The Unknown Other

Chapter Eight: Don't Fall Into The Trap

      I tried to control my breathing when I felt something touched my shoulder. I screamed, only to be hushed by my brother.

      "Hey, hey," he said. "It's me."

      I stared at him for a while, giving my brain the time to process everything before I let out a deep breath.

      He sat down next to me and pat me on my back. "Never knew the dark could scare you this much." He chuckled. I looked at him in terror, making him stop. "What's wrong?" he asked.

"Something had me," I said as I tried to control my shaking.

I could feel his clueless gaze at me. "S-something... I don't know... It choked me," I struggled to force my words out of my lips.

"I-I don't understand, Margie."

My mind was literally filled with negative thoughts. In seconds, I burst into tears and quickly buried my face into Caleb's chest. He was taken aback by my action at first due to his confusion, but he immediately hugged me back.

"Margie, what the hell happened?" I could sense the fear and confusion mixed together in his voice.

"There's someone in this house." I croaked, trying my best to prevent the tears that had welled up in my eyes from streaming down my face. "It attacked me. We have to go!"

"To where?" Caleb said, more like shouting. He stared at me with terror in his eyes. I could tell that he was completely clueless, but he could sense the fear that started to consume both of us. "Somewhere. Bring Candice with you and let's go!"

"She's not here!" Caleb replied, making me froze in my place. I could feel my face go pale as my heart rate started to rise. Who was he talking to then?

"Caleb, this isn't funny."

"I swear! She went home this afternoon because her grandmother was sick." I noticed his body started to quiver. "Tell me what the hell is going on!"

This time, I couldn't handle the tears anymore. I felt like fear had permanently consumed and swallowed me deep into its bottom. My legs felt weak and I almost stumbled and fall to the ground. "T-then who are you yelling at? Before the lights went off?"

He stared at me with terror as he replied me quietly. "You." his eyes were still locked onto mine, sending shivers down my spine as goose bumps started to form all over my body. "You kept repeating 'she was mine' over and over again."

I shook my head slowly at his respond. "We have to go." I said, grabbing the car keys and started to run to my front door, followed by Caleb.

When we almost stepped out of the house, something caused us to stop. A hopeless scream of a girl filled the house. We froze when we heard that, but Caleb's eyes widened as the girl started to scream his name. "CALEB! HELP! HELP ME! CALEB!"

"CANDICE!" He screamed and started running back into the house.

"Caleb, no!" I yelled. I grabbed his arm, earning a deadly glare from him. When I looked into his eyes, I was absolutely terrified when I could not recognize him. No, he isn't Caleb.

"Caleb, trust me," I begged desperately, knowing that he's a stubborn when it comes to Candice. "It's not her."

"Then tell me who the fuck it is!" He scoffed, shaking me off of him and started running back into our now dark and cold house.

My feet could no longer bear my weight. I stumbled back and fell right onto the floor when something caught my eyes - my phone. I grabbed it and quickly dialed Kelsey's phone number and called it. I couldn't believe it when I heard her ringtone... from inside of my house.

I stared at my house blankly, trying to think of a way out. But I was wrong. There was no alternative way then getting back into the house. I used my phone as a flashlight as I guided myself, stepping closer to the source of her ringtone.

It was really dark inside and I couldn't see anything without my flashlight. "Caleb!" I cried desperately. But instead of a respond from him, I received a sinister laugh that kept ringing in my ears. I stopped moving when I heard the ringtone ring right under me. I looked down to see Kelsey's now bloodstained phone.

With my trembling hands, I struggled to pick it up. My heart stopped when I saw the lock screen wallpaper. Four people were hung upside down, blood dripping off their mouth.

They're Kelsey, Caleb, Candice and Lindsay.