Night of Terror

7

Sarah would arrive at the local hospital in a catatonic state and remain in that catatonic state for three days and four nights. Meanwhile, the Wildwood-Fletcher house would be deemed a crime scene, the attic crawlspace and the rest of the house searched thoroughly for both Cayne Wildwood and the tools he'd allegedly used to gruesomely murder Kerabeth LeQueen. Neither would be found. The house had a way of protecting things it doesn't want to be discovered. The souls that keep the house alive have ensured that.

Sarah finally wakes up at three in the morning that Sunday morning; nine days after Cayne "left town" and Kerabeth disappeared and the beginning of the fourth day since the eerie phone call that led Sarah to Kerabeth's body.

When Sarah opens her eyes she finds herself in a sterile white hospital room accented with a large blue curtain that blocks the bed she lays in from the view of the hallway beyond. Tav is sleeping slumped over in a chair by the window but Pricilla is nowhere to be seen.

"Tav?" Sarah asks weakly. Why is he here? How much time has passed? Doesn't he know that Kerabeth is dead?

Tav jumps, his eyes popping open and surveying the room around him for signs of danger. Sarah watches as Tav inhales a little too sharply before his eyes land on her. "Sarah, you're awake."

"How long have I been asleep?" Sarah asks. Her lips feel cracked, her mouth encased with sandpaper and cotton balls as she forces the words out.

"This would have been the fourth day," Tav says quietly as he scoots his chair to Sarah's bedside and takes her clammy hand in his larger, calloused palm.

"Kerabeth," Sarah begins before Tav shushes her.

"Shhh, it's alright. I already know." Dampness pools in the corners of Tav's eyes. Though his black clothing remains the same, his eyes are bereft of the eyeliner that usually ring Tav's mismatched eyes.

"I'm sorry," Sarah croaks, as her throat feels like an invisible hand is strangling her.

"The house did this," Tav says adamantly, "it wasn't your fault."

"But my brother," Sarah starts to protest before a painful cough causes her to double over.

"There are things you don't know, things I can't tell you. It was no human that killed Kerabeth – at least not one acting alone. It was that damn house." Tav insists. Sarah tries to sit up but Tav pushes her back down. "I'll go find your mother. She went to get some coffee down the hall."

Tav leans down and presses his lips to Sarah's cheek then darts out of the room before Sarah can ask him anything else. What does he know about the house that she doesn't? What secrets lie within the decaying walls of the mysterious, old Morreau house? Sarah is sick of being in the dark; she's going to find the answers she seeks.

***

After the discovery of Kerabeth's body, the last thing Sarah expects to see when Roberto pulls off the road onto the driveway is the entire exterior of the house decorated for Halloween.

"What is wrong with you?" Sarah asks hoarsely when she finds her voice.

Pricilla looks at her like Sarah has suddenly sprouted a second head, "Grace wanted to decorate for Halloween. It is tomorrow after all."

"They just found a body in our attic, the body of one of my classmates and Cayne is missing and you think it's a good idea to carve pumpkins like nothing happened?" Sarah hisses as Grace looks over her shoulder at Pricilla and Sarah curiously. Roberto tickles Grace's sides to urge her into the house so Pricilla and Sarah have a few minutes of privacy.

"We can't keep dwelling on it," Pricilla sighs. "The police cleared the house, Sarah. It's not a crime scene anymore."

"Have they found Cayne?" Sarah asks although she already knows the answer.