"Oh hush, I'm coming already." The nymph mumbled hastily. gently placing her book on the small table near her the window nook. 

It was a cloudy day, stormy even. The sky was crisp, perfectly shadowed in grey. It was already one o'clock p.m. but the sun had yet to rise over the mountains. If one paid enough attention to detail, they might even say it was a bit ominous. After all, there had been a blood moon for the past three nights, but the local weathermen had explained that it was just a series of odd eclipses. Which it was, in a way. What  nobody realized, was that the odd weather changes were triggered by a divine law and not a natural one. 

Luckily enough, Echo was secluded from the perils of the world up on her mountain. While the outside lingered with various unknowns, her loft was as cozy as could be. It smelt of fresh linens and berries. A mix of fruits and dough wafted through the kitchen's oven, as she'd been experimenting with a new dessert.

Pulling the item from the oven, she was happy to say that it looked good. Great, even. But the moment was short lived, within a matter of seconds the pastry caved. 

Ding-dong! Ding-dong! Came the call of the doorbell. 

"Damn!" The maiden huffed under her breath, her lips thinning as she inspected her failed creation for a moment longer than was necessary. 

But when the bell ran again, it was evident that whoever, or whatever was at the door wasn't going to be leaving her alone anytime soon. Well that better not be that annoyingly arrogant pretty boy, I'm not in the mood. 

She trudged to the front door. Upon turning the cool metal knob, Echo was greeted with a surprise. "Girl scouts?" She questioned with curiosity. She was the only cabin around for miles, how had the tiny trio discovered her all the way up on the mountain?! A lucky shot? No. Something was odd about the whole endeavor. 

"HELLO MA'AM!" Exclaimed the red head with the crystal eyes. There were three children in all. One red head, one brunette, and a blonde. All varying in size. The red head's face had yet to catch up with her teeth. The brunette was like a teapot; short and stout. And the blonde, well she looked a bit old for her age, which Echo assumed was around twelve. 

"Err..hi." She retorted, stance awkward, in the doorway.  

"Hello! We're here selling our seasonal cookies to help out our troops so that we can across the state for our annual scout convention next year. Could you help us out by purchasing a box or two?" Her tiny voice was overly sweet and Echo couldn't help but watch the odd trio for a moment. But looking back at the small plate on her counter, she sighed. 

"Sure. Why not?"Girl scout cookies only came once a year, and it wasn't like she could just up and make them. Even if she could find the recipe online, she doubted it would taste the same. She didn't feel like risking it. "Do you have any thin mints?"

"Sure do ma'am!"

"Alright, let me just get my money." Upon finding her purse, the nymph shuffled through a few receipts and old Greek currency, which she'd yet to throw out, before pulling up a crisp twenty dollar bill. "Here you go. I'll take two boxes." 

"Thanks!" As the tiny hand reached for the bill, something curious happened. The paper had managed to slice right through her fingers; a paper cut. 

"Ouch!" Echo pulled her hand back from the door, examining her finger tips. A drop of ruby trickled down her forefinger, before hitting the floor. Instinctively, Echo placed them to her lips, if only to stop the bleeding for a moment. Unfortunately, it has already done it's damage. As she glanced back up to the three girls, she was med with zombie like expressions.  "Umm.."

"..." Like hungry dogs, they all eyed her fingers. But none were as fidgety as the blonde on the left. Echo noticed the strange twitch in her face, her mouth agape as she watched the woman.  

"Y-you know. We actually have a few new flavors with us...if you like we could show them to you?" The chubby brunette offered as the middle one licked her lips. 

".." Now it was Echo's turn for silence, because something was way off. Their reactions weren't normal at all. 

"If you j-just invite us in, we'd be more than happy to let you try a few samples." 

"No." She replied flatly. She was hardly the type to let strangers into her house. Even if they seemed like normal children, which they clearly weren't as the blonde had started foaming at the mouth, she would have turned them away. It's not like they were lost anyhow. "Look, can I just have the cookies I paid for?" 

"Let us in. Let us in. Let us in." They began to chant in unison. It was at this time that Echo noticed a change in their appearance, their eyes were a deep onyx. The red head's formerly blue eyes were now empty holes. Closer and closer they came towards her doorway, fingernails raking at the edges of the door frame.