carlos continued crying. The Long Man inhaled the light green mist and the dark blue sparkles. Stretching his arm around the table to secure Carlos to the table and cover his mouth, The Long Man did a shushing motion to Carlos. A young man with dyed red hair in an all white two piece suit with a sun on the back of the jacket walked up to The Long Man.

“Ah he’s woken up. Hello there. Say ‘hi’ to the human.”

The Long Man waved at Carlos.

“I know this is all so very scary and sudden but I would like to thank you for volunteering yourself to my study. You see, I have learned that I desperately need living subjects for my experiments. And lucky you, you’re next on the table.” he chuckled to himself. 

Carlos began to breath heavily.

The young man smiled and held his head down, “Relax, there won’t be anything violent. Just existential. Won’t take long, this time. Hopefully.” The man grabbed a syringe filled with a light green liquid with dark blue sparkles within it. As he injected Carlos he noticed The Long Man backing up, looking sad. “No worries. If this goes better than the past 21 failures, you’ll have a playmate. And once you do, we can travel. I promise.” 

Carlos’ eyes repeatedly flickered light green. The young man smiled and started taking notes. The young man’s eyes flashed light green for a moment. “A guest? At this hour? Can’t be helped.” The young man began to walk towards the steps, “Take our new subject to the Strangers pit and meet me upstairs, please. Stay hidden until I give you the signal.” The young man walked up the steps. The Long Man looked at Carlos with concern.

The young man walked through the barn, silently. Almost as if he wasn’t truly there. He wandered into the house and watched with a raised eyebrow. He stood in the front room of the house. Staring at Maria on the porch. The young man smiled as he made his way back to the barn. He slammed the barn door closed. As he approached the back of the barn, The Long Man walked up from the basement. “We have a guest that really shouldn’t be here. I apparently need to make a call.”

The young man gave The Long Man an injection of a light green liquid. The Long Man’s massive white, pupilless eyes began to glow a very unnatural white. His smile growing and twitching as his arms stretched and twisted all throughout the barn. The young man pulled out his cellphone as he was leaving, “You can play with that one until I get back, Ethan.”

Act 5

The Long Man’s scream shook the barn. Maria turned around and ran. The Long Man’s right arm launched after her. Maria tripped just before The Long Man could grab her. She rolled to the side and continued running. The Long Man’s left hand crawled after her on its fingers. Maria ran to the backdoor of the house, entering the kitchen, slamming the door on its left hand. She panted as she backed up. The Long Man smashed its head through the glass on the back door, screaming in pain in her face. Maria instinctively punched it in the face. The Long Man’s face dented as if she had punched mud. 

The Long Man smiled. Maria punched it again. The Long Man smiled bigger. She cocked back, its hand came from the ceiling fan and yanked her from the elbow. Tossing her into a wooden chair, its other hand grabbed the chair and threw it across the room with her in it. Maria put up her guard just before the crash. The Long Man’s head slipped away from the back door. Maria weakly stood up and ran to the kitchen. The Long Man’s hands turned to each other as if they were looking at each other. They slowly followed after her. 

The hands slowly surveyed the kitchen. Swaying, side to side, as they went all over the kitchen. Until there was one spot left. The pantry. The hands opened the pantry door slowly. The left hand approached from the ceiling. The right crawled along the floor. Maria charged from the corner. She jumped on the right hand and stabbed the left with a knife she took from the drawer. The Long Man’s scream shook the house, its hands retreated. Maria tried to catch herself as she noticed her shaking hands. Maria took a deep breath, “For Aunt Toni.” She took another deep breath, “For Carlos.” She composed herself and slowly came out of the pantry.

She didn’t see the hands in the kitchen or the front room. She didn’t see any of The Long Man. She thought it was odd but took the chance to run out the front door. She ran to it but wouldn’t budge. The doorknob wouldn’t turn. The door wouldn’t open. She looked out the window and saw The Long Man’s left hand holding the doorknob. And what looked like its arm was wrapping around the house. Maria ran to the backdoor. It wouldn’t budge. She pulled with all her strength to escape.

After falling back, due to her fingers slipping off the doorknob, she noticed that it was getting darker. She looked to the window and saw its arms. Blocking the windows, bit by bit. Maria watched the windows. The house getting darker and darker by the second, Maria grit her teeth as a red fog with black gleams started to come from her. The Long Man stood atop the house spinning as his arms completely covered the house, all but the attic and roof. The Long Man’s eyes began to dim. Its smile slowly fading. It shook its head and started to loosen its grip. 

The young man in the two piece white suit cleared his throat as he approached the house. “Ethan. Crush it. Now. we don’t need any more interference.” The Long Man looked at himself. It had flashes of helping an elderly man in a tarp up from the ground. It had flashes of a large stocky woman in a white suit throwing it into the tank. The tank filling with green mist as the stocky woman talked to the young man. It remembered being thrown in a pit where inky black hands reached up to grab it. It remembered getting injections that made its veins feel like it was filling with acid. The Long Man began to breathe heavily, “E…. Eeeee…. E.. Efin.” The young man injected The Long Man with a syringe with black liquid with a slight light green hue to it. The Long Man gasped. Its frown became an agitated straight face. The young man turned away from The Long Man, “Crush.” The Long Man swiftly squeezed then split the house in half. It jumped off the roof and stood by the young man as the house collapsed.

The Long Man’s head turned around to watch the young man walk into the barn. The young man kept walking as he noticed Carlos dragging himself out the barn. “Time to go back. Be sure to bring your friend?” The Long Man walked past Carlos. Carlos kept crawling towards the house. The Long Man’s hands grabbed Carlos’ legs and coiled up his body. The Long Man kept walking behind the young man. Carlos dug one hand into the dirt, extended the other out. He moved his mouth as if he was screaming for Maria. The Long Man’s arm coiled around Carlos’ extended hand, it reached just past his.The Long Man then held Carlos’ hand. Then forcefully jerked him into the barn so quickly, then wind slammed the barn door.