The House That Never Was

X: The House Was Not There

Making it downstairs, John and Joanne found the old couple in the living room. They were standing there as if they had been waiting for them. The woman nodded her head slightly and smiled.

"Leaving so soon?" She asked. "What about your friends?"

"What have you done with them?!" Joanne screamed.

"The same thing we do with everyone else." The old man chimed in. We collected them."

"Collected them?!" John shouted in disbelief. "You're crazy." Pausing for a second. "We're bringing the cops back here."

At that moment, the old couple moved closer to John and Joanne.

"I'm afraid you won't be leaving." The old woman told them as she waved her hand.

The sound of the doors and windows locking echoed throughout the room. Joanne ran to the door, but she couldn't get it to open.

"We need souls." The old man added. "We harvest their fear."

"It's what gives us our strength and power." The old woman added.

Joanne backed away from the door, bumping a little table that had an oil lamp burning on it. The lamp fell off the table, shattering the glass and catching the curtains on fire. The fire spread quickly through the room. Jack grabbed a chair and threw it at the window, shattering the glass. He helped Joanne out the window, and began to exit himself as the old woman grabbed his arm. Her grip felt like iron.

"You must stay and join your friends." She demanded.

"Let go of me!" John shouted as he pulled free.

When they got away from the house, they turned back and seen the entire house was engulfed in flames. They turned and ran toward the road. They flagged down and old pick up truck going by.

The man in the truck was an older gentleman. He wore a cowboy hat and overalls. He appeared to be a farmer.

"Are you kids alright?" He asked with a southern accent. "Is that your car I saw broke down back there?"

"Forget about the car." John said. "Our friends need help. That house on fire back there, they're trapped in it."

"What are you talking about?" The man asked with a puzzled look.

Catching his breath, John replied. "Our friends are trapped back there in that burning house."

"What burning house? What kind of drugs are you city folks on?" He asked John. "Is this some sort of prank? Nice try, but there are no houses out here." He paused then continued with a slight chuckle. "There never has been."

John and Joanne looked at each other, then they looked back where they had come from. There was no smoke, no fire, no house. There was no sign of one ever being there. Looking back at each other with puzzled looks on their faces, they both knew that their friends were lost forever.

                                                                           

                                                                  The End