What Lies Beneath

Chapter Forty-Nine: Survival

Karen threw boxes to the floor in search of a hidden escape. She scoured the cracks in the floor for hope that they might conceal a hidden passageway. Wyatt stood, back pressed against the door. He didn't really feel the need to be chopped up by an axe.

Karen could feel her mind searching through all of the possibilities. For a moment, she even considered jumping out the window. Yes, she would most likely break something, but perhaps she would survive. The outcome of staying in their current room seemed more drastic then a three-story fall. Her hope was depleting quickly. How had things gotten so, bad didn't seem like the right word. In fact, there wasn't a single word she could muster that would be able to accurately describe their current situation.

"Shit!" Wyatt spat the word out as the tip of Charlie's axe split through the wood. Wyatt found himself flashing back to that time when he had been forced to watch a horror movie at his group home. He had suffered nightmares for weeks after that. Wyatt knew that if he managed to survive this, then he was never going to get another blissful night of sleep in his life.

Finding someone in this house was a lot harder than getting lost in it. Sophie had been searching for her missing friends in every nook and cranny that the house had to offer. Still she came up empty. She needed to get to them before Charlie did. She didn't know how, or why for that matter, but she knew that they needed to be protected from him.

Sophie knew that she couldn't give up, but deep down she wondered if she was already too late. How could she possibly find them in this never-ending maze of hallways? 

"Who is Charlie, and why does she have to stop him?" Joe found that all of the information he had been gathering on the outside, no longer applied within the walls of the actual house. He was an outsider and of no use whatsoever.

"I'm not entirely sure, but what I do know is that he is the one who killed me." Delphine looked him straight in the eye. She didn't want to leave room for misunderstanding. Joe needed to be aware of the full scale of horror he had unwittingly stepped into.

"So, he's a murderer." Joe said the words as though trying to comprehend the full meaning of them. "Great! That's awesome! So, not only is there an evil house, but one with a homicidal maniac! Just flipping fantastic!" Joe slung his head back and shouted the words at the ceiling. He didn't know who they were meant for, maybe himself, or perhaps his father.

"Actually, there's two." Delphine spoke very calmly after witnessing her guests display. She didn't want to upset him even more, but he needed to know all the facts.

"TWO!" There was no point in trying to move past the anger he felt. It had taken up root within his body and it wasn't planning on diminishing any time soon.

"Yeah, apparently the other one arrived yesterday. He killed a girl in the shed out back. It was awful."

"What the hell are we supposed to do with this information? It's not like we can run up to the occupants and say, hey did you know that you are currently in the same house as not one, but two serial killers?" The frustration was evident in the tone of his voice. Why did he ever think that he could simply march in here and take the kids away to safety? It was in this moment that Joe deemed himself a total and complete moron.

"At this point all we can really do is wait and see. I tried to warn them, but no one listened. Now it is up to them to save themselves." Delphine was matter of fact. She didn't leave any room for second guessing. Joe, however, was a different story.

"How can you say that? Aren't you worried about what is going to happen? Don't you care about anyone in this wretched place?" It was clear that this was a losing battle, after all they were already dead. Not much left for them to do in a situation like this, but the girl's image was cemented in his mind's eye. He couldn't leave her alone with two serial killers. Joe felt like he could punch through a wall but being a ghost, he wouldn't get the relief that would come with pointlessly tearing through plaster.

"There is a boy. I tried to warn him, but it was too late. Once you step foot through the threshold you belong to the house. It can do as it pleases. Yes, we are ghosts, but within these walls we are so much more. I talked to him, got to know him." She looked down at floor, eyes glistening with tears. "I began to love him, but nothing we can do will make a difference." Delphine turned away from Joe and wrapped her arms around herself. Joe understood, but he still didn't like it. If they were so much more in this house, then why had none of them destroyed this place before it got to this point?

The answer hit him at the same moment the question flooded through his mind. If they were to destroy this place, then they would be destroying themselves as well. It was like she said, within these walls they were so much more than ghosts. This house kept them alive as much as it kept them prisoners.

Gwyneth could feel the hatred of the house. It spewed from the very bones it was made from and corrupted everything within its walls. How had she not seen it before? Disgust for herself was overwhelming, she had loved this house. When she returned, she had caressed its walls and soothed its unease. How could she have been so stupid? If she had the power to, she would tear this place down to the ground.

Greyson followed the sound, if it was someone who was trapped, then they needed help. Seeing as he was already responsible for a lot of fire related deaths, he didn't feel the need to add another one to his roster. He could feel his stamina falling as his breathing increased. He wouldn't be able to outrun the fire forever. The thought of dying in a huge blaze seemed almost as poetic as it was horrendous.

His heartbeat thundered within his chest. His body was still recovering from the massive beating he had taken almost a year ago. How was he supposed to do this? Pain spread through his body. Every muscle and fiber of his being felt as though it was already on fire. He could feel the heat from the flames as they burned behind him. There was no stopping unless he wished to be consumed. Death felt imminent. Flashes of his life began to play on a loop inside his brain. Sweat dripped down his forehead and into to his eyes. He needed to stop; he couldn't stop.

His eyes bulged with one last glimpse out a window before the fire within burst through his skin. The flames licked at his flesh as its teeth turned him black and melted him away. As the last hair on his head singed away so did the blaze that had been chasing him.

Charlie slammed his axe into the door once again. The hole was growing, and he could feel his victory growing nearer. There was no use in hiding now. His prey had trapped themselves and the house was merely a small obstacle in his way. He would soon taste the victory that came with the spill of their blood.

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WORRIED ABOUT THE WAIT? DON'T FRET CHAPTER FIFTY: ESCAPE WILL BE POSTED TOMORROW.

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