There is an eerie feeling leaving their house and I am not sure that I really want to. There was something about them that felt familiar but distant at the same time. The feeling that something bad is going to happen creeps up on me and I shiver. Someone just walked over my grave, I think because it is something my mom always says. I laugh, shake my head and tell myself I'm crazy. Apparently laughing wasn't the right thing because everyone looks at me. I turn my attention back to driving and watch the road ahead. In the rear view mirror I see the black car turn around in the Carter's front yard and speed in the other direction. That's odd, I think and I turn my attention back to driving us home to my house.
As we near the end of the road, there is a deafening boom that comes from the direction that we just left. I slam on the breaks, causing everyone to lurch forward. It takes us all a few seconds to recover before we can begin to process what had happened.
"Oh my gosh, that was the Carters." Layla says panicked. She is looking out the back window and begins hyperventilating in the back seat. Noah starts to say something, but then turns to the window and says one word. "Drive."
"Go!" Jason yells at me.
"No we cant." I say trying to be confident but failing miserably. "We have to make sure they are okay." I start to tear up. "They helped us, we can't do this to them."
"Right now, that is not what we need. Trust me, Rosalie, right now what you need to do is drive." I look at him and I see that he looks worried. Against my better judgement I speed out of their road and away from the Carters.
"Why couldn't we stay? We have to help them, call 911 ... something." Layla says in tears, crying behind me.
"We are four teenagers who live about an hour away going to ask an older couple for answers on their dead daughters murder. We are the last ones in the house, the last ones to see them. Who do you think would be the first suspects in the case?" Jason says firmly. "I promise that someone is going to call 911, but for now it can't be us. We got a few answers and maybe now we can find out who really is doing this, but right now we can't say anything. About what we know, where we were. Nothing. Do you all understand? We also don't know if any more bombs are going to go off and I don't know about you, but I don't feel like getting blown up today."
We all nod and I continue driving, not really paying attention to what I am doing until I speed through a stop sign.
"Slow down, you're going to hit something." Jason says beside me. I come back from my daze and really pay attention. Up ahead I see a black car, an SUV like the one we saw before outside the Carters. I know it can't be the same one but the similarity is alarming.
"Do you guys see that car? It can't be the same one can it?" They all look up to see it as it turns onto a dirt road.
"Follow it." Noah says. "If anyone finds out where we were, we would already be in enough trouble, this can't possibly get us in any more trouble. What can it hurt?"
"Yeah, Rosalie," Layla says dryly. "Listen to Noah, go follow a possible murderer down a dirt road where there are no other people so that if they see us we are all dead. Great idea Noah." She picks up her phone to call someone, but finds it dead. I look around and see no other cars. I take a quick right turn and park in an old cemetary. It was the first place I saw that I could park and it is closest to the driveway.
"What are you doing? We have to keep driving." Jason tells me, annoyed. I put the car in park, turn it off and then take off my seatbelt. I turn to look at them and see them wanting to question me but for some reason, they stay quiet, so instead, I speak.
"I just watched the Carters get blown up, so many of my friends have been murdered. If these are the killers then I want to be the one to turn them in. We would be stupid to take a car down the road, but if we walk they might not see us and we could find out more." They all make faces. "You don't have to come but I am going. You all can just wait in this graveyard with all the ghosts and dead bodies."
I get out of the car to walk to the road where the car turned down, I don't turn around to see if they followed because I can hear their footsteps and then I hear Layla's constant complaining.
It turns out that the road is a medium length driveway to a small log cabin that looks kind of old and a little creepy. It has a front porch, a few windows and a chimney coming from the side. This looks exactly like a house that you would expect a serial killer to live in. On a second scan of the property, I see the car parked by the garage, the doors are open but I don't see anyone from my place in the woods behind a tree. The garage is half hidden from the driveway, it is placed at an odd angle sort of behind the house. If you were looking straight at the house it would be easy to miss. I wonder if there is a reason for its placement.
The others are scattered behind bushes and trees looking at the same thing I am. The car. We are all just watching and waiting to see someone from the car that would tell us who just killed the Carters. The lights in the garage turn off and two figures walk out of the door. I squint but can't see clearly because the sun is setting. They get in their car and start off down the driveway, kicking up gravel as they go. We stay hidden until we are sure that they are gone and then we slowly walk out of the woods.
It's getting dark and every step feels too loud. The leaves crunch beneath our feet and our senses are heightened, most likely from fear. With every noise, we pause and listen to see if we are not alone. From our original spots in the woods it is not a long walk but since it is dark, hard to see our surroundings and everything is louder, it is taking us a longer time. Once we reach the pavement, it is a straight shot to the garage and the house.
"We should split up, cover more ground faster. It's getting late and I think that would be better. Plus, we don't know if or when they will be back." Jason whispers to us. I nod in agreement and then so does Layla and Noah.
"I call Rosalie," Layla says and comes to my side. "We will search the house." She starts off in the direction of the house, not waiting for an answer.
"Ok Noah and I will take the garage." Jason says. Noah is obviously kind of upset that Layla ditched him and left him to go with Jason, the one person in the group he dislikes. I have to jog to catch up with Layla because she is already over half way to the house. I hear a gasp from the other side of the house closer to the garage. I can see light and guess that there is a motion sensor that just sensed their movement. Since there is nothing I can do about it I continue following Layla to the front of the house where she is trying to open the door.
"You don't really think that they would leave a house unlocked, do you?" I ask her.
"It was worth a try. So where do you think a murderer would leave a key." We look around and she laughs. "Ha, maybe they left it under the welcome mat." She bends down to look.
"You have got to be kidding me." I say as she comes up holding a key chain with two keys on it. Murderers hiding a key in the most well known spot under a mat that says Home Sweet Home.
"I wonder what the second one is for?" I ask. She shrugs and looks at them closer, the one that is older kind of looks like a skeleton key, but it's not. There is a symbol on it, it is a mix between a fancy a and an unfinished simple drawing of a fish. Kind of like this, ⋉. The second key is just a normal house key, she takes it and puts it into the lock. The door swings open revealing a dark room covered in dust. If you have ever imagined a haunted house this is it.
"Ladies first," Layla says, she is easily scared and I can tell she is even more nervous than usual. I take a deep breath and step over the threshold of the house. The weathered hardwood floor creaks loudly, making us jump. My hand fumbles across the wall next to the door for a light switch; I scream as I put my hand straight into the giant sticky string of a spider's web and I can feel the spider try to scurry away from my grasp.
"Ew ew ew ew." I shriek hoping it would scare the spider away, I hate spiders so much. I backed out the door back onto the old creaky porch where Layla was standing. She is pale as if she has seen a ghost, not knowing the reason for my scream. I keep brushing myself off, trying to get rid of the itchy sticky stringy feeling of the spider and its web. Finally when I am done, I go back to the doorway and turn on my phone's flashlight to its brightest setting, trying to keep the darkness at bay. I shine it at the wall I had just touched to see a giant tarantula sized spider staring back at me with its eight eyes. The sight of it makes me gag. I want to leave and go back to the comforts of home. Instead I shine the light all over the room to see what we are walking into.
