Eyes Like Hellfire [Completed]

Chapter 3

As soon as I closed my eyes, I could hear the thunder.

Oh God, not again.

I was outside of the horror house this time, rain pouring down on me. The sky was dark and ominous as I walked up to the house again, visions of my last encounter at the house running through my head. My thoughts were spinning as my hand reached for the doorknob. I heard a loud clap of thunder as my hand settled on the metal, as though it were a cry of warning from the heavens. But my body wouldn't listen to my mind as the knob turned and the door opened, my feet following as they entered the house.

As I closed the door behind me, I felt a rush of air. Unlike before, this time the breeze wasn't cold. It was boiling, as though it came from the core of hell itself. Sweat started to trickle down my face as I stepped further into the sauna, my feet working on their own.

I headed up the stairs this time instead of the room to my right. My heart sped up with every step, but I couldn't run back. I soon figured out I was not in control. I felt trapped, my mind wanting one thing, but my body doing the opposite.

I watched in horror as my feet took me to the child's bedroom, where that... thing was. A million different scenarios ran through my head, but my mind went blank when I thought of those eyes. The pure, intense red that overtook them would forever scar my brain, the feeling of sheer terror staying along with them.

I was in front of the room now, the door slightly open already. My hand pushed on the wood, burning it, but I couldn't move it away. My hand stayed on the door as my eyes dropped to the crib on the right side of the room. Everything was exactly how I remembered it, right down to the last stuffed animal. My hand, already burnt and blistering, finally left the door as my feet took me to the side of the crib. I shut my eyes, the only part of me I could actually control, tight as I heard the crying again. The hollowness of the voice, the loneliness and darkness it held, filled my ears.

It's ok. You can do this. You've gotten out of here alive before. Just open your eyes. It can't hurt me. Right?

I opened my eyes after a second, but what I had been preparing myself for never came. The crib was bare and empty, the rotting mattress the only thing that could be seen. No demon baby. No baby at all. It was then that I realized the crying had stopped. But a second later, I heard it.

A soft laugh coming from behind me. But this laugh didn't belong to a child, like the crying did. The voice was older, more threatening. It dripped malice and hatred. The sound echoed through the room, so quiet and subtle, but overpowering the storm outside.

My feet turned around and I closed my eyes again.

"Come on, Mickey. Scared of the Boogey Man?"

My eyes shot open when I heard the voice. It was distorted and lower, throaty, almost unrecognizable. Almost.

Sitting in the corner in front of me was Zoe. But then again, it wasn't. It had her body, but it was warped into something vile. Her eyes were glazed over in the same blood red, hellfire taking over her pupils. Her hair was darker than before, if that was possible, her skin lighter, her veins visible. But the worst was her smile. It wasn't the smile I knew. The way her lips curled up, her teeth slightly shown, wasn't Zoe. The crooked smirk, the hollowness of her laugh, that wasn't Zoe. That was something else entirely.

"I asked you a question, Mickey. Are you afraid?"

"Y- You're not Zoe," I choked out, internally cursing myself for not sounding braver. The Zoe-Look-Alike laughed again, making the room ten degrees hotter.

"You didn't answer me, Mickey. I said 'Are you afraid'?"

My mouth ran dry, my words catching in my throat, but I managed to choke out something.