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for there were several more mourners standing behind him.

Where did they come from? John wondered.

"...remember him in memory..."

In fact, they all seemed to be much closer than before.

"...and finally my brothers in sisters..."

John focused all his efforts on a nearby gravestone, hoping to gain control of what must be an emotional breakdown. Something alarming caught his eye.

"...as we say goodbye to this soul..."

John read the name on the gravestone:

STEPHEN SPANDER
1973 -2004

"...we shall remember and honor him best..."

That was four years ago! He thought.

"...by partaking of his flesh."

John looked up at the preacher and met his murderous stare.

"Get him. He's aware," the preacher commanded.

John stumbled backward as the mourners turned as one and closed in for the kill. They all had the same crazy eyes as the preacher. They also had...claws.

They began to reach for him, slicing at John's arms, testing their prey.

These things are not Spanders! John thought.

The other gravestones revealed the truth. Both Stephen's parents were here as well as what looked like every remaining Spander. The year of death on all read 2004.

They attacked then, ferocious beasts tearing and biting at him. John fought them off and managed to find an opening and ran......

At midnight, John regained consciousness. He felt himself dragged off the main road and back toward the cemetery. He was too weak to protest or fight back. As they laid him near the open grave, understanding came too late. John had not come to attend a funeral, but had been elaborately set up for something quite different.

As shadows circled him, John looked up in time to see moonlight revealing many sets of sharp teeth.

That was when John found his voice and screamed for a long, long time.

By dawn, the preacher finished arrangements for the next service three months from now, in accordance with their feeding cycle. The Spander family contact book was quite exhaustive and would last them several more years.

Learn more about this author, Scott Scherr.
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