Purgatech: Jess' Horror

Chapter 11

Jess sunk down to her knees. Digging her fingernails into her skin through her jeans, she howled like some rabid beast until her throat went raw. Surely someone would hear her. Surely someone would come.

When she finally stopped, the room was silent, still. The wind screeched as it scraped across the exterior of the house, almost as though it was echoing her own screams.

She sat there for a long while, listening, hoping to hear even the tiniest peep from her best friend coming up from the dark stairwell. But there was nothing.

She didn't know what to do, or if she even had the strength to move, but a tiny voice in the back of her head kept whispering.

Go to her. She needs you. Go to your friend.

Somehow, she managed to crawl forward in the darkness, not stopping until her hand hit something hard. It was her phone. She could use it. To help Erica. To call someone.

Her hand trembling so violently, she snatched it up, almost dropping it before she was able to activate the flashlight app. With the bacon lit, Jess slid forward until she was belly on the floor. She was afraid of what she would find but she had to know. She had to see.

She slid her arm out until the flashlight illuminated the stairwell. There, in the bright white beam from her phone, the white beam of light brought the reality of the situation into focus.

The crumpled body of her friend was stuck at the bottom of the stairs. Her arms were turned up at an impossible angle. Her mouth was frozen open in a soundless scream. Her eyes, half-closed, stared up to the ceiling blankly.

Jess squeezed her eyes shut. A cry choked in her throat as she slumped to the floor. She felt the contents of her stomach swirl and threaten to spew from her throat. Somehow, she managed to stifle the urge, then opened her eyes and looked back down at her friend.

"Er-erica?" Her voice cracked. The words came out so soft, that Jess wasn't even sure she'd said anything at all.

"Err-bear? Can you hear me?"

The longer Erica was silent, the more Jessica felt the urge to vomit. She desperately wanted to go down there and help her friend, but she was scared; not of what sent Erica flying over the edge. But of what she would find at the bottom of those stairs if she went down there and pressed her fingers to Erica's throat.

What if she found nothing at all? No pulse? What if she laid her head on Erica's chest and heard nothing, no heartbeat?

"Erica? You have to talk to me now. Tell me you're okay. Just say something!"

Jess held her breath and waited. Fear built within her, rolling up from the pit of her stomach and settling in her chest. Intertwined in the sickening fear was anger. Anger that this had happened, angry that Erica hadn't been more careful. Angry that Erica had tagged along with her in the first place. This was Jess's thing. This was her belief, her adventure. Why did Erica have to insinuate herself into the experiment like everything else they did? Why was she always there?

Jess shook her head. How could she be angry at her friend at a time like this. She was the one who would recruited Erica to come along with her. She hadn't exactly tried to talk her out of it. What was with her sudden anger at Erica when she needed her most?

Jess suddenly scrambled up onto her knees. Her thoughts didn't make any sense. It was like something...or someone...had taken over. She grabbed her cell phone and stood up warily, her knees threatening to buckle under her. But she couldn't just leave Erica down there to fend for herself. There was no one else up here. She was the only one who could help her.