The Chosen One

Going back - Katie's POV

The last thing I remember about the Cunning house was Tate carrying me back to the car. They took me to Carol’s hospital in Lading. Doctor Carol said all the cuts and bruises on me were self-inflicted. I tried to tell my dad what happened, but all he said was that there were no such things as ghosts so just shut up and admit to what I did. Finally, he decided that the best thing for me was to be checked into a psychiatric hospital in Chesterton. Tate hated the idea. He said that I should move in with him. I didn’t feel safe anywhere though, not even at Tate’s house. It felt like everywhere I went that thing knew where I was. I always had nightmares about what happened that night too. When I checked into Glory Days Hospital, I finally felt safe. All the nightmares stopped too.

I was looking in the mirror at my back when Tate walked into the room. Ever since I moved into Glory Days, he’s come to visit every day. He even moved to Chesterton just to be closer to me. I don’t know why he just doesn’t break up with me. After all, I am labeled as a lunatic.

“Hey. How are you?” he asked

“Okay.”

“Is it still there?” he whispered pointing to my upper back.

“I don’t know. I can’t really see. Will you check?” He lifts the back of my shirt up and traces the scar that’s right above my bra with his finger.

“Yeah. It hasn’t even faded,” he walks towards my bed and sits down. “You’d think that after six months it would fade at least a little bit, especially with the creams you use that’s supposed to make scarring disappear,” he mumbled. The words were Chosen One, but it looked as if they were burned into my back instead of carved.

“Tate, what’s wrong? You’re not acting like yourself.”

“Amy’s missing. My mom and dad don’t know where she is. She didn’t come home last night, Katie.”

“Do any of her friends know where she might be?”

“Yeah, there is. Look Katie, I just came here to tell you I might not be here tomorrow or Friday. I love you so much, Katie,” he murmured while kissing me goodbye. He got up and started walking out of my room. He was really making me angry. If he knew where Amy was, why doesn’t he tell me where she is?

“Tate Joseph Jennings, you tell me right know where your sister is or else!” I warned. He stopped and turned around and faced me. He kept shaking his head and looking down at the floor.

“You sure you want to know, Katie?”

“Yes, of course I want to know Tate. She’s your sister.”

“Oh god, Katie. I don’t know what to do,” he cries.

“Tate, just tell me where she is. Please,” I say while trying to comfort him.

“Katie, Courtney’s brother Travis told me that they all went to the Cunning place. Amy went into the house and never came out.”

“What?” I whispered.

After checking myself out of Glory Days (which I could have done months ago but chose not to), Tate and I were headed back to Lading our hometown. We called Courtney and Eric and told them to meet us at the Cunning’s house. When we all got there, we just stared at the old place. We all knew what we had to do. Tate’s sister was in there; we had to go in and find her.

“We might as well do this before it gets any later,” I urged.

“Yeah. I just want to find my sister and get out of here. This time, though, we stay in a group. Katie and I will stay together, and Courtney and Eric you two stay together,” Tate suggested. Once we were inside, we all just looked around.

“Guys, I don’t think I can do this,” Courtney cries.

“Just go wait in the car, Courtney,” I tell her. Before Courtney could even get to the door, it slammed shut. Courtney kept banging on the door and hoping it would open up, but I knew it wouldn’t because the same thing happened to me.

“Oh god. Oh god. Oh god. What are we going to do now?” she moaned.

We were locked inside the house and there was no way to get out. I felt something cold grab onto my hand. When I looked down, I saw the little girl pulling on my arm trying to get me to go upstairs. I followed her up the stairs, and when I heard Tate call my name, I didn’t answer. She let go of my hand and pointed into a room. When I looked into the room, I saw Amy lying on the bed. I ran into the room and tried to wake her up, but once I was in the room the door slammed shut. I saw something out of the corner of my eye. It was that thing that I saw six months ago. When it reached out and touched my cheek, I screamed. I heard Tate and Eric pounding on the door. I heard Courtney crying in the background. When that thing touched me, it took my breath away. I didn’t have the ability to scream again. Then it spoke.

 “I’ve been waiting for you,” it whispered. Finally, the door opened. Tate came in and put his arms around me; Eric went over to the bed and picked up Amy. We all walked out of the house and vowed never to go back in. The only thing was though, was that the person walking out with Tate, Eric, Courtney, and Amy wasn’t me. My body, yes; but me, no. What am I going to do now? I have no clue. I’m stuck inside this house until someone figures out how to change me back. Until some figures out how to get me into my own body and get that thing that possessed my body out because I was the chosen one. I was the only one drawn to the house; and that thing chose me.