Go take a look

You grab your phone off the charger, slip on a pair of sandals, and grab your house keys off the counter. You lock the front door behind you and cut across the lawn to the road. Your aunt's house is only a couple hundred yards from where the pavement ends, and turns into a narrow, gravel road. Somewhere in the distance, an owl calls who-hooo, who-hooo and you hear something small scurry through the bushes as you pass. You've seen hikers and people walking their dogs out here, but at this time of the morning, the road is empty, quiet.

The gravel crunches beneath you feet, loud in the darkness. Ahead, you can see a violet glow through the trees, accompanied by intermittent flashes of bright purple. You can't hear the pops and bangs you'd expect from fireworks, nor the music and voices that typically accompany a party. So what else could it be?

A sudden snap draws your attention to the left side of the road. Blackberry brambles form dark heaps in the tall, pale grass, with spindly aspen trees scattered across the field. Probably just an animal, a raccoon or a fox, maybe. You continue toward the light, but only take a few steps before another snap, like a twig being stepped on, catches your ear.