Tragedy ✔️

Chapter 10

It's been a long day. Mandy showed me all through town; the shops, library, supermarket, park, lake, and finally, her neighborhood. We arrive at her house which is two stories and has an old style. It would make a perfect haunted house for Halloween.

"Care to come in?" she asks, "My mother won't mind. She insists I bring friends over."

I decide to accept her invitation. I need to take advantage of every opportunity I get to obtain information on Haley Bright. We go up to the front step and Mandy pulls out a key from her back pocket. She sticks it in the copper key hole and turns the door knob. She pushes the door open, and it makes a loud screeching sound that echoes through the interior of the house. 

"It seems creepy, but there's nothing to worry about," she assures me.

I take a step into the residence and there is this weird, familiar feeling that runs through my body. I shudder and let it go and follow Mandy up the long wooden, winding stairs.

"Mom," she yells down the second floor hall, "I'm home. I brought a friend. I hope you don't mind."

I wait for her at the end of the hallway as she opes a big wooden door and steps in, I assume her mother's room. I hear rustling inside the room, some noise of things cluttering, then silence.

"Mandy?" I call out, "Is everything alright?"

Worried when I hear no reply, I approach the door. I lean my ear on to the door and I can't make out a thing.

"Mandy, I'm coming in, okay?" I say.

I place my hand on the doorknob. Shaking, I slowly turn the doorknob and the door creeks open. Through the thin slit of the partly open window, I poke my eye. I see a perfectly made bed, a wooden dresser, and a rocking chair that is moving slightly on its own.

"Mandy?" My voice cracks as I open the door completely. I step into the room and I am blown back by Mandy whose hair is pulled in front of her face, she's screaming really loud, and waving her hands rapidly in the air. I stumble back and yell like a baby. Then I hear uncontrollable laughter.

"You should of seen your face when I scared you," Mandy laughs, "Here." She extends her hand to help me up. In revenge, instead of letting her help me up, I pull her down by her arm and she screams as she tumbles down on top of me.

Things get awkward at that moment as she tries to get up from on top of me, but fails and falls down again on me, our faces centimeters apart. Suddenly, I don't know what surges through me, but I pull her face toward mine and our lips lock. Warmth fills my body as I feel something in my mind is unlocked.

Memories start flooding into my system, memories that I wished never came back. I understand why I decided to forget them in the first place. My father abandoning us, my mother dying of cancer, me killing myself along with my sister, me destroying my sister in the dead world, and finally, the most painful of all; my mother shunning me after she found out the horrible thing I did to Annie.

All these memories came back in three seconds, but it felt like a lifetime. I finally pull away from Mandy, my eyes wide open, staring afar.

"What's wrong with you!" shouts Mandy, then slaps me hard, bringing me back to reality. She stands up and barges out of the room crying. I quickly stand up, too, following Mandy. Tears threaten to escape from my eyes as these memories cloud my mind. Mandy barges into a room and closes the door shut, locking me out. I stop at her door, about to knock, but I don't know what to say. I don't know how it happened, but Mandy gave me back my memories I so hard tried to forget. And for that, I can never forgive her.

I turn around, beginning to head down the stairs, when the ground starts to shake violently. I gasp as a big hole in the stairs is created, filled with scorching flames. I turn around, and knock rapidly at Many's bedroom door.

"Help me!" I yell.

Then, a force pulls me backwards toward the flaming hole. Dragging on the ground, I try to hold onto the edge of the rug to not fall in, but the force is too strong. I lose my grip on the rug and fly down the hall. I can feel the flames at my feet and I lose all hope. This is because I didn't complete my task in time, and this is my punishment.

Suddenly, I feel a firm grip on my hand, and I see that Mandy came to my rescue. I dangle from the hell hole, as Mandy tires to pull me up with all her strength.

"Hold on!" she shrieks.

The fire is actually burning me this time. I scream as I feel my flesh being sizzled by the heat. I try to fling my other hand up and try to get a hold of Mandy's other arm for a better grip. Instead, my hand lands on her waist. That shifts the balance, making me heavier than her. Mandy screams as she is pulled toward me, and I try to push her up so she doesn't fall into a fate she doesn't deserve. As hard as I try, I don't succeed. The floor board above Mandy breaks and she loses the grip on my hand. I plummet down the flaming hole, and hear Mandy screaming as she falls down right behind me.