Silence enshrouded the small town of Dante as the last slim, hopeful rays of the descending sun made their last stretch from the horizon. The dark blue sky with the dim stars overhead covered the evening sky. The silence, a silence that of fear, lay over the town.

The streets were silent and empty with dim streetlamps lined across each road. All doors were shut and locked, the windows nailed to their frames, and the chimneys closed up.

Every man, woman, and child of the town knew. All knew. They were coming.

One child still stood outside in the city streets bewildered. His mother quickly snatched him and brought him inside. "What is it, Mother?" he would ask. "The Grimlics," she answered. "They're coming."

Back in the days when the town was a peaceful, cheerful town where even during the nights, people of the town could stroll down by the lake unharmed in the serenity, the Grimlics were unheard of. In fact, the creatures who are now known by this wretched name, were not known by this name. They were called Puffledums. They were chubby little pale-yellow creatures with large anticipating eyes filled with curiosity and love. They knew none of hate or misery. No, these creatures used to love to play all day in the sun and rest under the soothing vibrations of the leaves and branches of the oak trees by the murmuring brook.

But there was a man who lived nearby who could not stand serenity and peace. He found that bemusing. To others, this man was known as Dr. Xander, a recluse who lived in an abandoned Gothic church high in the bluffs. And to add some excitement, he liked to use his expertise in the field of genetic engineering, chemistry, and biology to alter every aspect of nature in the surrounding area. And he happened to reside on the upstream of the brook where the Puffledums played by.

He waited and waited for the right time to make an attack on a Puffledum. A baby Puffledum wandered nearby, separated from his mother and crying for help. Dr. Xander squatted down and put a hypodermic needle in his right hand. Then he began to reach for a tranquilizer in his backpack, but he suddenly lost his balance and fell out into the open, snapping a twig. The young Puffledum suddenly turned in the doctor's direction. At first, its eyes filled with apprehension, but it soon saw no harm in the doctor and slowly walked up to him. The Puffledum walked over next to Dr. Xander and nudged a rock to his feet, wanting to play. But Dr. Xander had no love in his heart, and he extended his arm and jabbed the needle into the young Puffledum. It screamed and wailed at the pain of the needle and the sickening feeling from the poison inside. Dr. Xander then left the Puffledum alone, and it soon left to return to the home of the Puffledums. Little did he know that he was now contagious with a disease that would mutate the Puffledums and change the town of Dante...forever.

Over the next three years, there was a rise in the number of deaths in the town. Mysterious disappearances of various townspeople stirred trepidation throughout the town. Investors, businesses, and industries began to lose trust in the stability of the future of this town and began to leave. By the end of five years, the town was basically dead. People outside on the streets during the day was a rare sight, and even then, anyone outside scurried through the streets and didn't stay out for long. At night, the streets were empty and silent.

But something happened one February morning that meant hope for the town...

[not finished]