House Of Echoed Screams (Completed)

Chapter 8: Escape?

     Now that everyone was back together, the group agreed on having one common goal: to find a way to escape before anyone else was killed. The only people who really were able to contribute suggestions to the conversation were Addie, who suggested they try to break down the front door using the sword Becker found, and Damion, who suggested they find an air vent, climb into it, and find the way that leads to the roof. "At least, that's the only thing I thought of that I haven't tried," He ended, his voice trailing off. "Well," said Becker. "What does everyone think? I honestly think that Damion's idea could work." Everyone mumbled their agreement, until Ryan spoke up, saying, "I like that idea, but I think we should try Addie's idea first." Nikki could have sworn she saw Ryan flash a quick smile toward Addie. She saw the sense in this idea, though. The front door was just down the stairs, whereas finding an air vent could take them hours, so they should save that as their backup plan.
     Once everyone was in agreement, Damion led the group down the staircase and into the entry hall once more. As they passed the suit of armor again, Becker grabbed the sheath for the sword, and put it around his belt so he could carry the sword easier. No noise issued from within the house, except for the echoing footsteps of everyone as they walked downstairs, and the creaking sound of the wooden floorboards as they bent strained with pressure. Damion paused a few steps before the front door, turned around, and said, "Becker, was it? Looks like we're gonna need you for this part." Becker stepped forward, the cast on his foot making him limp. He grabbed the sword's handle in his right hand, unsheathed it, and said, "I'm on it."
     He lifted the sword high above his head, and took a few swings at the wooden door. Once he was out of breath, Becker stepped back to take in the damage, but saw that he had only put a few thin gouge marks in the wood. Just then, Nikki saw Ryan step forward, cracking his knuckles in front of him. "Alright wimp, hand over the sword, and watch how a real man does it!" This time, Nikki was sure she saw him flash a brief smile toward Addie. He spit into both of his hands, rubbed them together, and grabbed Becker's sword. He also lifted the sword up high, and as he brought it down, Ryan grunted loudly. He did this several more times until the door cracked slightly in the middle. "Keep going, you're almost through," Addie called enthusiastically. Ryan gave the sword one more hard swing, this time letting out a scream, and a large piece of the door broke apart, creating a hole large enough for someone to climb through. Everyone crowded around the hole, and as Becker passed by, Ryan handed the sword back to him, a smug look on his face. Nikki was in the back, so she couldn't see what everyone was looking at, until Becker said, "No way, no fucking way," and everyone parted slightly. Nikki took this chance to squeeze through everyone, and looked through the hole.
     Instead of looking out onto a dark, grassy lawn, Nikki was looking down a short hallway, with a door on the right hand side, and an exit sign on the far wall. "What kind of a cruel joke is this?" Nikki stepped back, confused and terrified. Once again, everyone started muttering, until Damion walked over to the hole, looked inside, and said, "Hey guys, you might wanna look at this." Everyone once again crowded around the hole, but this time Nikki was in front, so she could see what was happening this time, but what she saw made her immediately wish she were in the back again.
     The door on the right of the hall was slowly creaking open. Nikki wanted to run before she saw what was opening the door, but she was frozen to the spot in fear. The door came to a sudden, silent halt perpendicular to the wall, and all fell silent. Everyone continued to look toward the door, however. They all knew that something bad would happen if they took their eyes off of that door for even a second, so they all stood there for several suspenseful moments. Right as Nikki was beginning to think that there was nothing there, a thin, gnarled hand shot out from behind the door, and grabbed the end of it, followed by a tall, thin disfigured corpse. It looked around, and as its black, soulless eye sockets fell upon Nikki, it let out an unearthly roar, and started running toward everyone, it's long, skinny arms grabbing wildly at the walls. Nikki, among others, screamed wildly, and the group turned around, practically toppling over each other trying to get away. Ryan pushed his way out front, grabbed Addie by the wrist, and pulled her out front.
     Once Nikki reached the staircase, she looked back and saw Lauren running in the back of the group at the bottom of the staircase, while the corpse was climbing out of the hole. "Lauren, hurry up! It's right behind you," Nikki called, and as Lauren turned around, she saw that the corpse had climbed through the wall, and was sprinting after her. She turned around started running up the stairs, but tripped on one of the steps, and cell face first. She grabbed a pole connected to the railing, and started to pull herself up the stairs, while Nikki reached out to grab Lauren's hand, calling, "Here, take my hand. I'll pull you up!" Lauren, however, didn't seem to be able to stand up enough to reach her, and said, "It's no use, when I fell, I twisted my ankle! Now I can't stand up, so just leave me here!"
     Nikki was on the verge of tears as she shouted, "No, I won't leave you here. Now, reach for my hand!" But just then, the corpse grabbed Lauren by her ankle, and pulled her away, down the stairs. Nikki was about to chase after her, but Becker grabbed her wrist, and said, "No. There's no point. If you chase after her, you'll only get yourself hurt." Nikki tried pulling away, but Becker had a firm grip, so, reluctantly Nikki stood there crying, listening to the screams of her friend as she was being dragged away mixed with the roaring of the corpse echo throughout the building, until they slowly faded away. Becker stepped closer to her, gave her a comforting hug, and said, "It'll be alright, you've still got the rest of us."
     Nikki looked up, rubbed her eyes, and looked around. Damion was staring at her with an encouraging smile, while Ryan and Addie stood side by side, holding hands and also smiling toward her. She swallowed hard, and said, "Yeah, you're right. We all still have each other. Now, let's go look for an air vent," She ended, stepping back from Becker, and nodding toward Damion, who began to lead the group back down the long hallway that lay before them.

{A/N}: On a scale of 1 to 10, 10 being the highest, how would you rate my story so far? And be honest! I'd probably give it about an 8 out of 10 because I can't seem to find good ways to make it suspenseful. If anyone has any tips for that, feel free to PM me, because I could really use the help.