What Lies Beneath

Chapter Fifty-Eight: Sacrifice

Karen and Wyatt arrived at the door as Sophie exited the room. Concern was etched all over their faces, but she didn't have the answers to their questions. She knew that they wanted to know if she was alright. The thing was, she didn't know if she would ever be alright after what took place within that room. There would never be enough words in the human language to explain all that happened behind that door or in the moments leading up to it.

Sensing, that this was neither the time nor place for such questions, Wyatt merely wrapped his arms around her. For days they searched for her, for days they worried that she was gone forever. The possibility of her death becoming more and more solid with each tick of a clock. Now she was here right in front of him. She was safe and that was all he cared about.

"I'm sorry." The words were soft and the only answer she could offer them.

"Why are you sorry? I'm the one who lost you, remember?" He pushed back still holding her trembling shoulders in his hands. Her blue eyes were encased in tears that could not will their way out of her eyes. Her skin was like ice under his fingertips.

"No. I'm sorry I couldn't get to you sooner." Sophie dropped to her knees, leaving Wyatt's arms holding onto empty air. She was supposed to protect them, to be their guardian, but seeing them standing before her all she could do was weep.

"It's not your fault. No one knew that Charlie was an axe wielding maniac." He tried to lift the mood, but it was useless. He was going at an anvil with a toothpick.

"Guys, I know that we aren't technically being chased down right now, but we are still trapped in an evil house. Shouldn't we try to, I don't know, escape?" Karen still felt as if at any moment something horrendous was going to happen. They had been trapped in the house for days with death lurking around every corner. They didn't have time to celebrate surviving a small battle, when the air made it clear there was another looming on the horizon.

"She's right. We need to go. I have to get you out of the house before it takes you too." Sophie pushed herself off the floor, her tears gone. It was time to fight back.

"Greyson!" Delphine screamed his name as Joe pulled her away from the wall. She struggled against his arms trying to break free. "Let me go! I have to save him!" Joe answered by tightening his grip. They couldn't save him. Greyson was gone. The house had claimed him.

"We can't save him." His words were calm and sullen. He wished they could fight for their missing friend, but the sudden appearance of the shadowy arms that pulled him away weren't something they could fight back against.

"Why would you say that? He needs us Joe!" Desperation rang in her voice. She couldn't stand the idea of letting the house take him away forever. None of them had been in the house for long, but she knew a lot more than they did. There were secrets hidden between the layers of plaster. Secrets that would make a serial killer cringe. She knew about the bodies and where they were hidden, figuratively and not so figuratively.

"I know that he means a lot to you. I wish that we could save him, I really do, but we need to focus on the bigger picture. There are kids in this house, kids who still have a pulse, who need us. I want to save Greyson, but I need to save them." He dropped his arms letting her go. He wasn't going to continue to fight a battle he wasn't sure he could win.

Delphine searched his eyes. She needed an answer, an easy solution to her problem, but she didn't find it there. Reflected in his pupils was her face, a face morphed and twisted by this house. She had come to this place seeking an escape from her prison only to become trapped forever, but that didn't mean she had to take it lying down. She was still her own person. A person who could decide how she was going to react to things. There were so many people who came to this place only to be consumed by it. She wasn't going to let herself be the next victim. She may be a prisoner, but she wasn't about to go peacefully into the night.

"You're right. We can save Greyson by saving them." Though her tears were gone, and she had a new resolve coursing through her, she still sent out a silent apology to Greyson.

Jason watched from a distance as three blubbering children reunited outside a broken door. He could feel the walls as they shook beneath the palms of his hands. It was gearing up for a war, and he was one of its soldiers.

Unbeknownst to the rest of the guests, the shadows crept closer and closer to their target. As they encircled, the house began to tremble with anticipation. It would kill off the rest and take what it wanted. What it needed the most. A host to escape the cell it had been trapped in for so long.

She was so close, if a house had a tongue it would be able to taste the victory that awaited before it.

With each shadowy step forward, the lights flickered and blew out. It lived in the darkness, thrived there even. It was in the dark that it would take what it craved.

The not so departed, move silently through the halls toward their unsuspecting prey. An army of souls trapped forever within a prison of wood and plaster. Its ranks filled with those who had the misfortune to step through the gates of the town and past its doorway. Called from every corner of the earth and tricked with every silver-tongued lie it could whisper all for this moment.

Leading the charge were the newest members. Every child recently claimed or stolen away in the night. Those who took their own lives fell behind those who denied their invitations. Standing tall before them were those who had fallen upon their own sword in an attempt to save the day and above all those was one very angry serial killer with an axe to grind. Following up in the rear were those chained and left gnashing at those who held them bound. The only thing following them were the silent screams of those they left behind.

Sophie stood up brushing the wood remains from her jeans as the walls around them began to shake. If she didn't know any better, she would have thought it was an earthquake, but she did know better. The house was angry. She had foiled its plans for the last time, this wasn't a warning anymore, this was a war cry.

"What's happening?" Karen shouted the words over the groans of the house.

"War." It was a simple word, but one that conveyed every moment they'd spent within these walls. All the countless hours spent wandering and witnessing death had led them to this moment.

"War? What do you mean?" Wyatt reached out and caught Karen just before she fell. The quaking of the house was becoming more violent by the second.

"We need to go somewhere that we can defend ourselves." Sophie's mind raced as it searched for areas of the house that they could do battle in. The only place she could call to mind was the dining room. A room tainted with life and death, a place where the odds would be equal on both sides. "Follow me." Sophie didn't wait to make sure they did as she said, instead she turned and took off towards the arena/dining room.

AND THE ANTICIPATION BUILDS... STAY TUNED FOR CHAPTER FIFTY-NINE: DEFENSELESS. 

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