What Lies Beneath

Chapter Thirty: From the Shadows It Watches

Charlie stood outside of Wyatt's door listening to the quiet muffled voices on the other side. He hated this. He didn't want to pretend like he liked them, he wanted to kill them. He wanted to feel their warm blood on his hands. Feel the thick red liquid as it seeped through the cracks in his fingers. He hated the house for what it was making him do.

The thought of having to be nice to them made him sick. How could he possibly pretend to be their friend? No, he needed more time. He needed a way in.

In the room Wyatt stared at Karen, a question clearly marked on his face.

"How do you know all of this?"

"That's a long story and honestly, I don't think that I even understand it all myself." Karen knew that they needed to know, but she was still unable to find the proper words for what she had to say.

"I understand that you are all confused and afraid by everything that has happened since you arrived at this house, but I think that now is the time for all of us to come clean. About everything." Paul spoke to them with confidence. He could see that they were all holding back something important. Now was the time though, the time to share all of their hidden knowledge.

"Come clean about what exactly?" Wyatt didn't like being called out, especially when he didn't know what it was that he had supposedly done.

"I don't mean to sound rude or like I'm calling you all out, but I know for a fact that we haven't been completely honest with each other."

"How could you possibly know that?" Wyatt folded his arms across his broad chest.

"I know a lot of things. Let's just say that I have a talent for it. For instance, I know that you all have certain talents of your own." Paul looked at Sophie when he spoke.

"The only talent I have is getting people killed." Sophie spit the words at him. She didn't know why she was so angry all of a sudden. She didn't really have a reason to be. Perhaps it was the way that he had looked at her when he talked, or maybe it was the way that he had implied that her curse was a talent. Whatever the reason, she was mad. So mad in fact, that she had to suppress the urge to yell at him some more.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to offend you. Any of you. I'm just so tired of secrets." Paul gently rubbed his right temple with the tips of his fingers. He didn't know how to tell them what he needed to tell them. How could they possibly understand everything that he knew?

"I don't understand. What do you mean by you have a talent for knowing things?" Karen had been listening up until that point. Now she had questions, questions only Paul could answer.

"I have these dreams. In them I see things that look like black and white movie clips. Sometimes they're blurry, but sometimes they're clear. In the clips I see what I can only describe as fractions of time. Sometimes they're things that have already happened, but more often than not they are things that will happen." Paul explained it to the best of his ability. He just hoped that they would understand.

"So, your psychic?" It was once again Karen's turn to be doubtful. She didn't believe in things that couldn't be explained, she never had.

"Not exactly. I don't think that I fit into that particular box." Paul hated being called psychic, especially by someone who clearly didn't believe in them.

"I'm confused. What exactly would you call yourself?"

"Like I said before, I'm talented."

"Okay, so, your talented, but what do you mean when you say that we all have certain talents ourselves? Are you telling me that we are all psychic?" Karen couldn't believe what she was asking. How could this conversation actually be happening?