The Unseemly

Chapter 6 - Mazed and Confused

Chapter 6 - Mazed and Confused

The Wendigo

Douglas was the youngest in the group; although he never flaunted his emotions around his new friends, he was terrified and unprepared for what was happening at that exact moment. Where was this path taking him? He did not know and honestly didn't care; all he did know was that he had to do this. To prove he wasn't a child in the eyes of his older peers, that Chimmy can count on him. More importantly, these caves protected them, right? So why did he feel so scared?

He approaches the end of the path and chooses which direction will take him to the next track. He hears a whisper behind his shoulder.

"Go left, big brother," the whisper hisses again. "It's me, Sammy. I followed you in case you needed my help."

"You're not real, just an illusion made up in that creepy house," he hisses back.

"That's not true Douglas, I was trapped there. You set me free-and you can do it again, right now," she suggested. "You thought they didn't give you a gift, you felt like you weren't special, like your friend Chimmy. I was your gift. Set me free so I can help my big brother fight the monsters."

"Your gift?" He asks the hidden voice.

"Of course, I am. Just say my name, and I can help you," she says, leaving Douglas to ponder.

"Sammy, help me please, I'm scared," Douglas whispers aloud.

His flashlight dies without warning; he gives it a couple whacks with his palm. When his light returns, Sammy is standing at the end of the beam of light. At first sight, he began to scream then realized he was now okay. Sammy didn't look the same as she did in the House of Forgotten Time; Douglas thought she looked more-dead if that was even possible. Her cheeks were rotting; on the left side, he could see her black teeth poking through the pale green decaying skin where her cheek used to be. The right side of her face seemed melted, stretched longer than other more, eroded.

The clothes which before were full of life and color now looked dirty, torn-buried. Her once green eyes now were foggy, soulless. She launched swiftly to the right, floating instead of walking. For some reason, he should have figured that walking seemed pointless with her being a ghost and all. In the flicks he and his parents would watch, spirits were always flying or floating through walls, so why should this be different, he thought.

Beyond his better judgment, he followed Sammy through the path (leaving a trail of crumbs from snacks Gilly had given him). Something seemed off about this version of his dead sister; this is what dead people look like. He kept thinking to himself that she's just been dead so long that this is normal. Douglas would ask a question trying to make things seem normal, but no response. She would stare dead into his eyes, then smirk. Each time he would shine the light on her, her face worsened, he thought to himself. It could be the darkness of the caves getting to his head. He's never been fond of tight spaces, ever since he could remember.

His mother suffered from bipolar disorder. She had her good days (which weren't typically good) and her bad days, which consisted of locking him in a tight closet. She would pray to Jesus, asking him to save her devil child. When that didn't work, it turned into praying to Satan, asking him to please take back his child of darkness. Sammy led him to the end of the path, his flashlight flickering as he directed the light on the decaying corpse of his sister. When she turned to confront him, she was unrecognizable.

"What are you waiting for silly, come on," her voice was dry and distorted. The light flickered again then cut out.

The Seer