You've been having nightmares....bad ones. They happen every night. Regardless of how different they were each night, the same presence and familiarity loomed over them. You didn't believe in all that supernatural stuff...but you decided to do some research anyway. You looked to see if there were any tragedies or deaths in your town. Murders or homicides....y'know anything that would leave behind a troubled spirit.

You came across a name that felt too familiar, which was weird because you didn't know anyone by that name. Elian Thorne ...He went missing in 1986... no one ever found him or his body. You dug a little more and found that he went to Everglade High School. He was a senior...he didn't even get to graduate because he went missing before he could. All the cops managed to find was a cut noose and a letter to the girl he loved. The letter made it sound like he poured his heart out to her only to get rejected. You looked up the year book for that year and found his senior quote. His picture was decorated specially and his quote read: "The Big Black Tree."

A big black tree?.....You knew a tree like that. You grabbed a flashlight and began walking into the woods at the edge of town. There you found the big black tree. As soon as you laid your eyes on it, the ground rumbled and a patch of dirt began to convulse. A hand shot up from the dirt and out crawled...Elian. He was in perfect condition (minus the dirt and small smears of blood that now covered him) and he looked like he hadn't changed at all. He had a ring shaped bruise around his neck, presumably from the noose, and under his unbuttoned school shirt, was a heart....carved into his chest. It looked like it still bled, but it was frozen it time just like he was.

When his eyes landed on you, there was a delicate purr that came from beneath the heart on his chest. There was a wriggling movement beneath the wound before it locked it place. whatever was under there was mimicking his heartbeat. He doubled over with a wince. His eyes went back to you and his pupils were blown wide.

"Who....ack-.....who are you?"