Voices From Beyond

Chapter 15

Marie stops growling, her innocent eyes glance over at Noah willing him to look down the hallway. I loosen my grip on him, enough for him to break away completely. An emptiness consumes my chest, my emotions are fleeting and temporary. I feel someone place their hand on my shoulder, their touch is soft and cold. I turn my head around to face Kennedy, her sad eyes meet with mine. I wish that she was here for real. I miss her so much sometimes that it hurts to breathe. I turn back to face Noah only to see Ryan sitting on the couch with his eyes locked on Marie and his lifeless hands folded in his lap. I wonder if Kennedy and Ryan are really themselves, or if they're just a fragment of my imagination. Maybe my mind is just playing tricks on me. Can they feel anything? Are they in pain?

Noah makes his way across the room toward his dog, Marie sits obediently and looks back down the hallway. Just before he reaches her, the sound of someone running echoes from the darkness. Someone is in the house, and I can't be sure if they're alive or dead.

Noah stops in his tracks when he hears the footsteps, he glances back at me. I can tell that he feels nervous, I hope that he changes his mind and comes back toward me. He doesn't though, he steps closer to the hallway again.

"Stay there," he whispers, motioning me to be quiet with his finger pressed against his lips.

He shuffles quietly past the hallway without looking down it and slips into the kitchen. I hear the sound of a knife being pulled out of a container. My heart sinks when I feel Kennedy squeeze my shoulder slightly. I look into her eyes but she doesn't meet my gaze. I want to tell her how sorry I am, even if she already knows.

Noah returns from the kitchen with a blade in his hand, he's clenching it so hard that his knuckles are white. He quickly flicks on the hallway light, something crashes onto the floor inside one of the rooms. I flinch at the sudden loud noise. A window slams down the hallway, I instinctively rush forward. I sprint to Noah's side, I don't care if he's mad that I didn't listen to him. He glances over at me and shoots me an alarming look, he motions for me to leave but I can tell that he's relieved to not be alone. I shake my head, holding my ground. He faces forward again but he steps in front of my path as he walks. He quickly throws open his bedroom door and sees his window wide open. The curtain is blowing as the cold breeze slips into his house.

"What the hell?" he mutters as he rushes toward the window, shutting and locking it.

I scan around the room, making sure whoever was here is really gone. "Someone was in here," I swallow hard, flicking on the bedroom light.

He looks outside his window, his face is so close to the glass that my skin crawls. I pull him backward a little bit by his arm and step in front of him. I pull his curtains closed after making sure the window is locked securely. "Is the front door locked?" I turn to face him.

"Yes, will you help me lock the rest of the windows?" he asks me as calmly as he can.

We search the entire house for any sign of someone being there and we lock every lock along the way. After we finish, I start to calm down. I take a seat on his couch, Marie hops up and lays down beside me. Noah quietly sits in a chair beside the couch.

"Do we call the cops?" he breaks the silence.

"How do we know it was someone real?" I glance over at him, "like what if it was just another hallucination?" I add.

"What if it was Samuel? What if he broke in?" Noah looks like he's deep in thought.

"Do you think he really would go that far?" I stroke Marie's fur.

"I honestly don't know anymore," he sounds disappointed as he says this.

"I'm sorry that all of this is happening," I speak quietly.

"It isn't your fault," he runs his finger across the arm of the chair.

"I know, but I'm still sorry," I reply.

Things are silent for a long time, we must've been sitting here in complete and utter silence for at least a half an hour. It isn't awkward, I think we are both just at a loss for words.

"Hey Cora," he says suddenly.

"Yeah?" I mumble, I grow more and more tired with every second. I'm curled up on my side now, my head is rested close to Marie.

"Do you want to talk about what happened before the incident?" he asks as he grabs two blankets off of a shelf. He makes his way over to me and lays one on top of me, then he returns to his chair and wraps the other blanket around himself.

"What's there to say?" I stare at the pictures hanging on his living room walls.

"Never mind," he sounds tired.

"Do you regret it?" I pull my blanket closer to me.

"No, do you?" he answers blankly.

"No," I'm searching for more to say, I know there's more to say to him but I just can't find the right words.

"Alright," he says quietly, "still friends?" he adds after a few seconds.

I'm not sure what I was expecting, or if I was even expecting anything. My mind is chaos and I feel numb. I just know things are better with him around. "Friends," I reply.

I fell asleep soon after that, he nudges me awake. It's light outside now, the sun shines through a window and warms the blanket around me. I stretch out, realizing that Marie has moved off of the couch. Noah is standing above me, he hands me a glass of orange juice and a plate of waffles. "You like waffles, right?" he asks me.

"Yeah, but you didn't have to make me breakfast," I flash him a grateful look and sit up from the cushion I was laying on.

"I know, you owe me," he jokes. I fight my urge to grin as I take a swig of the orange juice, it feels nice against the back of my throat.

"Thank you," I roll my eyes at him.

I leave his house soon after I finish my waffles, he drops me off at home.

"Dude, watch out!" I shout at him when he pulls into my driveway. He slams on the breaks and we both jolt forward in our seats, the seatbelts lock.

"What? What is it?" he sounds frantic.

"It was a squirrel, you would have hit him," I shake my head, pointing at the squirrel scrambling up a nearby tree.

He slumps back against his seat and lets out a breath of relief. "I actually hate you," he laughs.

"My bad," I shrug innocently.

"You scared the crap out of me, get out of my truck," he clicks the unlock button and flashes me one last look of fake annoyance just to get his point across.

"Fine, gosh," I pretend to pout as I climb out. I take one last glance at him before I spin around to face my house. I wave him goodbye as I stop on my front porch. He waves goodbye back and pulls out of my driveway.

I put the key into the keyhole and twist it until I hear the lock click open. I enter my house, shutting the door quietly behind me. I turn to head right down to my bedroom. I should probably let my family know I'm home safe but they'll figure it out eventually. I just want to be alone.

The thing is, no matter how badly I want to be alone, I'm never really alone anymore. I'm laying in my bed, the covers are piled on top of me as I stare at the lines on my ceiling. I hear things in the walls surrounding me. At first it starts off with a few small scratches sounding from just above my head, but then it gets quicker and more intense. All around the room, the walls are desperately being clawed at from the other side. There are random thumps and fumbling around, I don't move a muscle. I hear screams and cries of voices I've never heard before, I can't feel the tear run down my cheek as all of the noise comes to a sudden halt. Everything is quiet again, but I feel like my ceiling is getting further and further away from me. I'm falling slowly. My bed isn't beneath me anymore. I'm just floating downward. I don't fight it, I know I'm hallucinating and it's not real. My mind is playing tricks on me.