If you missed Part I, you can check that out here ! Part II: The Dark Room The black sedan raced down the two-lane highway, swerving abruptly as it navigated around slower cars in front of it. With each pass in the oncoming lane, Charlie was jerked back and forth in his seat. This had been going on for close to an hour now, and he wanted to start finding some answers. "So," he started carefully, gauging whether he would be able to have a conversation with the Stranger or if he would be having a conversation with himself. "Slow drivers, huh? Guess you can't escape them anywhere you go." "Indeed," responded the Stranger, not taking his eyes off of the road in front of them. "Sorry, I know you're probably a little busy right now, but I have a lot of questions--" "I know, and I do apologize for the abruptness of our arrival. Due to events out of our control, we felt we needed to act quickly to ensure your safety." My s...

Charlie held the knife firmly in his hand. He stood, slightly crouched, peering carefully around the wall of his living room and out the window. Where is it? he thought to himself, scanning the short distance from the start of the backyard to the thick woods beyond. He had been in the middle of cooking a late dinner consisting of macaroni and cheese. Very classy, indeed. The truth was, he had lost track of time playing video games for the past six hours and was desperate for anything edible. He had wanted to get back to his TV and finish the game he was playing with little delay. But that had suddenly changed as the pot of water was heating up and he wandered over to the oversized window that stretched horizontally across most of the exterior wall of the living room. He had... seen something. Whatever it was was looking right at him. Its eyes had reflected the light of the house, but only for a second or two. Then it was gone. As Charlie glanced from corner to corner of the y...