Curiosity Kills

Chapter 6

I could feel my brothers hands tightening their grip on my shoulders which only made me more nervous as I took the lid off the small box.  I set the lid off to the side and peered inside.  What greeted me was a pile of small bones, a collar, and a small picture frame.  The collar had a name stitched into it.  It was Vix.  I gasped loudly in shock.  How could that loveable dog be dead and decomposed in a matter of days?  I could understand that he was dead after what we had seen in the last two rooms but the fact that he was nothing more than a pile of bones now was nothing less than frightening.  Something seriously sinister was going on here and I didn't want to stick around to find out what it was.

I glanced at the picture in the frame.  It was a snapshot of Tara and Vix playing together.  It was so sad to think that we would never see them again.  I put the picture and collar back in the box, rummaged around some more in case I missed something, found nothing, and replaced the lid onto the box.  

"Is that it?  There's no key or clue as to how to get out of here?"  Luke was getting impatient and I could hardly blame him.  I wanted to leave as much as he did but we both knew that wasn't happening right now.  

"I didn't see anything that could help.  I'm more confused than ever now."

"We've found every member of this family except for Tara.  I hope she's okay."  

I've never seen Luke so worried about someone in his life.  He really likes this little girl and I wanted to do all I could to help him find her but something told me it was a lost cause.

"We can't go looking for her, Luke, I'm sorry."

"We can't just leave her here!!!"

"Pull yourself together!  You already know that she is most likely gone!"

Luke went quiet and his gaze sent a chill down my spine.  I had gone too far.  He looked away from me and no matter what I said or did could make him forgive me right now.  He knew I was right but he didn't want to believe it.  I felt so useless because I couldn't help him.  

I shut the closet door and started leading Hayden down the hall with Luke quietly following.  Then, out of nowhere, a strong gust of wind threw us to the ground.  I started panicking and my eyes darted in every direction trying to find the source of the gust.   As my gaze worked its way up, a small figure with glowing red eyes came into view.  The figure moved slowly into the sole area of light that came from the light of the candles in the dining room.  A skull came into view followed by a bony body.  They were, no doubt, the bones of Vix.  I wasn't sure how it was possible for the dog to still be able to move and keep its bones in place when it was deceased.  All I knew was that this house was more than just cursed.  It was possessed or something!  I screamed as loud as I could and began backing away from the dog.  I still had hold of Hayden's hand and, as soon as I could  get a grip for a few seconds, I got up, turned, and ran down the remainder of the hallway while dragging Hayden along with me.  Unfortunately, I forgot one thing...or should I say....one brother.  

I stopped suddenly when I realized I had forgotten to make sure that Luke was with me.  It was like my mind went into fight or flight and made it so I couldn't think about or hear anyone else but myself.  It was luck that I was still holding onto Hayden by the time I came back to my senses.  My mind calmed down and a new sound forced its way into my ear.  Someone was screaming.  It wasn't me.  I looked down at Hayden who was fixated on something behind us, but he wasn't screaming.  I turned so fast I almost fell over but the sight in front of me was even worse than I could have imagined.  It was Luke screaming.  He screamed and shouted as much and as loud as he could as the bony dog dragged him back into the dining room.  He was clawing at the ground, looking for anything that could help him escape from the jaws of this small but strongly possessed dog.  I watched him thrashing his legs in every direction trying to make the dog let go of his leg but to no avail.  I couldn't move.  I can't say how much I tried to will my body to move to go save my brother.  

Luke disappeared, still screaming, into the other room.  Seconds later, Hayden and I were running full speed back down the hall ready to save our brother.  We were not prepared for what we were about to see.   The bony pup had begun to tear into Luke's chest like it hadn't seen food in years.  It was savage and Luke's screams of agony caused me to throw up all over the floor.   I couldn't bear the sight of my own brother being ripped apart.  My biggest regret is that I did nothing during that time.  Hayden stood beside me, presumably in shock, and looked as if he was about ready to hurl as well.  He didn't.  Instead, he stood there and stared at the horrible scene unfolding in front of him.  Then, the dog made it to Luke's heart.  With a quick glance up at Hayden and I, the dog sunk its teeth into the base of his heart.   Blood suddenly sprayed in every direction, blinding us when it got into our eyes.  I fell to the floor and tried to get it out.  It stung like nothing I had ever known before.  Even a bee sting to the eye would have hurt less than this.

I heard Hayden fall down beside me.  It didn't take much longer to clear my eyesight enough to open my eyes to see what had happened but, when I did, there was nothing.   All the blood and vomit were gone.  Luke and the bones of Vix were gone.  I looked down.  There, in front of my splayed knees, was a heart.  It wasn't red like a heart should be, but, instead, was a smoky black.  It seemed harmless until I saw it move.  It was still beating.  Every cell in my body told me this was Luke's heart.  It was all that was left of him.  Hayden touched my hand, causing me to jump a little.

"Sorry."

His words came out so quietly that I barely heard him.  He was terrified to the extreme.  As was I, but I didn't know how to react.  I was still for a moment while we watched the heart continue to beat.  The beats started coming farther apart until it stopped.  Then all time seemed to hault.