I Survived A Horror Story *unedited version*

Chapter 26

"What?"

"Listen, it's crucial you don't freak out when I say this." I said, sprinting to the next room and kicking it open. It was empty.

"That depends on what you're going to say." Alen said, catching up to me and adding, "What are you doing?"

"What does it look like?"

"Uh, you're kicking open doors?"

"I'm looking for-"

"Who?"

"JET!"

"Wha-"

"And Melissa and Michelle." I added hurriedly.

"Jet's downstairs." Alen said.

"No he's not. We brought him upstairs and Seica..." Seica wheeled him away. I left him with Danielle. "I..." I stopped running, feeling my arms drop to my sides limply. "I left him with Danielle."

"Wait, hold up, I'm super confused right now. You left him with Danielle-"

"That's what you get for sleeping." I said, cutting him off. Whenever I go to sleep something always happens. "You might be right. I bet they're downstairs."

"Yeah okay. Let's go then."

"Wait, let me check this room." I twisted open the last bedroom door and peeked in breathlessly but it was also seemingly empty. "Okay downstairs." I murmured, rushing out of the room and down the hallway to the stairs. Alen followed me, yelling things at me I only half listened to. All I could think about was that while I was peacefully sleeping, Danielle was- Danielle was doing something.

"Saryl!" Alen finally screamed, and I stopped halfway down the stairs, hand resting on the railing.

"What?"

"You were going to tell me something." He said, "Something that was going to apparently make me freak out?"

Should I tell him? "I uh, Mallark, he's um-"

"Ugh not that whole thing about Mallark again-"

"I think Mallark is dead." I blurted. The silence on the staircase seemed to stretch on forever before Alen finally spoke.

"What do you-" A loud scream cut him off, making his face turn whiter than it already was, and sending me stumbling down the stairs.

"I told you if we didn't hurry something was going to happen!" I said, as I sprinted through the living room and flung open the basement door. I looked back behind me for Alen only to find he had disappeared. I swallowed, but I couldn't wait around for him to pop up again. For the third time that night, I started down the basement stairs.

I could now hear the loud sound of crying following the scream. "Melissa?" I called into the darkness, as I neared the bottom of the steps. I could see flickering candlelights, sending dark shadows dancing upon the walls.

"S-Saryl?" Her voice whispered, breaking the flow of her crying. I stepped off the staircase and found I had lost the ability to speak as the world fell away.

Rocky lay tied up in the middle of the floor, candles spread out in a circle all around him, their flames swaying eerily. In a corner of the room, the body of Mallark was sprawled- his neck tilted at an extremely odd angle. He had been dragged to the corner, I realized, as my eyes followed the trail of blood spilling from the bottom of the stairs all the way to where he now was. Melissa sat huddled beside Mallark, quietly sniffling. I had no saliva in my mouth to even swallow in fear. Danielle had done it. She had killed Mallark. Mallark was... dead.

My hands were shaking, and suddenly I was on the floor. Coldness numbed my legs and chilled my bones. Were those tears running down my face? I tried to blink them away. I didn't have the time to sit and cry. I should untie Rocky, wake him up. I needed to find Michelle, look for Jet. And Alen, he was somewhere upstairs. But my body refused to move, instead convulsing violently.

"He's- Mallark's- gone." Melissa hiccuped. Her shoulders shook as she stared unseeingly at the body. How could she sit so close to him? Her hands were stained with blood, I realized as I blinked at her through my tears.

"Your- your hands." My voice was hoarse. "Did you drag him there?"

"No." She shook her head. "No."

"But-"

"No!" Her head snapped up and she glared at me, sending shivers down my spine. "Why would I hurt Mallark?!"

"I'm not accusing you of-"

"I thought I could wake him up." She broke down crying again, almost to the point I couldn't understand her anymore. "But he wouldn't. His blood... my, my hands-"

"Shhh..." I crawled over to Melissa and hugged her. "Hey, it's gonna be okay." If only I believed that myself. "Melissa, it's gonna be alright."

"No it's not." She started to shake in my arms again. "It's never going to be."

"I need you to stop shaking," I said, "and I need you to stop crying."

"I can't." She said.

"Look, Mallark's dead now. There's nothing we can do-" She pushed me away vigorously but I didn't react. I knew what I said was wrong, but there was no point fawning over the dead when the living were still calling for help. "What about Alen?" I said angrily, fingers curling into my palms and nails biting into my skin. "Huh? Are you just going to sit here and cry, while he might be getting murdered upstairs?!" I stood up. "I'm going upstairs after I untie Rocky. I need to find Jet."

I stepped over the candles and stooped to untie Rocky. My fingers were numb, and they picked at the knot uselessly. Squeezing my fists together to get blood flow, I tried again. The knot slowly pulled apart, and I roughly grabbed the rope and yanked it off. "Rocky. Rocky, wake up." I shook him by the shoulder but got no response. I placed him back onto the floor, and looked over my shoulder at Melissa. She sat quietly against the wall, staring at the floor, but not really seeing. I wondered for a split second what she was thinking, but it soon left my mind.

Picking up a candle, I hurried up the basement stairs, the flame lighting the way. The basement door was wide open but now the entire house was plunged in darkness, no longer any light. The sun had gone down, which must have meant it was around nine in the night. "Hey! Alen?!" I called out. "Alen?!" My voice echoed throughout the suddenly still house, like I was the only one awake. I shuddered, struggling to keep out the rising panic. "M-Michelle? Jet...?" My steps slowed as I reached the room where we had cauterized Jet. As I neared the doorway I could make out the shadowy form of someone sprawled on the couch, a limp hand falling to the floor. No.

He's not dead. He can't be. "Jet, please wake up." I begged, staring at the half illuminated face greeting my eyesight. Stray curls of hair lay discarded upon his forehead, his eyes closed loosely. He didn't stir. Something distant rang in my ears, and I winced in pain. The sound of my ragged breathing filled the air. My lower lip began to tremble. Pull it together Saryl. It's not like-

Not like what? Jet is dead. Mallark is dead. Who cares if I'm still alive? What does it matter if everyone dies but me? My resolve slowly tore apart, breaking down into shattered pieces of hopelessness drowning within me.