GOD. FUCKING. DAMMIT. Why is everyone dying around me?

We didn’t have a destination in mind when we fled from that grave in the forest. “Away” was as far as our planning got.

Ended up going in a vaguely easterly direction, until we crossed from West Virginia into regular Virginia. There hadn’t been any trouble the entire way, so I’d started to hope we had gotten away.

Well, actually, we had gotten away. From the CIA. Unfortunately, there were other things chasing us.

I was driving along the interstate when it happened. Lucy was in the passenger seat, staring out the window. We hadn’t spoken much since seeing the gravesite. There wasn’t a single car on the road, which was making me nervous. Bad things always seem to happen when there’s a suspicious lack of people around.

Sure enough, the car was suddenly lifted into the air and thrown several feet. Before we could figure out what was happening, it was thrown again, and then a third time. I was still trying to recover when the figure of a woman appeared on the car’s hood, and a painted face looked through the window.

“Hiiiiiiii!” The Wooden Girl said.

I still had enough sense to try to slam on the accelerator, but I wasn’t fast enough. It flicked its wrists, and strings shattered the window and grabbed Lucy and I. The strings pulled us out, throwing us onto the street.

“Ever since she ruined my party, I’ve been looking for your girlfriend.” The Wooden Girl said. “But she’s just too hard to find, so I’ve decided I’ll start with the two of you! I was thinking, maybe if I just make you scream loud enough, she’ll come running to try to save you.”

Before I could stand up, I felt something grab my feet and pull me into the air. Strings held me by my feet, suspending me upside down with my face at the level of the Girl’s. Lucy tried to run back to the car, but stopped just as she made it to the door. Mechanically, she walked back, picking up a large shard of glass on the way. When she reached me, she pulled back the shard, preparing to strike. I raised my hands to cover myself, but strings rose from the ground and locked my arms behind my back.

The Wooden Girl held my face with its cold hand so it could whisper in my ear. “Now where should I have her cut you first? Your pretty face would be the obvious choice, but…” It moved a finger from my chest to my stomach, “there’s just so many other places where I could hurt you, it makes choosing soooo difficult.”

My lips moved on their own, forming words no matter how hard I tried to stay silent. “You should start with the stomach, Mistress. Cut it open, and then let gravity do all the work.”

It clapped its hands together. “What a delightful idea! Lulu, do as she says!”

In desperation, I swung my head to hit the Wooden Girl. Not… the best idea, what with it being made of wood and all. All hitting it did was make it laugh.

Just before Lucy could hit me, a large bird flew into her face. A raven flew at her next, then what I think was a pigeon, and then the air was filled with birds flying all around us. The air was so thick with birds of every kind that I could barely see what was in front of me.

This was another one I’d heard of. The Fear of heights, birds, being carried away by forces beyond your control, represented in the form of a swarm of birds: The Convocation.

The birds swarmed around the Wooden Girl; as they pecked at it, the strings which had been holding me vanished. I landed on my face, but got to my feet as fast as I could. Lucy was covered in birds, pecking at her, ripping her skin off. I tried to get them off her, but there were too many of them. When they flew away, all that was left was a mutilated body.

The Wooden Girl was still fighting, tearing dozens of birds apart with its strings. Still they flew at her, no matter how many were killed. With the Fears distracting each other, I ran back to the car. A stray string from the Girl tore off the roof of the car, but I ignored the damage and sped out of there.

And now I’m alone again. 330 died, Lucy died, because of these things. Because of these monsters….

-Lisa