House Of Echoed Screams (Completed)

Chapter 9: What Lies in the Dark

     Everyone stayed by the staircase, trying to make sense of what just happened. "I-is Lauren really dead," Nikki asked, stammering. Honestly, though she hated herself for thinking this, Addie knew that she was obviously dead. Reluctantly, she choked out the word, "Yeah." She couldn't believe what she was saying; Lauren was one of her closest friends, and now she seemed to be able to accept that she was gone so easily. Addie was overcome by a surge of emotion, and tears started to form, so she turned and leaned her head on Ryan's shoulder, who slowly stroked her long, blonde hair.
     Between sobs, she heard Becker limp over toward her and Ryan, and say, "It's okay, we'll all miss her, but as I'm sure some of us said before, we need to find a way out of here, and since Addie's idea didn't work," Becker was immediately cut off by an extremely loud sob from Addie. The realization that it had been her plan that had killed Lauren made her feel guiltier than ever. She could have sworn that she had heard Becker mutter something like, "Whoops," and then he said, "What I meant to say was, now we have one plan left: Damion's. We'd better look for an air vent around here, and hope that one of the shafts lead to the roof, or some other place outside."
   After a brief discussion, everyone agreed that the fastest way to find an vent in the house was to split up into two groups. If one group found a vent, they'd call someone in the other group using their phones. Becker said that he'd form one group, and Nikki casually volunteered to join him. The other group consisted of Ryan, Addie, and unfortunately, Damion. Addie was disappointed; she was hoping that her and Ryan could be in a group alone, but Damion seemed dead set on following them. They decided to take the door on the right side of the entry hall, and Becker and Nikki headed up to the balcony. Addie walked close to Ryan, looking over her shoulder to keep an eye on Damion, who was walking a few paces behind them. Finally, Addie decided that he wouldn't get in the way, so she leaned in toward Ryan, but at that very same moment, Damion squeezed himself between them, and said, "So, how's it going, you two? I can't seem to find a single vent in this room; maybe we should try the room we said we'd look in?"
     Addie rolled her eyes, and Damion suddenly grabbed her arm, and jerked her backward. He whispered in her ear, "Oh, I get it, you and him are," he made a very disgusting gesture of a finger going through a ring that he made with his other hand, and grinned. Addie rolled her eyes again, and said, "Ugh, you're so disgusting, we're both sixteen, and you're seventeen!" Damion started to crack up, and said as sarcastically as he could, "Sure, you totally don't want to," he made the same gesture again, "with him." He started howling with laughter, and Addie stormed off up ahead to join Ryan, who had gone into the other room.
     When she opened the door, she found Ryan with his flashlight out, searching the room for a vent. He heard her enter, and said, "About time, I was starting to get worried that Damion had done something with you." As she walked over to him, Addie muttered, "He certainly did something..." She had intended to say it quietly enough for Ryan to not hear her, but he must've, because he turned toward her and asked, "What did you say?" "Nothing, Damion's just a jerk," Addie said, shaking her head.
     To her surprise, Ryan grabbed her by the wrist and jerked her toward him, just like Damion did. He whispered in her ear, "Yeah, you're right, and I'd keep an eye on him if I were you. I just don't trust him; I mean, we don't even really know him very well." Ryan released Addie at that second, and as she turned around, she realised why he had to whisper his doubts to her: Damion had entered the room, and was beginning to walk their way, still laughing. "Hey, Damion. Get your ass over here, and help us open this." Addie noticed that Ryan was pointing toward a large, metal grating as he said this. "Alright, alright," Damion said, scratching the back of his head. "Hey, you found one, huh," Addie said to Ryan. "Alright, I'll call Nikki and tell them that we found one." She pulled out her phone, and dialed Nikki's number.
     After three beeps, Nikki picked up. "Hello? Addie?" Nikki answered. "Hey, our group found a vent in the next room over from the entrance hall." "That's great! I'll tell Becker, and we'll be there in a few minutes." Then Nikki hung up. As Addie put her phone away, she heard a loud, metallic clanking noise. She turned toward Ryan and Damion, and saw that Damion had pried off the grating, revealing a large, square, dark tunnel. "Damn, that's darker than I thought it would be," Damion said. "Two of us should start crawling, so they can tell the others what to expect," Damion suggested. Then, with a smirk on his face, he said, "Ladies first." Addie stepped up to the vent, and made sure to flip Damion off before climbing in. After she crawled a little ways in, she heard a loud clunk behind her, and Ryan's voice echoing, "Alright, I'm coming in too," followed by Damion saying, "Hey, the others are here, I'm coming in next."
     After a few minutes, everyone had entered the vent in single file, with Addie at the front, and Becker in the back. For a while, the vent was quite straightforward, but it soon sloped steeply upward. Addie groped around for a foothold; something to help her climb up. A few moments later, she found a small ring chained to the wall, probably created to be a makeshift ladder. She started climbing, and called back to everyone else, "Hey, there's some rings on a wall up ahead; use them to climb up."
     But as she continued climbing, Addie didn't hear any response, but heard a single, thump, thump, thump, below her, so she called out again, "Hey, guys? Ryan? Is anyone there?" No one answered, but instead another louder thump, thump, thump sounded, and was only drowned out by the thumping of her own heart. She started to climb faster now, beginning to worry, to want to get out of the vents before that noise reached her, but it seemed to continue on forever, the thumping growing continuously louder, until she felt something close around her left ankle, and she let out a shrill, echoing scream.

{A/N}: I've decided to start asking questions about you people now, so I can get to know you all better. What's the most insane thing you have done or would do on a dare?