A Journey To Save The North

"I'll make you a deal!"

In the dim light of her bedroom, the young girl tried to hide behind her blanket.

"What kind of deal?" Her voice was muffled, but about as loud as you'd expect from someone who should have been asleep hours ago.

The man wearing a hoodie and night vision goggles peeked around the corner. "I'll stop scaring you if you give me your candy." He grinned, showing off his obviously fake teeth.

The girl giggled and pulled her blanket away from her face just enough to show a single eye peering out at him through the small gap between the edge of the blanket and her nose. "My mom says I shouldn't give strangers my candy," she said in a mock-serious tone, "but I guess I can make an exception since you're already inside." She giggled again before pulling the blanket back over her face and pretending to go back to sleep. "You can have half of it. But only after you leave so I can get some REAL sleep." With that, she rolled over onto her side, ignoring how much she really wanted to know what he would say in response.

The man stood there for what seemed like ages, watching her pretend to sleep. Eventually he gave up and walked over to the dresser. He picked up one of her piggy banks and looked at it for a moment before shaking it gently. It made some rustling noises as its contents jostled against each other inside, causing the man's grin to grow even wider than it already was. "Hah!" he laughed, holding up the piggy bank for emphasis. "Score!" He then turned around, walked over to where she was still pretending to sleep with one eye peeking out at him through a tiny crack in the folds of her blanket, and held out his hand expectantly towards her headboard. "Alright kid," he said loudly, hoping she would notice him this time, "time to pay up or your candy is mine forever."

"Nooo," she whined in protest while rolling back over onto her back and sitting up against her headboard with her blanket still wrapped snugly around herself like a cocoon. She watched with amusement as he waited patiently for her to unwrap herself so they could trade candy for piggy bank while taking in his appearance once more. Aside from his ridiculous teeth which were now visible as he smiled eagerly at her from across the room, his outfit wasn't all that different from any other Halloween costume she had seen people wear on TV: A black hoodie with a pair of black sunglasses sticking out of one pocket and nighttime-vision goggles sticking out the other; black jeans; sneakers with neon green laces; and a face mask with two black circles cut out for eyes and a grinning mouth that stretched across his entire face like an orange peel frozen midway through its transformation into a pumpkin from some unknown cosmic force which had taken hold of it moments before it finished transforming and leaving it frozen in mid-metamorphosis ever since. The only thing that really seemed strange about him was that he was standing far too close to be wearing night vision goggles indoors unless he expected them to help him see through walls or something equally absurd like that?

"Hurry up kid! Time is money!" The man shrieked impatiently, waving a glowing green flashlight around in front of him wildly like some kind of demonic conductor attempting to summon an orchestra from hell itself with its melodies from beyond our reality to aid in paving the way for its eventual ascension into our own plane of existence among us lowly mortals foolish enough to awaken it from its slumber so early into our new age of enlightenment before we were truly ready for such an event only ... He stopped short when his flashlight suddenly flickered off before coming back on again after less than half a second later this time accompanied by an audible pop! Then he noticed how quiet everything suddenly got all around him: No longer did his footsteps echo down the hallway or bounce off the walls every time they hit them; no longer did lights flicker or buzz quietly every time they passed through their filaments on their way towards dimming themselves down into silence; no longer did air move through vents anymore nor did doors creak or windows scrape when opened or closed without being properly shut first; no longer did voices converse together within their various social groups even though there should have been plenty of people still awake given how late into the night it was seeing as how this was still technically Halloween evening; no longer did cars roll down streets full of joyous children eager for their first glimpse at holiday festivities barely visible in the distance; no longer did dogs bark excitedly as they chased after their owner's cars as they left for work every morning at 5 AM sharp (or sometimes even earlier); no longer did mothers yell at their children to get ready for school while simultaneously cursing under their breath at how incompetent their husband seemed to be at remembering whether or not today was trash day; no longer did husbands scream obscenities at each other while furiously throwing things across household rooms whose floors were once covered by carpet but had since been replaced by hardwood everywhere except under the kitchen table where there had once been carpet before being replaced by tile after repeated arguments between spouses insisting on replacing carpeting with tile because they believed such floors were easier to clean coupled with spouses insisting on keeping carpet because they believed such floors made them feel happier and more relaxed when eating dinner together; no longer did neighbors gossip about anyone who happened be walking past their windows during otherwise mundane evenings spent alone in their homes doing whatever most people do when spending evenings alone; no longer did friends laugh together while catching up on old times via phone calls made mostly from front porches during otherwise boring days spent indoors contemplating life's bigger questions; no longer did any sound whatsoever besides an occasional car engine roaring down an empty street somewhere else in town ... Nothing but silence remained anywhere outside his immediate vicinity aside from what sounded like distant echoes bouncing off nearby buildings every time someone spoke nearby as well as distant murmurs drifting towards him on random breezes traveling far above him high above rooftops and telephone poles until eventually reaching him after intersecting with another breeze traveling along elsewhere on its own journey before moving on again ... And maybe there were also voices echoing faintly somewhere near him that didn't quite reach his ears yet somehow managed to pierce through enough layers surrounding them before making contact with his mind somewhere deep inside ... Voices which sounded vaguely familiar yet unfamiliar all at once... Voices which sounded almost human yet almost not quite ... Voices which sounded strangely soothing yet frightening all at once ... Voices resonating clearly within his mind despite never having heard them before ... Voices somehow speaking words whose meanings were lost upon him despite having learned English fluently since childhood due to having lived here all his life ... Voices which somehow reminded him of himself even though he couldn't remember ever having heard anything like them ever before ... Voices which somehow reminded him of home even though he'd never known what home felt like until now ... Voices which somehow sounded familiar yet unfamiliar all at once ... And then just like that: They stopped. Only silence accompanied by darkness remained.