There is a crossroads in the cattle country outside Dallas. There is nothing terribly remarkable about this crossroads; there are many in the area that could be mistaken for its identical twin. However, despite this, the children in the area like to tell their younger siblings never to go there at night, or it might not be there, as they (whoever "they" is) say that when the moon is waning, it changes from a crossroads to a one-way street to the abandoned ranch at the end of one of its branches.

My little brother had always been adventurous. I should have known not to tell this story in front of him, as he was the type to visit the graveyard at night just to prove he was tough. I got caught up in the moment during a family reunion when all the kids had huddled around the firepit to roast marshmallows while the adults talked, and let it slip. I couldn't be one-upped by my cousins, and this was the best story I knew.

It was received well, of course. The close proximity of the crossroads to my family's ranch made it extra chilling. My brother (let's call him Andy) was then 11 years old, and stupidly adventurous. He immediately started trying to goad our cousins into checking out out with him. Most of them replied with some version of "oh hell no", but a couple of the older boys who were determined to show how gutsy they were said it sounded fun.

Personally, I believe in the paranormal. I know it's not rational, but there's nothing I find more terrifying than a dead guy coming back in any form. I immediately threatened to tell, but my oldest cousin (let's call him Mike) reminded me of something I'd rather not have my parents hear about, and I shut up.

All the kids slept in the living room that night, so we just waited until about 1 o'clock, when we knew our parents would be asleep, and crept out. I was terrified, but there was no way I was letting my brother go alone.

I jumped several times before we had even left our property. Mike insisted that we not use flashlights, because he didn't want to risk getting caught. This was basically torture for me, but Andy was practically glowing. He was on an adventure.

The crossroads was only about a mile away, but I swear, that was the longest mile I have ever walked. I kept seeing black figures flitting across the beams of our flashlights, but Mike and Andy just laughed when I brought it up. By then, everyone but the three of us had chickened out, so at least I wasn't embarrassing myself in front of too many people.

When we reached the crossroads, it was, as expected, still there. Mike said the obligatory "told ya so", and we turned to walk back.

It was at this point that a figure did not flit into the beam of our flashlights, but walked into them, and stayed there. I was frozen in fear, and couldn't even squeal as I had at the earlier shadows.

It looked like a human shadow, but far too tall and skinny. Unbelievably, it took a step forward. Andy was the only one who could think straight, and grabbed our wrists and pulled us back.

When we turned around, the east and west branches of the crossroads were gone. There was long grass growing in their place as if they had never been there. The only signal that there could have been anything there was the weatherbeaten stop sign.

I was still pretty much locked into place as the shadow inched forward, but Andy and Mike weren't stopping for me. They ran. I turned around just in time to see the horde of shadow men emerge from the place that would have been a ditch and dragging my brother and cousin down with them. They didn't scream, because the shadows seemed to be forcing themselves down their throats.

I'm not proud of this, but I ran. One shadow man was much less scary than a hundred, and he didn't chase me. When I got home, I didn't know what to do. I slipped back into my sleeping bag, and stared out the window until morning.

There was, of course, a big search. The police were involved, and I saw Andy and Mike's faces on milk cartons a few weeks later. I tried to tell them what happened, but they thought I just wanted attention.

I later heard a story circulating in the cafeteria that a coven of witches meets in the abandoned ranch at the end of that road. I want desperately to go to that ranch, to find my brother, but my blood freezes in my veins every time I think about that night.