30 Reasons To Read

Episode 2: His Son

"Shhh! Quiet, guys! He might hear us!"

"And?"

Rahul shot a glare at Vicky, who looked completely unfazed. Fear was the last thing on his mind, and it grated on Rahul's nerves.

"And?" Rahul sneered, his voice dripping with irritation.

"Guys, enough!" Maddy cut in, pointing toward the end of the corridor. "He's probably in that last room." The door was slightly ajar, and the unmistakable sounds of blood-curdling screams echoed through the house. The gruesome noise of metal scraping, and wet, spurting sounds of blood made their skin crawl.

"He's watching something," Rahul muttered, nodding toward the room.

"Something sick," Maddy added, as another animalistic scream of a woman pierced through the small gap in the door.

"It's just a movie, man." Vicky shrugged. "Sounds kinda familiar."

Rahul glared daggers at him. "Whatever it is, it's not normal."

Maddy cursed under his breath. "We need to get to the basement."

"What?" Rahul and Vicky hissed in unison.

"No way. That's the first place he took us when we got here!" Rahul growled.

"I saw a map down there, the house layout. We've been running in circles for hours. This place is a labyrinth, and we're not getting out without that map."

"He's right," Vicky finally nodded. "We need that map."

"But someone's gotta stay up here and keep watch," Maddy said, his gaze darting between his friends. "Only two of us should go down."

"I'll go with you!" Rahul volunteered hastily. Vicky rolled his eyes.

"Coward," Vicky muttered under his breath. "Fine, I'll stay up here. Just don't take too long."

As Rahul and Maddy disappeared down the stairs, Vicky leaned casually against the wall and stared at the room sloppily. Despite everything going on, he was bored. He had grown up under an abusive father and a fiercely protective mother, and nothing seemed to faze him anymore, not even this house or the unsettling noises echoing through it.

Screams, metallic clanging, and other distorted sounds bounced off the walls. His boredom was quickly replaced with curiosity. He couldn't shake the feeling of wanting to know what was happening in that room. After a moment of hesitation, Vicky started toward the door, his steps slow and deliberate.

The closer he got, the louder the sounds became, twisting something deep inside him. He paused in front of the room, his heart now drumming louder than the screams inside. Swallowing, he peered through the small gap.

His eyes landed on a television.

Two girls were running frantically in a living room eerily similar to the one downstairs. The walls were a different colour, and the furniture was arranged slightly differently, but the infrastructure was pretty much the same. Oddly, the girls weren't the ones screaming. They kept glancing behind them as though the horrible sounds were chasing them.

Suddenly, one of the girls stopped short, yanking the other girl back. The second girl looked at her, confused.

"Why did you stop?" she asked breathlessly.

"I remember seeing a map pinned on the wall, in the basement." The girl's eyes darted toward something offscreen. "We're gonna need that to get out of here. I think that's the door to the basement..."

Vicky's stomach twisted into a knot as he slowly realized what was happening.

The two girls started running towards the basement and someone was discreetly filming this. His suspicions were confirmed when a low sinister chuckle emerged from behind the camera.