The Missing Piece [Discontinued]

Chapter Fourteen

            Joy started to scream, but rough hands grabbed her from behind, covering her mouth.

            “Leh mh gho!” Joy struggled to get out of the grasp of the assaulter.

            “God, do you want us to be caught?” Skittles grumbled.

            “Skittles?” Joy squeaked. “You scared me half to death!”

            “Yeah, well it was all too tempting. I mean, you, alone in the darkness, in front of a supposedly haunted house? It was way too good to resist.” Skittles let go of Joy.

            “You need to cut this out, Skittles. As soon as Bird gets here—”        

            “What? I heard my name,” Bird whispered loudly.

            “Oh. Bird. Hi. Yeah, we’re going in now. We’ve wasted enough time out here,” Skittles said.

            “Wait, did anyone bring a flashlight?” Joy asked, holding out her arm to stop Skittles from going in.

            “I did,” Bird took a small flashlight from his coat pocket.

            “Great,” Joy said with a slight nod, “now we can go in.” Bird turned on his flashlight as they walked towards the door.

            “How do you suppose we’ll get in?” Joy asked.

            “Like this,” Skittles said and pulled out what looked like part of a coat hanger. “Shine the light on the doorknob, will ‘ya?” The beam of light moved over the doorknob.

            “You’ve done this before?” Bird asked.

            “Hm. This is an old lock. Should be easy,” Skittles mumbled, ignoring Bird’s question. After a minute or two of fussing with the lock, Skittles took out the hanger and turned the doorknob, holding her breath.

            “It’s open,” Joy whispered, watching the door swing forward.  

            “Come on,” Skittles stepped inside and motioned for Bird and Joy. Bird shut the door after him slowly, wincing as it creaked.

            “What if hobos are in here or something?” Joy asked nervously.

            “Shh, we’re looking for ghosts, not hobos,” Skittle replied, not really making any sense.

            “How about we split up and cover different rooms of the house?” Bird suggested.

            “Are you kidding me? That’s always how the people get murdered in the movie: by splitting up idiotically. Besides, you’re the only one who has a light,” Skittle argued.

            “Good point,” Bird said and shined the light around the room they were in currently.

            “It’s furnished,” Joy pointed out, surprised. They seemed to be in a living room, with a red couch across the room and two old-fashioned chairs nearby.

            “Maybe we should go upstairs? That could be where the bedrooms are,” Bird shined his light towards the old staircase.

            “Why would we want to go to the bedrooms?” Skittles asked him, staring at the rickety steps.

            “I don’t know, it just sounds better than the bathroom or something,” Bird mumbled.

            “Fine, upstairs we go,” Joy said and started up the stairs.