Reckless

Reckless - Chapter Forty-Five

Extra long chapter... sorry ^^ 

R E C K L E S S . . .

CHAPTER FORTY-FIVE

The first thing that I noticed was the blood, faintly illuminated by the dim light that trickled through the doorway. A puddle of it had spread across the floor, gleaming eerily in the light, sinking into the once white carpet to form a deep red stain.

A deep sense of foreboding was settling inside me. If I’d been worried at the sight of the broken down door then it was nothing compared to now. This was no joke – something had definitely happened, and as much as I didn’t want to even entertain the thought, Darius’s vision was coming true.

I tore my gaze away from the stain and looked around the room, frantically trying to locate it’s source. The whole house was in darkness, and apart from the faint light coming from outside nothing helped to illuminate my surroundings.

My hand groped the wall beside me, reaching out for where I knew the light switch would be, desperate for some light. I could see the indistinct shape of it on the wall, leading my hand towards it, but when I flicked the switch on nothing happened.

As typical to all good horror stories, the power had gone out. Yet I wasn’t in a story, and it definitely wasn’t good. This was real for me, and every second spent in the house that I had once thought the safest place on earth was agonizingly terrifying.

Chris had always been one for dramatics.

Only past experience kept me from running straight into the darkness. I knew the house like the back of my hand, but there was something lurking inside the house, a prowling sense of danger. It would be idiotic to obliviously run around the house when it would only put my family in more danger. I needed to be logical for their sake – it wouldn’t do them one ounce of good if I was attacked.

If they’re hurt, I’m their only hope.

I knew that we kept a small torch in a drawer in the kitchen in case of power cuts, so that’s where I headed. I kept one hand on the wall, cautiously feeling my way down the dark hallway. The floor was littered with the usual conglomeration of random objects, and I had to make sure to pick my feet off the floor to stop from stumbling over them.

My heart was pounding so frantically against my ribcage that I could swear that anybody could hear me. Chris certainly would if he was here, and I had to wonder what his plan was. If it was Chris who’d done this – and I was almost certain that it was – then he’d have known that I was in the house from the moment that I’d walked through the front garden. So why wasn’t he here?

I should’ve waited outside, I told myself. I should’ve called the police.

If I’d called the police, I wouldn’t be creeping around my own house in the dark, scared that I’d be attacked at any second. But would they even believe me? Would they get to the house in time to save my family? Was there even any chance of saving my family left? I couldn’t just wait – I had to find out what had happened for myself, I had to try and help.

My head twisted round at the sudden sound of footsteps faintly echoing around the hallway. I tried to pinpoint the direction which they were coming from, but they seemed to be surrounding me, engulfing me and sending my heart racing.

As quickly as the footsteps had started up, they stopped. I paused for a second, trying to slow my heavy breathing, listening for them to start up again. There wasn’t a sound in the house except for my gasping breaths. Maybe it had just been my imagination, though I doubted it.