Chapter 1: The Rooster in the Night

Somewhere around two in the morning, I stumbled out of bed, still half-dreaming, my feet cold against the warped floorboards of our old farmhouse in rural Ohio. The house seemed to hold its breath, every creak echoing down the narrow hallway as I made my way toward the bathroom. The humid scent of dew and hay drifted in through the cracked windowpanes, tinged with the earthy tang of old wood and distant lilacs. Past the sagging porch, overgrown lilacs brushed the siding, and out in the yard, someone—or something—was talking, low and rhythmic, a strange melody tangled up with the chirr of crickets.

Curiosity prickled beneath my skin. I crept closer to the back window and peered out—and nearly jumped out of my skin when I saw a giant rooster swallowing the smoked ham hanging from our clothesline.

The greasy smell of smoked ham mixed with the sweet scent of lilacs and the tang of dew. I could hear the wet tearing sound as the rooster ripped another strip from the clothesline. For a second, I thought maybe it was a coyote or a raccoon, but as I squinted through the screen, the truth settled in my gut: a rooster, taller than any grown man I’d ever seen, its glossy blue-black feathers glimmering in the moonlight, tearing strips of ham from the line like it owned the place.

It was counting as it ate, mumbling, “Three pieces, four pieces...”

The voice was gravelly, almost human—a back-pew grumble you’d hear at church if someone nodded off during the sermon. Each number made my skin crawl. Something was seriously off.

I clapped a hand over my mouth to stifle a scream and stumbled backward, terror rooting me to the spot.

My heart hammered so hard I could barely breathe. I backed into the old radiator beneath the window, making it clang just loud enough to spike my fear even higher.

The enormous rooster turned its head toward me, a fifth piece of meat swinging from its beak.

Its eyes glowed an unnatural green, and for a split second, I swear it looked almost... amused. The meat swung like a pendulum, grease dripping into the grass.