Betrayal of Damien Haas at the house on the hill

You're too late

Damien awoke on the floor of the game room, his head hurting more than it had before. He sat up, taking in the room. There were a few grand shelves with many different board games and books as well as a tv with some game cartridges for an Atari. He noticed a wall in front of him splattered with blood. His memory flashed. He remembered what had happened before he blacked out. The voices became too much to bare and upon discovering the room he began to hit his head against the wall repeatedly until he began to bleed. At that point he passed out from the blunt force. He attempted to stand but halfway up he fell back down due to dizziness. He tried once more, making it up then stabilizing himself against the wall. He inhaled a few deep breaths, the dizziness fading. 'You can't win' A hushed voice said, which only Damien could hear. Taking a second to think, he remembered why he was at this mansion. He looked at his watch and realized he was too late, knowing his friends would be there any minute. He panicked. He couldn't save them they the way he wanted to.

Shayne sat in the passenger seat of Ian's vans. They all decided to carpool as to save gas. Everyone's chatter of nervousness and excitement filled the vehicle as they drove the long road. Shayne tuned out the mindless chatter from his friends. He was more worried about Damien to care what they were talking about. He had texted Damien a plethora of times without so much as a read. Usually Damien would text back almost immediately unless he was away from his phone but he would answer quickly once he got back to it. It had been about twenty four hours since he'd heard from his friend. He opened his phone to text him one last time.

Damien was now in his car, waiting for his friends to arrive. In the meantime, he carefully inspected the wound on his forehead. It wasn't bad and nor would it get infected easily. After cleaning it with some disinfectant from his first-aid kit and deeming it mostly unnoticeable, he continued to wait. His phone vibrated. He knew exactly who it was from and felt bad about wanting to ignore it. He pulled out his phone and read what it said. 'Hey Damien, just wanted to ask if you're doing okay and please answer me if you receive this.' He immediately felt a little guilty for ignoring his previous texts. 'Hey Shayne, sorry I haven't answered your texts. I've just been a little busy but I can't say with what. I hope you understand.' He knew Shayne would be caught off guard by his text now but knew he was probably worried about him none the less. His finger hovered over the send button before finally giving in and pressing it.

Shayne was startled by the vibration of his phone. He pulled it out once more and read the notification. Seeing who it was from put him more at ease. 'I wouldn't ask you to explain. I'm honestly just glad you're okay.' He quickly texted back as if answering slowly would cause Damien to disappear again. But it was just as he feared, no response came. He felt an emptiness that he hadn't noticed before when his friend had disappeared other times. The emptiness didn't last long as they pulled onto the lot before the hill where they saw Damien's car. Shayne was dazed seeing his friends car. Ian parked a little back from Damien, giving them room. Shayne exited Ian's van, slowly and carefully making his way towards Damien's car.

Damien had seen the the group drive up through his rear view mirror. He had a feeling they'd be puzzled about him already being there for they were unaware that he had any intention of coming. He inspected his wound on his forehead once more before stepping out of his car. His gaze drifted instinctively towards the house on the hill. He closed his eyes, exhaling a breath that he was holding involuntary. When he opened his eyes he wanted to see the office, feel the glare of the sunshine and this would have just been a rogue vision. But he knew this was all too real to be a fabrication. He opened his eyes but his gaze stayed low. He knew Shayne stood watching him, probably cautiously. "So this is it," Damien forced out before turning towards the rest of the group who had exited Ian's van. He felt a twinge of guilt hit him. His eyes instinctively lowered. "How long have you been here?" Shayne questioned worriedly. "A little under an hour," Damien lied through his teeth. He heart rate had began to accelerate. "Okay, hold up," Joven spoke quick and bitterly. "You add us to a group chat, call us, WARN US, then ignore the rest of our texts and calls after you leave abruptly?!? What the hell?!"