What Lies Beneath

Chapter Forty-Eight: Whispered Truths

It was easy to lose oneself within the maze of walls that interwove throughout the house. The strange thing was, you could lose more than your sense of direction, you could lose your mind as well. The house wasn't much for sportsmanship when it came to hunting its' prey. It preferred to kill the way humans used to. It would simply run them around until they were too tired to fight back.

The house could feel its prey as it moved aimlessly throughout its halls. It liked the ones that were alone the best. They were the easiest to terrify and lead astray. All they longed for was company, so that's exactly what it gave them. They would never have to spend another day suffering from loneliness.

While it could feel the joy of its plan coming to fruition, it also felt hatred build up for those who wished to derail it. The house had worked so long and hard to get to this point, it wasn't going to let anyone mess it up. Not even Charlie. Still, there was a backup plan in place for this eventuality. Being a lover of death itself, the house knew what its guests were capable of.

In preparation, it set up dominos that had already begun to fall around its unsuspecting food. It saw everything and its shingles shook with laughter.

"Who are you." Joe was quick to ask the question. It was only the beginning of the avalanche of queries he had brewing up inside his mind.

"A prisoner." The girl took a step forward. Her piercing green eyes never leaving his brown ones.

"I meant your name."

"Delphine."

"I'm Joe. Can you tell me how I got here, Delphine?"

"You died." Joe watched the girl as she turned her head away. Dead? How could he be dead? As the last word crossed his mind, he found himself flashing back to a memory of being upside down and barely able to breathe.

"H-how did I get here?"

"The house calls to its victims. We are its prisoners. Trophies for its walls." Delphine spat the words out. Pure hatred was present upon her once pretty face.

"I didn't die here though. I died in a car accident." It didn't make sense. How could he be a victim of the house when he wasn't even in it?

"You think that matters? The house takes us no matter where we are in the world. Even if you are lucky enough to never step foot in its rancid halls during life, it will always claim you in death." Tears sprung to her eyes now.

"But why?" It was a stupid question; one a toddler would ask when it was being insufferable. Yet, it was all he could muster.

"A reason? Why does there have to be a reason? No, you know what, I do know the reason. Hate. This house hates us because we have something that it never could. A life outside of these walls. It gives and gives only to turn around and take just because it can. It calls us here because deep within our souls we long to be miserable as much as we long to be happy." Delphine's already pale hands grew even more so as she clenched them into tight fists. The expression on her face was a mixture of rage and sadness.

Regret flooded through Joe. He wanted to help her, but he didn't know how. It wasn't like there was a guidebook for dealing with depressed ghosts.

"How long have you been here?"

"Not long and yet forever all at the same time." She swept away the tears streaming down her cheeks.

"Are the others dead too?" He needed to know if he was too late. More importantly, he needed to know if he had died for nothing.

"There are those who walk these halls with breath still within their chests. I wanted to help. I tried to warn them, we all did. No matter how many messages were sent, they proceeded to ignore us. The one with the blonde hair was so afraid." The last of her words were barely audible as she trailed off, her head turning away again. An image of the last girl he'd dropped off surfaced in his mind.