𝑟𝑢𝑛٫ 𝑟𝑎𝑏𝑏𝑖𝑡٫ 𝑟𝑢𝑛; 𝑡𝑤𝑑

Chapter Three ￫ -ˋˏ Tick-Tock ˎˊ-

ʚїɞ

Warbled music echoed off the narrow hallway, with, to all appearances, no pinpoint source. Lightbulbs flickered overhead, a buzzing drone emanating from the ancient ballasts. The melodic tune seemed to resonate from inside the walls themselves, which were coated with a cracked and yellowing wallpaper. 

The house had the eerie aura that one gets when a ghost brushes its hand past the nape of your neck, as though the place used to be bustling and full of life, laughter and love creating a home and not just a residence. Though time had worked its magic, its hands peeling back the once vibrant wallpaper until it curled at the edges, the colours fading over time and leaving the plants wilting as the years ticked idly by.

A thump came from up ahead, though it wasn't made by a shoe, rather something inhuman. Luella whipped her head up and caught a flash of a white paw just as it whirled around the corner at the end of the hallway and out of sight. Her breath hitched in her throat, and her body jolted for a moment before she took off in pursuit.

Her chest heaved with laboured breaths as she sprinted down hallways, her body slamming into walls as she failed to skid to a stop to round corners, yet still, the rabbit remained the same distance away.

It's laughter bounced off the walls towards her, taunting, as her legs began to melt into the floor. Confusion clouded her mind as she looked down, her body sinking further into the dusty wooden floorboards as though they had morphed into thick tar, engulfing her body whole.

She desperately clawed her upper body forward, her fingernails scratching feebly against the pine wood that was beneath her feet just seconds prior. A frustrated groan escaped her cracked lips as the rabbit halted in place, turning back and shooting her a grin, which she was previously unaware was something a rabbit could do. 

It withdrew a golden coated pocketwatch from its waistcoat pocket, with something illegible scrawled on the casing and flicked it open. The hands spun round wildly, as though the minutes were passing by in the blink of an eye, the rabbit cocked a brow and vanished.

A woman screamed, and her hands shot up to clamp over her ears, her eyes screwing shut as the noise increased until she felt it might burst her skull. 

Luella shot up from her slumber, gasping as she clutched at her chest. 

She'd been having the same dream every night for a week, and she couldn't quite make out what it meant. They weren't identical, yet each held the same concept. A rabbit appeared, and she gave chase, but was stopped by some unknown force as the rabbit vanished into thin air.

The one thing she couldn't shake, however, was the sound of her mother's scream piercing the air a split second before she was jolted out of her sleep. 

After composing herself for a moment, glancing to the side to ensure her father had not been disturbed by her sudden panic, she unzipped the tent and crawled outside, leaving all memory of the recurring vision behind her. 

ʚїɞ

"Good morning Anne!" Dale greeted the young girl as she shimmied up the ladder, planting herself at his feet on the hot metal roof of the RV— the sun beat mercilessly down on the aluminium from the moment it peeked its head over the horizon in the morning, and if it wasn't for the flimsy parasol the man had set up beside his camping chair atop the vehicle, Luella's skin would surely be instantly scalded.