Infected

Chapter 9

The two siblings make quick work of searching through the room, Ivy cheering when she finds another dog head inside of a book, but her joy turns into anger as Ethan loads in a video that Mia had made for them just under an hour ago, telling them to watch it. The screen rings for several long seconds before Mia appears, wondering around outside as she looks over her shoulder frantically.

"Ethan, Ivy, if you find this," Mia whispers into the camera as she looks around, her eyes wide in panicked fear, "I know that I can't expect anything from either of you. Not after what happened. After what I did. But know that that wasn't me. Ivy, I'm so sorry for what I did, but I promise you, that wasn't me. It was...was...I don't know what happened. There's so much that I need to explain to you-"

"There you are!" Marguerite shouts as she appears a few feet behind Mia, making the fearful woman gasp as she spins around to look at her. "You gave us quite a scare, young lady!"

Mia gasps in terror as she turns the camera around and starts to run across a bridge, one that has dozens of destroyed baby dolls hanging on it, and though the sight horrifies Ethan, Ivy leans forward as she takes in everything. There's a reason that Mia left this there for them, and she plans to figure out what that reason is.

She watches as Mia races into a heavily broken-down home, more so than the one the siblings are currently standing in, and she races towards a door that's cracked open, only for the door to slam closed and lock itself. Mia curses under her breath in desperation to escape, turning this way and that as she tries to find a way to keep out of Marguerite's hunting path.

Mia races towards the other part of this side of the room, which is split into two due to the floor being broken down the middle, and she runs towards the other white door that's on her side, only for the sound of the taunting voice of a child to stop her.

"Over here, mommy." The child's voice calls towards Mia, almost like a haunting lullaby, and Mia trembles as she looks across the broken floor to see a young girl in a black dress with black boots and long black hair.

"Ethan, it's that little girl again. That has to be the 'her' that everyone's talking about." Ivy mutters to her brother, making him nod his head in understanding even if neither of them has actually seen the child physically for themselves.

Ivy wonders how she could be the only one stronger than her when the 'her' is nothing more than a child. However, if she'd started all of this, then Ivy understands that the child is not to be taken lightly under any circumstances, even if her natural soft spot for kids makes her heart reach out towards her.

The two watch as Mia stares at the girl for a second before she races into the next room, and Ivy's face scrunches up in disgust at the sight of several large things of mold growing all over the room. "Ew. That's gross. Note to self, avoid the moldy house."

"Agreed." Ethan mutters, also disgusted by the sight, and the two watch as Mia almost gets caught by Marguerite, but she manages to hide away from her until the deranged woman's gone again.

Mia then takes off running into a room where another shadow trap door is, but Marguerite's voice is heard from the other side of the door she'd just walked through. Gasping in full-blown terror, Mia rushes outside onto the barely stable, trash covered balcony and hides behind the wall. She holds the camera out to look down at a piece of a weapon, and Ivy gasps as she studies the piece a little more closely before Mia brings the camera back to her chest.

"What? What is that?" Ethan asks in confusion, having never seen anything like that before.

"Ethan, that was part of a homemade flamethrower, and if we can find the other part, we'd have one hell of a weapon on our hands." Ivy excitedly answers, beaming up at her brother even if it means that they have to venture into the moldy, flooded house. "You could carry the shotgun once we get it, and I'll take the flamethrower. We'd have one hell of an arsenal, and if we happen to see anything else, we'd only be even more badass."