The House of Lost Souls

Chapter 6

Madison's mind was groggy as she came to, her thoughts swirled around her head. She remembered earlier in the day, when she and Daniel locked eyes. She got the feeling that she understood him on a deep level, she saw who he really is. She could tell his personality was just a facade, that he was just being fake, but why did she feel like she could relate to that? Her head cleared and she found herself in a dark basement. Grey stone bricks made up the walls, with wooden pillars for support throughout the basement. The floor was bare stone, and there was a layer of something on top of it. It looked like frost, and it was then that she realized how cold it was in there. Her eyes drifted to the back of the room and then widened in surprise as she saw what sat at the end of the basement. Sitting, shackled to the wall in rusty chains, a tattered night gown adorning her, was the girl from her dream.

In her surprise she backed up, and when she did she bumped into Jessie, who had just come to. Jessie, still a bit groggy, asked, "You okay?" Madison, keeping her eyes on the girl, replied, "Yeah, are you okay?" Jessie, now getting up and standing beside Madison, said, "Yeah, though it really doesn't matter how I am-" she trailed off as she spotted the girl. However, her senses returned to her and she quickly rushed over to help the girl. She looked the girl in the eyes and said, "we're here to help you, okay?" The girl slowly nodded in response. She quickly searched around for something to break the shackles with and she found a brick laying by one of the wooden supports. She tried to just strike the lock of the shackles so as to not hurt the girl's hands, but she only managed to break one of them. She realized that Masdison was just watching so she said, "Madison, get over here and help me." Madison reluctantly walked over and she managed to rip the other shackle open with her bare hands. Once that was done Jessie asked the girl, "You okay, can you walk?" The girl softly replied, in a weak voice, "yeah." She got up, using the wall for support, and took a couple steps, but the girl halted, for in front of her was the layer of frost on the ground. When she tried stepping onto this frost she yelped and stepped back, holding her foot as if it were injured. Jessie thought for a second then said, "Do you want me to carry you?" The girl nodded and so Jessie picked her up and began carrying her out of the basement. The girl softly said, "thank you," and a slight blush formed on her face.

As they left the cabin, Madison could feel that something was wrong, though she couldn't figure out why. Then it occurred to both her and Jessie, the path through which they entered the clearing was now gone. They ran over and frantically searched for any sign of the path they took before, but it was fruitless, the deep forest had already swallowed their only way out. That was when they realized the girl wasn't with them. But their panic turned to confusion as they saw the girl standing farther down the edge of the clearing, motioning for them to follow. When they reached her they found a parting in the trees, the girl quickly headed through so they followed behind her.

On the other side of the parting was a dirt trench dug into a hill just past the trees. The sides of it reached up to their eyes in most places, but they could catch glimpses of the forest around them. Tall dark trees blocked most sunlight out, only a few rays of sunlight managing to pierce their large canopy. The darkness was grey, and they could see for a short radius around them but anything past that was too dark to distinguish. There was also an eerie silence about the land, nothing, not even the wind, could be heard. Making every small sound they made seem loud. The girl carefully but comfortably walked through the trench, slowly running her hands along it in places while gently smiling. After a bit of walking the trench ended and a narrow path snaked its way across the forest floor. The girl took extreme caution to stay on the path, avoiding every stick and stone that were in her way. The two of them tried to follow suit, but eventually Jessie slipped up and accidentally stepped on a twig, the snap seeming to echo through the forest. Everybody froze, until a heavy twang rang out and a crossbow bolt landed by Jessie's feet. At that everybody made a run for it, they tried to follow the path, but it's hard to stick to such things when you're panicking.

Jessie found herself lost, she frantically searched around her for the path but she couldn't find it. She heard a footstep and turned her head to see a tall, wide man, draped in a fur coat, aiming a crossbow at her. Though his face was obscured by hair, she could see a smile form on his face as he pulled the trigger. She closed her eyes and her brain filled with images, John's nerdy excitement, Jake's old extroverted self, Madison's cheery old self, Daniel's stories and his beautiful face. She thought back to her family, to her old farm in texas, she wondered what it was like now. She took a deep breath and braced for the impact of the crossbow bolt, for there was nothing else she could do.

But no bolt came, instead, a song began to play, a soothing tune from a pure instrument. It was warm as a summer's afternoon and peaceful as a cool Autumn breeze. Her mind drifted to a bright memory, the first time her dad had taken her apple picking. She remembered her dad lifting her up so she could grab the apple off the tree, and she remembered biting into the crisp apple and smiling. She was brought back to the forest, and as she opened her eyes she noticed the golden rays of the sun shining around her. Looking up she saw a hole had now formed in the forest roof, revealing the afternoon sun sitting slightly past overhead. Her eyes drifted down to the scene in front of her, the girl now stood between her and the man, her skin almost seeming to glow. The man quickly ran from the scene, not glancing back a single time as he did so. The girl then moved to grab Jessie's hand, and she walked briskly, almost too fast for Jessie to keep up. The forest suddenly seemed brighter, and Jessie could now see the edge of the woods. They breached the trees and found Madison, frantically trying to get back into the forest, until she spotted them. Soon after they left the woods though, the girl grew suddenly very weak, but Jessie didn't mind carrying her. So with that they traveled back to the house, not saying much between each other, just walking among the gentle sounds of nature.

By the time they reached the house again, the sun was just beginning to set. Jessie got the girl some food and water and they had a small conversation. She learned the girl's name, Elizabeth, and she learned that she and Elizabeth shared many interests. Though in the middle of this conversation Daniel came bursting through the door, Jake and John behind him. Both Jake and John headed upstairs, and Jessie walked over to Daniel, ready to confront him.