She was running behind and had left her boyfriend’s house a bit late. Noah had never had a good concept of time and Zoe’s was even worse. Regardless, the walk from his house was relatively short, especially if she took a shortcut down the alley. Zoe said her goodbyes and started walking. It was early November and everything was hauntingly beautiful; empty streets and piles of gold, red, and brown leaves. As the wind pierced her coat, she shivered and put her headphones in for a distraction.

As her favorite song came through the speakers, another gust of wind swept through. Zoe bundled herself and kept walking, imagining the warm blankets waiting for her in her bed. Suddenly she saw something move out of the corner of her eye. She tried to ignore it. It couldn’t be that important, right? As this crossed her mind, she heard a shrill and stirring voice echo in the back of her head.

“Soooo preeetty. Pretty hair. Pretty eyes. Preeeettyyy. WHY WON’T YOU LOOK AT ME? Look at me pretty girl. Or are you not so pretty after all? That must be it. Hideous girl. Hideous. Hideous creatures are they. All of them. Ugly. Inside and out. They”

When it seemed the voice had finished with its monologue, something brushed against her ankle. She looked down and saw a small, disfigured thing. It had to be an animal. Maybe some weird looking opossum. As she looked closer, she realized that this was no ordinary creature. It had what looked like a long tail from an opossum, the body of an elf-fit with ragged and dirty clothes, and the head of an old, crooked woman with gray matted hair and pitch black eyes with small white dots in the center. As Zoe stared into the soulless eyes, she heard the voice come again, this time echoing louder and louder.

“Poor, poor Celestria, eyes once so pretty like the girlses. Not dark and scary. HA! Me, a scary little creature. Celestria, Celestria used to be pretty like the girl. But Celestria doesn’t like to be good, no no no. Celestria has many friends. Many many mean friends. They don’t live here, though, they live in the down below. All the pretty girlses up here make them feel bad. All so pretty! Such pretty eyes, wish Celestria could...could have them. Pretty girl pretty girl. Such pretty eyes!”

Zoe ran. She didn’t know where she was running but she needed to get away from whatever that thing was. Over her heavy breathing and the crunching leaves, she could hear it cackling, saying over and over again how “pretty the girlses are above ground.” With each footfall, Zoe pushed herself harder. She could worry about breathing steadily once she was off the street. She saw the lights on her porch shining a few blocks down. Just a bit more and she would be safe. Then she heard it.

A heavy footfall seemed to follow close behind her. She could feel a warmth on her heels and the hairs on the back of her neck stood up. There was something giving chase and she wasn’t about to meet it. With every ounce of energy she had, she pulled forward, jumping onto the sidewalk. Growing up in the older part of town meant an unsteady path that she was familiar with. She heard the creature stumble and heard its howl. Whether it was in pain or frustration didn’t matter. Zoe had gained a few precious seconds and had made it to her block. If only she could reach her house, everything would be alright.

She heard the creature howl again, this time seeming to be angry more than anything. Zoe ran up the front steps and flung her door open, thankful that her parents had chosen not to lock it. As she made it safely into her home, she locked the door and checked the windows. As hard as she tried, she couldn’t find her pursuer and decided that it gave up. She walked into the dining room to tell her mother about what had just happened only to find her mother and father both sitting at the table, facing the wall and not moving.

“We were wondering when you would be home tonight dear.” They said in unison. “It is four minutes past your curfew.” They turned slowly together. “Such a pretty little girl. It is not wise to keep breaking your parents’ rules, pretty girl.”

Zoe let out a blood-curdling scream as she looked into her parents’ eyes, the same eyes that had stared back at her on the street: the eyes of Celestria.