I was in my home watching a movie when my family asked me to go on a road trip to my great aunt's house. They called my name
"David! Get the fuck down here we're going on a road trip and we're not leaving without your ass!"
I woke up from my trance still staring at my television broadcast and slowly made my way downstairs to the entrance of the house where my parents and siblings were waiting for me.
"What do you fucking want again!? I just want one day where we don't do something together and I can just relax!"
"Listen we know we've been going on a lot of these, but this one is important. You know how your great aunt has been lately. This might be one of our last trips to see her before well... She completely loses it."
"Fine, I'll go just leave me alone tomorrow alright?"
We left in our old car. It made strange noises when we reached high speeds. My dad kept telling us he'd be getting it checked but he never went and did it.
After a few hours it was dusk and we made it to my old aunt's house and I saw her old dog at the front of the door barking towards the forest. My family and I got out of the car to greet the dog that I called fluffles and see the old woman.
I was the first to enter the house and it was chaos. Bookshelves covered the windows and it looked like the entire house was ransacked by robbers. I quickly ran to my aunt's room where I saw her. She was sitting on a rocking chair with a shotgun on her lap.
She kept repeating the same words over and over again.
"They're coming, They're coming, They're coming..."
"What are you talking about? No one is here it's just me and the family."
She seemed to calm down after I told her how many we were. She looked at me and light filled her eyes once again.
"David! Thank god you guys are here. You'll be able to help me! Grab the guns on the corner of this room and give them to your parents."
"What why? What's happening?"
"David, there are very dangerous things in this country. Not many people know of this, but the moose are not just wild animals. They're actually sentient. The government is led by them. None of us are safe here David. Oh god what have I done. You guys must leave. I have to fight them off alone. If they find you here or worse find out what I have told you they'll kill you too."
"What are you talkin-"
At this point my parents came in the room and ran to my aunt. They'd seen the state of the house and decided that they simply could not leave her here.
"No, you must go take the children and run."
She shot in the air and both my parents took a step back. She took another shot and they started running out of the house. Outside they called 911, but it didn't work. We left leaving my father behind to make sure my aunt wouldn't do anything to hurt herself.
My aunt agreed to let my father stay as she finally realized that none of us would leave if we couldn't make sure she was safe.
On the way back home my mother started crying. She was the closest to my aunt after all. It simply made sense. Everything made sense
We called the police as soon as we could which was about an hour after we'd left my aunt's home in the woods. We immediately went back to the house and the patrol car caught up to us.
We arrived there. It was silent. Too silent. The door was kicked in. The barking has stopped. The police entered first. After what felt like hours they came back out. They told us to leave as this place had become a murder scene. Two people had died including a dog. I couldn't believe not only my dad and my aunt, but why Fluffles. What had motivated these people to kill all of them.
Was my aunt right? Were there really mooses that wanted her dead?
"Kids lets go home..."
I looked at my mother she was on the verge of a breakdown I could feel it. So were my siblings. So was I. On the way home we all cried. I was the only one who knew. That we were next. The things that killed my aunt would know that we had been there.