Don't Go in the Attic

The Kids on the Posters

Alex went to calm the kids down.  She wasn't sure how she would be able to calm them down if she wasn't calm herself!  She ran over to them and picked them off the floor.  They were still crying.  There faces were filled with fear.  "Do you know what's going on?"  Alex asked nervously.  There was a small pause.  Riley looked up at Megan.

"It's the man upstairs," Megan cried as she looked at the ceiling.  Alex sat in shock.  All this time, there was a man upstairs.  "Help us Alex!  Help us!  Call 9-1-1, please."  Alex sat blankly in fear.  She nodded her head and ran downstairs while holding Megan's hand.

They all ran downstairs and Alex picked up the phone.  She quickly dialed 9-1-1.  Alex felt like her heart was about to beat out of her chest and onto the floor.  The phone rang.  Then finally the dispatcher answered, "9-1-1, what's your emergency?"

"There's someone in the attic!" Alex said in between tears of fear, "we're home alone and-"  Just then the phone line went dead.  The phone line was cut.  Then the power went out.  Megan and Riley started crying again.  Alex put the phone down.  Then the power turned back on again.  Alex bent down to face the kids.  "Who are you?" she asked.

"We were taken.  They're not our mom and dad," Megan explained through tears.  "They made us different.  They go out to find more kids.  That's where they are.  The only reason we're not dead like the others is so they could get you too," she sobbed.  Just then Alex knew where she had seen them.  They were the kids on the posters.

Alex had to think fast she needed to get the kids out of this house.  Adrenaline was running through her veins.  She couldn't think straight.  "Is there anything you need from upstairs because we're leaving," she stated.  "Our shoes are upstairs," Megan said as she grabbed Riley's hand and pulled him up the stairs.  Alex waited down stairs and put on her shoes.  She could hear the sound of a door opening and closing. There was a commotion upstairs.  Then it stopped.  Alex glanced at the stairs.  Was it safe enough to go see what's going on?  There was a small thud that hit the floor upstairs.  Alex could hear it above her.  Then there was another small thud, smaller than the first.  Alex had to see what was going on.  She slowly walked towards the stairs.  Her breathing was extremely heavy and could be heard easily.  Then there was another sound.  Footsteps, that's what the sound was.  They weren't a child's footsteps.  They were heavier, much heavier.

That wasn't the only sound.  Along with the footsteps Alex could hear something rubbing against the carpet.  Something was being dragged along the carpet.  She could hear a door open.  Whoever was walking was going upstairs into the attic.  There was thuds in a pattern as if whatever was being dragged was smacking against the steps.  "What is happening?"  Alex wanted to run away but she didn't want to leave but what about the kids?  Alex slowly and quietly walked up the set of stairs to the first landing.  From that landing, she could see the second floor through banisters.  There laying on the floor was Riley.  He appeared to be asleep.  His face was shiny.  It was wet.  His mouth and nose were wet.  They were wet from chloroform.

Alex held in a scream.  She could hear the person coming down from the attic.  Alex ran down the stairs to leave.  She wasn't able to save the kids herself.  She'd have to call the police again when she was home and safe.  Alex reached to the front door ready to leave but through the window she could see headlights.  The parents were coming home.  The car looked familiar, too familiar.  "That is the car that stayed in front of our house that night."  Alex realized what was going on here.  It was all clear now.  She thought back to the time when her parents left her and Ally home alone.  The person never seemed familiar then but now that she thought about it, it was the same black coat the man wore out that evening.  He was the one who came to her house that night.

Alex thought quick, "If I unlock the door, it will look like I've already left the house."  She unlocked the front door just as the garage door rumbled open.  She ran to find a hiding spot within the house.  When it was safe, she would leave.

She hid between the couch and the wall.  It wasn't the best spot to hide it was one of the best spots.  She heard the door to the garage open.  The 'parents' were home.  Alex tried to quiet her breathing.  Her heart sounded really loud in her ears.  "We're home!" yelled the dad.

"Alex?  Megan?  Riley?"  the mum called.

"I think it happened.  I think it's done," the dad said quietly.  The mum laughed slightly.  Alex could hear movement.

"Brian, look!  The front door's unlocked.  That little brat escaped."  Alex heard the dad cuss in response to the statement.

"Nah," said a husky voice from above, "the big one's still in the house.  I never heard her leave."  "It must be the skeleton man talking," Alex thought.

"And what about the other big one?" asked the dad.

"She was makin' too much noise.  The others heard her so I put an end to that."  "Who was the other big one?"

"Well I, personally, think we should find the other one," the mum suggested, "Lock the doors and everyone look.  Get the chloroform too."

Alex could hear the sound of someone entering the kitchen, opening a cabinet and getting the bottle of malignant fluid.  She also heard the sound of someone else coming downstairs.  She could tell that they weren't going to let her leave any obvious exit.  If she left through the front or back door, they would hear her.  If she had left through the back door earlier, she would've had to climb the fence and they'd probably see her since she wasn't a great climber.  The people began searching on the first floor.  She had to move somewhere else quickly.  As a group, the three kidnappers went to look in the bathroom and kitchen.  This was her chance to go hide on the second floor.  Maybe she could get Megan and Riley while she's at it.

Alex warily ran up the stairs, trying to make as little noise as possible.  She looked in all the bedrooms for a good place to hide but there were none.  The only possible place left was the attic.  She was told not to enter the attic but it didn't matter anymore.  She tentatively grabbed the handle of the attic door.  "No turning back now," she thought as she answered the dark, musty and forbidden area.