Night of Terror

4

Sarah joined the band. She had to admit that Kerabeth was a fantastic singer with a smoky, soulful voice that made you stop what you were doing and listen. Tav was the epitome of a drummer – wild and crazy but he could play better than most drummers Sarah knew. Tav was right though, they needed her on guitar to finish out their sound. As entranced as she was by their sound they were equally fascinated with the way Sarah's deft fingers made love to her fretboard. Together the three of them sounded as if they'd been playing together for years, each feeding into the other seamlessly. It was even better than playing with Ric and Sarah's old band. A thought that made her feel slightly guilty but not guilty enough to sour her mood.

It was no wonder Sarah seemed to float all the way home on a cloud, the disturbing discussion she'd had with Tav and Kerabeth long forgotten.

Upon walking in the front door and Grace, who she'd been nice enough to pick up from school, darting around her and up the stairs to call a new friend Sarah's happy bubble popped as she heard the raised voices of Pricilla and Cayne in the dining room.

"Well, it's not my fault you got kicked off the team, lost your scholarship and were expelled from school!" Pricilla is shouting. Great, this argument again, Sarah sighs as she stalls in the doorway. "You can't expect me to let you lie around all day doing nothing. Get a job! Since your deadbeat father isn't giving me a dime I need you to step up to the plate. Or do you want to end up just like him?"

"You're just a bitter old hag because he married someone younger than you!" Cayne roars.

Sarah cringes at Cayne's description of Pricilla. Silence falls in the dining room but Sarah knows better than to walk into the room. A minute later Cayne knocks past her and races up the stairs. His door slams so hard the whole house seems to shake. In the dining room, Sarah can hear Pricilla sobbing softly.

So much for the move making everything better.

***

Three days pass and Cayne doesn't come out of his room for any reason. He doesn't come out for dinner or to use to restroom or shower. Roberto gets angry on the second night when calls for Cayne to come down for dinner go unanswered but when he bangs on Cayne's door he is met with silence. Roberto threatens to take the door off its' hinges and Cayne finally gives a garbled reply that sounds something like, "I'm busy, go away."

Satisfied that Cayne wasn't a rotting corpse in his room everyone left him alone after that. What they didn't realize was that something else had crawled into that room after Cayne, something that would creep into his mind and fester there, eating away at the selfish boy within until it was time to put its' sinister plan into motion.

***

The next night Sarah was in her room working on a new song she'd begun outlining with Tav during Composition and Theory. Sarah had to admit that once you looked past Tav's irritating flirtatiousness he was a great guy. She'd told Ric about the new band and he hadn't even seemed bothered that she was playing with someone new, and for some reason that bothered Sarah. Shouldn't Ric be upset about her joining a new band or afraid she'd fall for her new bandmate?

Pouring all of her frustration into the music notes on her composition paper Sarah glanced up from her spot on the window seat and thought she could see something moving in the darkening yard below her, sending her heart rate spiking. Memories of what Tav and Kerabeth told her on her first day at Autumndale High swam into the forefront of her mind and Sarah now regrets telling Grace that the house might have been built on top of a graveyard. Karma was a real bitch.

With the sound of her heart pounding in her ears drowning out the soft sound of the music playing on her laptop Sarah tucks her knees underneath her and kneels on the bench of the window seat to get a better look. Pressing her face to the glass Sarah waits for a specter to drift in and out of sight then feels foolish when she realizes it is only the gnarled branches of the trees in the yard blowing in the wind. Laughing at her stupidity Sarah sits back down and draws the curtain shut.

Sarah's phone rings a minute later and her father's face appears on the screen.

"Hey, Dad," Sarah answers a little breathlessly.

"Sarah," Mase Wildwood's voice sounds like it is far away or submerged underwater.

"Are you coming to rescue me yet?" Sarah teases.

"I can't sweetheart," Mase sounds strangled as static crackles over the connection. "I just want you to know that even though we're separated by circumstances and distance, I love you very much. You were always my favorite."

"Is everything alright, Dad?" Sarah asks as her father's voice breaks over the line. She's met with a gasp and then silence.

"Dad?" Sarah asks again. She looks down at the screen. The call has been lost.

Sarah tries to call back but it goes straight to Mase's voicemail. A minute later a text pops up on the screen:

ON THE ROAD. BAD CONNECTION. WILL CALL AGAIN SOON.

Sarah stares down at the phone. A strange feeling trickles down her back. Something felt really wrong about that phone call. There was a hint of finality in her father's tone, but why?

The wind picks up and howls outside her window frightening Sarah. Just then the wind sounded exactly like a man screaming in agony. Enough is enough Sarah decides as she darts across the room and hops under the blankets of her bed without turning her lamp off. Tonight, she doesn't want to sleep in the dark.

***

In a darkened basement, blood so dark red that it is nearly black seeps into the cement floor where the house absorbs it like a sponge. For the house and the monster it contains within, the blood is as replenishing as an energy drink and it feels stronger already.

Outside, a man walking his dog would swear that the house was pulsing with life. It gives off such an eerie feeling that he tightens his grip on his dog's leash and urges her onward.

The house watches all, feeling slightly amused. It won't be long now.