Short: Wild Hunt

In one of the stars I shall be living. In one of them I shall be laughing. And so it will be as if all the stars were laughing, when you look at the sky at night...You - only you - will have stars that can laugh. When you look up at the stars and think on what a lonely life you'll lead, if you are ever to find someone to love you. If only it were this easy.

It was a cold night, and despite the fact that there wasn't much light coming from any source, it didn't feel like much at all. The air felt heavy, as though the very ground itself was trying to hold its breath in fear. A bitter chill hung over every part of the town like a shroud; every streetlight flickered dimly, with each passing minute it was getting harder for the power to keep on going. It was already getting past eleven o'clock, but no one had bothered to come out and check on their lights. No one wanted to leave their homes anymore. Not after tonight, not when they could sense something was wrong.

The city was quiet, save for the occasional sound of the wind blowing through the trees. But then again, there weren't many people here either; most people had stayed indoors, hoping that whatever it was would blow over soon enough. The snow had begun to melt on some of the smaller buildings, and now lay in heaps on the ground; a dark patch in the midst of the white world. The moon shone bright overhead; it looked almost like a giant white eye staring down at the town.

But it didn't scare the people inside the apartment complexes away; even as they shuddered in the cold air, and wrapped their arms around themselves, they still knew that they needed to get ready for another long night like tonight. They would go out tomorrow morning after the Howling Winds are gone- The Wild Hunt is here. That's what they'd been told, by the same person who had warned them to stay indoors tonight. Even though none of them could see the future, they were all aware of it. They could feel the change coming over the area as they walked, the way it left their skin tingling with a strange feeling. They knew that it would happen tonight, and that they had until sunrise, or something like it, to make sure they got home before it happened.

They couldn't let anything happen to the children tonight.

There were thousands of black hands against the walls and windows, screaming accompained the winds as a galloping horse ran ahead- The Wild Hunt was passing by. And it would kill anyone foolish enough to stand in its path.

One last thing.

As the howls filled the air, they reached out, grabbed onto whoever was closest. And pulled them into their own world, somewhere safe, where they wouldn't be hurt, where they wouldn't get sick or die, where they'd be... Alongside the hunt.

Within it.

Being a part of it.

For one second, they wondered if it was a good idea. This wasn't always an option for them, and although it had never occurred to them before they realized that this might happen, they still worried- They still worried that the Wild Hunt would take them too.

But they were safe. For now, they were safe. And with that knowledge they relaxed, as the wind swept their houses-

Safe, until hands pulled their houses apart and dragged the residents out, pulling them into its endless centipede-likr form of millions of howling and crying spirits forever tarnished to suffer.

And as the people watched the destruction unfold, they began to sing:

"To Hell with the Night!

Come and play!"

"To hell with all of the things that have been done!

Give us your answer!

We won't wait!

Come and play!"

"Oh we know that there' s no escape,

And our time has runn'd out!

Our time has gone to waste.

So why don'n't we just go?

Let's give it our best shot!

Bring on the Wild Hunt!"

"Come and play!"

"Come and play!"

"To Hell with the night!"

"Come and play!"

"Now listen close, and you may hear me shoutin',

My name is the Wind.

And I'm the Hunter, and I am coming."

The Wind had sung those words more times than they cared to count, and they knew it well. Then the ghosts came. When the hunters came. When the monsters took over the streets, when the Wild Hunt made itself known. All it took was one moment, and it had become inevitable.

A single heartbeat passed. Two. Three. Four… Until suddenly it wasn't, and there was silence all around them.

The Hunt had gone.

No one breathed. No one blinked. The wind blew softly in the background, carrying the smell of death away with it. Slowly, slowly, everyone started moving again, as a collective sigh of relief escaped their lips. The sounds of movement came back, along with the sounds of laughter, singing and talking, and everyone seemed to forget the events just an hour ago, and instead returned to their normal lives, as though nothing had happened at all. As though the night hadn' t changed anyone at all.

But, in a few hours, they would remember.