Not Your Normal Fangirl

Chapter 2

"10, 9, 8," Cassie kept counting down.

   I was getting the feeling that this was a game of Hide N' Seek I did not want to lose. The way Cassie had said survive... I ran some more, which probably a bad idea, but this crazy fan girl was freaking me out.

   "3, 2, 1" Cassie sang, "Ready or not! Here I come."

   Shivers ran down my spine as her voice seemed to change with the last three words. I looked at my watch. It was midnight. After what seemed like several hours, I heard a scream. It scared the living bejeezus out of me. It sounded like a girls scream. Lizzie? I started to run away from the sound, getting more parched as time ticked on. I passed a room, where a hand pulled me inside. I started to totally freak, thinking that Cassie had found me, when I heard Corey's voice.

   "Ross! It's me!" He hissed.

   I calmed down, taking a few deep breath.

   "Dude you scared the crap out of me!!" I hissed.

   "Sorry!" Corey said back, I thought you might want some water."

   He held up the container of water, and I took it, and gulped some of it down. I tried not to drink too much, because we had to make this last for as long as we could.

   "Thanks man," I said in a whispering voice, handing him the container back.

   "No problem." He replied, closing the container and placing it on the floor by the door.

   "We can come back for it later." He explained, "I made a mark on the door, so we'll know which one it is ours. We can go look for the others."

   "Safety in numbers I guess..." I replied.

   "Exactly." Corey said.

   I thought back to the scream I heard. It had definitely been Lizzie. I hoped she was ok. As I thought this, a scream came only a couple rooms away. This one sounded like Nick.

   "Nick!" Corey yelled.

   A shadow of a girl with long hair started to emerge from a room nearby, where the scream had come from.

   "Run!" I cried.

   The two of us bolted. We could hear a girl giggling far behind us.

   "Where are you guys going?" Cassie called.

   After several random turns, Max appeared in the hallway in front of us.

   "Run!" I screamed at him.

   His eyes widened as he looked behind us. Then he turned around and started to run too. I was panting. It seemed like we ran for an hour, trying to lose her. Finally, the three of us screeched into another empty room, closed the door, then ran to the side of the room opposite of the door. I sank to the ground, breathing fast. This was way to intense. I looked at my watch. It was five in the morning. Five hours had already passed. We sat there, fear keeping us from breathing too loudly, or even moving, for another hour at least. That's when the door... creaked.... open.

   "Three blind mice..." A girls voice sang slowly from the darkness of the doorway.

   "Found you!" Cassie said.

   She launched herself from the darkness, a wicked sharp kitchen knife in her hand. Max and I scattered, but Corey was too slow. He screamed as Cassie tackled him. I watched in horror as she sat on his chest, holding his arms down with the hand that didn't have a knife, and her foot. A huge grin on her face, she was already splattered with crimson blood. She hummed a tune I didn't recognize as she drew her blade calmly across Corey's neck. His body jerked around as blood spurted from the wound. Max grabbed my wrist, pulling me away from what I had just watched.

  "Ross, come on!" Max hissed when we were as far away as we could.

   "Sorry, but...." I started, "well, come on Max! You just saw that too! Corey is dead! That psycho girl killed him!"

   "I know! I saw!" Max argued, "But right now, I'm more focused on keeping myself and you alive. I'll expand the plan when we come across any other people."

   I didn't really have anything to say, so I stayed quiet. I couldn't believe this was actually happening.

    "Guys!" I heard someone nearby hiss nearby.

   It was Jess. She gestured for us to follow her. So we did. She made a few turns through the winding hallways, and up some stairs. She went to the wall between two doors, and knocked twice. It almost sounded... hollow. Then, part of the wall swung open like a door, and Shelby and Red were there.

   "Woah..." Max said.

   "Quick, get inside!" Shelby cried.

   We got in as fast as we could, and once the wall closed again, we were in a dark hallway.

   "Just keep moving forward..." Red whispered.

   Finally, we entered a small room that just barely fit the five of us. It was dimly lit by some unseen light source, so I couldn't see too well.

   "This is great!" Max cried.

   "Yeah. We're guessing there's a lot of hiding places like this all over the mansion." Jess said.

   "Hey, have you guys seen anyone else?" I asked.

   "Lizzie..." Jess said, "she was murdered."

   "So was Corey." Max told her.

   "Nick probably was too." Shelby said, "I heard him scream."

   "Guys, its like seven." I said, looking at my watch, "maybe we should take turns sleeping?"

   "It's safer to stay in here then go out there." Max said, "I'll watch first."

   "So will I." Shelby said, "you guys sleep."

   "I'll stay up too." Red offered.

   "Alright. Ross and I will sleep first then." Jess said.

  "Okee dokee." I said, "thanks guys,"

   I layed down on the floor, trying to get comfortable without crowding everyone else, or taking up too much space. Eventually I did drift off. I didn't have a dream or nightmare, all there was was an inky blackness. That's when a scream pierced the darkness. I sat bolt upright, looking around. Jess was up too. The scream hadn't come from any of us, but somewhere else in the mansion. Another person is dead... I thought. I looked at my watch. It was three in the afternoon. It didn't feel like it of course, there didn't seem to be any windows in any of the room's I'd been in.

   "Alright Red, Max, and Shelby" I said, "you guys get some sleep"

   They fell asleep after a while. It was almost midnight when they woke up. I got a cold feeling, and started looking around. There was a shadowy figure in the corner, next to Max.

   "Ring around the Rosie," she sang, stepping forward.

    "Max!" Red!" I cried, shaking them awake."

   "Pocket full of posie," Cassie continued to sing in the creepiest way possible, "Ashes to ashes, we all fall DOWN!"

   Screaming the last word, she launched herself at us. Barely missing Red as we ran as fast as we could. We crowded into the hallway, bursting through the hidden wall door, and running down the hallway. Come on... I thought, not daring to look at my watch, hearing the somewhat psychotic breathing behind me. We lost her for a while. I took a deep breath, and took a look at my watch. Eleven fifty nine. One more minute.

   "Guys? Why'd you leave me alone?" Cassie's voice sounded.

   Small footsteps got closer, and closer... until the watches alarm went off. It was midnight. We'd survived.