The House at the End of the Street

Chapter Twleve: Traitor

The sun rose and the smell of death lingered around every corner. The town of Biloxi was crawling with monsters with Salvullaz still out there, waiting for us to slip up.
We all had a fear of everything, a pretty good one too. It kept us alive. We were always scared that something might happen that would cause everyone's death. I feared that I would kill everyone.
We all lived in fear, scared to even look out the window. I sat in the back of the suite most days, rarely coming out to talk to someone. Weeks passed, and still, nobody tried to help us. I became lonely and didn't talk for days on end.
It was now 25th, a month from when we last went outside. It has rained almost every day since then.
"Hey, Zack," Conner said, walking over to me and sitting down in a chair next to me.
I didn't reply.
"You alright?" Conner asked.
I didn't reply again.
"You haven't said anything in days. Dude, just say something," Conner said, trying to get me to talk.
"What do you want?" I finally said.
"I need to know if you're alright. You've changed and I feel it has broken your mental health," Conner replied.
"I can't. Nobody cares about me. Even before this, nobody cared about me. They neglected me for all the popular kids. Not even my friends cared about me. Everyone hates me for some reason I'll never understand. They just hate me," I said back, feeling a tear go down my face.
"Life doesn't revolve on the past, it revolves around the present and the future. Just live it," Jhett said, walking into the room.
"Nobody cares about me. That's the present and the future," I said, ignoring what Jhett just said.
"Don't waste your life on one thing that happened a year ago," Conner replied.
"That's what everyone says," I said back to her.
"Ever since Dade's death, you've been acting weird, and I feel that you need to let his death go," Jhett finished.
I was silent, trying to process what he said.
"Guys, we have a problem," Jack said, barging into the room.
Conner, Jhett and I stood up and ran out the door after Jack. We entered the suite that all the Crimson Wolves were staying in and they were all standing at the window, looking down on the street below.
"It's Gracie, she's gone," Kaycie said, looking down at the street too.
"What? When did she disappear?" I asked.
"We woke up this morning and she was gone," Jack said back.
I turned around and started running to the stairs.
"Where are you going, Zack?" Conner asked.
"To find Gracie," I finished, swinging the door open and running down the stairs.
"You're going to die out there!" Conner said back.
I ran out of the casino doors and looked around, everyone else that was there came after me.
"Jack, Jhett, Conner, Kaycie, Mae. Y'all come with me, the rest of you guys will have to protect the casino and ring in if Gracie shows up here," I said, picking up two walkie-talkies and tossing one to Thomas.
"Good luck," Thomas said, pushing the rest of the guys inside the casino.
"Let's go," I said, running into the forest.
We ran into the forest and a small neighborhood.
"We need to gather supplies to help us get to her, wherever she may be," I said, knocking down a door into a house.
Conner and I went into one house, Jhett and Jack went into another, and Kaycie and Mae went into another. We were quiet, so if there were anything in the house, it wouldn't hear us walking in.
"This way," I whispered to Conner.
Conner had her bow strung behind her back and some arrows in a pouch she had found in the casino. I had dropped my machete in the water when we were fighting the gator, so I was weaponless.
We separated in the house to cover more ground. I entered the first room and looked around for anything I could use as a weapon. I knocked over a few bookshelves, but nothing turned up.
"Zack! I found something!" Conner whisper-yelled.
I turned around and started running to the room Conner turned around as I entered the room and showed me a machete, like the one I dropped into the
Water.
"Woah! Nice find," I said, grabbing the machete from her hand.
"There's nothing here, we need to get outta here as soon as possible," Conner said, starting at the door.
We both started running for the door, but before we could get there, the door slammed shut in front of us. We turned around and saw a door, presumably leading to the basement, start to rattle.
"Ah, crap," I said, putting my new machete in front of me and Conner grabbing her bow.
The door started to rattle violently like someone was banging on the door with such inhuman force. It kept rattling for what felt like hours, but it was only a few minutes. Then, it stopped. It was quiet.
"What the hell was that?" Conner asked, slowly backing up against the wall.
I walked over to the door and stood in front of it for a few seconds, grabbed the doorknob, and twisted.
"No, Zack!" Conner whispered, realizing what I was doing.
The door swung open, pushing me onto the ground and landing on my ass. I started to crawl backwards, Conner grabbing me and pulling back against the wall.
"Why would you open the door?!" Conner asked.
"I don't know what's in there. Gracie could be in there!" I said, starting for the door.
Conner grabbed my shoulder and pulled me back onto the wall.
"We can't risk losing you. If you die, Salvullaz would win," Conner pointed out.
"Point made," I said, turning back around and smashing the doorknob with the butt of the machete.
I kept smashing the doorknob, hoping it would break, but it didn't.
"Damn it, damn it, damn it, Damn it!" I said, continuously smashing the doorknob.
"Zack..." Conner started.
"Hold on," I said back.
"Zack!" Conner yelled, pulling me around to look at the door I had opened.
A massive thud was coming up the stairs leading down to the basement. It got louder as the thing moved closer and closer up the stairs. I started smashing the doorknob harder, but nothing happened. I turned back around to see a horrifying creature, one only nightmares could create.
It looked like a wolf, except it was six feet tall, twelve feet long, and had massive scars all along its body. It had charcoal fur, a massive scar on the left eye. It stretched from its ear to its jaw, going through its left eye. Also with its left eye, it was grey, probably blind in that eye. It had super sharp teeth that could bite through metal plates.
"Holy crap," I said, my eyes frozen on the wolf-like creature from hell.
That's when it stood up on its hind legs, reaching the ceiling, which was fifteen feet tall, and howling a deep, raspy howl. I stood there, frozen at the sight. It was now standing twelve feet in the air, looking down at us.
"Get out of here, Conner," I whispered.
"What?" She asked.
"Now!" I screamed, pushing her out of the way of a flying chunk of rock.
The wolf was now back on all fours, still six feet in the air, staring at me with its blind eye. I put my weapon in front of me and started running at it.
"Ahhhhhh!" I screamed, running to the wolf and driving my machete into its chest.
The wolf didn't react fast enough and stumbled backwards because of the impact.
"Yeah, that's right. You see who the real king is, don't you?" I said, the beast and I circled each other.
The wolf snarled at me, showing me its teeth. I kneeled and grabbed a smallish rock and threw it at the wolf, but it just harmlessly bounced off. I stood there, baffled by what I had just witnessed. The wolf and I had a standoff for probably another ten seconds before it leaped at me.
I ducked onto the ground and rolled to my left, making the wolf crash into the wall. I hopped up and landed on my knee, falling over in pain.
"Zack!" Conner yelled, getting the attention of the wolf.
It turned and looked at Conner with a terrifying look. I lifted my head and saw it start to move towards her. I stood up, limping on my hurt knee.
"Here comes the thunder!" I said, screaming and running to the wolf.
I jumped into the air and in slow motion, drove my machete into its back. The wolf tried to get me off, but I was able to hold on long enough for it to eventually get tired and slump over, but it didn't.
The wolf threw me off its back and turned to me. The wolf started moving closer to me, walking slowly so my fear would become more intense. It stuck its face right into mine, having to bend over to get a good look at me. It started growling at me.
"Zack! Watch your head!" Conner screamed.
The wolf turned around and looked at Conner just long enough to see her bow and arrow aimed right at its face.
"Bye-bye, demon wolf," Conner said, letting go of the arrow and sending it flying right at the wolf's face.
BOOM! The arrow hit the wolf in the eye, sending it into shock and running around, trying to get the arrow out of its eye. The wolf eventually had enough and smashed through the back door, taking the back door with it.
"Go!" I said, pushing Conner out of the way of a falling chunk of the building.
We both ran out of the house and we turned around to see it fall to the ground. We stood there in silence for about twenty seconds trying to process what the hell just happened to us. Then, we started laughing.
"Holy crap! You beat the hell out of the wolf! God damn, kid! You never cease to impress me," Conner said.
"I mean, you saved my life with that lucky arrow. You're probably just trying to show off your bow and arrow skills," I replied.
"Na. I'm just good at something you're not!" Conner said, laughing.
I fell to the ground for exhaustion and sat there for a few seconds before Conner helped me up.
"I can't remember the last time you've had physical activity since Christmas!" Conner said, barely able to hold in laughter.
"Oh, shut up! You can't say crap! Feels good to finally go outside since we've been hiding from everything," I said back.
"I'm just thrilled that you're alive. I've missed the real you," Conner said to me.
"Yeah, I have too," I replied.
I stood up and looked at her. I could see a small glimmer in her eyes like she was feeling something she hadn't felt in a long time. She brought her eyes up to mine and smiled at me. All of a sudden, Jhett and Jack came from the other house, breaking the kind of trance that we were in.
"We don't have time for this. Gracie is still missing, and we haven't found her anywhere. This search has been a waste of time," Jack said, sitting down in the empty road.
"In our defense, we had to fight off a six-foot-tall wolf," Conner said.
"Yeah. Almost died, which was entertaining for Conner... not so much for me," I said, sarcastically.
"And I saved your life. So, point for me," Conner said back.
"When did we set up a point system??" I said, laughing.
"Guys. Snap out of it! Gracie is still gone, and we aren't getting anywhere," Jhett said, pulling up aside.
Then, thunder started to crackle. Mae and Kaycie came running up to us. All six of us turned around to see none other than Salvullaz, but with him was... Gracie. Gracie was standing right next to Salvullaz with her arms crossed
"What the hell?" I asked.
"Sup, Zack. How's it feel to realize that I've turned?" Gracie asked.
It was Gracie. She was the one who turned on us. Gracie was the traitor.