I woke up with a gasp and jolted upright, coughing up water. All around me people were stirring. Others didn't get up. Groaning I pushed myself to my feet and stood on shaky legs, leaning on the bookcases for support. Soggy books were scattered across the ground, their covers torn. A few single pages were plastered to the walls in wet clumps and stuck to people's clothes.
Shivering I stumbled towards one of the limp forms lying on the wood floor. I recognized the wet mop of blonde hair and a small sob escaped me as I turned the girl around. Her glassy blue eyes stared past me into empty space.
As I looked around I saw similar motionless heaps throughout the library, amongst them the Asian girl. Her friend— the brown-haired boy— was kneeling next to her, crying quietly. An unsettling feeling settled in my stomach. Why weren't we all dead?
Then it struck me. The sixty minutes were up.
I ran out of the room, glancing one last time at the wasteland Fred had left in his wake. My stomach clenched at the sight and I quickly turned away. Why wasn't I helping them... I ran along the corridor and down a long flight of steps. Speeding around the corner I tripped over a fold in the carpet, landing on top of someone."Oh god I'm so sorry!" I apologized and quickly stood up. There was no reply. The girl who I had fallen on had long red hair and freckles that dotted her small nose. She was very petite and for a moment I thought I had knocked her out.
"Hey, can u hear me?" I kneeled next to her. She was on her stomach with her head turned towards me at an odd angle, and her hair stuck to her face with a dark red liquid. Was she bleeding? I started to panic as I reached out a hand to help the girl. Water dropped from my hair and clothes onto her as I gently rolled her over.
I screamed.
Deep gashes ran along her stomach, oozing blood. I hadn't noticed the puddle of dark liquid around her before because it was the same color as the carpet, but now it was all over my hands. Gagging I let go of her limp arm. She had been caught in the hallway.
I whirled around and ran away from the body, wiping the tears from my face with blood-covered fingers. How much time was left? Running down the corridor I spotted a door that was open a crack and came to a stumbling halt. I slipped through the opening and closed it behind me, breathing a shaky sigh of momentary relief.
I looked at my surroundings and it took me a second to realize that I had ended up in the kitchen. Unlike the library there were only two people here. A middle aged man stood behind the counter, aggressively cutting vegetables and a woman who seemed to be his wife stood next to the kitchen island. A glass of wine rested elegantly in her slender hand and I felt the bile rise in my throat at the dark color.
"Hello sweetie," the woman greeted me smiling. "How are you doing?" I stared at her in shock. I had just barged in dripping wet, covered in blood smears, and she was asking me how I was doing.
"G-great," I stuttered, the adrenaline leaving my body. The cold from my wet clothes had started to set in, causing me to shiver. "Um... do u have anything warm to drink?"
"Of course," she smiled again and went to a small teapot. "Earl Grey ok?" I nodded. She set her wine glass down and poured some hot water into a mug before adding the tea bag.
"It'll be ready in about three minutes." Again, all I could do was nod. Picking up her wine glass again she walked around the counter to face me as the bell echoed through the silent house.
YOU ARE READING
Hell House
Short StoryEmi returns home from the supermarket one day to find a mysterious note in her pocket with an address on it. What does she do, and what are the consequences of her actions? Also this is my first story on Wattpad so please be considerate ^~^ The orig...