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running over to see if she was okay.
    Lifting her head bit by bit, Shana whispered, “I saw death and destruction. I had dealt out my Tarot cards over and over again, and each time I drew the same card: the image of a half man and half animal creature. I’ve never dealt that card before. It symbolizes a demon in the form of a vampire or werewolf…or…or something even worse. All my past premonitions have always come true. How could this premonition possibly be true?”
    “Maybe this has to do with the owner of End House. He could be an evil person and the card could somehow be referring to him. Are you too afraid to come with us on Friday?” queried Linda while trying to make some sense of Shana’s strange readings.
    “I have to attend this party; I have no choice. This is the town where I live, and I have to find out what everyone is trying to hide.”
    “Everyone has choices. And who is hiding something?”
    “Don’t you think that it’s strange that the older residents don’t come out at all during the day?” asked Shana.
    “And the older residents like Shirley and Hank haven’t been invited to the party,” agreed Linda. “Did you know that Shirley and Hank are in their seventies?” Becoming impassioned about the topic, she quickly added, “They look much younger but act much older.”
    “We’ll attend this sorry attempt for a party and find out what is really going on. But we have to make sure that we stick close together,” Shana responded.
    They walked home together, listening to the noises of the night, watching for any shadows that didn’t quite belong in their quiet little town.

Chapter 5
    T he next morning, Louise arrived early at her store. As soon as she stepped through the doorway, she sensed that something was wrong: the air was frigid and the lights wouldn’t turn on. From the corner of her eye she noticed a shadow pass by her very quickly. She was terrified that the creeping shadows were now stalking her inside and in the daylight.
    Turning to leave the store, she grabbed the door handle but found that it wouldn’t budge in either direction. Staring through the door’s plate glass window, she began to realize that the town was deserted. All the other stores along Main Street were still closed, except for the sheriff’s office, which was too far away to be of any help. She was all alone with no one around to save her. If she cried out for help, no one could hear her. She felt panic beginning to overwhelm her.
    She couldn’t breathe; it felt like all the oxygen in the room had been sucked out. Panicking, she began gasping for breaths of air, but there didn’t seem to be any left in the locked store.
    Scanning the store for something to help her break the front window, she noticed the display of mannequins in the store window. Rushing over to one of the mannequins, she threw it head first through the glass window. Sharp shards of glass sprayed across the outside pavement and fresh air flowed freely into the store.
    Gulping in huge breaths of air, she swiftly climbed out through the broken glass. As she scurried away, she furtively threw glances up and down the streets, but couldn’t detect any signs of movement. She ran all the way home without informing the sheriff’s office about the intruder in her store. She decided not to tell anyone what had happened—not even the sheriff—since she didn’t know who to believe anymore. She didn’t believe that the sheriff had ever investigated any of the strange sightings or unsolved disappearances.
    From that moment on, Louise decided not to trust anyone or to confide her fears to anyone in town ever again. She would become an island to herself: strong and self-sufficient. She didn’t even trust Todd any longer: he was too chummy with the sheriff and the original residents. She suspected that these residents were the ones responsible for the unknown creatures stalking her and all the other unexplained incidents in town.
    When the call