House Of The Witches

Chapter 19: Knock Knock

Darryl woke up on the floor of the basement, covered in sweat and claw marks on his shirt. He was breathing heavily like he had just run a marathon. He checked himself for bites or wounds but he had absolutely none yet his clothes were ripped and it seemed like it was by the claws of an animal; Cerberus.

He looked around and saw Samson on the floor as well. He was in one piece and not dead. Darryl was so relieved.

He noticed that Samson was still in a dreamlike state. He was shaking like he was having a nightmare that he could not wake up from.

Darryl ran to him, limping as he did so and tried to pull him out of the illusion.

"Samson! Wake up, man." He said while shaking him.

Samson wasn't responding. He was probably still battling with Cerberus in the illusion or maybe he was in a new one. But one thing was certain, he needed to wake up.

"Sam! Come on, snap out of it!" Darryl shouted again but Samson still stayed sleeping.

"Sam!" Darryl shouted again and punched him in the face and Samson finally woke up screaming.

"It's okay Sam. You're alright!"

"Did you just punch me in the face?" Samson asked Darryl while holding his jaw.

"I was trying to wake you up," Darryl explained.

"But did you really have to punch me?" 

"It worked, didn't it?"

"Well, I guess it did."

And Darryl gave him his arm and helped him up on his feet.

"You know, for a second there I really thought you were dead," Darryl said to Samson.

"Me too. Is it just me or are the illusions getting, I don't know, more real?" Samson asked.

"I think you're right. Look at this!" Darryl said and showed him his ripped shirt.

"Are those...claw marks?" Samson asked, not fully sure if he was seeing right.

Darryl nodded and both of them became even more frightened. Things were changing in this cursed place and change was the last thing they needed.

The torches all came back on and the basement became bright once again.

"Looks like Carl's okay!" Darryl mentioned.

"I am, as a matter of fact, Master Darryl," Carl said immediately as he appeared to them.

"I'm guessing Mara Anjonu's hold on you finally wore out," Samson said to Carl.

"Yes it has and it's going to be a while before she'll be able to do it again."Carl made mention.

"That's good! We're going to need your help because Kristokulos seems to be getting stronger." Samson said.

They picked up the weapons and proceeded to leave the basement. The door finally opened and they walked out.

"Finally! It feels like we were in there for days." Darryl said as they left the basement.

They walked back to the main room downstairs and met up with the rest of their friends.

"Thank goodness you guys are okay. Did you get the weapons?" Nelly asked after he saw them.

"Yeah, we did!" Samson replied and dropped the wrapped weapons on the ground.

"Those sounded like knives," Nelly said after he heard the weapons make contact with the floor.